p.4 #1 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
paul weston wrote:
Question for the people who know alot more than i do.
Will there be a performance hit when editing photography files from an external drive as opposed to an internal drive? Iam trying to avoid the crazy apple price on a drive increase.
Cheers
Not at all. I shoot so much on my birding trips that it wouldn't fit on an internal drive. I have been using Acasis NVMe enclosures with Sabrent MVMe drives in them for my Lightroom catalogs for several years now. Very fast and very convenient for using the same Lightroom catalog on multiple computers.
p.4 #2 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
jhapeman wrote:
Not at all. I shoot so much on my birding trips that it wouldn't fit on an internal drive. I have been using Acasis NVMe enclosures with Sabrent MVMe drives in them for my Lightroom catalogs for several years now. Very fast and very convenient for using the same Lightroom catalog on multiple computers.
p.4 #3 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
So I just lost my 16“ M1 Max 32GB 2TB in a freak accident. Luckily insurance covers the cost. But still I am uncertain on how to proceed. Seeing the graphs on page one of this thread and following the discussion for raw power the M2 ultra is still the mac to beat. M3 ultra will probably do that once announced next year at wwdc. The thing is our living situation will probably change in the not so distant future so that I won‘t need a laptop anymore (I don’t have space for a dedicated workstation/desktop right now). But I need a replacement now because I can’t work on my M1 iPad.
I see a couple of options:
Buy M3 Max now and have buyers remorse once the M3U studio is introduced next summer at WWDC. Buy M2Pro mini now and upgrade in summer. Buy refurbished M1 Max MBP and upgrade in summer. Buy M2U now at a discount and be happy?
p.4 #4 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
jhapeman wrote:
I'm not sure it would entirely negate the benefits of the greater core count except perhaps when doing large batches, but the 14" does most definitely throttle down sooner as it gets hotter faster. It's just the basic physics of heat and heat dissipation. It would likely depend on the size of the batches you are running and how often you are doing to them to decide if it really matters or not.
Personally after having used a 16" I can't go back to a 14". Even culling photos is less pleasant with a smaller screen. While it does weigh more, if you're just transporting it to sites then most of the time you're not carrying it around. ...Show more →
Having bought and returned 16 and 14 iterations ... Having physically used them for a few days, it doesn't take long to realize that the 16 is more responsive and cooler ... and easier on the eyes.
I first thought the 16 was too big, tried the 14 and quickly went back to the 14 is too small. The 16 isn't too big anymore.
p.4 #5 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
jj1804 wrote:
So I just lost my 16“ M1 Max 32GB 2TB in a freak accident. Luckily insurance covers the cost. But still I am uncertain on how to proceed. Seeing the graphs on page one of this thread and following the discussion for raw power the M2 ultra is still the mac to beat. M3 ultra will probably do that once announced next year at wwdc. The thing is our living situation will probably change in the not so distant future so that I won‘t need a laptop anymore (I don’t have space for a dedicated workstation/desktop right now). But I need a replacement now because I can’t work on my M1 iPad.
I see a couple of options:
Buy M3 Max now and have buyers remorse once the M3U studio is introduced next summer at WWDC. Buy M2Pro mini now and upgrade in summer. Buy refurbished M1 Max MBP and upgrade in summer. Buy M2U now at a discount and be happy?
If you have to buy now, I'd just get the M3 Max. It's a pretty big upgrade in speed even from your M1 Max. The M3 Ultra is likely to be announced in March but difficult to get as it is usually is, and if you can't use a desktop now, no sense getting one.
p.4 #6 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
Well I don’t HAVE to have it right now it’s just really inconvenient to not have a computer tbh. We will know more in the coming weeks before christmas if we will be able to buy a house and then relocate in feb/march I hope. Until then I could make space for a desktop. I need some kind of plan how to proceed as my old 2012 MBP is not supported by Adobe CC anymore and I don’t really like culling and editing images on the iPad. But if you think March will be the announcement of the M3U then I‘m inclined to suck it uo and wait until then.
