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Author Topic: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom  (Read 2522 times)

sanfairyanne

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Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« on: July 25, 2022, 04:57:35 am »

I'm in need of a new computer. I now own a Z7 and its large files are no match for my Macbook Air with Intel chip. I have a friend who's telling me I should just buy an M1 Macbook Pro, or buy the M2 Macbook Pro. I like the portability of my Air and so I wanted to ask if anyone has the new M2 Air and uses it with Photoshop CC. I know the Air doesn't have a fan and I understand that it will throttle down when processing becomes too demanding, but in a nutshell is this really going to be an issue for me when I'm processing usually single images in LR then Photoshop. I should also say that I very rarely do panoramas. I thought I could get the M2 Air with upgraded RAM probably to 16gb on a 512gb drive. Anyone know if I'm going to regret this decision. I could of course go for the 24gb RAM version. I sure wish you could try before you buy.

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Manoli

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2022, 05:17:18 am »

…  I thought I could get the M2 Air with upgraded RAM probably to 16gb on a 512gb drive. Anyone know if I'm going to regret this decision. I could of course go for the 24gb RAM version.

ArtIsRight has just uploaded an extensive review on this question.
https://youtu.be/YKRO-4BiZrI

IIRC, 16gb /512gb was his opinion.
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sanfairyanne

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2022, 08:15:07 am »

Thank you I will check the link
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Czornyj

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2022, 09:00:12 am »

16GB RAM / 512SSD would cost as much as base Macbook M1 Pro 14 which is way better and faster than M2 for photographic work.
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Marcin Kałuża | [URL=http://zarzadzaniebarwa

sanfairyanne

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2022, 10:53:44 pm »

Ok much appreciated.
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armand

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2022, 01:44:29 pm »

16GB RAM / 512SSD would cost as much as base Macbook M1 Pro 14 which is way better and faster than M2 for photographic work.

Why is that?

digitaldog

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2022, 01:48:37 pm »

For LR/ACR the key is how much VRAM for the GPU you pick. 16GB or shared memory or more will provide FULL GPU acceleration, less; not so much.
The minimum memory requirement for 'automatic' full GPU acceleration is 8GB of dedicated VRAM:
https://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/2022/04/21/camera-raw-14-3-gpu-support-for-open-and-save/
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sanfairyanne

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2022, 01:53:17 pm »

Thank you, I think all things considered I'm going to go for a MacBook Pro. I am in no immediate hurry, so will wait and see what is available in the coming months
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kers

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2022, 07:37:23 am »

Thank you, I think all things considered I'm going to go for a MacBook Pro. I am in no immediate hurry, so will wait and see what is available in the coming months
As soon as a M2 macbook pro arrives it will be cheaper for sure.
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Pieter Kers
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Czornyj

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2022, 10:26:15 am »

Why is that?

Base model MBP 14 M1 Pro (16/512) vs M2 (16/512):
- 6 performance, 2 efficiency, 14 GPU cores (2x fan) vs 4 performance, 4 efficiency, 8 or 10 GPU cores (fanless)
- unified memory speed: 200Gbps vs 100Gbps
- SSD NVMe 4.0 vs 3.0 (approx. 5000MBps vs 3000MBps)
- 3x TB4, HDMI, SD ports vs 2x TB3 ports
- reference quality 14" mini LED Retina XDR vs 13,6" standard Retina display
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mcbroomf

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2022, 06:32:52 pm »

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sanfairyanne

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2022, 02:58:34 am »

Thanks I will check it out.
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budjames

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2022, 05:04:46 am »

I own a MacBook Pro 14" M1Max with 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD and the new MacBook Air M2 with 24GB RAM and 2TB SSD.
Capture One Pro is my RAW processor of choice. Get the MacBook Pro for the best performance. Don't skimp on the RAM either.
There is a rumor that the MacBook Pro will be refreshed very soon with the M2 process so you might want to hold off for a bit.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography.
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DominicWhite

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2023, 07:09:54 am »

Sorry to disturb an older thread but I just wanted to ask what you consider to be the best Mac product for photo editing in 2023. I'm looking for a portable version of my base PC and want it to have a long-lasting battery and a high-quality display. The display is especially important because I want the colors to be as natural as possible
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Bozzdivine

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2023, 07:14:12 am »

Have you found the perfect companion for your Photoshop and Lightroom adventures? If yes, what is it? BTW, I couldn't agree more with Bud James recommending the MacBook Pro with a generous amount of RAM since it's all about that power and performance when dealing with those large files. By the way, have you been giving your scratch disk some TLC? It's like a spa day for your Mac, keeping things running smoothly. If you need a refresher on how to clear that scratch disk, here's a handy guide at https://setapp.com/how-to/clear-scratch-disk-mac . Trust me - it's worth the effort. Anyway, let us know how you're doing! How's your workflow going?
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Jonathan Cross

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #15 on: June 20, 2023, 07:58:52 am »

My understanding is that the M1 and M2 system on a chip hardware make a great difference, and that one should not bring in considerations that were pertinent to non system on a chip machines.  I have an M1 iMac with 16GB and 1TB SSD.  I use Sandisk 2TB portable SSDs for image storage other than the last 3 months  and am very happy with the speeds.  LR denoise and super resolution are much slower than other operations, taking some 10 to 15 seconds to upres from 26MP to 104MP. Processing the 104MP files in LR seems as quick as with the 26MP images, i.e. very quick.  Time Machine takes only a few minutes, apart from the very first run. I assume  M2 will be even faster for internal operations. I have no reservations about going for a SOC machine.

Jonathan
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kers

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Re: Macbook Air M2 for Photoshop and Lightroom
« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2023, 10:59:59 am »

The good/bad thing about you cannot upgrade an Apple desktop:

bad: you cannot upgrade
good: Apple has produced sometimes too many with fancy hardware and cannot downgrade  -  you can get them at a discount price.
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Pieter Kers
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