Mac Computer discussion for Photographers: I currently have a 21.5-inch iMac (desktop) that I edit from, plus a 15-inch MacBook Pro for my mobility needs. I take my iMac back and forth...

karelowe Loc: Boise, Idaho, & Mesa, AZ

I currently have a 21.5-inch iMac (desktop) that I edit from, plus a 15-inch MacBook Pro for my mobility needs. I take my iMac back and forth from home to AZ when we go south for the winter (laptop as well). I am soon, going to need to replace computers. (thanks to my older graphics cards which I am not able to change out in either computer)

I have several options to choose from and am curious as to what others do. I would love to go to a 13 inch MacBook Pro for convenience and easier travel, but have also pondered the idea of just having a laptop and hook it up to monitors and work with the laptop from there. Does anyone do this, and if so pros and cons on this scenario? If I did this, should I stick with a 15-inch or would the 13-inch do as well? Dual Processors (13 in) vs. quad Processors (15 in)? ….I hate the thought of upgrading to 2 new computers. Thanks for any input.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

I use a 15" MacBook Pro for all of my editing and have a Samsung monitor attached to it so I have no trouble seeing stuff. Actually there is a small problem - The colors are not quite the same on the different screens, but it's not a deal breaker.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Exactly what is it that you current computers can't do? Do they have HDMI ports for an external monitor? I don't know a thing about the iMac desktop other than it's an all in one monitor with the cpu built in and that 21.5 is small by todays standards but I think they still make them with or without the 4k Retina display. If your computers aren't too old, and you're just looking to buy a new iMac desktop with a larger display (27"?), sell them on Craigslist and buy new computers. I'd be curious to see what a 27" display looked like connected to your MacBook Pro. This might be the way to go.

I don't know, I'm not a Mac person so others may chime in and tell you what they'd do. One thing I would do to breath new life into an older computer is put an SSD drive in them. Someone with a Mac recently posted here that's what they did and it turned their computer into a new computer for the price of a new drive.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

I'm a graphic designer, part of a 11 person firm. We run off of mid 2014 15" MBP with maxed ram, SSD drives and LG 34UM95 Ultra-wide monitors. We used to each have a tower and a laptop (10 years ago)...but honestly it's so much better just running with the laptop. We have two other towers in the office that we share if we need more computing power. My current set up works great for about 99% of the work I do...the other 1% is when I have an usually large complex CAD file to deal with in Adobe Illustrator...those usually require a bit more oomph to process.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Howard5252 wrote:

I use a 15" MacBook Pro for all of my editing and have a Samsung monitor attached to it so I have no trouble seeing stuff. Actually there is a small problem - The colors are not quite the same on the different screens, but it's not a deal breaker.

Have you calibrated both screens, not by eyeball but with a puck and software? Set the same Colorspace?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

romanticf16 wrote:

Have you calibrated both screens, not by eyeball but with a puck and software? Set the same Colorspace?

We use a spyder 4 Pro for our monitors and laptops...no issues.

karelowe Loc: Boise, Idaho, & Mesa, AZ

Cdouthitt wrote:

I'm a graphic designer, part of a 11 person firm. ... (show quote)

It sounds like your graphics card has served you well over this amount of time. I think that has been one of my fears since learning that the graphics card is preventing me from using/handling the new "fun things" adobe photoshop CC offers. My 15 inch is so heavy, antique I am sure at this point. Think that is why the 13-in sounded so enticing. It is nice to know that the 15-inch will do what I am wanting and maybe only having to get 1 computer. Thanks for your information.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

karelowe wrote:

It sounds like your graphics card has served you well over this amount of time. I think that has been one of my fears since learning that the graphics card is preventing me from using/handling the new "fun things" adobe photoshop CC offers. My 15 inch is so heavy, antique I am sure at this point. Think that is why the 13-in sounded so enticing. It is nice to know that the 15-inch will do what I am wanting and maybe only having to get 1 computer. Thanks for your information.

At the time of purchase of our 15" machines...we looked at the 13" as well, but the were only dual core processors back then with that model (note that it is still the same today). With LR, after I edit a session (sometimes upwards of 400-600 shots) I export out the photos in 2-3 equal batches simultaneously...it's faster than just doing one giant export. This is where extra cores help.

karelowe Loc: Boise, Idaho, & Mesa, AZ

Cdouthitt wrote:

At the time of purchase of our 15" machines...we looked at the 13" as well, but the were only dual core processors back then with that model (note that it is still the same today). With LR, after I edit a session (sometimes upwards of 400-600 shots) I export out the photos in 2-3 equal batches simultaneously...it's faster than just doing one giant export. This is where extra cores help.

Thank you for that info. Probably what I knew, but just maybe silently hoping that the 13 would be big enough. Obviously 4 cores would be better. Sometimes my lack of computer "techness" keeps me from totally understanding that at times, 2 of this, doesn't equal 4 of that. I appreciate your comments and knowledge as it seems they come from someone who actually uses the setup. If it is ok, can I ask a favor from you? What would be your 1st and 2nd main options for setting up a 15 inch MacBook Pro?.. ....I know new items may be in the future and will wait of course, but just curious what items you feel are most important.....Also, would it be beneficial to (maybe) buy a new decked out older version than maybe having to get a lesser newer model? (presuming of course new ones do come out). I always hate to get "last years model" but money may make a difference. Thanks again!!

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

karelowe wrote:

Thank you for that info. Probably what I knew, bu... (show quote)

Here's the spec's on what I'm running:
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
2.5 GHz Intel Quad-Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2048 MB
500 GB SSD drive
1TB External Drive (Backup, timemachine)

It's still running like a champ...but we will likely upgrade in 2 years, or the next time there is a major overhaul of the MBP lineup...but that has more to due with being a business.

That said I see no issue getting one similar to this, or perhaps the next year newer. Just max the RAM and get an SSD internal drive with an external drive as well.

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

My 27-inch iMac does a great job. The difference from my older 21-inch astonishes.
Go look before you buy.

karelowe Loc: Boise, Idaho, & Mesa, AZ

Is it more important to upgrade the Processor over the Capacity? Know that can be a loaded question as I know more is better.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Does having or not having an optical drive for reading/writing CDs/DVDs matter. Apple no longer provides them in the laptop family. For the most part internal hard drives have been replaced by solid state memory. Affects cost.

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

John_F wrote:

Does having or not having an optical drive for reading/writing CDs/DVDs matter. Apple no longer provides them in the laptop family. For the most part internal hard drives have been replaced by solid state memory. Affects cost.

There are no optical drives in the iMacs any more either. I just got an external optical drive.

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

I used a 15" MacBook Pro and I have a 23" Dell monitor for viewing. This works great for me.

For your purpose you might consider converting the iMac to be a monitor and just buy a separate monitor and leave it in the winter location.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/use-imac-display-as-monitor-for-another-mac-3596055/