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Author Topic: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?  (Read 3767 times)

Brookie

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MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« on: March 04, 2016, 10:26:15 am »

I am still new to serious digital photography.  I did a lot of LF film work back in the day, but for a variety of reasons let the hobby dwindle until recently when I finally got a decent digital camera.  So I am going to start subscribing to LightroomCC too.  But before I do this, I am also considering shifting from a PC to an Apple.  With that in mind, I have a couple questions:

1 - For those of you who have worked with Lightroom in both PC and Apple, do you have a preference and why?
2 - For those of you who work with a MacBook, which model do you prefer and why?

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RikkFlohr

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2016, 10:45:59 am »

I work daily in Windows 10 and El Capitan - fairly evenly divided in time between the two. I have no preference between the two platforms for Lightroom usage.

If stranded on a desert island and only have one computer, it would be the Win 10 box. I have certain software that isn't available for Mac that is mission critical.  (assuming my mission still exists on the desert island)

For your second question, I use a MBPr 15 inch with 16GB of Ram. It is a 2013 vintage and performs quite nicely. It falls in speed between my 4 YO HP system and the new custom built system I threw together last month. In a pinch I can do all my LR-related work on it with no loss of productivity.
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Paul2660

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2016, 11:20:22 am »

Same,

I use a Macbook pro in the field, with bootcamp and win 7, but I prefer the Mac OS on the laptop.  LR works seamlessly between win7 and Mac.  I use PC win7 for all my printing and main studio processing work.

LR as far as I can tell besides the keyboard shortcuts, which I don't use much, seems to be exactly the same. And runs about the same, net LR still doesn't really work well with GPU's.  At least from my experience, and needs as much ram and processor speed as possible. Unlike Photoshop CC, and Capture One with both seem well associated with GPU support.

Paul C
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digitaldog

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2016, 11:40:43 am »

2 - For those of you who work with a MacBook, which model do you prefer and why?
I've been using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), 16GB ram and SSD with LR and 5DMII files, usually hooked up to an NEC PA272W display, runs just fine, zippy (not that a newer model wouldn't be even faster). Unhook it, take on the road, very nice. If you go MBP, max out the RAM and for the boot disk, consider an SSD. ALL my LR images, catalog and associated files reside on an external USB 3 drive dedicated for just that data. Makes 'cloning' all that data to other drives (one for office, on for location, one in fire proof safe) fast and easy.
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Ken Bennett

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2016, 01:56:13 pm »

The 15 inch Macbook Pro Retina seems to be the most common photo laptop I see around. It can be upgraded (when purchased) with 16BG of RAM, a faster processor, and a separate video card -- all of these are useful.

But really, any Mac laptop will run Lightroom and Photoshop CC. My 2011 Macbook Air with 8GB of RAM and a comparatively slow processor is my primary photo machine at work, attached to an NEC 27 inch monitor. Yeah, it's slower than a newer machine, but it works fine (and it's faster than my old tricked-out 17 inch MBP). It also fits in my camera bag.
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pflower

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2016, 02:16:57 pm »

I've just spent 4 weeks on the road in India with a new 11inch Macbook Air with 8gbs.  Processing some 10,000 files from  a variety of cameras - mostly Sony A7ii and larger files from an HD3-39 - I found it very responsive and had no problems.  I even managed to use Sigma Photo Pro on some DP2 Merrill files (a piece of software that is notoriously slow) and even that seemed much faster than my older iMac.  So I would imagine that a 15inch Macbook Pro would present no problems at all.  The only downside to the 11inch MBA is the screen size.  Upon reflection I should probably have bought the 13 inch, but since I was just processing in the field, organising stuff and intending to do the heavy lifting on a 27 inch iMac Retina it wasn't a problem.  I strongly second the suggestion for an SSD - I took a couple of external OWDs with me along with some USB externals and was impressed at the speed.
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luxborealis

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2016, 06:41:53 pm »

I go back and forth b/w a 13" MacBook Air for work and a 15" non-Retina MacBook Pro at home. I find the added screen real estate and the higher quality screen of the MBP much easier for precise editing (both for colour balance, contrast and detail) than the MBA. Neither is a problem when working with 36mp D800E raw files, although the newer MBA w/ SSD is zippier.

