Help me decide with MBP and What upgrade

[Leet Apple]

I want to purchase a new MBP I’m a photographer mainly use Lightroom. im coming off a 2010 15” MBP it’s due time.

I don’t have a big budget but I do have a Apple discount I’m thinking of either a Baseline 13” with some major upgrades or a 16” with1 upgrade possibly 2.

help me out please!! I want to purchase this weekend

 

[Jamesd123]

I want to purchase a new MBP I’m a photographer mainly use Lightroom. im coming off a 2010 15” MBP it’s due time.

I don’t have a big budget but I do have a Apple discount I’m thinking of either a Baseline 13” with some major upgrades or a 16” with1 upgrade possibly 2.

help me out please!! I want to purchase this weekend

This is a tough one to answer, as everybody budget/needs are so unique. A few things have come to mind for you to think about.

How important is portability? If it's a yes, then 13inch, the 16inch is quite big and would be harder to fit in a bag compared to 13inch.

But if your mainly going to be using your MacBook at home, or not worried about caring it around then go for the 16inch.

Also if you choose a 13 inch or 16inch, you could all ways use an external monitor for when at home for a bigger screen space to do your photo editing.

I would say go look at a both devices, pick them, try them, which I know is hard at the moment as a lot of stores are shut. Especially if portability is a big thing for you

I have never done photo editing, so I wouldn't know what upgrades or what processors would be best for that.

 

[Leet Apple]

This is a tough one to answer, as everybody budget/needs are so unique. A few things have come to mind for you to think about.

How important is portability? If it's a yes, then 13inch, the 16inch is quite big and would be harder to fit in a bag compared to 13inch.

But if your mainly going to be using your MacBook at home, or not worried about caring it around then go for the 16inch.

Also if you choose a 13 inch or 16inch, you could all ways use an external monitor for when at home for a bigger screen space to do your photo editing.

I would say go look at a both devices, pick them, try them, which I know is hard at the moment as a lot of stores are shut. Especially if portability is a big thing for you

I have never done photo editing, so I wouldn't know what upgrades or what processors would be best for that.

thanks!

so Portability is a major one because sometimes jobs require me to edit on the spot. One thing. I forgot to mention is I also wanna do video editing in the near future on it.

external monitor is a good point I might purchase one if i go 13”

This is the specs of the 2020 13” I’m looking at

• 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 512GB SSD storage

 

[Patcell]

I would definitely go with the first of your two specs there... the 4 thunderbolt port models have 28-watt 10th gen Intel chips whereas the two thunderbolt port models have 15-watt 8th gen chips. Also, I personally don't think the i7 upgrade is worth $200 bucks for 6-7% more performance. Particularly for photo editing.

 

[Leet Apple]

I would definitely go with the first of your two specs there... the 4 thunderbolt port models have 28-watt 10th gen Intel chips whereas the two thunderbolt port models have 15-watt 8th gen chips. Also, I personally don't think the i7 upgrade is worth $200 bucks for 6-7% more performance. Particularly for photo editing.

🤝

tbh I was only upgrading the processor because it’s newer and I do want this MBP to last some years

 

[Dhock_Holiday]

Honestly if your coming off a 15 inch, its going to be hard going back down to the 13 inch display. Also the fact that you're using the computer for productivity I would say spring for the larger 16 inch. That dedicated GPU will likely come in handy as well. Sure it bigger and heavier but I think that weight difference will offset the speed and ease you will have with the 16 inch.

 

[Leet Apple]

Honestly if your coming off a 15 inch, its going to be hard going back down to the 13 inch display. Also the fact that you're using the computer for productivity I would say spring for the larger 16 inch. That dedicated GPU will likely come in handy as well. Sure it bigger and heavier but I think that weight difference will offset the speed and ease you will have with the 16 inch.

