Ok guys. First post
. SO I am a hobby photographer (pretty serious hobbyist though) and am looking at purchasing a mac for photo editing in Photoshop CC. I have a couple options I am trying to decide on:
I am only at home during the weekdays and go somewhere else on weekends, so portability is somewhat important,
1. new iMac when it comes out with macbook air (both maxed out)
2. new Macbook Pro retina (maxed out) with a nice monitor and some spare change for lenses
Which option makes more sense? Is the iMac really that much more powerful? BTW, I do some HTML/CSS website coding on the side and some light gaming.
Pharmscott brings up a good point. It can be a pain keeping all your work on two computers. If you aren't doing heavy editing for hours at a time, the iMac is not needed. It is much more powerful than the rMBP, but it may not be very useful to you. Also, don't expect an iMac to be released until October-December.
If you did get the iMac and the MBA, I don't know why you would get maxed out versions of both. It seems like a waste of money. The iMac will give you about 10x more graphics power and about 2x the processing power of the MBA, even if the MBA is maxed out. Many people do professional work on the MBA, but if you also have an iMac, there is no reason to do heavy lifting on the MBA.
The main benefit of getting an iMac is that it will be a powerhouse for a long time, so if you plan on upgrading every three years or so, you might as well get a rMBP. The rMBP setup would be nice because your monitor will most likely outlast your laptop, so you can put some money into it and expect it to hold up for a long time.
iMac/MBA route:
I would personally get the iMac and the MBA later this year because I like to hold on to my computers for a while. The current maxed out iMac is really powerful, and the next one will be even more so. The newer MBA will most likely be lighter, so it will be even more portable and have all day battery life. I would use it on the go to back-up any of my shoots and see what I have, then go home and do basically 100% of the work on the iMac. The iMac would get replaced every 5-6 years and the baseline MBA every 3-4 years. The iMac will be more capable for gaming than the rMBP, you will get a better kick out of it to start, and the 2014 iMac will perform on about the same level as the 2017 rMBP. If you max out an iMac, make sure to do RAM upgrades yourself!
Cost: ~750$/year over 10 years at assuming you can sell your iMac for 1500$ and your MBAs for 500$.
rMBP route:
If you get the rMBP, you would be able to edit in the field and have everything at your fingertips. Some power would be sacrificed in comparison to the iMac, but it wouldn't be noticeable for a few years. The battery life isn't amazing, so don't expect to have it open constantly on an all-day shoot. You could go home, plug in to your monitor, and do most of the work there. You would most likely replace the rMBP every 3-5 years, and you could keep the monitor for a long time.
Cost:~750$/year over 10 years assuming you can sell the rMBPs for 1500$.
In comparison to the average consumer, these options are pretty pricey. You realistically do not need maxed out computers for the type of work you do. If you have the money, then it is your money to spend. Either of your options will be fine, it just depends on how you like to work. Hope I helped some.
Best,
Matt
