graphics performance retina macbook 13" vs 15"

[orc73]

Hello

does the macbook graphic board influence performance of Lightroom and Photoshop in photography processing?
I have 40mp files, 120mb 8bit tiffs, in photoshop they can grow up to 1gb with several layers.

best regards

[jsiva]

I originally had the 13" and returned it for the 15".  I use CS6 and C1 Pro.  With the discrete graphics card enabled, the 15 makes a difference.  Only drawback is that its a little bigger.

[michael]

The 15" Retina Macbook Pro has become something of a standard for photographers over the past few years. Virtually everyone I know working professionally with images has one, and many use it as their main machine (with a separate monitor such as a NEC or Eizo when at home base).

Michael

[Hans Kruse]

I can only second what is said about the 15" MBP. As a desktop replacement and need for storage on the machine itself you would be going for at least 512GB SSD and then the NVIDIA graphics card is included automatically. Since I don't like having an external drive attached to the machine when travelling except for backups I chose the 1TB MBP. In my office it connects with a 30" Dell U3014 monitor and a LaCie thunderbolt drive for extra storage. It will even drive an external 4K screen at 60Hz using DP 1.2 or two 30" monitors at the same time as the retina screen. Compared to the 13" dual core 8GB RAM i5 model the 15" has a quad core i7 and 16GB RAM. Plenty run Lightroom and Photoshop simultaneously.

If you only need a travel machine the 13" will do just fine. As for both travel and the office and desktop replacement for for the 15" with at least 512GB SSD.

[deejjjaaaa]

Hello

does the macbook graphic board influence performance of Lightroom and Photoshop in photography processing?
I have 40mp files, 120mb 8bit tiffs, in photoshop they can grow up to 1gb with several layers.

best regards

you can buy some small macbook and then like you can use a external big LCD you can also use external e-GPU and put some big hot NVidia in outside box ( for example = http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/ )

[Hans Kruse]

you can buy some small macbook and then like you can use a external big LCD you can also use external e-GPU and put some big hot NVidia in outside box ( for example = http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/ )

Lightroom does not use a GPU for processing power and I doubt Photoshop does much either. The other thing is for programs that does support a GPU if they will recognize a GPU attached this way? Not exactly an elegant solution 

[jjj]

Lightroom does not use a GPU for processing power and I doubt Photoshop does much either.

Photoshop certainly does. Here's a list of what features the GPU uses from PS CC onward and features from CS6

[Hans Kruse]

Photoshop certainly does. Here's a list of what features the GPU uses from PS CC onward and features from CS6

Yes, I could have been more specific but related to the questions of the OP this isn't much help from the GPU I believe.

[deejjjaaaa]

Lightroom does not use a GPU for processing power and I doubt Photoshop does much either.

today they don't tomorrow they will... plus there are plugins and filters that do... and may be OP one day venture to other converters

The other thing is for programs that does support a GPU if they will recognize a GPU attached this way?

and why do you think all those people bother with e-GPU ? exactly because it will work that way.

Not exactly an elegant solution  

neither is a big external LCD

[Hans Kruse]

today they don't tomorrow they will... plus there are plugins and filters that do... and may be OP one day venture to other converters

and why do you think all those people bother with e-GPU ? exactly because it will work that way.

neither is a big external LCD

Well, maybe Adobe will put a lot of resources into supporting GPU's in Lightroom, but today GPU's doesn't play much of role. A MacBook Pro 13" and 15" will handle Lightroom well, the only really lengthy process is 1:1 preview generation and big exports where in both cases the entire processing stack and RAW conversion need to take place. This is all done by normal CPU's so therefore my recommendation of getting a 15" but also for the bigger screen.

For nerds one could suggest building a super power PC with Windows and go that way and not a laptop 

[deejjjaaaa]

Well, maybe Adobe will put a lot of resources into supporting GPU's in Lightroom

I do not think that is is "may be", but rather "how soon"

[jjj]

Yes, I could have been more specific but related to the questions of the OP this isn't much help from the GPU I believe.

Well seeing as many of the PS GPU features relate to image processing and speed of use of PS interface, they may well make a difference.

[Hans Kruse]

Well seeing as many of the PS GPU features relate to image processing and speed of use of PS interface, they may well make a difference.

There is a lot of speculation in this thread. What is for certain is that for Lightroom and most of Photoshop a GPU will not make any difference. However the questions was about a MBP 13" and I recommended the 15" because it is much more CPU power which is really what makes a difference in this case at this point in time and it has a discrete graphics card which may help in driving larger screens. The discrete graphics card comes automatically if the SSD size is chosen to be larger than 256GB.

[jjj]

There is a lot of speculation in this thread. What is for certain is that for Lightroom and most of Photoshop a GPU will not make any difference.

And there are also facts from Adobe which specifically show areas in which the GPU is very useful - most of which benefit photographers. 

[Hans Kruse]

And there are also facts from Adobe which specifically show areas in which the GPU is very useful - most of which benefit photographers. 

Well, for me what would be interesting, perhaps, is support in Lightroom. Not sure how much the discrete graphics card on the MBP would help though. In general I don't miss performance on the MBP as I generate 1:1 previews after every shoot and seldomly do mass exports. During editing everything happens instant on this machine and also using an external 30" monitor. Mostly the machine is totally silent which I enjoy. Besides what is already implemented by Adobe, I'm not aware of public plans for GPU usage but as I said I'm not really missing it with what I do.