burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The new M-series Macs are all pretty phenomenal. What is your budget range? Are you doing professional work or enthusiast level? Would you prefer a desktop setup, or a laptop? Are dual 27" monitors important? There are tons of options.

My personal setup is a 2020 M1 MacBook Air (1TB storage, 16GB unified memory, 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, 16 NPU cores) with a 27" LG monitor and a small USB-C hub. The monitor doubles as a keyboard hub and a charger for the computer. I use an old extended keyboard and Apple Mouse on the desk. Half the time, I'm using the Air elsewhere.

Apple's laptops have PHENOMENAL battery life. I'm usually at 50% when I go to bed at night after hours and hours of use. It does drop faster when I'm using Lightroom Classic or Photoshop or Final Cut Pro (video editing), but I'm more likely to be plugged into my monitor for those apps.

Even this lowly MacBook Air, with NO fan, is zippy with all my applications. Of course, I DID NOT buy the base model, and never would, for any sort of heavy lifting like video editing and photo processing. I consider 16GB memory and 1TB storage to be the start of the sweet spot for serious editing work.

The new M3 processor will be going into a MacBook Air model "soon" (March or June, depending upon which rumor mill you read). It's currently in the iMac and the new 14" MacBook Pro. The M3 Pro and M3 Max chips have more cores and are available in the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros. The Mac mini will probably get the M3, and M3 Pro, while the Mac Studio should get the M3 Max and M3 Ultra pretty soon, too.

In short, there are LOTS of great Macs now, with prices over a wide range.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

About the only things I would buy a Windows box for would be games and proprietary business applications that are not available for the Mac.

I ran Windows and MacOS in my office from the late 1980s until 2012. From 2008 to 2012, I ran Windows on my MacBook Pro, on top of MacOS, using Parallels Desktop. That was a perfect solution for me, since I needed to travel with both platforms.

I like my MacBook Air so much, I got my wife one just like it for Christmas.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

Yes, while I have a MacBook Pro, my wife has a MacBook Air, not the latest model, but it's still a very viable machine, and of course, it travels well. Note that I've also purchased MacBook Air's for at least three of our granddaughters when they were in high school, and now two of them are in college and they're still using them (and I just bought a new iPad for our youngest granddaughter who's in the 4th grade).

A. T.

I think someone already suggested the Mac Studio with the Apple Studio Display. I also have used iMacs for some fifteen years and just purchased the aforementioned setup and I'm in love all over again.

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

So we have 3 pages of replies/advice. Yet not one more posting from the OP with requested or relevant info.
Why?

Chris Hayes

Apple have confirmed they are NOT going to release a 27” I Mac.

Boris77

1. There is no relevant info if she wants a good variety of options.
2. There is quite a bit of information in this mess of replies.
3. I had supper while you all were corresponding.
4. Her reply can only stifle the discussion.
Boris

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

Thanks for your feedback Boris.
'Her reply can only stifle the discussion.'
I thought the OP was asking for advice. One usually responds to questions in order to better provide options.
So, business as usual I guess. Say whatever you want regardless of actual 'needs'.
When you are ready, I have a Bridge to sell you. Don't worry about missing it during dinner. There is always one around.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The fastest 27" iMac does not hold a candle to the Mac Studio, which is an order of magnitude faster.

Apple killed the 27" iMac and has said it is not coming back, despite persistent rumors. So if one wants to spend $3600 or more on a Mac Studio setup, she would not be disappointed! However, having watched reviews of just about every Apple Silicon (M-series) Mac released, I can say that with 16GB or more memory and 1TB or more internal storage, any of them will be fine for *most* photo editing. The Mac Studio is a production level machine. But so is the 16" MacBook Pro. However, the Studio is built for SUSTAINED heavy loads. The MacBook Pro with M3 Max will throttle its speed to avoid overheating. If you're rendering thousands of 50+ MP files a day, the Mac Studio might be worth it. If all you do is an occasional heavy burst of processing, any of them will do.

Boris77

Reads like OP was asking for "opinions", not advice.
She carefully does not say stick with Mac, that is a sign of a good open mind.
I have Adobe Bridge already but do not use it. I like to walk in the water.
Boris

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

"What would you suggest for a new computer for processing photo's using Lightroom and Photoshop."
My opinion is that providing advise is not different than offering one's opinion.

Chris Hayes

One additional point worth considering on a MAC is the additional SSD size is like all things on the mini and studio machines all built in with zero opportunity to upgrade after purchase, however a good external NVME drive in a suitable enclosure works at a speed very close to the internal SSD drive. At Apples $400 a TB upgrade price you can get a 4 TB NVME, that you can swap out upgrade or change anytime you like.

Boris77

Opinion is what YOU would use, or wild wing it as if in someone else's mind.
Advice is a serious suggestion based on believed information, which is lacking here.
Opinions are creative and a better place to start. This thread has been better for lack of an operating system preference.
Boris

CliffMcKenzie Loc: Lake Athens Texas

Like you, my primary is D850. The following is from a response earlier this month:

Great news - turn time on 250mb files (Tiff) from LRC to Topaz to LRC is 3 seconds. This includes batch from inside LRC (round tripping).

Solution - developed mainly from UHH contributors last January:

Motherboard: Asus ProArt Z790-Creator WiFi
Memory: 64 - DDR5 6000
GPU: RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition
Processor: i9 13th Generation (13900k)
Hard Drives: (2) Stata SSD
Power Supply: 1350
Monitor: (2) BenQ SW270C

Bad news - desk top weighing 62lbs with 13 fans plus liquid cooling. Cost (remember 2 BenQ 27" monitors) $6,200 about 9 months ago.

I use my Surface Pro to teach LRC. In the big leagues, you cannot use a portable to process at an elevated level with speed. As others have already pointed out, the GPU is key now and then CPU.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Husband is "inheriting" it. ;)