donwidger

I would love to buy the latest Macbook pro, but can't afford it. I happened upon a late 2013 Macbook pro 13" with retina display. It has a 2.8ghz i7 processor, 16gb memory,and 1tb ssd. I shoot with a Nikon D850, use Lightroom 6, Affinity Photo and am playing with Luminar3 for editing. Is this MBP to antiquated to be of use? Anyone still using a similar MBP let me know your experience. I would be moving from a Windows 10 machine. I think I can pick up this machine for $510. I just bought my wife a Macbook Air 13" from 2015 with a 1.7ghz i7 8gb,128ssd for 275$ from the same pawn shop. She loves it so far,but doesn't do much processing outside of apples photos app.

HRoss Loc: Longmont, CO

It’s not too old. I’m still using a 2009 iMac running LR & PS with no problems.

One word of advice. Moving from Windows to Mac is more of a philosophical change than you might think. While the Apple products are designed to be “intuitive” if you are skilled in the Windows environment, this will be a change. Ultimately you will be pleased, but it can be frustrating at first.

Best of luck.

donwidger

Thanks for the reply. I do use an iPhone, iwatch, and iPad. The few times I've used my wife's Macbook, I keep wanting to do a right mouse click, that doesn't seem to be part of osx, so it would take some getting used too.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

I have a 15” 2014 model almost identical but with a 256 gig SSD. My processor is roughly twice as fast and has no trouble running Lightroom and Photoshop. That particular i7 isn’t a speed deamon with a score of 4397. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4558U+%40+2.80GHz&id=2094

Here’s details on that Mac. http://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i7-2.8-13-late-2013-retina-display-specs.html

It’s not a bad system at that price but if you’re patient and diligently watch Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist you’ll likely find a better deal. Get proficient at looking up models on EveryMac and looking up the processor model (found on everymac) at cpubenchmark.net to find speed scores.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Go to the mouse settings in system preferences and turn on right click, works great, no clue why it isn’t on by default... also feel free to plug in your trusty Logitech wireless mouse with a real right button, also works great.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Truly, I LOVE the trackpad in MacBooks! A 2 finger click is a right click, swipe 2 fingers onto the pad from the right slides in the quick access panel on the right side of the screen, 4 finger swipe up let’s you seek everything that running and there’s so much more you can do! 4 finger swipe left or right switches between all your full screen apps! I use the trackpad whenever I can and only use a mouse if I have no choice and live with its limitations.

TimB72 Loc: Bedford, Texas

I use a mid 2009 17" MacBook Pro with OSX Mojave, 8gb ram and 512gb ssd running Photoshop CC 2019 and Lightroom Classic. The major slow down in Lightroom is loading previews in the develop module. Photoshop runs with no major problems and very few beachballs. I know it is not as fast as a newer mac but it is 10 years old and paid for. Being retired I have lots lots time, so speed is not a concern.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

If you are not a power user it might fit however, a 13" screen is rather small for editing work. Best of luck.

donwidger

I do have a nice 27" Dell ultrasharp monitor for the photos I really want to work with, but I see your point on such a small screen

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I have both a 2009 MacbookPro 13 inch 2.3GHz dual core, 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive running El Capitan with and a 2016 iMac 27 inch Retina, 3.2 GHz i5, 16GB memory, 1T Fusion drive, running the latest Mojave. I shoot a 42mp and 24mp Sony cameras. I usually load my photo into the MacBookPro and they are automatically transfered to my iMac. Most off the basic PP I do on the MacBook Pro in Apple Photos. Anything that needs more twerking then I do it on my iMac in Elements, ON1, Apple Photos, or Capture One. The MacBookPro does OK even the 42mp images though much slower than the 24mp images. I would not go for a MacBookPro but a used iMac. You will get more power and a bigger screen to work with and an equal or lower price. The 21inch iMac is not much more space than a full size laptop, just not as sexy. I also use a windows 10 laptop and desktop. Being a teacher at the college, I have to present my Photo class via Windows because that is what the college is set up on. Plus, many students run Windows systems. Then there is a smaller number that use Apple. So I have to be versed in both systems. I would buy the newest system that you can afford. That way it will be supported the longest. I would recommend the iMac over the laptops for reasons previously stated. The learning curve is not too bad between both systems. Good luck and hope you will appreciate moveing to Apple.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

I just went through the transition from PC to Mac last week. I purchased a loaded MacBook Pro 15 (2019) and I am absolutely amazed as to how easy it was to make the big jump. This is an incredible piece of equipment that runs every piece of software lightning bast. Still in my 'honeymoon'... we'll see how it goes.

By the way, running Capture One 12 or Premier as an example, is certainly a delight.

droszel

On the track pad, click with two fingers. =Right click.

Collhar Loc: New York City.

I think we are at the same table. Almost the same. I have El Capitan, 10.11.6. I have LR, PS, Luminar 3. Plus some other edit in stuff I never use. If I could find out where they are I would delete them. Mine is a tad slow with the photo stuff. It is fine with the important stuff.

bbrown5154 Loc: Baltimore, MD

You have to set your mouse up to use the right click. I'm using 10.14.3 and works for me.
Go to System Prefs (in your dock) then click on mouse. It will or should take you to a window to set it up and also have mini videos of what it does.

sumo Loc: Houston suburb

I was a 25+ year Microsoft user, 2 or 3 Dells, couple of Samsung’s, three HPs, even one home made one. Got so tired of calling for support seemed like yearly and talking to someone I could barely understand.

I got access to a free 8 year old MAC. Played around with it for a while. I got used to it although lots to learn. Year later Bought a Mac book pro, then later bought 27 inch MAC.
Now On my second MAC desktop, wife took the Mac book pro.
NEVER would I buy another Microsoft computer