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Switching to rMBP from iMac

R

Razeus

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
5,361
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I'm thinking about switching from my 21.5" iMac to a 15" rMBP as main computer. The reason is mostly because I'd like to have my Mac more mobile. My main activities outside of general web is photography and writing. I don't game anywhere close what I used to, but I have a PS4 for that experience.

My main photo apps are LR5 and CS6 with Nik Plugins.

I'm leaning towards a 256GB model with 16GB of RAM (with a 2TB external for storage of RAW files).

Do you find editing on an rMBP good enough? Eventually, I may get a Dell monitor, but with street photography and family snaps, it's not that crucial. Thoughts?
 
Everyone is different. What you can do is go to the Apple store and play around on the 15in MBP. If you have photos online you can download and see if you like viewing them on the screen. I look at the 15in screen as a photo size of a letter size paper 8x11 (or whatever the size). If you are comfortable viewing than go for it.

I like using my 15in MBP for editing. Lots of photographers use this size. I'm not sure on the speed 256GB 16GB RAM MBP. My next MBP I want a larger size hard drive especially when you keep a lot of music on your drive.
 
Spec-wise the rMBP will be more than sufficient. My MBP (i7, 16GB, SSD, 2GB VRAM) smashes most tasks besides surface blurs in PS.

But I dunno, mang...I'm really starting to tire of editing on a 15" screen these days.
 
Ditto on the small screen. I switched from a iMac to a 15" MBP a few years ago. Any MBP will have the specs for photo editing. I certainly like the ability to take it all with me and upload, edit, and access my photos anywhere. I don't see any reason to go back to a desktop. My wife is an art director for an ad agency (a pro, if you will) and every one is using rMBPs there.

I will say that editing on the laptop screen is not 100% optimal. It works fine and I'm used to it but I've decided that when I get a desk back at home (wife took over everything as a home office :eek: ) I'm getting a nice monitor. Working on the laptop screen 100% of the time can be tough and some images I really just want to see big. The wife has a thunderbolt display with her rMBP and it's pretty awesome. Unfortunatly my older MBP won't work with it. I think a MBP and a quality 24"+ monitor would be a great setup (plus gobs of storage!).
 
I switched to a rmbp after using a Dell 27in screen and the transition wasn't that bad at all.
 
The base model rMBP should work nicely for you. The one thing that the folks over at KelbyOne recommend (and something i can vouch for) is to keep your images on a separate external drive if you're using a laptop. Thin USB3 drives are pretty cheap, and keeping them on an external HD will keep the SSD on the rMBP from filling up too quickly.
 
Bending Pixels said:
The base model rMBP should work nicely for you. The one thing that the folks over at KelbyOne recommend (and something i can vouch for) is to keep your images on a separate external drive if you're using a laptop. Thin USB3 drives are pretty cheap, and keeping them on an external HD will keep the SSD on the rMBP from filling up too quickly.
Click to expand...

My plan (since I'm going with a 256GB SSD instead of 512GB) was to do all my editing on the rMBP, then move the RAW files to the external once I'm done with all the editing, keeping only the JPEG in the cloud.
 
Razeus said:
My plan (since I'm going with a 256GB SSD instead of 512GB) was to do all my editing on the rMBP, then move the RAW files to the external once I'm done with all the editing, keeping only the JPEG in the cloud.
Click to expand...

If you use LR5, you can keep a smart preview on your laptop and leave the raw in your external HD when you import. That's what I do. I can take my laptop anywhere and edit. I only need to plug in when exporting.
 
Razeus said:
I'm thinking about switching from my 21.5" iMac to a 15" rMBP as main computer. The reason is mostly because I'd like to have my Mac more mobile. My main activities outside of general web is photography and writing. I don't game anywhere close what I used to, but I have a PS4 for that experience.

My main photo apps are LR5 and CS6 with Nik Plugins.

I'm leaning towards a 256GB model with 16GB of RAM (with a 2TB external for storage of RAW files).

Do you find editing on an rMBP good enough? Eventually, I may get a Dell monitor, but with street photography and family snaps, it's not that crucial. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Go for it. But - get a display as well. I have a similar setup at work = rMBP + 27" Dell monitor, I think it's a perfect combination for your needs. If I would suggest anything else - get a bigger drive than 256GB. This will be full in no time, trust me. Specially when you are editing photos, wanna have some projects on the computer instead of your external drive, one day you will decide that you'd like to install Steam and some games, maybe a few movies, some music… 256GB is a joke and you will end up carrying external drives with you all the time. Cheers!
 
