I'm a graphic designer and I need a notebook that will perform well with Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop etc. I'm thinking about waiting to purchase until Apple does the new refresh on their laptops but who knows when that will be. So given what they have what do you guys think is the best screen size and all for my needs? Mac Pro or Air? Any other specs I should consider?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Need help choosing which notebook to purchase
- Thread starter Brittanydavie
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
15'' high-res or 17'' MBP, with antiglare screen. Upgrade RAM to 8 GB (cheaper if you do it yourself), consider upgrading to a SSD if the finances allow it.
CPU speed doesn't matter too much - the base models are fine.
CPU speed doesn't matter too much - the base models are fine.
Pro. Get the 15 or 17 inch, and spec it up until you are constrained by your budget.
I run PS, ID and AI CS5 on a 2010 i7 so you shouldn't have any problem with the new ones. Get 8GB of ram though, it makes a huge difference.
I disagree about the antiglare screen, but i just prefer doing photoshop on the glossy screen. Both look great once you calibrate them.
I run PS, ID and AI CS5 on a 2010 i7 so you shouldn't have any problem with the new ones. Get 8GB of ram though, it makes a huge difference.
I disagree about the antiglare screen, but i just prefer doing photoshop on the glossy screen. Both look great once you calibrate them.
I went to my local Best Buy last night to compare the 15" and the 17". All they had were glossy's, no anti-glare.
When comparing photos from dpreview, I could not tell any difference in image quality between the two.
However, when trying to read the text on forums such as this and others, I found the font to be quite a bit smaller on the 17" vs the 15". So much so that if "I" were to go with the 17" I would need to use my reading glasses to prevent undue eye strain.
The other difference I noticed were that the built in speakers are much nicer on the 17" pro vs the 15".
One thing that I didn't like was that when viewing the this forum and others as well on the 17", it seems like so much wasted space on both the left and right of the screen. All the text is down the center. Why can't it be expanded to fill up the whole screen....and thereby maybe the print would be larger? Maybe there is a way to do this, but with me being new to mac, I couldn't figure it out.
When comparing photos from dpreview, I could not tell any difference in image quality between the two.
However, when trying to read the text on forums such as this and others, I found the font to be quite a bit smaller on the 17" vs the 15". So much so that if "I" were to go with the 17" I would need to use my reading glasses to prevent undue eye strain.
The other difference I noticed were that the built in speakers are much nicer on the 17" pro vs the 15".
One thing that I didn't like was that when viewing the this forum and others as well on the 17", it seems like so much wasted space on both the left and right of the screen. All the text is down the center. Why can't it be expanded to fill up the whole screen....and thereby maybe the print would be larger? Maybe there is a way to do this, but with me being new to mac, I couldn't figure it out.
The text was smaller on the 17 because the 15 didn't have the hires screen.
Thats a macrumors site feature and just how the CSS works on this site. Did you visit any other pages? Did you test out how a graphics program works on both?
I have a 15inch with the hires screen and i love that its light but I wish I had gotten the 17 whenever I'm using photoshop.
I didn't have much time to play with the computers while I was there as others were trying to look them as well. I was not able to test out any graphics programs, only able to compare a couple of photograghs from a photography forum.
When you say that you wish you had the 17" for photoshop, is it just because of the extra size or do you feel it renders a better quality picture?
Screen Real estate. The "quality" of the picture isn't going to change at all, and the pixel density is fairly similar. You can just fit a little more on the screen. Ive never used a 17", but I have the feeling that in photoshop, the 17inch in FullScreen With Menus would fit about the same as the 15inch at FullScreen.
if your budget allows it, i would go for the 17". the 15 will do just fine, but if given the option, definitely the 17" with the anti-glare screen. however, if you don't want to lug around a big laptop like that, a 15" will do you just fine, as well. just stay far away from the 13" if you plan on working in photoshop.
i worked on photoshop and lightroom on a 2006 white macbook for 6 years and i felt very, very limited with screen real estate (obviously). granted, i just bought a brand new 13" air, i only bought the MBA because i needed a new computer and will definitely get the 17" pro when the new models come out. the mba was just something to hold me down until then and to help with portability when i do get the 17".
if portability is a big factor for you, stay with a higher-spec 15" pro
i worked on photoshop and lightroom on a 2006 white macbook for 6 years and i felt very, very limited with screen real estate (obviously). granted, i just bought a brand new 13" air, i only bought the MBA because i needed a new computer and will definitely get the 17" pro when the new models come out. the mba was just something to hold me down until then and to help with portability when i do get the 17".
if portability is a big factor for you, stay with a higher-spec 15" pro
The 15 and the 17 are almost the same size. They fit a larger screen in the 17 by decreasing the bezel size. It weighs a pound more though. Its a 15.4" screen too so its only 1.6" larger. Makes a difference though.
15"
Height:
0.95 inch (2.41 cm)
Width:
14.35 inches (36.4 cm)
Depth:
9.82 inches (24.9 cm)
Weight:
5.6 pounds (2.54 kg)
17"
Height:
0.98 inch (2.50 cm)
Width:
15.47 inches (39.3 cm)
Depth:
10.51 inches (26.7 cm)
Weight:
6.6 pounds (2.99 kg)
wow cool thanks for that tidbit of info! never knew it wasn't that much bigger. i always said to myself "oh i can carry around my macbook everywhere, it's only a 13-incher".. but i felt every single ounce of that weight when comparing it to the MBA lol. with the 17" weighing in at an extra 1lb, although negligible in real-world terms, it makes a difference when it's in a bag full of your other belongings.