The ideal would be as Andrew described.
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adias

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2016, 07:08:15 pm »

I am still new to serious digital photography.  I did a lot of LF film work back in the day, but for a variety of reasons let the hobby dwindle until recently when I finally got a decent digital camera.  So I am going to start subscribing to LightroomCC too.  But before I do this, I am also considering shifting from a PC to an Apple.  With that in mind, I have a couple questions:

1 - For those of you who have worked with Lightroom in both PC and Apple, do you have a preference and why?
2 - For those of you who work with a MacBook, which model do you prefer and why?


Lr runs fine on a MacBook Pro. These machines are taxed by demanding real-time video games or video processing, but not by processing stills. I run a 2011 13" MacBook Pro 2.3GHZ i5 with 16GB RAM and it runs fine. No hiccups no delays, no slowdowns. But I have a fast 1TB SSD. A SSD is key and one can use a smaller one. Lr will run with a Winchester HD but not as fast.

I connect the laptop to a 27" display and I can process 50Mpixel images and see edits in real-time without delays.

Some think they need multiple i7 processors, super fast graphics, but all that is for bragging rights.
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rdonson

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2016, 08:19:40 pm »

1. I haven't used a Windows machine since 2011 so I can't reasonably compare. 

2.  I do have a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro that works very very nicely for me for PS and Lr.
     - quad core i7 processor
     - 240 GB SSD
     - 8 GB RAM
     - USB 3 external drives for my photos and catalog when I'm on a trip

I was time crunched when I bought it and couldn't go 16 GB RAM because it was BTO at that time and I could wait for that.

When I'm not traveling it's a more or less a normal desktop machine in my den.  My workhorse being an iMac in my photography space.

I really enjoy the build quality of the MBP.  It beats all the Dell and Lenovo laptops I owned in the past.  I had one Dell laptop that when I got rid of it the only original part was the case.  Everything else had failed and been replaced.  Times have changed though and I'm sure that Windows machines are probably competitive in build quality now.  I just don't see myself going back.
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Brookie

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2016, 08:53:12 pm »

Thank you all for the comments. On the MBPs are you upgrading internal SSD or are you just going with external SSDs to work from and for backup? 
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CatOne

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2016, 11:41:53 pm »

Thank you all for the comments. On the MBPs are you upgrading internal SSD or are you just going with external SSDs to work from and for backup?

All MacBook Pros come with internal Flash storage these days. It's not actually an SSD; it's a actually a little daughter card that's about the size of a sticky of Juicy Fruit gum. And it's also a lot faster: It's about 1.3 GB/sec for reads, so it's way faster than most SSDs.

A standard SSD wouldn't fit.
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davidgp

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2016, 02:14:23 am »


All MacBook Pros come with internal Flash storage these days. It's not actually an SSD; it's a actually a little daughter card that's about the size of a sticky of Juicy Fruit gum. And it's also a lot faster: It's about 1.3 GB/sec for reads, so it's way faster than most SSDs.

A standard SSD wouldn't fit.

It's still an SSD. SSD makes reference to the storage technology, not the way it connects to the processor. Apple is using a SSD connected via an PCIe 4x Bus, instead of the typical SATA buses the majority of SSDs still use to connect. You can also use those kinds of SSD in PCs, if your system supports it.


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adias

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2016, 12:42:54 pm »

Thank you all for the comments. On the MBPs are you upgrading internal SSD or are you just going with external SSDs to work from and for backup?

Certainly. In a 2011 MBP I used a Samsung 850 Pro 1TB - fits perfectly same size as the previous HD.
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Eric Brody

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Re: MacBook Pro for LightroomCC ?
« Reply #13 on: March 12, 2016, 07:47:04 pm »

I agree that the specific Macbook machine is up to you though I now have a Macbook Pro with the SSD and it's quite nice. What may have been missed is that a number of folks mentioned that they use an external monitor and use the Macbook Pro's monitor only in the field. I use a desktop Mac Pro with a 27" NEC, but if I used the Mac Pro laptop for major work at home, I'd certainly use an external monitor that can be properly profiled, eg an NEC or Eizo, or whatever you like. Factor the cost of that in when you're deciding. Good luck.
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