FWIW, I have the 15" rMBP and am contemplating the reverse switch because I've found that the 15" is large enough that it doesn't really fit my definition of mobile. I can use it in various places in the house without problem and can take it on trips if I take my big carryon bag, but usually it just stays at home. If I were going to stay with a laptop, it would be a 13" rMBP + external display. As it is, I'm in an oscillation pattern between that and an iMac + iPad. I'm kind of waiting to see if the next generation of iPads have real digitizers built in or not before I make a decision.
 
The wife and I never use the native screen at home. We use ATDs and have the rMBPs sitting in Bookarc stands. The native screens are only for when we are in the field. Both the native screens and the ATDs are calibrated.
 
I have always edited my images on my MBP laptops over the years and they have served me fine. I'm currently using a 15" rMBP and I'm still able to make critical edits without issues. Plus, I like the fact that wherever I travel to, I can take my rMBP with me and edit and post images to Flickr/500px on the go.
 
IC3D said:
ACD 27" is a great screen, and you can get them for $799 off Refurbished Apple Store, and you can put Apple Care on it. So worth it.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't be my choice for photo editing though. Get a nice Eizo CG277 or NEC Soectraview Reference 272. Both come with a 5 year warranty so no need to buy apple care. You'll get a wider colour gamut, better conformity across the panel and with the Eizo a built in colormeter.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Wouldn't be my choice for photo editing though. Get a nice Eizo CG277 or NEC Soectraview Reference 272. Both come with a 5 year warranty so no need to buy apple care. You'll get a wider colour gamut, better conformity across the panel and with the Eizo a built in colormeter.
Click to expand...

Touche.
 
I am loving life on MB Pro. If you need a bigger screen, just plug one in at your desk.

I use my laptop, then sit at my desk and plug in a much bigger display courtesy thunderbolt and use the laptop screen as a second monitor.
 
much better, i have both but I'm more attracted to the rMBP because of how portable it is
 
FWRLCK said:
FWIW, I have the 15" rMBP and am contemplating the reverse switch because I've found that the 15" is large enough that it doesn't really fit my definition of mobile. I can use it in various places in the house without problem and can take it on trips if I take my big carryon bag, but usually it just stays at home. If I were going to stay with a laptop, it would be a 13" rMBP + external display. As it is, I'm in an oscillation pattern between that and an iMac + iPad. I'm kind of waiting to see if the next generation of iPads have real digitizers built in or not before I make a decision.
Click to expand...

The only reason I'm not considering the 13" is because I rather of Quad core. My next Mac purchase will be a 5 year item, instead of my normal 3.
 
Yeah, everyone's use case is different. I only mentioned that because, in my case, the portability of the 15" wasn't enough to recommend it over a 27" iMac. Many people are happy to carry more stuff around than I am though, just be sure that you're one of those people!
 
Razeus said:
The only reason I'm not considering the 13" is because I rather of Quad core. My next Mac purchase will be a 5 year item, instead of my normal 3.
Click to expand...
The 13" Retina is a lot more portable than the 15", the difference is much larger than the difference in weight suggests. For me, it's the perfect size, 13" suits me fine, I can crank up the resolution if I need to. If I put it next to my old 15" (which is a 2010 non-retina MacBook Pro) I occasionally suffer from screen envy -- at least until I lift that thing. The 15" Retina is lighter, but it is still significantly larger. In 2010, I went for CPU power, now I went for portability. And since I carry my computer daily to and from work, this compromise has been worth it for me.

Plus, my new 13"'s battery lasts a whole transcontinental flight and then some. :)
 
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I left a 27" Dell u2711 / MP 5,1 at home and went on a 3 week trip with my rMBP (15", 512 SSD). During the trip I was on LR and PS every day, and did a lot of writing as well. I got used to the smaller screen on LR and PS, although it took a few days. I did have to do some InDesign work, and that was a lot harder for me to get used to on a 15" screen. I don't think I could ever consistently use a 15" for that. But the photographic apps were fine.

I much prefer a larger screen, but if I had to go months with the rMBP, it wouldn't be all that bad. It has plenty of power and the display is excellent.

I got back from my trip to find that the 5,1 had died, and spent about a month doing everything with the rMBP in clamshell mode, and the Dell monitor, external KB, and so on, while waiting for my 5K iMac.

I probably would have repaired the 5,1 except that the trip with the rMBP had made any other screen look like crap, so I got the iMac.
 
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