Hello All,
I have decided to upgrade my Mac Air M2 16GB since I can't edit the RAW files from my Nikon Z8 anymore without the laptop completely throwing a tantrum.
I am thinking of spending the cash and getting a Macbook Pro in this spec. What do you guys think? Will this guy last me 5-6 years? I really don't like upgrading systems a lot and this'll be a lot of money to spend on a laptop
14 inch MBP Pro----Apple M5 Pro 18-Core CPU; 48GB Unified Memory; 1TB Solid State; 20-Core GPU
I am using an external SSD. When i bought this laptop, I didn't know that i'd take photography a bit more seriously.
The NEF files are around 65-70MB and the laptop takes a decent amount of time loading the pictures. It also hangs up in the middle. I am using DXO Photolab 9.
Could be the case that your external storage is not up to the task. Tried running an Apple Photos library off a bus powered Crucial X9 and X10 with poor results. Thunderbolt works a lot better (currently running my Apple Photos and Capture One libraries from a refurbished Kioxia CD6 U.2 drive, which I got in ‘the good old days’ when flash was cheap, in an OWC enclosure).
That said nothing wrong with the MacBook Pro you spec’ed (I have the 24gb/1tb variant and I love it).
Your spec'd MBP will be better for sure. What I can't be sure of is wether you'll be satisfied with the improved results. There is a significant internal difference between the pro and max versions of the M5 chip when it comes to processing. The Max doubles the GPU cores and doubles the memory bandwidth. Of course, the Max comes with a price change as well. Being highly reliant on processing, since I use my MBP on the sidelines to provide soccer action captures, I recently upgraded from a MBP M1 Max 32gb to a M5 Max 64GB. Both were spec'd with highest amount of cores available at purchase. The M5 Max definitely was worth the upgrade IMO.
Sorrymanagement wrote:
Hello All,
I have decided to upgrade my Mac Air M2 16GB since I can't edit the RAW files from my Nikon Z8 anymore without the laptop completely throwing a tantrum.
I am thinking of spending the cash and getting a Macbook Pro in this spec. What do you guys think? Will this guy last me 5-6 years? I really don't like upgrading systems a lot and this'll be a lot of money to spend on a laptop
14 inch MBP Pro----Apple M5 Pro 18-Core CPU; 48GB Unified Memory; 1TB Solid State; 20-Core GPU
It's currently on sale for $2507 at Microcenter.
I suspect that your main problem with the current setup is having only 16GB in it rather than that the processor is too underpowered.
With that in mind, upping the unified memory in a new laptop like the one you are considering is important. For work with large raw files I feel that 48GB is a decent amount of memory, though given that you don’t intend to upgrade again for 5-6 years and that Mac memory is not upgradable, I’d consider a bit more in order to give yourself a buffer for future needs near the end of that period.
I think that a 1TB SSD is good as long as you are OK with what some might regard as limited internal memory for storing those raw files. Given the extreme costs of going beyond that — and that possibility that even 2TB or more might not ultimately be enough to store all of your photo archive internally — plan to augment the 1 TB SSD as needed with an external SSD.
One more off-the-wall idea: Are you getting the laptop because you often must work remotely? If it is just a matter of smaller size and lower cost, the Mac mini has a lot to offer — quite a bit of power in a very small package and at pretty reasonable cost. I actually moved to a high-end spec mini last year and I’m very happy with it.
Yeah. that's what i am afraid of. I move around a lot and that's why i didn't consider the MAC mini. I like a one and done solution and my old Macbook Pro from 2014 lasted me 8 years before it called it quits. I'll check it out.
I have the same worry as you said. 48GB might be enough for now but it might not be enough after 2-3 years.
One rule I set for myself when upgrading a computer. Don't skimp, especially with Mac's since, as Dan pointed out, they are not upgradable. While there's no such thing as future proofing, you can potentially eek out a couple of extra years by purchasing the best core count and ram available. Note: the M6 version is expected later on this fall. If you can wait that might be a better approach. Also, at that time the M5 version might be somewhat less costly.
I upgraded when the M3 was cutting edge. First, the suggestion that you go with an M5 Max as baseline is solid. I opted for 64GB memory and still consider that a minimum. I’ve actually run out of memory on occasion, but you did say that you wanted to future proof. 1TB is a serious limitation. The good news is that adding expensive Thunderbolt 5 external SSD can be quite helpful, but it still isn’t up to the same speed as the internal drive. Honestly, on my next system I’ll go for 4 TB internal. Apple memory is very expensive, but external isn’t exactly a best buy. Performance, in this SSD shortage environment is very expensive, but you don’t get a second shot at getting this right. Personally, I would wait until the dual OLED touch screen MacBooks come to market. Perhaps, we will even start to see some relief from the high memory prices sometime in 2027. Keep you eyes on the September Apple event.
I use LRC, so don’t know how your photo editor uses resources, but Adobe continues to add “AI” photo editing features that are heavily GPU dependent and recently tweaked for Apple silicon, so another aspect of future proof might involve a bump up in GPU count..
