wds0410 Loc: Nunya

I switched to Apple years ago and have no regrets. Everything (Macbook Pro, Ipad, and Iphone) works seamlessly which is a wonderful thing. Ain't cheap but well worth it in my opinion.

olddutch Loc: Beloit, Wisconsin

I would visit you’re nearest Apple store and have them give you a rundown on what the MacBook Pro has to offer. And make my decision from that.My MacBook Pro came with photos which I can do the post processing that I need to do in my amateur photography work. Lots of luck on your decision wishing you the best.

DHooch

I'm a retired computer systems analyst. I would have had a Mac in a minute. However, I needed to be compatible with everyone else, so I went with Windows. I know that there are software applications on a Mac that allow you to use Windows software, but, I haven't been shown that they are 100% compatible. If you already know Windows, I'd stick with it. Just get the best performing computer you can afford, either Mac or Windows.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

I would've liked to switch to MAC, but found them to be "cost prohibited", I bought a PC laptop that was billed as a "gaming" machine. 17" monitor, I7-9750 CPU, 64K RAM, 2TB SSB, 2TB HDD, NVIDIA 4GB. A MacBook Pro set up similar would have needed a mortgage instead of a credit card.

https://www.amazon.com/GF75-Thin-Notebook-IPS-Level-Computer/dp/B07YPXH85P/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=msi+cuk+laptop+2tb+ssd+2tb+hdd+64K+ram&qid=1582382085&sr=8-1-fkmr1

photoman43

I am a windows user. I have never been convinced that Apple products were worth the extra $$$. And I do not like the available ports on their laptops.

My current laptop is used for image processing. Check out the models made by Lenovo ThinkPad Extreme and see if you can find a 15 inch model that comes with enough RAM to meet your needs and has the screen that you need. Mine has 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD drive. I would not get any laptop with less if you are going to use it for image processing. Make sure you understand how RAM is used for video too.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

We have 4 PC's in the house, the oldest over 10 years going strong, updated from Win 7 all the way to current never a problem, knock wood, second a cheap Celeron processor about 8 years old both still going strong, an HP 24" all in one and a new Lenovo flex , travel machine, as evidenced we don't have any problem with windows machines lasting several years!

BebuLamar

Most of the PC's I ever used lasted more than 10 years. But most computers don't break, people simply move on to newer things.

BebuLamar

I agree with you. The PC is really generic computer and the Mac is really personal computer. And yes you can buy more performance with a Windows machine. The Mac has limit on both the high end and low end.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

Stick with windows. A large learning curve if you go the Mac route and a lot more money. For windows laptops I used dell latitude’s for many years in work and they were terrific.

I recently had an opportunity to open up a five year old Dell Latitude laptop and an HP pavilion laptop to upgrade them with an SSD and more memory. The engineering in general of the Dell latitude I thought was much better. The Dell Latitude was a piece of cake to open up and replace memory and the system hard drive. The HP pavilion was a nightmare to open up and even get to the memory which was under the motherboard. I have no idea Why HP would design it like that? Just my opinion.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

I found the change to Mac OS9 years ago now using OS (Catalina) seamless, way easier to use than Windows 10( which I use on my laptop)

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If you are planning to use the laptop for image editing I would encourage you to spend extra on the following...

- Easy expandability. No matter what you get now, you're likely to want more RAM and larger storage in the future. Besides a growing archive of images, software programs aren't getting smaller and each new generation demands more memory to work well. Some extra time and perhaps a little more money spent now might get you a computer you can continue to happily use for years longer. Laptops are far more limited than desktops in their "future-proofness". Desktop upgrades are relatively easy, if and when they are needed. Especially Windows machines.
- Ability to use an external monitor. One of the problems using any laptop for image editing is the lack of "repeatability". Every time you move the laptop to a new location, or even every time you close and re-open it, it essentially needs to be re-calibrated for brightness and color rendition, if you want accurate image editing. The best solution is to set up a workspace where you'll do your editing with an external monitor.... but not all laptops can handle that very well, if at all.
- If you don't already have one, get a monitor calibration device along with the software to use it. Even if you don't get a new computer now, your image editing will improve in leaps and bounds simply by calibrating your monitor. But, again, accurate calibration is difficult with a laptop screen that's regularly re-positioned and moved from one lighting environment to another.

IMO, for the large part it really doesn't matter that much whether it's a Mac or Win system. At one time or another I've used both. For many years I've primarily use Windows simply because I prefer to be able to customize my own computer. That's a lot easier and quite a bit more affordable with Windows machines. But other folks find the Mac system works better for them, and I don't argue with that at all.

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

I'm using a 3 year old Lenovo Legion gaming laptop with an IPS screen. It works really well for photography.

John O.

I recommend that you stick with a Windows laptop. Consider an Intel i7 microprocessor or nothing lower than an i5. 16 Gb of RAM, a separate video card with 4 Gb of video ram, and a solid state hard drive Someone talked about an IPS screen -- this will give you truer colors and is only a few dollars more than other LED screens. Windows PCs are appreciably lower in cost than MAC and most software is made for PCs.
I've worked with PCs back in the DOS days and through Windows 10. Windows 10 is more stable than older versions of Windows.
Our photo club has 10 student PCs and 3 MAC computers. We ran dual boot software on the MACs and found that Windows 10 operates much slower in the new MACs and so does Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom in that mode. Our club computer tech took off Windows 10 because of how slow our software ran and frequent crashes. Now our MACs only run in MAC mode and that resolved our problems except we now have 3 less computers that can be used as PCs.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I agree. If you’re going to run Windows apps, run them natively on a Windows machine. Running Windows apps on a Mac under Parallels, BootCamp or VMWare has proven buggy for many that have tried it, including myself.

Photec

I don't want to sell you on a brand, but I can tell you what I did when faced with the same exact dilemma. I looked for specs that would give me what I wanted to travel with and still have speed and convenience. I wanted 2 hard drives, a very fast m.2 drive for OS and Programs, and a space for SSD drive for documents and pictures, 17" screen, 16 G RAM, 3.1 USB3.1, with a good video card. I have never regretted the one I got, the HP 450 ProBook G3, added more memory and a second SSD. I would highly recommend these specs, but strongly suggest you research other brands and models that may be better suited to your needs since I have had mine for several years. The m.2 drive for the OS is very necessary, and the onboard SSD is really convenient. I also carry a USB 3.1 external drive and back up everything I shoot daily while on the road. When I get home I simply connect my portable external drive to my Desktop computer and upload all at once.