New MacBook Pro 2023

[macuser2023]

Would you recommend one of the new MacBook airs over the new MacBook Pro for 2023? Running inDesign/Illustrator/Bridge/PS primarily - some short video editing in premiere. (R6 mark ii files)

 

My 2020 MBP is not up to the task. Thank you!

[Brian]

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: What are the specs of your current MBP laptop? With it only being a few years old, and not up to the task with current software, I feel that you purchased something you could afford rather than what you needed. Apple Laptops are expensive, and while the MacBook Air just was updated with the M2 Chip, it still only goes up to 24GB of RAM, AND it's a 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU...which is fine for general computing; anything serious, it's still under-powered for the software you want to run. Not to mention all the stupid AI stuff that Adobe is putting into their products. So while a current MacBook Air will meet your needs now, AND run those current software packages NOW, you will be right back in the same situation in 2-3 years, forking out another $3000+. So why waste the money?

Fill this out and post the results in this thread: Details about your Computer's Health.

[macuser2023]

I am open to purchasing a new MBP if that is your recommendation.

I have a Mac laptop running Ventura 13.4.1 and Photoshop CC 2023. It is over 3 years old, and has 32GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 577GB free out of 2000GB. The last time I shut down was last night. I rarely run a cleanup program.

also: 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 1536 MB

I will add I just updated to Ventura 13.4.1 - I think I should use a new cleanup program to see if that will help. I am going to look into CleanMymac

Thank you.

[Brian]

12 hours ago, macuser2023 said:

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 1536 MB

THIS IS WHAT KILLED YOU!!!

That low-end "Wimpy" Video Card will not handle Photoshop well...AT ALL. Every other option in your MBP is "Fine" and would run the current version of Photoshop without issue, believe it or not. With today's modern Photoshop, the choice of Video Card / GPU is MORE important than CPU Choice!! Basically, you went fancy on the things you are used to, RAM, HD Capacity and CPU...but totally blew it on the Graphics Choice.

We will not repeat that mistake again.  

While it's great you have CleanMyMac X to use, it's not going to help you. Your video card is meant for "General Computing" and not Photoshop work. (Netflix, wasting time on Facebook, paying bills, answering e-mails, etc. etc.) The more fancy tools Adobe adds to their products, the more it relies on the Video GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) and dedicated Video Memory in not only to function, but as a performance boost. I know it sounds good that "I bought a MacBook Pro..." but it's like you bought a fancy car, but didn't add Air Conditioning & a Radio to the package. Oops. It's only money, right? LOL!!

Check out this article that I wrote and take a screenshot of the specs before you buy. About halfway down is the MacBook Pro Configuration that's "Good for Photo Editing." I will warn you, it's not cheap.