burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

iOS is the iPhone operating system. MacOS runs on Macs. iPadOS runs iPads. watchOS runs Apple Watch.

wingate2417 Loc: Quincy, Ca.

Hi, you already have a iPad & iPhone so get a Mac laptop. You won’t be sorry with this setup they will compliment each other.

After you buy the laptop put lots of ram in it. Don’t buy it from apple cause it’s to expensive.

Happy computing.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Gaming machines are better suited for video editing than for photo editing. You pay extra for performance features that optimize video.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I support both platforms. The facts are what I posted. Value=Windows, Prestige=Mac. That is why Mac is more expensive.

I personally built over 3,000 engineering and graphics workstations for architectural design, animation, structural design and modeling, etc etc etc. Never once did I have a request for a Mac. The software that the engineers and architects were using did not run on the Mac platform. I also ran a video editing lab at Purchase College in NY, a fine arts 4 yr college. We had a Mac lab with 3 workstations, and a Windows lab with 8 workstations. Personally I preferred video editing on the Mac back then. Mac's Final Cut Pro is still my favorite platform. But Adobe Premiere ran better on Windows. The cost of each room was about the same.

I have been using a system I built for myself in 2011 - with carefully chosen components it is still holding it's own. You would never think that you were working on a 9 yr old system. I haven't ever experienced a virus on my computer, nor hardware failure. It is a myth that PCs experience more hardware failures, and it is also a myth that Mac OS is free of virus exploits. That may have been true when Mac was running Motorola CPUs, but not now that the are running Intel. The other thing is that often a Mac is compared to a "Best Buy Special" entry level or general purpose computer. The big joke on Mac users is that while Apple doesn't select the cheapest components, they don't select the best either. You will never see enterprise class drives, SSD or mechanical, liquid cooled cpus, etc on the desktop side, or until recently really nice drive and memory configurations on their laptops. I will take a custom built laptop over a Macbook Pro simply on price alone - I know the cost/performance is better on the Windows laptop.

I am happy you are as thrilled using your 10 yr old Mac as I am using my 10 yr old PC. BTW, my PC has an Intel i7-2600K cpu slightly overclocked to 4.5 ghz with liquid cooling, 32 gb ram, Nvidia Quadro 2000 video for 10 bit graphics on two displays, 1 TB SSD boot drive and 8 TB storage in a RAID 1+0 configuration (4 drives). The machine initially had an i5 and 16 gb ram, and smaller drives. It has proven 100% reliable over the past 10 yrs. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Just like you.

mjmoly

I agree
With berkphoto. That’s basically what I have done for the past ten years or so. I always check to see what refurbish machines are available from Apple. That usually offers a 15% or so discount. I’ve never had a problem with a refurbished machine. They come with the usual Apple warranty. I usually purchase the additional warranty.

ZPhoto Loc: Lancaster, PA

You obviously are knowledgeable and enjoy building and maintaining your machines. The software side of using a windows machine is probably where I have jumped ship. It seemed like I was constantly dealing with upgrades, patches, compatibility issues, etc. After dealing with these issues at home and work, I decided to switch to Mac.
Software upgrades are free and automatic. I just don’t have to deal with trying to make something work today that worked fine yesterday.

I still deal with those issues daily at work where I’m trapped with Microsoft/ Windows.

My personal experience has been Mac = satisfaction and Windows = frustration.

I’ll pay a couple extra dollars up front for years of simplicity and satisfaction.

obsidian

I have been a PC user all my adult life but because of pop ups and yearly subscription to malware protectors, I jumped ship to McBook Pro and have never turned my back for 3 MacBook generations. Since you are a photographer who wants to keep your pictures secured, I would honest to goodness advice you to get an apple McBook Pro and never think of virus invasion again. Now, I know you always experience waiting for the PC laptop to crank up for maybe a minute or so when you turn on the computer. For Apple, once you touch the button, you are ready to run in less than 5 seconds. Just imagine the time you wasted waiting for the PC to become operable. Calculate hours of wasted time per day, then per week, then per year. You will be wasting a lot of your valuable time that you could have spent babysitting your children or grandchildren.

russjc001 Loc: South Carolina

Lots of info on editing computers. Suggest 32 gb ram and internal ssd for programs and external drive for photo storage.

https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/best-laptop-for-photo-editing/

11bravo

I've used a Mac: company issued. They then switched to a Windows platform.

But I prefer Windows. For desktops and servers, I build my own as I can choose the components and know what's inside. Easy to upgrade or replace.

For both desktops and laptops, a lot of freeware available. Even with paid programs, a lot more selections available with the Windows OS; bigger market.

Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA

I saw the other posts in addition to your original shopping list. I'd like to add -

Gaming oriented laptop or 3 way. Get at least an Intel i7, i8 or i9 CPU. 8 GB is too little RAM. Have at least a 500 GB SSD if the 1 terabyte seems too costly. My portable 3 way goes on photo trips to view the day's shots and move the content to my Seagate 5TB USB3 external drives. I have an Asus - many brands are good. I will upgrade my 8GB to 16 GB. Photoshop PS6 runs on this setup, ACDSee 2020, secure access to the web from hotels/motels via wifi and my Nord VPN - using Verizon portable secure WIFI when necessary to pay for every minute of use, wherever I am. Look for a system with multiple USB3 ports, HDMI, and the portable SSD/XQD card readers.

