Can you guys and gals help me spec out some computers for graphic designers working primarily in print (almost exclusively in InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat)? We are getting ready to upgrade our now 4.5 year-old machines and I'm not positive what we need. The last computers we got were essentially hand-me-downs, so it has been 9 years since I've spec'd out a computer for work. The new computers will need to last an equivalent amount of time, and I'd like to offer an iMac and a MBP option.
A few questions:
- Do I need 32GB RAM, or will 16GB be enough?
- Do I need the discrete graphics of the 15" model MBP, or will the integrated graphics of the 13" be enough?
- On the iMac versions, is the fusion drive okay, or should I absolutely spend more to get the SSD?
- Would an upgraded 21" iMac be a suitable option, considering the statement below?
We will be purchasing new monitors to go with the computers (regardless of desktop or laptop). The budget per computer (not including the external monitor) would be around $3k (before tax) each. I do realize that the iMacs Apple sells now are due for an upgrade. I'd like to spec them out now though, and then if we get bumps before a purchase decision, all the better. I sort of have to spend the money while it is available and before it is taken away, if that makes sense.
Are there any other questions I can answer to help you guys recommend me a MBP and iMac model to offer a choice between?
Max out 21.5" 4K iMacs. So, Core i7, 32GB RAM, Radeon Pro 560, 1TB SSD (unless your workflow is such that you're cool with a 512GB or 256GB SSD because you have access to reliable network storage). Definitely do SSD; don't do Fusion.
On the MBP side, a maxed out 13" (save for SSD size) should be adequate; if more power is needed, get that person an iMac because that'll be the best bang for buck. Unless you have people on your team that do HEAVY work from other locations.
Have to stick with Macs for a few reasons, the biggest of which is that we have control over our machines. If we went with Windows, our IT department would be all up in them. They ignore us because they are stuck in the early 2000s in believing Macs shouldn’t be supported by an IT department...and in many respects, I’m fine with that.
Appreciate the suggestions though. I bought the Surface Pro 4 when it came out as I really like what MS is doing with their hardware. But I just couldn’t get used to Windows. I sold the machine a year later and picked up a Retina MacBook...very high up on my list of favorites computers ever.
So, a few things here:
(1) Adobe products function IDENTICALLY in Windows and macOS. The only functional differences will come in the form of plug-ins. Otherwise, the programs themselves are identical and by design. It has been that way since the pre-Creative-Suite days.
(2) You will get FAR better performance out of a PC for the cost of even a decent 21.5" iMac, let alone either MacBook Pro because Apple would rather a thin machine than a machine with actual power that is a little thicker. Furthermore, Adobe favors NVIDIA GPUs for performance acceleration for just about all of their design programs and Apple hasn't used NVIDIA in any of their products since the Mid 2014 15" MacBook Pros.
(3) Regarding the notion that Macs shouldn't be supported in an IT environment, if they're thinking that Macs won't do what they want them to do out of the box with a traditional Active Directory environment and nothing else, they're absolutely right. Especially given what Apple has done since Mac OS X Lion through the present (by incorporating Mobile Device Management technology into macOS), an IT department that hasn't made any effort to add in things like JAMF to make Mac management not a huge pain, would be better off leaving the Macs alone or not having them altogether. This much is correct. HOWEVER...
(4) Having worked with Macs and PCs in various IT jobs over the years, I will say this: don't fear your IT department. Don't fear what they want to do with the computers that you technically don't own personally. Just about all of it is to maintain information security, and stability (all of which are good things regardless of what platform you're on). They're not there to be mean; they're there to keep the lights on. If IT is locking down something, unless your IT department is comprised of jerks who do a bad job, it's probably a good thing to lock down and there's probably a business reason to do so that the head of the company approved. If that's not the case, then you can probably go over IT's head to make whatever you'd want to have happen on a PC that you can freely do in wild wild west Mac land be allowed to happen. IT works in service of the company first, and then its users. If it is doing something counter to both directives, unless the business culture where you work is so toxic, you should be able to overrule any draconian directive that you have a valid reason for hating. Otherwise, the fear of not having control of computers you don't even own personally is, sorry to say, ridiculous. If you need it to do your job, at the end of the day, it's IT's job to make sure you get it, whether they lock it down or not.
(5) Windows 10 has come a long way and, when it all comes down to it, it's not dissimilar to macOS. Instead of a dock, you have the task bar. Instead of Launchpad, you have the start menu. The home folder structure between the two OSes are practically identical, which makes virtually any practical task you'd want to perform between the two differing in only minute differences that only your IT department would care about and a couple aesthetic differences. I get that it's preference based, but the idea that you can't do something in Windows and can in macOS is asinine unless it's a program that ONLY runs in macOS (and these days, that description doesn't apply to that many programs).
(6) IT itself is undergoing a radical shift between being about what users can't do to being about what users can do. Apple's platforms are spearheading this with MDM technologies, but Microsoft is following rather quickly. If the type of "IT gives you the sandbox and you choose what you do or don't do within that sandbox" tech lifestyle is what you really want at work, then that's something that will inevitably be a cross-platform thing at your place of work.
