A lot of people that know a thing or two about editing around here who have likely gotten their family into the hobby/profession.
We’re currently in Tokyo from the States and as his 16th birthday gift, we went by the Sony Showcase and bought him an a6700 kit - his first “real” camera. He’s been having fun the past few days but I’m quickly realizing… what’s he going to do with all these photos when we get home? He doesn’t have a computer other than school issued Chromebook and his iPad could stand to be updated. While I’ve been around here for a while, I’m a novice at best and want him to have his independence where he’s not relying on me, my computer, my subscription, etc. to mess with his photos.
What would you recommend for him? Would a new iPad be feature rich enough? Does it need to be a computer? Would a LR alternative like Darkroom be good enough?
If he's going to continue being involved with photography I think going with a new iPad will just result in more money being spent on a computer sooner than you might expect. Bite the bullet and get a decent computer which will also serve for other purposes. What hardware along with editing software becomes more of a personal choice. Whatever ecosystem your family is embedded with will probably drive the brand of computer choice. Personally, if you can spare 2 cups of Starbucks coffees a month I'd put him on a LR subscription plan. This will allow you to be a support system for him wether it's the computer or the editing software without him using your setup.
A small laptop with something like Luminar might work? I don't really know if Lightroom would appeal a 16 year old very much, since it feels quite old fashioned.
I'm sure he's a very happy kid though with his A6700!
Mar 12, 2026 at 06:13 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
TheBeej418 wrote:
A lot of people that know a thing or two about editing around here who have likely gotten their family into the hobby/profession.
We’re currently in Tokyo from the States and as his 16th birthday gift, we went by the Sony Showcase and bought him an a6700 kit - his first “real” camera. He’s been having fun the past few days but I’m quickly realizing… what’s he going to do with all these photos when we get home? He doesn’t have a computer other than school issued Chromebook and his iPad could stand to be updated. While I’ve been around here for a while, I’m a novice at best and want him to have his independence where he’s not relying on me, my computer, my subscription, etc. to mess with his photos.
What would you recommend for him? Would a new iPad be feature rich enough? Does it need to be a computer? Would a LR alternative like Darkroom be good enough? ...Show more →
I think this is a really good question and I am facing a similar question for my 13 year old son. He is entering a computer design program as he starts high school in the Fall. Right now he only has his school Chromebook and an old iPad, so very much the same situation as your son. In our case, I know he will be using Photoshop extensively in his program, so I think we will get him a MacBook and extend his mother's creative cloud Adobe license to it. I feel pretty comfortable with that as I know he will be using the computer for a lot of stuff besides just photography. If it was just photography I might simply upgrade his iPad. So, you might want to ask whether the computer would get used for things other than photography and whether it would serve better than an iPad.
This new Apple MacBook Neo should work well for him. He can start with Apple Photos, which is simple and intuitive, and then move on to more advanced software as his needs grow.
Mar 12, 2026 at 06:34 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
ramesesthe2nd wrote:
This new Apple MacBook Neo should work well for him. He can start with Apple Photos, which is simple and intuitive, and then move on to more advanced software as his needs grow.
I agree the Mac Neo is potentially a good option and we are looking at it for my son. It would be especially enticing if Adobe cooperated as suggested in this article and made a stripped down version of creative cloud for the Neo:
We are in the Apple ecosystem for what that’s worth. The more I’ve looked into this, a thought has been to give him my 13” M2 iPad Pro with keyboard and Apple Pencil and for me to upgrade which would be a business expense. “So that’s a write-off.” Any Schitt’s Creek fans? He’s a sophomore and we’ll be investing in a more appropriate MacBook his senior year in preparation for college (or at least that’s what we’ve done for his sister who is currently a senior). The iPad, assuming I’m not crazy for starting him on that, is a lower out of pocket expense than a computer right now and gives us a chance to see how he progresses and what sticks.
If anyone currently uses an iPad, I’ve been looking at the app options. Anyone have any input on that? Not sure if the newer iPad OS has changed any of the older reviews for the better.
Photomator $29.99/yr
Capture One (Mobile?) $109/yr
Darkroom $39.99/yr
Lightroom $49.99/yr
Affinity Photo $Free… for now
Nitro Photo $29.99/yr
TheBeej418 wrote:
A couple of good questions/comments have come up.
We are in the Apple ecosystem for what that’s worth. The more I’ve looked into this, a thought has been to give him my 13” M2 iPad Pro with keyboard and Apple Pencil and for me to upgrade which would be a business expense. “So that’s a write-off.” Any Schitt’s Creek fans? He’s a sophomore and we’ll be investing in a more appropriate MacBook his senior year in preparation for college (or at least that’s what we’ve done for his sister who is currently a senior). The iPad, assuming I’m not crazy for starting him on that, is a lower out of pocket expense than a computer right now and gives us a chance to see how he progresses and what sticks.
