MacBook Air w/ 16GB RAM vs. 13” MBP w/ 8GB

[Bending Pixels]

Picked up a base 13” MBP last week 8GBRAM/256SSD. Lightroom - especially with lots of adjustment brush edits - runs like a dog.

Would a MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM run Lightroom faster?

 

[raqball]

There is a trade off.. Yes you'll get more RAM but you'll be downgrading to a dual core CPU. How that effects Lightroom I have no clue as I don't use it...

I think the Air is sufficient for most users and since they addressed the brightness issue I'd certainly get one over the Pro but I loathe the Touch Bar so that's a main reason..

 

[ghanwani]

Are you editing huge images or large batches of images? Normally working with a single image shouldn't need that much memory. Did you check the memory pressure using the Activity Monitor app? If it's not showing memory pressure, your problem is likely somewhere else.

The weakest point with the MBA is the graphics, not the CPU, especially not when all you're doing is working with one application.

 

[Bending Pixels]

Are you editing huge images or large batches of images? Normally working with a single image shouldn't need that much memory.

It was a single image - with about a dozen adjustment brush edits (mostly dodging certain areas). After about the fourth adjustment brush edit, Lr slowed to a crawl.

 

[ghanwani]

It was a single image - with about a dozen adjustment brush edits (mostly dodging certain areas). After about the fourth adjustment brush edit, Lr slowed to a crawl.

There may be something else going on. What version of macOS are you on? I used to have mine slow down with simple web browsing, which seems to be an issue with the OS. Rebooting fixed it. At the time I checked both CPU & RAM using the activity monitor and they were fine. This was this 10.15. 10.15.1 appears to be a bit better in that respect.

 

[Bending Pixels]

This is a new 2019 13" MBP with 8GB of RAM and a 256SSD running Catalina

 

[pcd213]

The weakest point with the MBA is the graphics, not the CPU, especially not when all you're doing is working with one application.

I saw similar issues when I owned the 2018 MBA. Video playback was choppy in higher resolutions and the computer would get pretty slow with too many Safari tabs open. I also needed just a bit more brightness from the laptop, just a hair. I upgraded to a 2018 2.3GHz MBP and I didn’t regret it, outside of the addition of the Touch Bar. I wish I didn’t have to take on that stupid strip.

 

[ghanwani]

I saw similar issues when I owned the 2018 MBA.
...
I also needed just a bit more brightness from the laptop, just a hair.

Was this before or after the macOS update that increased the nits from 300 to 400? I found 300 too low for me, but 400 has been fine.

 

[pcd213]

Was this before or after the macOS update that increased the nits from 300 to 400? I found 300 too low for me, but 400 has been fine.

After, sadly. I can’t imagine what 300 nits would have been like. After the update, I would regularly find myself tapping up on the brightness, only later realizing I was at the peak.