Arkieo Loc: NLR AR

My wife has had the exact problem with her PC. Solved by uploading to the web instead of a hard-drive. It will cost
something depending on your need for space but it costs a lot more to lose the pictures you thought were saved on
a drive that failed.

Labtrainer

You need to consider the display on the laptop. Getting a good PC based system with a high resolution screen will require a video card. I have found that very few touch screens are that good for photo work. I have a new MacBook Pro 13" for travel. It is amazing. It is slightly slower than my Windows PC that has 8 fans and a 850 watt power supply. I am using ON1 and Topaz Denoise and I would say that in most cases it takes me about 6 seconds longer per photo if I have to use Topaz. With an external hub I can connect to my large monitor and the video is excellent. Now I got the PRO with 1 TB of memory and 16 gigs of RAM

Labtrainer

Same Problem. Traded in my IPAD through apple

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

I just replaced my old MacBook Pro with a new one. I love the security features and customer service. I don’t like the price. 😊

Nikon1201

I believe one important thing especially if you are going to use any Topaz software is having Open GL of at least 4.3 which you will need to run a lot of editing programs.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

Whenever I need a new laptop for photo processing (I'm currently on my 2nd laptop) I go to my local computer store (not a big box store) and tell them what I'm looking for and what I'll use the laptop for; they ask a few questions and then point me to a number of laptops that will meet my needs. My local computer store stocks both Apple and Windows based products.

ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK

I use an Alienware M17 connected to two Dell 25” UHQ monitors. I wouldn’t want to trust my edits to the built in LCD screen on the laptop.

Abo

I don't know which is best; but I bet my lefty that
the "best" Laptop For Photo Processing has lots of display resolution
and plenty of RAM.

WayneW Loc: South Carolina

Thanks Linda!

hillary

I have always had Macs, I loved itwhenthe supported their own APERATURE for editing. It wasn't a monstrous program like Photo Shop but it gave you enough good tools to edit. Now the photoshop that comes with it is ok or even the PREVIEW I use. But I did buy LUMINAR 4.

Now I am not sure that the Air that you have will support this software. So if it doesn't and your editing program is very basic, then YES the computer does matter.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

I'll bet if you got a new Windows machine you would have also seen a big difference. Going from an older to a newer machine regardless of OS is not exactly a fair comparison. I think both with comparable guts can do the same job.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Apple Aperture is long gone, replaced by Apple Photos. Apple Photos integrates with, and works extremely well with the Raw Power Plug-in, a raw file processor (and more), available for $40 from the Apple App Store. Affinity Photo is a very good image editor for Macs, iPads, and Windows, and it's usually under $50. It, too, can be summoned from within Photos. Raw Power and Affinity Photo work natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon M1 Macs.

As for Luminar 4, their site does not say anything about Apple M1 processor compatibility. Neither does https://isapplesiliconready.com/for/photos . I suspect it either won't run at all, or runs in Rosetta 2 emulation mode. But the fact their web site says NOTHING about it does not bode well.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Recent comparisons of Windows laptops with Apple Silicon-based laptops:

https://youtu.be/frRwGFVALv4 (LG Gram 14" vs M1 MacBook Air)

https://youtu.be/xeMvZHqPiAQ (M1 MacBook Pro vs Razer Book 13)

https://youtu.be/y_jw38QD5qY (Apple M1 vs AMD 4900HS with RTX 2060)

https://youtu.be/zlmkoOwBC4U (M1 MacBook Pro vs Dell XPS 13 9310)

https://youtu.be/JnnGmpVGIbo (Huawei MateBook X Pro vs M1 MacBook Air)

I think the results speak for themselves.

These five Windows laptops are really good. If you want Windows, they're worth a look. Maxtech also reviewed them (and the M1 Macs) separately.

RPaul3rd Loc: Arlington VA and Sarasota FL

I've had the Lightroom/Photoshop subscriptions for several months now and plan on keeping it for many years. I have used Windows for years but hear the Mac is good but at 73 I'm not about to learn new tricks on a new operating system.

When I needed a new laptop I discussed this with a techie at BandH and the recommendation was "if you're going to stay with Windows, I recommend the ASUS Vivo Book 15.6" laptop: More horsepower than a business only computer and great with graphics but not as good (nor expensive) as a laptop designed for gaming." I had 8GB of RAM when I bought the ASUS but upped it to 16GB and noticed the difference. I am one happy camper!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I won't use a laptop for image post-processing. I do sometimes take one on location, but only for limited organizing, backups and similar.

There are just too many additional variables with a laptop. Locations change, and the lighting along with them. The angle the screen is opened to is inconsistent. All these make for inconsistent image editing.

The only exception would be a laptop that can be used with a fixed monitor that can be calibrated... a "docking" or "work station" where the monitor stays in the same lighting conditions consistently. Then the laptop can be taken on location and used remotely when needed to do quick reviews of images, backups and organizing.... but waiting until later to do the actual adjustments and image editing at the permanent work station.

I would also insist on a laptop that has provision for a second internal drive for best and safest handling of images, as well as network connectivity.

I'm deliberately not naming a specific model here, just some of the features I'd require. The laptop I use is an older model that's roughly as described above... It's long ago discontinued I'm sure, but it still suffices. I used it in conjunction with a desktop computer (rather than just a monitor). I also don't spend the extra for Macs that I can't maintain as well as I can PCs. The laptop I mentioned has had added RAM, as well as 2nd hard drive installed. At some point I'm going to convert it to a pair of SSD (speed is limited and battery life is poor with two HDDs). Personally I have no problem with Mac operating system vs Windows... Over the years I've used both at times. Some of the Mac monitors are excellent, but for the same or less there are similarly superb monitors for Windows machines.