Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

I'm looking for suggestions, recommendations and personal experience from MacBook users. I've been a Mac user since 1984 and I see no need to switch.

Currently, I have a 2010 MacBook Pro 15" and a 2012 13" MacBook Air as my home and travel computers, respectively. While the MBA shows no sign of wearing out, I do find that I need to do disk management more often, and sometimes wish I had more RAM (I bought it CTO - configured to order, which at the time was a maximum of 8Gb and a 500Gb SSD). Earlier this year, I had read that Apple said it couldn't/wouldn't make the laptops able to run more RAM as it would require them to re-engineer the motherboard. So, I decided to wait.

Now I read that MacBooks can be ordered with 16Gb RAM (I guess Apple re-engineered the motherboard...). But the shifting landscape of models has me a bit baffled: The MacBook Air appears to be on the way out, with the MacBook edging into its place. The MacBook Pro comes with or without the Touch Bar (apparently a $500 option - along with a faster CPU) and weighs only 3.02 pounds (versus the 2.96 pounds of my MBA). Yes, I want to stick with the 13" model, as that seems to be the best for my travel routine.

My question is, which should I be looking at for my photo processing (and possible audio mixing)? I use Lightroom (and Photoshop) CC, Macphun Luminar, ON1 RAW and several other programs for photo editing. I want something better than the MBA (16Gb RAM, faster CPU, more disk space). But am I overdoing it with the MacBook Pro and can do just fine with the MacBook?

I am going to be asking this on another forum I belong to as well. I'm hoping to gather as much personal experience as I can. Thanks, everyone.

Kissel vonKeister Loc: Georgia

I have a similar situation. MB Pro 15", early 2012 I think. Apple says 8GB is the limit, but Crucial (Micron Technologies) says you can install 16 and here are the instructions. If I felt I needed more RAM I'd add it, but the performance is very good as is. I replaced the HD with a 960MB SSD, and it has a Core i7 processor. Seems good to go. I don't do much LR and PS work on it, but when I do it rips right along. I think the monitor is a bit small for LR though. I have another Mac with a big Dell Ultrasharp monitor for that. Great monitor.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Link to instructions, please.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Interesting comments and observations. I have a 13" Mac Book Pro and, although the one I ordered was in the 'upper middle' range (at that time), I've been wishing (especially as I get deeper into post processing) that it had more than 8GB of RAM and faster storage than its 750GB SATA drive. Mine has the i7 processor.

blackest Loc: Ireland

It depends on the mac what you can do to it.

http://www.everymac.com/ is a good place to start. my 2010 13" macbook pro has 16GB of ram and a 1 TB hard drive which suits me i'm happy enough with a spinning hdd with plenty of storage and the RAM is good to have too. I'm using around 10GB right now with 6 GB free and 8MB of swop in use. New it maxed out at 8GB and had a 250GB HDD. The next generation used an I5 i believe and is actually limited to 8GB ram a friend has one but with a fast SSD. Unfortunately Apple is severely limiting what Macs are upgradable now so you are forced to get the configuration you need when you order it. The Ram and SSD drives are soldered to the mainboard in many cases so upgrading tends to end around 2015, I am really hoping they will reverse that choice at least for the Macbook Pro's.

Currently max ram is 16GB but in 4th quarter of 2017 32GB options are expected

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/new-macbook-pro-2017-rumours-uk-release-date-price-features-specs-3593988/

Apple is saying battery life will suffer if they put in more ram but does that matter? I have 2 psu's that i use on my macbook pro one stays home and the other goes in my laptop bag. So it spends most of it's time on mains or suspended, i can go several hours without mains as is but unless i am in a coffee shop I usually have power available I rarely feel the urge to go outside and squint at my screen in sunlight.

nut4golf Loc: Windsor, CT

I have extended the life of several Macs by installing upgrades (RAM, SSD) from OWC (Other World Computing). Top notch equipment. Excellent video instructions on performing the needed surgery. https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/

jmarkle Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I have a 1 year old MacBook Pro and it does a very good job with all my photo editing. 16 gigs is plenty of room for anything I do and some of my files are BIG. An SSD drive is a real plus, makes file transfer a snap. My suggestion is to get the biggest retina screen, the fastest processor, 16 gigs and an SSD drive that budget allows.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Our office is getting ready to upgrade to the latest 15" 2.8ghz MBP with 16gb ram and 1tb ssd drives. We're a graphic design firm that uses illustrator and photoshop as our primary tools. Our previous 15 MBP are the mid 2014 models 2.5ghz 16ghz 500gb ssd drives. It's not that they're totally useless, but we're starting to notice a slowdown when working with large files from our clients.

In your case if you're not going to use the touch bar (we likely won't be), then I'd get the one without, but I'd recommend upgrading to the 2.5 i7 with 16gb and a minimum of 512 gb if not the 1tb ssd drive.

pgerardi Loc: Bethel Park, PA

Saw this recently, might give you a little insight. Hope it helps: http://www.macworld.com/article/3200690/macbook/which-macbook-should-you-buy.html?idg_eid=9b271892e7b9e0f6c9629954cbd6f959&email_SHA1_lc=f385539035be5daab7cc2fbfc94cba5c31e94108&cid=mw_nlt_mw_daily_html_2017-06-15&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Macworld%20Daily%202017-06-15&utm_term=mw_daily_html

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

I would get all the memory and RAM you can afford, with the largest screen available. If you travel even moderately and do your screening and some PP while on the road, you will use all of it.
I made the mistake last year of relying on the tour ship's computers for my own use. I was unable to do ANYTHING on the ship's computers - all of the software was badly obsolete, and didn't even recognize the RAW files from my cameras..

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

I had a mid 2011 13" MacBook Pro that I used 4 years. Last April I got a 15" MBP mid 2015 w/ a 2.2 Ghz i7 16 gb ram and a 256gb ssd. It runs Lightroom 6, Nikon Picture Control Utility 2, and Affinity Photo as my photo editing programs and Quick and Go Pro studio as my video editing programs. I also have a WD Passport for Mac external drive(500GB) & a Toshiba USB 3 external(1GB) that I have most of my files on. I also use USB flash drives when traveling.

You might get away with just buying this add on if you have an external card reader for your camera cards. It inserts into the sdxc port on your Mac Book and will give you more storage. I considered it when I got my MBP last April and decided I would try the flash drives first.

http://www.tardisk.com

Toment Loc: FL, IL

My late 2016 15" pro has 2.7 i7 processor with 16G ram, 512 SSD, Radeon graphics 2G vram, and it rocks!

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

Get a Pro model, not the air, if you do photo editing. The retina screen is well worth the money. What everyone else already said also.

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

I would look at the refurbished models in the Apple Store. They have the same warranty as a new model and you can get Apple Care to extend the coverage. I have an early 2011 14" MacBook Pro that I bought on late 2011. I ended up upgrading the RAM to the maximum 16GB and the HD to a 1 TB SSD. I am thinking about a new 15" MacBook Pro but Apple has removed the SD card slot and USB ports requiring new cables/dongles etc. If I buy it will be later in the year when the mid 2017 models start to show up in the refurbished store.

Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

We replaced our 2010 15" MBP with a new 13" MBP with the Retina display. We use a OWC Thunderbolt Hub to connect it to the Network, 4K monitor and external hard drive. We bought the fastest processor, but limited on board storage to 512GB. It works well at home and is great for traveling. The old MBP has received a new SSD drive and is now our home server. It worKD great.