For me, 13" is portable and as small a screen as I can tolerate. 14"-15" laptops seem too heavy or get really expensive if you want a lightweight package with reasonably long battery life. Very small laptops are "cute" but have so tiny a screen that they are difficult use for actual work.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Lets see how that really works

Upgrades and patches are free - you can opt to have them pushed to your machine automatically
Compatibility issues are normal - certainly not as bad as the ones Mac users have experienced with Catalina and legacy software lately.
There is always the etc - but that is true for both platforms

So at the end of the day, currently, you are more likely to experience Catalina-based software incompatibility issues, OS-based security issues, and about the same amount of "etc" - I still think there is no clear advantage of a Mac over a PC, and the PC is cheaper.

Oh, I don't "like" building computers - I happen to be very good at matching software requirements to computer hardware so I built a business around it. One of the things I like about Xotic.com is that I spec what I want, and they build it just the way I like it. The other group I like a lot is Puget Systems - who specialize in custom machines for a host of high end applications. This way I don't have to build machines - and I can go out and take more pictures. That's the one thing that is pretty hard to do with Mac. You have few choices in that department. Oh, and you get to pay more for a machine that has more or less the same internals as the Windows counterparts. SMH . . .

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-performance-PC-Workstation-vs-Mac-Pro-2019-1716/

I'd put up a Puget Systems benchmark for Lightroom, but I can't due to software incompatibility specific to current version of MacOS.

Why do the Mac fans get so defensive and offended over facts - for the same $$ spent, you get more with a Windows machine, or for less $$$ you get the same performance as a Mac. If you are going to bring up compatibility issues, then you'll need to be specific. I have been building these things for years, and my 10 yr old machine still runs everything I through at it, though recently some Windows 10 - only software is causing me to update my system OS, so I am just about ready to buy a new laptop. I can neither afford nor justify a Mac given my needs and workflow. I use Qimage for printing, and SyncBack to manage my backup and archiving, and neither are available on the Mac platform.

As a consultant it was important for me to provide fact-based evaluations - thorough, unbiased, honest, and easily researched. I have no emotional attachment to either platform - for me it's all business. If there is a serious incompatibility issue, or malware issue, etc it usually comes out in the literature. But broad generalizations based on the state of computers 10 yrs ago are hardly worth considering in today's world, where there has been so much industry convergence that the only real differences are the Apple merchandising and "Uniform" that all their products share - you know, that "Apple" look, and the price tag.

I don't have to demonize Apple products to make Windows stuff look good. That is a really good approach to use to maintain credibility.

OleMe Loc: Montgomery Co., MD

One more candidate: System76. You can go up to ask I9 processor and TWO internal drives which cream be larger NVMe. Here is one example:
https://system76.com/laptops/adder

I bought a Sys76 a few years ago. Not as tough as Lenovo's X1 Carbon, witness crunched corner after return airplane trip with laptop in backpack designed for laptops.

Note that with System76 you'll have to install Windows but that's an advantage - no crapware common from big vendors.

/Roger

ZPhoto Loc: Lancaster, PA

I’m not offended...just relaying my experience in working with both platforms. Mac = satisfied. Windows = endless frustration. The extra $$$ up front has been well worth it to me.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I don't understand the source of frustration. Is the IT department in your work environment asleep at the wheel? I've used PCs and Apple products since 1984 and had my share of frustrations with each, though nearly all of them have been worked out at this point. The funny thing is my three kids switched over to Mac a number of years ago. Two of them use them as general purpose computers, and are fine with what they offer. The third is in a technical setting, designing, performing structural analysis, 3D animation of his solid models, CNC router control, etc - and experienced endless frustration - mostly performance and compatibility - and switched back to Windows for his work stuff, and still uses a Macbook Air for his non-technical stuff. And I am not making any of this up.

ZPhoto Loc: Lancaster, PA

I don't want to point fingers at our IT department....they do what they do. I speak to them at least once a week. I won't even place blame on the platform because it could very well be attributable to the IT dept (with my work machine). Like I said, I owned 5 (not 4 as I said before) Windows machines for personal use between 2000 and 2010. I can say I rarely enjoyed smooth sailing with any of them.
I recently got fed up with my wife complaining about her HP laptop and bought her a MacBook Pro. After 2 days of getting adjusted, she said she'd never go back.
I have 2 daughters - each with a school provided MB Air in addition to the MBP that I bought them. I recently bought a new MBP (still have the 10yr old MBP) and I have an iMac. I spend no time with any of the machines dealing with problems. Believe me....if they had something to complain about, I'd be hearing it. I haven't dealt with any issues with OS compatibility. I usually wait a few months or more to upgrade the OS.