MacBook

[p3]

I'm thinking of purchasing a MacBook in the near future and was wondering if any of you guys operate off of one. I currently use a MacPro for all my designing but it is just getting outdated and I want something that runs faster. I mainly work a lot in photoshop and illustrator, some cinema 4d. I was just wondering if any of you have run into issues while running photoshop and illustrator, working with bigger files and just all around performance. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[FatCat]

I run a 15" quad-core i7 MBP, handles all my Adobe apps with ease, plus runs Windows through VmWare's Fusion for things like Quickbooks and MS Office. When at the office I have it hooked up to a 28" Samsung to broaden the view.

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

I've got a MacBook PRO that I bought about a year ago. It's got the dual core 2.6GHz i7 w/ 8 gigs of memory. Still a very respectable computer today. It wasn't cheap, but it'll last me another 2 years at least. (This is my 5th MacBook PRO/PowerBook)

It runs Photoshop and Illustrator like a dream. It's not my main computer, I've got a MacPro with 3 monitors that I use every day which has spoiled me.

The MacBook PRO isn't quite as fast as the MacPro with Photoshop but it's still screaming fast. (My MacPro has 32GB of Ram and a graphics card with 2GB of dedicated video memory and two quad core Xeon processors. Hard to match those specifications in a laptop)

The only thing I don't like about the MacBook PRO is it's a laptop. It's not as comfortable for me to work with it all day. I use it for when I have meetings or if I want to mess around with some files at the house. I'm also very spoiled with 3 monitors on my workstation. I feel lost with only one screen! I'm also a die hard Wacom tablet user so working at a desktop is the only real choice I have.

All personal preferences aside the MacBook PRO line of computers are very capable for graphics work. Add in a second monitor on your desk and a full size keyboard and mouse and you'd be set for a full on workstation.

The MacBook on the other hand... is great for office type applications but I wouldn't recommend it for any heavy lifting in Photoshop.

 

[Move In Media]

Yeah if you're going to get a Mac laptop for work, definetely go the Pro line, edited all my videos on a 2007 MBP just fine.... Just dont skimp on RAM and Processor clock speed, most aspects of design programs rely on those, the video card is mainly for 3D filters from what I understand...
any specific reason you're going for a Mac though? You could probably get a comparable windows machine for a lower price, although been a while since I bought a laptop, could be wrong.

 

[MikePro]

+1 Pro line. comes standard with better graphics specs than the baseline model and, with illustrator/photoshop, you'll need all you can get! (especially if you want it to feel fast, by comparison to your desktop design station, for a good long time)

 

[p3]

No reason really on going with the Mac, other than it is what I just started recently using at work. I have a desktop that I just built that works, the only thing I'm lacking at the moment is ram, I only got what I could afford and would upgrade soon after. As for the laptop, that was what I was looking at, was the Pro. I would be using it for my every day job (making web and print advertisements/email/some illustration.) It would replace my MacPro I use now, I would just hook it up to the monitors. I think the main issue I have now using my MacPro is that my graphics card is old. I just installed CS6 suite, and yesterday I was having problems with photoshop freezing up a lot when transferring back and forth between illustrator and photoshop. I just wanted to make sure it was something powerful enough to work on projects when I am away from the office/home. I know Apple is supposed to come out with some new macbook pros in the very near future, that are supposed to be slimmer like the air's. Have any of you heard of that and heard of an expected release date?

 

[choucove]

I haven't heard of any news of Apple looking to release a more "ultrabook" style MacBook Pro, but I do imagine they will be releasing a new generation soon to accommodate the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors which will be a slight increase from the current Sandy Bridge generation in use. I have heard rumors that Apple is looking into a different graphics chipset than AMD or nVidia for their next generation of laptops, most likely something custom built...
...which means very real challenges with support and compatibility!

 

[Brands Imaging]

I've got a MacBook PRO that I bought about a year ago. It's got the dual core 2.6GHz i7 w/ 8 gigs of memory. Still a very respectable computer today. It wasn't cheap, but it'll last me another 2 years at least. (This is my 5th MacBook PRO/PowerBook)

It runs Photoshop and Illustrator like a dream. It's not my main computer, I've got a MacPro with 3 monitors that I use every day which has spoiled me.

