GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

My iMac is late 2014 and will not update past Big Sur v.11.7.10. Therefore, I can no longer update Lightroom Classic nor use the new features. I also have a MacBook Pro (2016) and it will update to Monterey v.12.7.2 Lightroom is version 13.1 on the MacBook and v.12.5 on the iMac. I can use the new blur feature on the MacBook; but when I open the same picture in the same catalog on the iMac, the effects are not there. I will need to update one of my computers, but which one?

I know Adobe recommends macOS Ventura v.13 and an XDR display. The newest MacBook Pro has a Liquid Retina XDR display but the newest iMAC has a (plain?) Liquid Retina display. Currently, I prefer to edit my photos on the 24-inch screen of the iMAC but I can edit on the MacBook even though the display is smaller. Unfortunately, when comparing a new MacBook vs a new iMAC, you can't compare apples to apples (pun intended). The chip is better in the MacBook but you can get more unified memory for $370 less in the iMac. What is more important? The chip or the memory? Just for clarity, I've included the specs for my 2 choices. Which would you choose? Pease don't try to talk me out of an Apple computer. I HATE the Microsoft OS.

iMAC 24" - $2329.00 (-$120 for 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU and no USB 3 ports)
M3 chip with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
24 GB unified memory (-$200 for 16 GB, but will 16 GB be enough?)
1 TB SSD
2 Thunderbolt 4 ports
2 USB 3 ports
Magic Mouse
Keyboard with numeric pad

MacBook Pro 16"- $2699.00
M3 Pro chip with 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
18 GB unified memory (+$400 for 36 GB)
1 TB SSD
MagSafe 3 port for power
3 Thunderbolt 4 ports
HDMI port
SDXC card slot
headphone jack
140 W USB-C Power adaptor

jcboy3

Apple only supports computers that are up to 5-7 years old.

If you are going to have a desktop and laptop, you need to plan to upgrade both regularly.

Since the iMac is too old to support recent Lightroom features, you should have a strategy that upgrades your desktop. But your laptop is going to go out of support as well, and you will have a year or so after that before your apps stop supporting it.

What you do depends on whether you want to continue with a desktop and laptop, or switch to just a laptop with a large monitor for desktop use.

If you are going to keep with the desktop/laptop paradigm, then I recommend upgrading your iMac to a Mac mini and Studio Display (or a less expensive third party monitor). I have had an iMac in the past, and the issue is that you have to toss a perfectly good monitor because you can't use it if you need to upgrade the computer. I find that to be just plain wasteful.

And then you will need to plan to upgrade your laptop in short order. Personally, I don't like running different operating systems on my desktop and laptop, and when I can't upgrade the OS on either, I upgrade the hardware.

Alternatively, you can drop the desktop and put all your money into a laptop and monitor. You will get much better hardware, and you won't have to keep upgrading both. In the past, this wasn't an option because laptops didn't have the processing power. Now, that's not really the case.

So, either upgrade your iMac to a Mac Mini and Studio Display, and plan to upgrade your laptop in the near future (very near, in my opinion), or upgrade your MacBookPro to the latest version, top off the memory and storage, and add a Studio Display for desktop use, and get rid of your iMac.

jdub82 Loc: Northern California

My preference leans strongly toward the convenience of my MacBook for editing over a desktop computer. I am no longer using a desktop. The portability is a big advantage. I can take the MacBook with me when traveling if I desire, and easily edit some of my photos during the trip. When at home, I can edit from the comfort of the chair I prefer when using the MacBook for editing. However, I do believe it is a matter of personal preference. If you feel you really need the larger 24" display to adequately view and edit your photos, that may work better for you. Otherwise, I would go with the MacBook.

FalconChase Loc: Canton,Ohio, USA

[

So, either upgrade your iMac to a Mac Mini and Studio Display, and plan to upgrade your laptop in the near future (very near, in my opinion), or upgrade your MacBookPro to the latest version, top off the memory and storage, and add a Studio Display for desktop use, and get rid of your iMac.[/quote]

Completely agree.

neillaubenthal

Either of those will be fine…RAM isn’t a big issue for either with Apple’s silicon chips…well, it is but not as much as it used to be with Intel chips. Either screen is fine…so your choice really comes down to whether you want a laptop or desktop. 16GB is plenty for LR…but generally speaking the current iMac is less fully featured. If it were me…I would get the laptop and an external 4K or 5K monitor for home use and not worry about keeping up 2 computers…unless you have other reasons for having both. I need a machine that is always on at home for file sharing, printer hosting, scanner hosting, and laptop backups over wifi…so I wanted and can afford both the Mac Studio and its display in the office and a 14 MBP for daily use and travel but using LrC on the smaller display of any laptop is a pain and ypu don’t want to do it full time. In your case…particularly if you take it out of the house…I would suggest the 14 MBP instead and a 27 inch monitor. Apple’s Studio display is nice…but there are plenty of very nice displays like the LG for less money, and the 14 is cheaper than the 16 laptop to partially offset the extra monitor cost. If I didn’t need a ‘server’ at home that’s the way I would go myself.

After size…then pick the chipset you need…I would suggest the M3 Pro over the vanilla M3 for longevity reasons…but getting the Max or eventual Ultra version is way overkill unless you’re. Pro or are seriously interested in lengthy videos…and even the base M anything is vastly faster than any of the Intel Mac hardware. RAM…16 is fine for LrC but I personally would get 24 for future proofing reasons…and get as much storage as you can afford because it’s fixed. I have the M1 Pro 14 MBP and it runs LrC just fine…and really, even an M1 base would be plenty fine for any non pro use.

