Brian

Also, if you don't have a brand new camera, no use the fancy AI Crap that PS offers, you technically do not "need" to upgrade Photoshop. At its core, Photoshop is still Photoshop. Layers are Layers, Masks are Masks, Levels is still Levels. It's all the fancy tools like lens correction and other things like AI generative stuff that is what makes newest versions of PS special. If your whole world / ecosystem is still around 2023...then you are fine. Resist the FOMO!! I promise, it's not the end of the world if you don't have the most recent version of PS.

That should work. Though the 5060 video card concerns me a little, I like 5070's and 5080's, at least it's a "Ti" Version. Basically, that computer in 2026 was the "$999 Special" 10 years ago. Give it a shot. I'm also curious if 32GB of RAM is enough; you may want to increase that to 64GB if you can. Oh, that $1789 Price seems to be ending soon. Hopefully you will see this message.

The sneaky thing that Apple does is only certain Thunderbolt Ports are the "fast" ones. It's similar to a computer that has USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, only one gives you the "fast" speed. If you use the wrong port, you are gonna slow down during data transfers. I think the left TB Ports are the "fast" ones? Something like that.

Current / Upgraded Versions of Photoshop WILL REALLY START BITCHING AND GIVE YOU ERROR MESSAGE AFTER ERROR MESSAGE. Photoshop HATES-HATES-HATES that Video Card. Intel UHD Graphics in ANY form, Desktop or Laptop aren't designed for today's "Modern Photoshop." That laptop's specs are meant for "General Computing;" watching Netflix on the plane, checking e-mail, watching YouTube, wasting time on FB, stuff like that. If you do decide to take that laptop, I would just use it to dump photos to it, and maybe use Bridge to cull / rate things. No editing really.

You are going to need a new laptop. Period. Do not upgrade Photoshop. You can upgrade to Ventura, but honestly? I wouldn't. If you do upgrade, you are on your own and I would expect problems. For you, and your current laptop, you have to pretend it's 2022, maybe 2023 at the latest. We are headed into 2027, and that will be 9 years for that laptop which is a good run as most computers usually last about 7 years or so. Believe me, I know it sucks, I know that it's expensive, but technology moves forward and sooner or later the current software will not install on a computer that is almost a decade old. Apple has completely abandoned computers / laptops that were released in 2020 and earlier. Hell, I think the ones for 2022 are now orphaned. I am in the same boat as I'm still on my 2017 iMac and can't upgrade. I need a new computer, but I have my money tied up in something else. Oh, to add misery...Apple's prices are going to increase for the soon-to-be-released M5 models, on both Mac Minis, Mac Laptops and Mac Studios. The Data Center / AI Craze that has CEO's convinced that we NEED these things have hit Apple prices that they get for purchasing components, like memory chips. Western Digital is sold out of HDs until 2028. So any stock that is on the current shelves is what is there and prices HAVE INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. So since Apple's COGS have increased, so will the prices to offset those increased costs. Start saving. Plan on $4000+ for a new MBP.

Keep your monitor and only replace it if you absolutely need to. Prices are crazy expensive as it is with all this AI / Data Center Crap, and $782 is not going to cut it for a computer in 2026. Those Days are LONG GONE.

I agree with Damien. If you can afford the Asus ProArt, I'd get that one. A 27" IPS Display with 2560 x 1440 is really what you want and it looks like it is on sale as I type this.

I don’t know what happened. Weird. Anyway… Now before you do any of this, I'd recommend doing some house-keeping, running CleanMyMac X, repair permissions, etc. Maybe clear out some space out of your downloads folder. The more space you have to download and install the OS, the better. Go here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-ventura/id1638787999?mt=12 Click View in Mac App Store Tell it to Open Link. (This pop-up box shouldn't appear if you are working in Safari, only Firefox or Chrome.) Click GET.

Ventura is fine and is a mature operating system. Ventura 13.7.8 is what I'm running on my 2017 Intel iMac. I'm also running PS CC 2023. No issues other than Adobe bugging me to upgrade...which I won't until I get a new computer. The latest version of PS will kill my computer.

According to Apple's Website, you should be able to. Would I personally? "Meh." It's one of those things..."Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." 2018 is really pushing it. You really need to start saving for a new computer. Your Graphics Card is severely under-powered for the modern versions of PS, so there's that. If you do upgrade, that's fine. Just keep in mind there are no take-backsies, meaning you can't downgrade. If you upgrade to Sequoia, you are stuck with it; unless you create a Ventura bootable thumb-drive, then NUKE your MBP and then reinstall everything from scratch. A trip to the Apple Store would be in your future to do this; this process is way too involved for me to help in this forum. So it were me, I'd upgrade to Ventura 13.7.8 instead of Sequoia and see how that goes. Here is the link to Ventura. If you are using Safari, it will take you where you need to go. If you are using Chrome or Firefox, just click the "Open Link" when it prompts you and will take you to the App Store:

Oh, one more thing... $225 Canadian is a lot cheaper than Forensic Data Recovery. You would have probably forked out $1500 or more for that service.

Very cool. Thanks for letting us know. Disk Drill, I have heard of that program, glad it worked well for you.

Find a .NEF File, right click and select "Get Info" then look towards the bottom. MacPaw did a pretty decent set of instructions: Look for "Open with," under "Get Info," set the program in the drop down menu, then click "Change All."

The biggest thing you can do at this point, and it's not something you want to hear, is to leave the EHD alone until you can afford such funds. The more you mess with it, as tempting as it is, the greater the chance of you really screwing up the drive. Mac computers are a real Royal PITA to recover data from. It's messy. If you still are determined, just try recovering a small insignificant folder first and see how it goes. The gradually ramp things up.

Phew!!! I'm not trying to be an ass, but I'm genuinely concerned about your files. As for a Canadian Data Recovery, I'm not sure. You could try and find some place local. This is what the Google AI Bot came back with: