I went to the apple store on my block today with the intentions of buying a MacB but the guys told me that the best bet for Photoshop and editing would be the Air or the Pro. Also mainly because I will need the ports. Any other reason? Also why is the MB more expensive? Most say the AIR is more of a machine?
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Mac for Art
- Thread starter Ezra923
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Depending on what kind of editing you're doing, the rMB might not be the best solution because, among other things, it's passively cooled (no fans) and on extended tasks is going to slow itself down to keep temperatures under control. My experience suggests potentially a 20% hit, compared to a 13" rMBP. Ports might or might not also be an issue. You can deal with that by using the $79 power/video/USB-A dongle and a USB 3.0 hub, but that might not suit you.
If you compare the rMB to a 13" MBA with the same basic specs (RAM and SSD), they are priced the same - but the rMB has a retina display. So, pricing is really not out of whack. It's just that you can get MBAs that are configured with 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD and skinny the price down. Whether 4/128 will really suit you is a different question that different people will have different answers to.
You didn't say what you're editing, but if color accuracy is important, you should really consider the rMBP. For most purposes the display is merely "nicer," but for color-accurate work it is clearly the better answer.
If you compare the rMB to a 13" MBA with the same basic specs (RAM and SSD), they are priced the same - but the rMB has a retina display. So, pricing is really not out of whack. It's just that you can get MBAs that are configured with 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD and skinny the price down. Whether 4/128 will really suit you is a different question that different people will have different answers to.
You didn't say what you're editing, but if color accuracy is important, you should really consider the rMBP. For most purposes the display is merely "nicer," but for color-accurate work it is clearly the better answer.
I would get the Pro if you're going to be doing serious work. You won't sacrifice any connectivity this way. This isn't to say that you can't do one or the other with the Air, but the Pro seems more logical - "for Art" is quite vague however.
I'm guessing you'll be doing compositions in Photoshop? I would get the Pro. The Air may get a little tight especially if you are going to always be using a USB port for a drawing tablet.
I'm guessing you'll be doing compositions in Photoshop? I would get the Pro. The Air may get a little tight especially if you are going to always be using a USB port for a drawing tablet.
Sorry, that's suppose to say rMB, and I was referring to the USB-C to USB adaptor and taking it up with the tablet. I talked about the Air before that in my post, and what I meant by connectivity was the multiple thunderbolt and HDMI ports on the Pro for use with displays. I noticed the MB was mentioned in the OP as well, went to include that and its just a simple mistype.
If you are doing Photoshop, consider at least 8 gigs of RAM and 16 would be a good number for a laptop. If you know Photoshop, you know that the additional RAM really does help out a great deal. Also consider the difference between quad and dual core CPU. The GPU wont make that much difference overall but the CPU does as does RAM (save for a couple of filter effects).
In your shoes, I would go with the Pro if you must select a Mac laptop.
In your shoes, I would go with the Pro if you must select a Mac laptop.
Gotta move up to a 15" MBP for a quad core CPU. That's a huge difference in portability vs. the models being discussed so far.
Agreed. However, if the goal is portable Photoshop, I would more than consider it (but as I said, that is what I* would do) but certainly others may not.
Don't want to scare the OP into thinking he needs a much higher spec machine than he really does. There are a lot of different uses for Photoshop. If he's working on web graphics with not very many layers/filters then a rMB or a MBA with 4GB RAM would be more than good enough. We should probably have more info before making recommendations.
Sorry for being late. So this is a gift to get me started on photoshop. Never used it before! I know you may think oh so any computer is fine if you're just learning. Problem is that I will be opening an art exhibit and using my vision and her photoshop technic I will be working along with a graphics designer (using her and my computer). Although she would be doing most of the editing i will also try taking a stab at it as we go. I really hope the 13 MBA is good enough because we left the apple store with that decision even though it will be a "surprise" this weekend.