I had a friends 2019 13” for a month I actually found it quite nice easing from 15”

 

[enthawizeguy]

im a photographer... I have a 2016 , 15inc with 16gb ram. its still pretty fast but the 2020 13 inch is about on par with this one a little fast. I went with the 16 inch 2019 with 64gb ram and 8gb video card and 2tb. Its about 80 -100 percent faster. I find the 15 to be pretty portable so hope the 16 isnt to much of a difference. Always found it harder to edit photos on screens smaller than 15

 

[maflynn]

so Portability is a major one

Well if portability is a major factor, then the 13" is clearly more mobile. You give up the discrete GPU and screen space, that's really about it. If you can live with using lightroom on a 13" MBP then that machine should be fine

This is the specs of the 13” I’m looking at

I'd definitely get the 10th gen model, but select the stock 2.0 Ghz CPU over the 2.3ghz, you'll not notice the difference, it will save you 200 bucks, then select 32GB of ram, and the price difference will be only 200 over what you configured.

 

[ascender]

I think it comes down to budget and portability*

* Specifically how much you need to use the laptop while on the move from point A to point B. I.e. trains, planes, cramped coffee-shop tables etc. The 16" is a PITA to use in those sorts of places, but if you're simply putting it in a bag and taking it somewhere with space, I'd take the (refurb?) 16" every time for the screen, speakers, mics and performance.

 

[Leet Apple]

Well if portability is a major factor, then the 13" is clearly more mobile. You give up the discrete GPU and screen space, that's really about it. If you can live with using lightroom on a 13" MBP then that machine should be fine


I'd definitely get the 10th gen model, but select the stock 2.0 Ghz CPU over the 2.3ghz, you'll not notice the difference, it will save you 200 bucks, then select 32GB of ram, and the price difference will be only 200 over what you configured.

That's one thing i was thinking was do i need that i7 or do i need more RAM. I'm not really aiming to spend over $2.5 + i have to order some accessories and a new LaCie

im a photographer... I have a 2016 , 15inc with 16gb ram. its still pretty fast but the 2020 13 inch is about on par with this one a little fast. I went with the 16 inch 2019 with 64gb ram and 8gb video card and 2tb. Its about 80 -100 percent faster. I find the 15 to be pretty portable so hope the 16 isnt to much of a difference. Always found it harder to edit photos on screens smaller than 15

personally i think all screens are too small monitor is the way to go, but I'm trying to get the MBP first then worry about display. Lightroom and most programs have a zoom in feature anyways for the little details.

I think it comes down to budget and portability*

* Specifically how much you need to use the laptop while on the move from point A to point B. I.e. trains, planes, cramped coffee-shop tables etc. The 16" is a PITA to use in those sorts of places, but if you're simply putting it in a bag and taking it somewhere with space, I'd take the (refurb?) 16" every time for the screen, speakers, mics and performance.

Depends theres times where i'm editing as I'm walking in an arena and theres time its just A-B

 

[ascender]

I guess you've already got the 15", so you know all about the size.

One other thing about the base 13" which is a dealbreaker for me is that there's only two thunderbolt ports and they're both on the left hand side. I know its minor thing, but I really like being able to plug in any device on either side of the laptop, for power in particular.

I've found its a reasonably common occurrence for me to want to use more than two ports at once.

 

[maflynn]

That's one thing i was thinking was do i need that i7 or do i need more RAM. I'm not really aiming to spend over $2.5 + i have to order some accessories and a new LaCie

Well selecting the 2.0Ghz, with 32GB of ram gives me a price of 2,200. These are USD prices, are you in the US?

 

[Leet Apple]

I guess you've already got the 15", so you know all about the size.

One other thing about the base 13" which is a dealbreaker for me is that there's only two thunderbolt ports and they're both on the left hand side. I know its minor thing, but I really like being able to plug in any device on either side of the laptop, for power in particular.

I've found its a reasonably common occurrence for me to want to use more than two ports at once.

I've narrowed it down to if i do get a 13" the new 2020 with4 ports former
[automerge]1589584104[/automerge]

Well selecting the 2.0Ghz, with 32GB of ram gives me a price of 2,200. These are USD prices, are you in the US?


View attachment 915296

I'm over in Canada, so little more expensive. Are you sure RAM over that processor?