If anyone currently uses an iPad, I’ve been looking at the app options. Anyone have any input on that? Not sure if the newer iPad OS has changed any of the older reviews for the better.
Photomator $29.99/yr
Capture One (Mobile?) $109/yr
Darkroom $39.99/yr
Lightroom $49.99/yr
Affinity Photo $Free… for now
Nitro Photo $29.99/yr...Show more →
I think this is a good idea all around. I edit in Lightroom on my Mac but I also do a lot of editing on my iPad with Lightroom mobile. Only issue you may or may not run into is storage on the iPad, if that is the only place the photos are being stored. I have not used the cloud version of Lightroom so not sure how that works with the iPad, but assume it's the same way as it works my desktop version. Where my originals are stored on my computer and I am working on a "virtual" copy on the iPad.
I have not used any off the software you listed above besides Lightroom so I can't comment on this but I really like Lightroom on my iPad. A few things you cannot do that I have to do n my Mac but it works.
The Neo looks like a decent machine for little money, especially for those who primarily use a laptop for web browsing, social media, email, and word processing. However, it is (intentionally) a pretty low performance machine and I’d have some reservations about it as a device for working on photographs beyond the most basic stuff.
If getting a laptop, better I think to set the sights a bit higher, perhaps at least on a low end MacBook or Air.
The chip in the Neo is more powerful than the M1 silicone from a pure processing perspective. I'm sure a bunch of folks (me included) would say their M1 laptop processed photos just fine. There are some other constraints at play with the Neo, but the overall CPU performance is not one of them and literally no review that is out yet calls it a "low performance machine", and in fact, most reviewers are shocked by the processing power. Tyler Stalman edited a 4k video timeline with every app on the machine open just to show how well it works.
It would be so nice if people here that didn't know what they were talking about at least knew enough to bite their tongues
Something else that needs to be considered is storage. The immediate question is whether to retain and accumulate the raw files. If yes, this is what Lightroom is for - to manage the catalog. Assuming your son should continue taking pictures, eventually, the amount of storage and storage backup will grow large.
Post-processing apps differ with regard to this question of "store or not to store" the raw. For example, Lightroom assumes you do, while Capture One gives you a choice of cataloging raw files, or work in sessions without cataloging. DxO Photolab works with the raw files directly, without creating a catalog or any system folders.
Thus, there are some important differences between the applications concerning the way you deal with the raw files.
If your son should be happy keeping jpgs only, uploading these as collections or albums on an external platform, e g. Flickr, is another consideration. This may entail an additional expense.
RoamingScott wrote:
The chip in the Neo is more powerful than the M1 silicone from a pure processing perspective. I'm sure a bunch of folks (me included) would say their M1 laptop processed photos just fine. There are some other constraints at play with the Neo, but the overall CPU performance is not one of them and literally no review that is out yet calls it a "low performance machine", and in fact, most reviewers are shocked by the processing power. Tyler Stalman edited a 4k video timeline with every app on the machine open just to show how well it works.
It would be so nice if people here that didn't know what they were talking about at least knew enough to bite their tongues ...Show more →
Me too, I do all my photography on the 4-year-old M1 16” Macbook and have zero issues, and no need for anything newer/better at this time. With the Neo being even more powerful I’d have no problem recommending it to my friends and family.
Ross Martin wrote:
Me too, I do all my photography on the 4-year-old M1 16” Macbook and have zero issues, and no need for anything newer/better at this time. With the Neo being even more powerful I’d have no problem recommending it to my friends and family.
My main concerns for a longer term use device are primarily the low amount of RAM and small harddrive of the base model, though the 8gb of RAM are clearly sufficient for all basic tasks and many intermediate ones. Spending the extra $100 for the 512gb SSD and TouchID is a no brainer IMO.
Anyone looking for a better longer term buy should be looking at the upcoming deep discounts of M4 Macbooks.
RoamingScott wrote:
My main concerns for a longer term use device are primarily the low amount of RAM and small harddrive of the base model, though the 8gb of RAM are clearly sufficient for all basic tasks and many intermediate ones. Spending the extra $100 for the 512gb SSD and TouchID is a no brainer IMO.
Anyone looking for a better longer term buy should be looking at the upcoming deep discounts of M4 Macbooks.
Absolutely on that SSD upgrade, and I’d personally prefer 1TB. The discounts on the outgoing MPB’s is my favorite time to buy and that is another good recommendation.
Seems a tempting option, and spec-wise it should suffice; BUT the screen is not up to the task of photo editing like other Macs are! It's very important to have a screen that shows colors and tones accurately!
