Gcmallo Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Sorry if I’ve missed the lastest laptop recommendations, but I don’t see any recent. I am Looking to update my 2009 barely functioning MacBook. What would you recommend at this point? I was looking at the Mac book pro 15 in screen, but beyond that am not sure what I do/do not need. I currently save everything to an external as my HD is so bogged down it won’t run any other way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 MacBook Pros are extremely expensive if you want to use it for photo editing. I just recommended specs for a friend who is a professional photographer and the bill came to around $4000 after shipping, taxes and AppleCare. Are you sure you want to spend $4000 on a laptop? Can I recommend a 27” iMac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 The main issue with laptops is they are meant to be portable and that means small hard drives. The specs really haven't changed much: 8GB RAM - 16GB Recommended 500GB HD at a Minimum - 1TB Hard Drive HIGHLY Recommended CPU - As much as you can afford A video card that has separate & dedicated video memory. With the current MBP, there isn't a upgrade path, meaning "I'll buy this affordable _________ and then upgrade it in a few years..." Apple isn't that way anymore. They want you to "Go Big or Go Home..." which is why a MBP is extremely expensive AND it can't be upgraded after the fact easily. Also, you will need a few adapters since they no longer come with a traditional USB port, it's a USB-C port and you'll need to figure in the cost of a docking station at some point or adapter cables at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gcmallo Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Thanks, I just saw this! We will use it for things other than photo editing as well. I was planning on getting the 27in iMac but then editing this fall so much with a 2 year old the laptop came in handy since I could move when he got bored in one area! What would you recommend on the iMac? My laptop is a 2008 and 2GB of memory so anything will be a huge upgrade at this point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Whatever you do, DO NOT PURCHASE A 21.5" iMac!!! They are a complete waste of money and can't be upgraded after the fact, well easily. They have slower HDs, slower motherboards / chipsets, slower / less powerful video cards, slower CPUs, etc. etc. By the time you purchase a $1499 iMac and upgrade it to 16GB with Apple's overpriced RAM, you are $100 less than a stock $1799 27" iMac...which has better chipsets/motherboards, better hard drives, better CPU performance, better video cards, etc. etc. OK, now that I got that out of the way... Honestly? The stock $1799 27" iMac will be a huge upgrade for you. If it were me, I feel that the $1999 iMac is the best bang for your buck. You can go up to 64GB of RAM when the time comes and it has a faster CPU chip and better video card for only $200 more than the $1799 model. Oh!! With any of the new Retina iMac screens, you will need to budget for the latest calibration tool, such as a Datacolor Sypder5Elite Calibrator. Calibration Tools from a few years ago (2009-2011 era) can't keep up with the new Retina Screens, so it's good to have the latest and greatest calibrator / calibration software. That said, want to know what I would configure? Believe it or not, it's not a iMac Pro. This is probably what I'm going to get later this year, I'm thinking in the Fall of 2018: I started with the $2299 - 27" iMac and upgraded the CPU, RAM to 16GB and HD to 3TB. Why not a SSD drive? Due to the cost and size limitations. A small SSD drive won't do you any good if it's full, so I'm opting for a 3TB HD. That said, prices may come down and I might opt for a 1TB SSD drive and have a huge external drive. I've lived with a 1TB drive since 2009 and it still isn't full. I also want the new keyboard with the number-pad built in. I plan on purchasing RAM from Crucial.com to bump it up to 32GB to start with and also will purchase AppleCare. Cost for the iMac is $2829 plus shipping, tax and AppleCare...and is still cheaper and has way more horsepower than a Mac Book Pro. Why not a iMac Pro? Because I don't edit video. I'm not rendering 3D graphics or creating stuff for Pixar. I'm using Photoshop which isn't programmed to take advantage of what makes a iMac Pro / Mac Pro so fast. It's like owning a elite sports car that is designed to go 200MPH+ only to be used to drive your kids to school 3 miles away @ 25MPH. LOL! In fact, Adobe Photoshop will run SLOWER on a Mac Pro / iMac Pro than it will on a fully tricked out standard iMac. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gcmallo Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 Wow, thanks so much for taking the time to explain all of that! I will Look into all of it and probably will go with the 27in iMac. Appreciate it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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