p.4 #7 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
jj1804 wrote:
Well I don’t HAVE to have it right now it’s just really inconvenient to not have a computer tbh. We will know more in the coming weeks before christmas if we will be able to buy a house and then relocate in feb/march I hope. Until then I could make space for a desktop. I need some kind of plan how to proceed as my old 2012 MBP is not supported by Adobe CC anymore and I don’t really like culling and editing images on the iPad. But if you think March will be the announcement of the M3U then I‘m inclined to suck it uo and wait until then. ...Show more →
If you have any ideations about the Macbook Air (15" or 13"), that could be a stopgap to tide you over. I tried out the MBA 15", and it was a nice form factor. Granted, not the same level of hardware as the MBP Max, but essentially the same performance as the iPad Pro, just in a laptop form factor. Not sure which version of the iPad you currently have, but if it is the newer M chips, you should also be able to use the iPad / MBA in sidecar arrangement, too.
MBA 15" now.
Desktop M3 Ultra later.
Then you've got a nice setup for heavy and portable / travel. And, of course, if you don't like the MBA ... 14 day return, super easy. But, if you've got your eye on the M3 Ultra, then I think you'll appreciate that the MBA is serving a temporary role (now), and the travel / portable role thereafter (later).
p.4 #8 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
thank you @RustyBug for the suggestion. I haven't thought of the MBA to be honest. Maybe my wife would have use for it once the M3U ships. I don't need a travel laptop and if I need a bigger screen than my phone, I take the M1 iPad. I've just seen that I could connect the iPad to a mac mini. I don't know what's more cost effective though as I assume the used market for mac minis vs mba is probably in favor of the laptop.
maybe I will just shoot jpg for the time being, so I don't have to edit thousands of x-max images once I have the M3U and just suck it up and cull on the ipad. bummer my M1M died as I didn't plan on replacing it this soon. my last mbp was from june 2012 and almost worked for a decade. quite impressive
p.4 #9 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
jj1804 wrote:
thank you @RustyBug@ for the suggestion. I haven't thought of the MBA to be honest. Maybe my wife would have use for it once the M3U ships. I don't need a travel laptop and if I need a bigger screen than my phone, I take the M1 iPad. I've just seen that I could connect the iPad to a mac mini. I don't know what's more cost effective though as I assume the used market for mac minis vs mba is probably in favor of the laptop.
maybe I will just shoot jpg for the time being, so I don't have to edit thousands of x-max images once I have the M3U and just suck it up and cull on the ipad. bummer my M1M died as I didn't plan on replacing it this soon. my last mbp was from june 2012 and almost worked for a decade. quite impressive...Show more →
If not for you (long term) ... a 13" MBA, refurb with M1 or M2 chip, could make a very cost efficient temporary solution, with its final destination being a different user. I have a family member with a 13" M1 MBA, that I could use before finally settling on my "for me" 16" MBP Max M2. Just depends on where you want to land the chip core count (M1 / M2 and RAM) for the MBA.
Otherwise, just get a keyboard / monitor for your iPad. The processing power is similar (to the MBA), just the diff form factor. I found using my iPad for processing to be rather fluid for editing. I don't use it much (since I have my MBP), but it's viable on the performance capability. Not the powerhouse of a Max / Ultra of course, but still gets things done.
p.4 #10 · New Lightroom Benchmarks: Mac M3 Max and PC
@jhapeman & @RustyBug thank you again for the suggestions. It turned out that my M1M 16" isn't dead after all. The laptop turns on just fine it's just the screen is cracked and doesn't work anymore. I'm still using the laptop in clamshell mode now and purchased the ASD and the apple keyboard with the fingerprint sensor. Only downside to this is that I can't shut down the computer completely without having to open the lid and press the powerbutton. I put it to sleep now and just randomly restart the machine - that works fine for now.
What I dislike about this setup is the now apparent bottle neck that is RAM. I have 32GB in my M1 Max 16" and when I run Lightroom Classic memory pressure is often orange (in activity monitor) and swapping up to 10GB of memory. I run into issues when using masks and brushes. The screen gets a bit choppy sometimes - something I didn't encounter on the laptops screen alone. Now with the ASD the needs for a fluid workflow seem to have increased?! Should've gone 64GB over 2TB of SSD storage.
I'm editing 45MP and 60MP files out of recent full frame cameras and do HDR and Panoramas. I thought I should be fine for the foreseeable future but it seems I might upgrade sooner. Do you guys have any suggestions what might cause the decreased performance? Is it because the laptop has to push way more pixels than on the 16" display?
