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Visual, Graphic, Video & Web Designer. Requests? rMB

pudcraft

pudcraft

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 23, 2013
239
201
Houston
Hi all,

I am a visual designer by trade with a background in graphic, video and web UX/UI design. I also work with architecture and 3D modeling and rendering.

My MacBook arrives to me on the 16th and I am going to put it to the test. I will be installing boot camp as well. I am taking any specific requests for testing the machine.

My software for trial:

Photoshop CC
Illustrator CC
Indesign CC
Sketch Up
AutoCAD
3Ds MAX
Vray - Chaos Group

Also a gamer:

Smite
World of Warcraft
Diablo 3
Heroes of the Storm
Starcraft 2

I don't expect perfect results but I think it would be fun to see what it is capable of performing in and sustaining. If you have any requests please post them. I will post back with performance, heat, renders etc.

Retina Macbook 1.2ghz, 512gb, 8gb ram

Thanks!


===================================
UPDATES
===================================

Photoshop CC

I ran the requested speed test below. I compared the speeds to my desktop. The desktop is overclocked on a 4770k, 32GB Ram, and just unfair to compare to. However here are the results:

Desktop (Bertha): 8.37 seconds
Retina Macbook: 24.12 seconds

Thoughts on performance: I was able to design a basic website on the Retina Macbook. It was actually quite painless. I didn't have any stuttering. The occasional lag in commands occurred during smart object interaction. I did some image editing, blurring, and playing around with challenging graphics. I opened a tradeshow graphic I once designed, 1:1 size @ 110" wide and 48" high. With long load times, the Retina Macbook did open the file and I was able to make edits. Some edits also had long loads.

Final thoughts on Retina Macbook for Photoshop: It works for the basics and some intermediates. If you bought this as a secondary machine then you will be able to get by just fine. If you are designing web graphics, this computer works great. Just be careful with the bottom. It gets hot if you push it!


Images of the Retina Macbook
81W6tSC.jpg

NM7lC1c.jpg

bD4NaQv.jpg
 
Last edited:
pudcraft said:
Hi all,

I am a visual designer by trade with a background in graphic, video and web UX/UI design. I also work with architecture and 3D modeling and rendering.

My MacBook arrives to me on the 16th and I am going to put it to the test. I will be installing boot camp as well. I am taking any specific requests for testing the machine.

My software for trial:

Photoshop CC
Illustrator CC
Indesign CC
Sketch Up
AutoCAD
3Ds MAX
Vray - Chaos Group

Also a gamer:

Smite
World of Warcraft
Diablo 3
Heroes of the Storm
Starcraft 2

I don't expect perfect results but I think it would be fun to see what it is capable of performing in and sustaining. If you have any requests please post them. I will post back with performance, heat, renders etc.

Retina Macbook 1.2ghz, 512gb, 8gb ram

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Hey man,

can you do the PS speed test that is located here on MR?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/200558/

I am curious to see how this stack up against my MP that I was able to do in 8.53 seconds.
Thanks
 
I look forward to the results. I also purchased the same model and my laptop is set to arrive on 4/16 as well. I only plan on using this laptop for the basics and Sims4.
 
pudcraft said:
Hi all,

I am a visual designer by trade with a background in graphic, video and web UX/UI design. I also work with architecture and 3D modeling and rendering.

My MacBook arrives to me on the 16th and I am going to put it to the test. I will be installing boot camp as well. I am taking any specific requests for testing the machine.

My software for trial:

Photoshop CC
Illustrator CC
Indesign CC
Sketch Up
AutoCAD
3Ds MAX
Vray - Chaos Group

Also a gamer:

Smite
World of Warcraft
Diablo 3
Heroes of the Storm
Starcraft 2

I don't expect perfect results but I think it would be fun to see what it is capable of performing in and sustaining. If you have any requests please post them. I will post back with performance, heat, renders etc.

Retina Macbook 1.2ghz, 512gb, 8gb ram

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Omg yes! I'm in Canada and won't be getting mine until May 8th at the earliest. :mad:

Can you test Smite, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm please? :D:D:D
 
pudcraft said:
First update in OP on Photoshop
Click to expand...

Thanks for the test and photos.
It's not bad the results being 24s for the speed test. I was able to get a 8.5s on a 12 core MP with very fast SSDs on RAID 0.
So such a small computer taking 3x the time is actually a good sign and probably fine to do small fix on the road.
My plan is to use this as secondary machine anyway. I mostly need something light and will use for Safari, Mail and watch media. So it should work just fine for my needs.
 
How well can it handle illustrator cc?

I spend 8-16 hours a day using it for designing signs and vehicle liverys etc.

I really would like something ultra portable that I can take with me when doing quotes to toss together a quick design or small edits on already designed signs and graphics.


I obviously am using vectors for everything so the files would be slightly larger. I like to keep everything live in my work space and every version of the design I have made on the same workspace etc.


Thanks,
Scott.
 
scottyy said:
How well can it handle illustrator cc?

I spend 8-16 hours a day using it for designing signs and vehicle liverys etc.

I really would like something ultra portable that I can take with me when doing quotes to toss together a quick design or small edits on already designed signs and graphics.


I obviously am using vectors for everything so the files would be slightly larger. I like to keep everything live in my work space and every version of the design I have made on the same workspace etc.


Thanks,
Scott.
Click to expand...

Hey Scott. I haven't given it a true run on Illustrator yet. I will say that some basic vector creations, opening of vector files, and working on it hasn't been an issue. I haven't tossed a complicated PDF at it yet. It does seem like a great tool for what you are describing in need. I will say you may find the 13" retina macbook more preferable due to horsepower, size and gains.

I'll post a update on illustrator soon.
 
If you are still doing the illustrator review you have one more interested person. I'm a graphic designer and I'm still waiting on the 1.3
 
I'd be interested to see if one or two virtual machines (linux in virtualbox is free) work tolerably well.

I don't expect it to be sorry smooth but if it works well enough to do test and dev on that would be perfect.

The CPU should have hardware support for virtualization to help...
 
terencedriver said:
I'd be interested to see if one or two virtual machines (linux in virtualbox is free) work tolerably well.

I don't expect it to be sorry smooth but if it works well enough to do test and dev on that would be perfect.

The CPU should have hardware support for virtualization to help...
Click to expand...

I use Vagrant (VirtualBox using Debian Linux), and it runs fine. Although, I have it at minimal settings (256MB RAM), but I have it running all the time, even when I play games (I forget to turn it off sometimes), because I need it for work, so you shouldn't have an issue.
 
Hi,

Any feedback on how sketchup and auto cad run? I can't find any feedback on the net about it anywhere. Im thinking of getting the base model rMacbook. Ive got a new 15" rMBP for heavy work, but wondering how viable the Macbook would be for occasional use...
 
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