TheBeej418 wrote:
A lot of people that know a thing or two about editing around here who have likely gotten their family into the hobby/profession.
We’re currently in Tokyo from the States and as his 16th birthday gift, we went by the Sony Showcase and bought him an a6700 kit - his first “real” camera. He’s been having fun the past few days but I’m quickly realizing… what’s he going to do with all these photos when we get home? He doesn’t have a computer other than school issued Chromebook and his iPad could stand to be updated. While I’ve been around here for a while, I’m a novice at best and want him to have his independence where he’s not relying on me, my computer, my subscription, etc. to mess with his photos.
What would you recommend for him? Would a new iPad be feature rich enough? Does it need to be a computer? Would a LR alternative like Darkroom be good enough? ...Show more →
I have done almost all photo editing on travel on an IPAD Pro- Even created some videos with DaVinci on it-
That being said to say the new NEO at that price point- Wow- Just factor in a decent external SSD if he is going to do lots of video editing. That machine is better than anything we had a decade ago!!!!!! for 500 bucks- What a steal
ThatGuy wrote:
It would be so nice if people here that didn't know what they were talking about at least knew enough to bite their tongues
There you go, writing to yourself again. ;-)
From C-NET:
“ The MacBook Neo features an A18 Pro chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro, 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD (without the upgrade mentioned above). As cute and colorful as it is, the MacBook Neo is more than just a starter laptop. It could also serve as a great device for anyone who wants to browse the web, watch a show or movie, perform some light edits on photos and text using all 10 fingers on a keyboard -- rather than just two thumbs on your iPhone.”
8GB of memory is enough to run to OS and basic apps, but far from ideal (to put it mildly) for photo apps. A 256GB SSD will hold the OS and some apps, for sure, but will run out of space pretty quickly for anyone doing work on photographs.
Neither internal memory or SSD are upgradable once you buy the $599 unit.
For $100 more you can get 12GB and a 512GB SSD.
Apple itself targets this machine at students and similar users. (There has long been a thread of developing very inexpensive and very basic machines that could be sold cheaply to school buyers, all the way back to thinks like the eMate* riff on the Newton.)
The price is very appealing, and it will give buyers with minimal needs an entre to the Apple ecosystem, but it lies _below_ the level of the previous lowest-end macines from Apple. There’s a place for that, but it isn’t photography.
Some good options that aren’t outrageously expensive for young person’s computer include a Mac Mini, a low end (but with more RAM and SSD) Macbook Air. Buyer’s trying to save a buck should look at the Apple’s refurbished products, which lower the price, work like new, and come with a warranty. A higher spec’ed used machine that is a year or two old could be a good option, too.
*Never head of the eMate? I have one, because I was working with Apple’s higher ed folks back then and had access to that and other fun stuff, including products targeting the market that the Neo addresses. I “know what I’m talking about.”
gdanmitchell wrote:
There you go, writing to yourself again. ;-)
From C-NET:
“ The MacBook Neo features an A18 Pro chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro, 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD (without the upgrade mentioned above). As cute and colorful as it is, the MacBook Neo is more than just a starter laptop. It could also serve as a great device for anyone who wants to browse the web, watch a show or movie, perform some light edits on photos and text using all 10 fingers on a keyboard -- rather than just two thumbs on your iPhone.”
8GB of memory is enough to run to OS and basic apps, but far from ideal (to put it mildly) for photo apps. A 256GB SSD will hold the OS and some apps, for sure, but will run out of space pretty quickly for anyone doing work on photographs.
Neither internal memory or SSD are upgradable once you buy the $599 unit.
For $100 more you can get 12GB and a 512GB SSD.
Apple itself targets this machine at students and similar users. (There has long been a thread of developing very inexpensive and very basic machines that could be sold cheaply to school buyers, all the way back to thinks like the eMate* riff on the Newton.)
The price is very appealing, and it will give buyers with minimal needs an entre to the Apple ecosystem, but it lies _below_ the level of the previous lowest-end macines from Apple. There’s a place for that, but it isn’t photography.
Some good options that aren’t outrageously expensive for young person’s computer include a Mac Mini, a low end (but with more RAM and SSD) Macbook Air. Buyer’s trying to save a buck should look at the Apple’s refurbished products, which lower the price, work like new, and come with a warranty. A higher spec’ed used machine that is a year or two old could be a good option, too.
*Never head of the eMate? I have one, because I was working with Apple’s higher ed folks back then and had access to that and other fun stuff, including products targeting the market that the Neo addresses. I “know what I’m talking about.”...Show more →
Good lord man- Its a 16 year old kids first content creator machine-
It will absolutely destroy at that task- This kid would be extremely lucky to have something this top notch as a first machine for photo/video editing. I would happily use it!!!!
