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Macbook Pro, Vega 20 (i7 vs i9?) - Future Proofing Lightroom

R

romebot

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 9, 2018
16
1
Hello. I'm on a 2016 Macbook Pro w/ 16G RAM and LR can be so slow as to be unusable at times, esp. if using masks, etc. I work with an external monitor and tried any number of things to speed it up to no avail. Esp. in warm weather, the fans go off almost immediately and after 20 min, it can be intolerable.

So, I am looking to sell it and get either the latest i7 or i9 with the vega 20 (If I could afford a mac pro or imac pro I'd do that, bu not in the budget). The difference between the two is about $270, so I am not basing this on cost. I dont want to get the i9 if the heating issue is not truly resolved. Seems people are saying it seems "better" but what does that mean? If it is fixed (or will not be a big issue) then I would prefer having the latest model, both for performance, postponing next upgrade, and resale value, but if not, then I would happily get the i7 if the performance was close and it was a more reliable workhorse..

I can't seem come to a clear conclusion. Any help deciding would be welcome.

Thx.

R
 
I could be wrong but if your reason is to avoid fan/heat, it is probably a no go. The new machines get quite hot and loud when on some load - it is the nature of the beast that is the CPU and the thin chassis.

The performance will be great, top notch, but it won't be silent unless you do very light productivity/basic tasks I would imagine.
 
Ma2k5 said:
I could be wrong but if your reason is to avoid fan/heat, it is probably a no go. The new machines get quite hot and loud when on some load - it is the nature of the beast that is the CPU and the thin chassis.

The performance will be great, top notch, but it won't be silent unless you do very light productivity/basic tasks I would imagine.
Click to expand...

as long as the performance doesnt drop or it overheats, noise is not an issue. just now on my 2016 when the fans kick in, that means i have about 10 more min. I can work. in summer, thats all the time.
 
romebot said:
as long as the performance doesnt drop or it overheats, noise is not an issue. just now on my 2016 when the fans kick in, that means i have about 10 more min. I can work. in summer, thats all the time.
Click to expand...

In that case, I believe even the base i7 in that case is enough, I mean from 2016 you are going from 8 threads to 12 threads already so the i9 is maybe overkill.

I wouldn't call i9 any more "future-proof" imo, you'd probably be upgrading your machine in 3-5 years time (if it hasn't completely died on it's own anyway).

The Vega will be a substantial upgrade from your 2016 as well.
 
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The higher-end MBP's are starting to get into refurbished iMac Pro territory. Base model refurbished iMac Pro is currently about $4250 on Apple's refurb selling site. Just a thought. Sorry if this is going off-topic.
 
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HappyIntro said:
The higher-end MBP's are starting to get into refurbished iMac Pro territory. Base model refurbished iMac Pro is currently about $4250 on Apple's refurb selling site. Just a thought. Sorry if this is going off-topic.
Click to expand...

not off topic, but that + apple care = tax would be about $600 more... plus with a desktop I would want to keep my laptop as I have to be mobile for other work and wouldnt be able to benefit from selling it and putting it towards the macbook pro.
 
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Ma2k5 said:
In that case, I believe even the base i7 in that case is enough, I mean from 2016 you are going from 8 threads to 12 threads already so the i9 is maybe overkill.

I wouldn't call i9 any more "future-proof" imo, you'd probably be upgrading your machine in 3-5 years time (if it hasn't completely died on it's own anyway).

The Vega will be a substantial upgrade from your 2016 as well.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, but since my disappointment now of not being able to use my machine anymore, I want to get most future proof anyway... as RAW files and programs gets bigger I am not only caring about the difference between the 2016 and now - a big jump...
[doublepost=1543336480][/doublepost]
FrostyF said:
Get the i7....the performance difference between the two is not worth the cost of the i9.
Click to expand...

hi frostyF... the difference is $270 so even if its slightly better and would offer a better resale value it might be worth it - BUT ONLY if the i9 issues are fixed now with the software update and the Vega 20. what do you think?
 
romebot said:
hi frostyF... the difference is $270 so even if its slightly better and would offer a better resale value it might be worth it - BUT ONLY if the i9 issues are fixed now with the software update and the Vega 20. what do you think?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's gonna make any significant difference years down the line on the used market.
 
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romebot said:
Hello. I'm on a 2016 Macbook Pro w/ 16G RAM and LR can be so slow as to be unusable at times, esp. if using masks, etc. I work with an external monitor and tried any number of things to speed it up to no avail. Esp. in warm weather, the fans go off almost immediately and after 20 min, it can be intolerable.

So, I am looking to sell it and get either the latest i7 or i9 with the vega 20 (If I could afford a mac pro or imac pro I'd do that, bu not in the budget). The difference between the two is about $270, so I am not basing this on cost. I dont want to get the i9 if the heating issue is not truly resolved. Seems people are saying it seems "better" but what does that mean? If it is fixed (or will not be a big issue) then I would prefer having the latest model, both for performance, postponing next upgrade, and resale value, but if not, then I would happily get the i7 if the performance was close and it was a more reliable workhorse..

I can't seem come to a clear conclusion. Any help deciding would be welcome.

Thx.

R
Click to expand...

