wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

These are the specs for a mac that's for sale near me.
Is it good for photography and editing?

(Download)

Dlevon Loc: New Jersey

My exact specs, about 3 years old. Works fine. what screen size?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It's decent.

A few years ago, at the then Herff Jones Photography Division, I had a 2008 MacBook Pro with 2.6 GHz processor and 4GB RAM. I ran light OSX and Windows XP apps simultaneously. I could edit SD video, while running PowerPoint (Mac) and Adobe Photoshop CS3. The thing would even run Kodak DP2, a pro photo lab image database and rendering engine, in Parallels Desktop/WinXP, about as fast as some of the lab PCs.

I helped build the HJ Charlotte digital photo lab in the early 2000s. We ran machines with a LOT less power than the Mac specs you showed. We used G4 Macs to drive Epson printers. We used Dell dual Pentium PCs to drive Noritsu minilabs and Kodak/Bremson HR500 film scanners... MOST dual core computers built since 2007 are fast enough for photo editing...

So photo editing on that Mac would work fine. HD VIDEO editing would work okay on that Mac, too, but 4K Video would choke it.

If you upgrade it at all, I'd first add memory (8GB or 16GB, depending on budget). Then I'd consider an upgrade of the hard drive to a hybrid drive or solid state drive (SSD). RAM and SSD drives will make a really big difference in speed.

Check out the upgrades available at OtherWorldComputing (OWC):
https://www.macsales.com/ (and other fine retailers).

One advantage of some of the older Macs is that they ARE upgradeable. The newest Macs have RAM soldered to the motherboard instead of socketed. This makes upgrades nearly impossible, although it does improve reliability.

wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

Not sure. I think 17".

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

The MacBookPro5,2 is a 17" MacBook Pro that came out in early 2009. The only thing I would do is increase the RAM to 8GB.

wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

Is that possible?


The lady is asking $450 for it... worth it?

Sorry for all the questions, but I've been a PC user, and am only thinking of going to a Mac because of all I've heard about it being good for photography.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Plenty of power, but possibly light on ram as has been said.... 8 GB, the more the merrier )

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

Take a look on eBay to see what they are going for. $450 appears reasonable if it is in decent condition. An 8GB RAM upgrade is about $100 new.

wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

Thank you for all your replies.

So.....should I switch to the Mac for photo editing??

Decisions, decisions...

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

I have 7 Mac's in the house, 2 IMACS, 2 Mac Mini's, & 3 Macbook Airs.... would not even consider switching back to Windows....I made the switch a very long time ago.

I use Lightroom and Photoshop on my 27" IMac and it definitely runs great for all my photography edits.

wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

I use both of those on my Dell laptop and also a PC, and they run fine. I guess the best question would be.... are the graphics that much better on a Mac? Or should I take that money and put it towards an L lens instead.... that is what I'm pondering.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

On a NEW Mac ?

Yes, I think the new Mac displays are great..... but you are looking at a 2008ish Macbook....it will not have the retina display.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Err... You get what you pay for.

It is 'adequate', not great.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

L Lens!!! Not even a question in my mind!

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Not in my opinion. The RAM at 4GB will kill you. Eight GB is bare minimum with 16GB being much better. I have 3 MacBook Pros (4,8 and 16). I have an iMac with 16GB. I like having 16GB and feel it works better for me. I don't worry about HD size because I use external hard drives for storage for the most part.