lensmaster Loc: Chicago

GET AS MUCH RAM AS YOU CAN AFFORD.....makes a huge difference with ADOBE products, especially PHOTOSHOP.
Get the largest hard drive you can as well, nothing worse than running out of room.

You can always add an external drive to save files and images to which will free up the internal drive. Rule of thumb is never load the internal drive more than 35-40%. More on the drive the slower the computer will be.

AS for software...PHOTOSHOP is the baseline software, but I know that PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS does an ok job. Don't overwhelm yourself with additional filters and presets, learn the basics and become well versed in those before you start adding options.

Many people save images to the CLOUD, but then you are at the mercy of an unknown server out of your control and if that crashes or dies....well, you lost all your stuff.

Imagemine Loc: St. Louis USA

My suggestion would be light room, but unfortunately it comes as a subscription there's a but fortunately you get photo shop alongside of that . Think your choice of laptop is great but don't forget a external hard drive. Hope my advice helps 🤔 Good luck!

JRiepe Loc: Southern Illinois

Tracy, I agree.

JKaye Loc: Chicago

I just bought the Apple 16 inch screen with the Apple M1 Pro and 16 gigs of memory. I almost squandered on the Studio system but I am using this for photo post production not video and the folks at B & H talked me out of it. Once again, they were right on the mark. I am very happy with this and it exceeds just about all i need.

You will be too...

GEngel-usmc Loc: Spencerport NY - I miss Lakeland, FL

Also suggest MacBook with an M1 Processor/16 GB ~ equals 32 gb Intel processor - just my opinion.

lensmaster Loc: Chicago

yes, the STUDIO SYSTEM is for hard core video production....

the APPLE M1 PRO is the best choice, I would add a little more Ram. Perhaps 32gb if you plan on processing and retouching a lot but 16 is a good start (you can always add more).

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Just about all the mainstream reviewers agree with you. The Apple SOC architecture is entirely different from x86 Intel.

It is RISC, not CISC. It uses fewer instruction cycles to do the same thing. So it can run at a lower clock speed yet do more.

It has UNIFIED memory. The same pool of memory is used for video as is used for all other processing tasks. The same data can be accessed from the same location by different processor cores, so it does not have to be moved someplace and then moved back after it is changed. It is changed in place.

The DDR5 RAM used in the unified memory is very fast, and it is located on the processor die, not in a socket located inches away on the motherboard. This improves reliability as well as speed of access, since it takes electrons one nanosecond to go about 11 inches. All those nanoseconds do add up...

The memory bus in the M1 moves at 100 GBPS. In the M1 Pro, that's 200 GBPS. In the M1 Max, that's 400 GBPS. in the M1 Ultra, that's 800 GBPS.

The fast memory combined with fast bus speed means that virtual memory operations happen so quickly you never really know whether data is in memory or virtual memory. The computer just keeps "moving," with few hesitations.

The Apple SOCs are based on a 5nm chip process that requires about 1/3 the power for a given amount of performance. That means less heat, quieter fans, (NO fan in the MacBook Air).

These SOCs contain many different processors on one die, including special media encoder/decoder chips.

Here's a really interesting video by a PC/Windows diehard who has been converted to a Mac User. It's not all bubblegum and roses, but he's switched.

https://youtu.be/gjQyIUMKmZ8

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fstoppers+macbook

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

NO. YOU CANNOT ADD MORE MEMORY TO ANY APPLE SOC MAC. At least, not the models currently sold.

The memory is part of the processor, on the same die. It is soldered. So consider memory needs carefully. Buy as much memory AND INTERNAL STORAGE as you need when you buy the computer, because neither can be changed later.

JBGLADSTONE Loc: Oregon

I am impressed with all that had been suggested. However, ON1 2022.1 offers a total post processing software with the best No Noise and now Resize. You do not have add any outside software. Oh, yes you can buy ON1 monthly.

All that being said, RAM is very important, 32 t least 64 much better. Plus having a high performing video card with 2-4GB RAM. You will be rapidly be post processing in seconds using ON1.

My older computer has 64k RAM, only a 6 core processor and a 2GB video card. It processes a photograph in No Noise in about 20 seconds. I am sure you could have even faster results with newer computer.

Now let's see how fast and simple ON1 2022.1 takes to process a well taken picture.
1) After opening ON1 & selecting a picture to process
2) Select "Develop"
3) Select "AI""
4) Select "Export" and name the finished photograph
5) Done ... Took about 30 seconds.

Oh for sure you can do much much more post processing, like using No Noise, then use effects to select " Dynamic Contrast " and of course Cropying and Leveling. So now, you have only added , say 20-30 seconds for Croping , added 29 seconds for No Noise, add 20 seconds for Dynamic Contrast.
Once you learn editing via YouTube videos the sky is the limit. Try ON1 for 14 days free

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The original poster is interested in buying a 16" MacBook with an M1 Pro processor. The 14 or 16 graphics processor cores are integrated parts of that system on a chip. Because the M1 Pro manages memory very differently from x86 PCs, any memory can be used by any processor core. And because the unified memory is so fast, and the memory bus runs at 200 GBPS, and the memory is ON the processor die itself, virtual memory operations are nearly indistinguishable from normal memory operations. 16-32 GB is plenty for almost all applications. The more storage on board, the better, because it maximizes available swap memory.

r1ch Loc: Colorado

I agree, but most people will not listen or consider alternatives.
First always buy around black friday sale prices for PC. 2 Christmas ago, I bought from bestbuy HP OMEN - 15.6" Gaming Laptop - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 512GB SSD AMD H4800 8core 16thread which was faster than the original M1 chip in multi thread applications (not in single thread applications but most applications use multi thread) It plays top tier games (because of the discrete Nividia gpu which smokes the M1) which the M1 cannot play or compete. You can upgrade memory and it has a second nvme drive slot. The monitor has a great review in brightness and CRI Color. $850.. At this price you could buy 2 more laptops over the next 4 years (compared to the Apple at $2600) and have the latest technology (though not the most expensive processor or gpu). Or money to buy a nice monitor or more camera gear. The battery life though not as good as the M1 will get you 7-8 hours which is more than enough, and when the battery dies, you can buy an new one and replace it yourself. Life is good if you buy a pc if you can operate one. If not, your ignorance is punished by the high price of a mac. Macs are great machines and you pay through the nose to own one.

r1ch Loc: Colorado

I agree, On1 Photo raw (especially if you buy it around black friday) Is the least expensive best all in one solution for editing photos with layers and filters that lighroom does not have. If you feel you have to have a photoshop replacement with all the filter effects it has, Affinity Photo. On sale you can buy both for the 1 year subscription of Adobe and own the software forever and not have to upgrade.

I will say though the sharpening in On1 is not a match for Topaz Sharpen AI or DenoiseAI. Resize is good enough for sure (genuine fractals) and will be getting AI.

I pretty much only use On1, Affinity photo and Topaz plugins, Sharpen AI, Denoise AI and Topaz Studio has some great effects that work well with On1 or Affinity photo.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

At least 32 Gb RAM, 1TB ssd, best video card available. Consider an external monitor 27” the best you can swing.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBooks Pro have on-chip graphics. No cards are available (and that’s a VERY good thing).

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Good point!