If a 2016 Macbook Pro isn't future proof anymore, I wonder how could a 2018 top-notch MBP would be. That is, in perhaps three-four years you'll need another, faster Macbook. What about an eGPU case?
 
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Isn’t an A/C unit far cheaper than a new MBPro?
If you want a new Pro, go nuts, but if what you have is working and it’s just a cooling issue, it might be worth considering.
 
Howard2k said:
Isn’t an A/C unit far cheaper than a new MBPro?
If you want a new Pro, go nuts, but if what you have is working and it’s just a cooling issue, it might be worth considering.
Click to expand...

how does one use an a/c unit with a mac? performance is slow in general, but when the fan kicks in, it really struggles to do any move at all.
 
romebot said:
how does one use an a/c unit with a mac? performance is slow in general, but when the fan kicks in, it really struggles to do any move at all.
Click to expand...


I was referring to a household or portable air conditioner. You mentioned that it is a summer issue. An A/C unit would make the season more tolerable for both you and your Pro.
 
ah, i see... not really an option where i live, but i suspect its overheating because LR is too taxing...
 
jerryk said:
Is using a desktop PC or Mac an option? Both have much higher thermal headroom and better cooling. And more screen real estate.
Click to expand...

i would prefer, but not in my budget.. have to sell current laptop to pay for part of next... if i got a desktop i would still need my laptop for other work... would love to get an imac pro or mac pro one day...
 
(Lightroom bit starts at 3:56)
This is one of the few VEGA MBP review videos that actually tested and showed LR performance. The guy seems impressed by the results, particularly by the smoothness of develop module and the brushes not being choppy like it usually is on other Macs.

I myself use LR on a topped out iMac 5K 2017, even on that machine it slogs through in spot removal or rendering in general, probably due to the 5K screen resolution (I even have a 27" 2k ext monitor attached also). I am not getting the same smoothness while brushing like he showed in the video.

Beware that almost all VEGA 20 buyers wouldn't hesitate to also top the machine with i9 and 32GB, just to secure a no-bootleneck situation. Depending on your budget, you may have to give and take and get less potential from the config if you aren't going to max it out.
 
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Chancha said:
(Lightroom bit starts at 3:56)
This is one of the few VEGA MBP review videos that actually tested and showed LR performance. The guy seems impressed by the results, particularly by the smoothness of develop module and the brushes not being choppy like it usually is on other Macs.

I myself use LR on a topped out iMac 5K 2017, even on that machine it slogs through in spot removal or rendering in general, probably due to the 5K screen resolution (I even have a 27" 2k ext monitor attached also). I am not getting the same smoothness while brushing like he showed in the video.

Beware that almost all VEGA 20 buyers wouldn't hesitate to also top the machine with i9 and 32GB, just to secure a no-bootleneck situation. Depending on your budget, you may have to give and take and get less potential from the config if you aren't going to max it out.
Click to expand...
Chancha said:
(Lightroom bit starts at 3:56)
This is one of the few VEGA MBP review videos that actually tested and showed LR performance. The guy seems impressed by the results, particularly by the smoothness of develop module and the brushes not being choppy like it usually is on other Macs.

I myself use LR on a topped out iMac 5K 2017, even on that machine it slogs through in spot removal or rendering in general, probably due to the 5K screen resolution (I even have a 27" 2k ext monitor attached also). I am not getting the same smoothness while brushing like he showed in the video.

Beware that almost all VEGA 20 buyers wouldn't hesitate to also top the machine with i9 and 32GB, just to secure a no-bootleneck situation. Depending on your budget, you may have to give and take and get less potential from the config if you aren't going to max it out.
Click to expand...

thanks. I am looking at the i9 with vega 20, but its disheartening to hear that it stuggles, even with high end systems - seems adobe needs to revamp LR. must be a build problem as I cant understand why developing a single RAW file is more taxing than editing video... so what then is there another app worth using?

[doublepost=1543392105][/doublepost]
dan9700 said:
Lightroom would also run bad even on a 1000 cpu core they need to build the program again, aputure was faster
Click to expand...

thats disappointing. any chance they will rebuild it?
 
romebot said:
thanks. I am looking at the i9 with vega 20, but its disheartening to hear that even with high end systems - seems adobe needs to revamp LR. so what then is there another app worth using?
[doublepost=1543392105][/doublepost]

thats disappointing. any chance they will rebuild it?
Click to expand...
I myself am way too invested into the Adobe "ecosystem" to switch out anywhere, since my work involves pre-press which Adobe absolutely has dominance in with post-script, PDF, and InDesign. But for other pure-photography centric folks out there, the number one alternative to LR that I have heard is always Capture One. Since it utilizes multi-core and GPU much more efficiently, so even on the same Mac, its speed advantage over LR is significant.
 
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Chancha said:
I myself am way too invested into the Adobe "ecosystem" to switch out anywhere, since my work involves pre-press which Adobe absolutely has dominance in with post-script, PDF, and InDesign. But for other pure-photography centric folks out there, the number one alternative to LR that I have heard is always Capture One. Since it utilizes multi-core and GPU much more efficiently, so even on the same Mac, its speed advantage over LR is significant.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I was just going to ask for alternatives to LR. I’m not a Pro photographer so LR is fine, but I’m on the last non-subscription version so will have to migrate at some point I suppose.

Any other alternatives folks can recommend aside from Capture One?
 
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