If I were doing this clean slate from scratch…I would get the 14 M3 Pro MBP…the 11/14 core will actually be fine but the 12/18 will be (maybe) marginally faster but would give (maybe) 1-2 more years on future proofing. I would get 36GB RAM for future proofing, but again the 18 will be more than enough unless you do pro or video work which doesn’t sound like the case. 2 TB storage but if budget is a problem 1 is enough…but depending on the size of your catalog and originals it might not be enough for everything. I personally would put my catalog and images on either a 4TB internal or external SSD and when space became an issue would move older year images to another drive in LrC and keep catalog, current year images, and Smart Previews of all images on the internal or external SSD. Since I have need for a home server…I would get the lowest end Mac Mini for that and run it headless in the closet with big drives hanging off of it…and use Screens to control it remotely when needed, but would keep it close enough to the big display to run a cable to it when occasionally needed.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

My (win10) desktop died about 2 years ago. I limped along on my (win10) laptop (still using it) but then got an Apple Silicon M1 laptop. The old laptop now does the residual windows applications that Apple doesn't support and the new Mac laptop does everything else. I got the 16" screen, which is not quite up to the 21" screen that I had but I moved to smaller quarters also and don't have room to attach the 21" screen to the Mac. When I get more space I will add the 21" screen and have a dual screen system, which I had on the desktop previously. It helps to be able to run both LR and PS on different screens.

You might find the new Apple Silicon laptop to be sufficient for all your needs. When you need a desktop, just put the laptop down and connect the extra monitor.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

May I make another suggestion?

I had the same problem and, after some research, purchased a Mac Studio Cube, configured to my specifications, and a 27" BenQ monitor. The old Mac keyboard and mouse work just fine with the new setup. Go to the Mac website and give the Studio setup a look. What I like best about it is that I had it built with the ram, memory, etc. installed as I wanted it. A custom setup, so to speak.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

I would go with the MacBook Pro 16”.

I just bought one recently and I like the portability.

Why have 2 units?

Unfortunately for me, mine is an M2 chip and they came out with the M 3 like 2 weeks later.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The monitor difference isn't that big a deal. I'm running the latest LrC and Ps on a 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 16GB memory, 1TB storage, and 8 cpu, 8 gpu, and 16 ne/npu cores. It does what I need, including 4K video editing in Final Cut Pro. I use it with an external LG 27" monitor. My wife and I have the same exact machine.

I would go for either of those systems and make my choice based on the need for a desktop or laptop form factor. Our last computer was an iMac, but both of us have decided we want laptops after using them at work for decades. That said, the iMac is a GREAT desktop if that's what you need. Do spec it out with max options if you intend to keep it long term. If you get the MacBook Pro, the 36GB option is probably more than you need, but it IS future-proofing.

The realistic support life of a Mac is about five to seven years. Beyond that, either the software gets too advanced, or the hardware can't run the latest OS. The Mac itself will probably last ten years or more. We still have a 1999 PowerMac G4 that works, and a 2010 Mac mini that works, and a 2013 iMac that works. But they are NOT safe on the Internet because they get no security updates.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Was recently in a similar predicament with 12 year old Mac mini and 13 year old MacBook Pro. Abandoned the MacBook, gave the mini to a grandson, and got a Mac Studio designed to my specifications. My ancient thunderbolt monitor works well with an adapter. I now use an ipad for photo work when traveling, it is smaller/lighter and adequate for my purposes since I don't do final editing till I get home and get everything backed up and on the big monitor.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

I am all for portability, but with horsepower. My suggestion would be the MacBook Pro with as much ram as you can afford and if you have to pinch, hold back on the storage. Portable storage is really affordable these days. Love my M2 chip and 16" MacBook with 64GB of ram.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I’m strictly a MacBook user because I prefer the comfort and portability. That said, were I you, I would dump the iMac and invest in a large monitor that will pair nicely with your New MacBook Pro. I’ll tell you a story. I was a month away from a photo safari when I was in a photo workshop. My 2014 MacBook was excruciatingly slow. I complained and the woman sitting next to me asked how old it was. I had given absolutely no thought to the fact that it was nearly 10 years old! She told me to get a new computer before I left because it was a question of when not if it would fail. I took her advice. Why? Because she is head of cyber security at a large pharmaceutical company here in Boston.
‘

jcboy3

I bought an iMac several years ago, because the Mac desktop solutions were pathetic and expensive. With the newer Mini and Studio computers, I'm back to a separate computer and monitor for my main system. You can't swap internals in a Mac; not even memory or storage. So the computer needs to be upgraded often. The monitor can easily last twice as long, and tossing a monitor to upgrade the computer is a big waste.

I don't like working with a laptop, but I travel a lot so I have one that can be used for the photos and videos I take, so 1TB storage is usually adequate.

I prefer keeping all of our systems on the same level operating system, so when one computer gets deprecated, I eventually replace it to bring them all up to the recent OS version.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I never thought about adding a studio display to use with the MacBookPro but I think your last option is the best. It's too cost prohibitive to keep upgrading both, especially now that I am retired. Is a studio display an apple product? If not, what brand and specs would be best?

Thank you for your very helpful response!

jcboy3

It is an Apple product. It connects via USB-C/Thunderbolt and adds 3 USB-C expansion ports.

There are cheaper third party monitors, some mentioned by others in this post.

I do recommend upgrading storage to at least 1TB. I prefer more, and have 2TB on my desktop, but only 1TB on my laptop.