The MacBook PRO isn't quite as fast as the MacPro with Photoshop but it's still screaming fast. (My MacPro has 32GB of Ram and a graphics card with 2GB of dedicated video memory and two quad core Xeon processors. Hard to match those specifications in a laptop)

The only thing I don't like about the MacBook PRO is it's a laptop. It's not as comfortable for me to work with it all day. I use it for when I have meetings or if I want to mess around with some files at the house. I'm also very spoiled with 3 monitors on my workstation. I feel lost with only one screen! I'm also a die hard Wacom tablet user so working at a desktop is the only real choice I have.

All personal preferences aside the MacBook PRO line of computers are very capable for graphics work. Add in a second monitor on your desk and a full size keyboard and mouse and you'd be set for a full on workstation.

The MacBook on the other hand... is great for office type applications but I wouldn't recommend it for any heavy lifting in Photoshop.

just curious as to why you wouldnt suggest using the most expensove computer that Mac makes for "heavy lifting" in photoshop???

 

[Move In Media]

I think the main issue I have now using my MacPro is that my graphics card is old. I just installed CS6 suite, and yesterday I was having problems with photoshop freezing up a lot when transferring back and forth between illustrator and photoshop. I just wanted to make sure it was something powerful enough to work on projects when I am away from the office/home. I know Apple is supposed to come out with some new macbook pros in the very near future, that are supposed to be slimmer like the air's. Have any of you heard of that and heard of an expected release date?

From what I've researched online, most design programs dont really use the video card for the rendering, unless it's some kind of 3D filter, your main compenents in this case are processor and ram. You could also install an SSD drive to speed up loading of files and such...

As far as the ultrabook style MBPs, I wouldnt reccomend buying them, usually the thinner and neater is more expensive, so if youre getting it for processing power you're not getting your bang for your buck, especially if you're buying a first-gen product, which are notoriously overpriced. However, the price on a regular MBP might drop once those come out. Just make sure if you're buying a brand new mac, get the extended warranty, imho definetely worth it, as repairing Macs is an expensive deal...

 

[Move In Media]

just curious as to why you wouldnt suggest using the most expensove computer that Mac makes for "heavy lifting" in photoshop???

Most expensive is not always the best bang for your buck. Unless you're planning on playing computer games, your only real qualifications are processor, RAM and screen size. For storage I'd use an external hard drive, either desktop or pocket...

 

[john1]

Have a guy who has a new iMac he spent like $2000 on. He told me the other day he should have went with a custom PC because Mac's are limited to upgrades and he could have had a faster machine for half the money. This is true. I will put my custom pc up against any iMac and blow it away which is what typical users buy thinking it's a fast machine. The really fast Macs are the Mac pro's and are crazy money that hardly nobody buys unless your doing some high end video production. I once knew a guy who paid $10,000 for a Mac pro and 2 27" apple displays.... ridiculous.

People who buy apple computers are buying them for the OS software at the end of the day. It does seem to run smoother but then again i really am impressed with Windows 7 64 bit.

 

[rjssigns]

Maybe check out the latest Air. With 4 gigs and the SSD they actually run as fast or faster than the lower end Pro's with PS. Trick little units.

Also do not buy new, get the refurb. Can save at least 15%. Refurbs are supplied internally from Apple corporate and they come with a full factory warranty which you can morph into the extended warranty. They have also been gone through by a live person. Not randomly sampled off the assembly line.

A refurb is kinda like the lottery too. I know a director at a nearby college and he buys refurbs. He said you will never get less than ordered spec, but you will sometimes get better. Out of the 7 refurbs he's ordered 3 had a faster processor and more Ram than what the tech sheet said.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Maybe check out the latest Air. With 4 gigs and the SSD they actually run as fast or faster than the lower end Pro's with PS. Trick little units.

Those aren't bad. Alicia has one (and early gen one, but still had SSDs) and it really is fast for what it is. She uses Painter on it, but outside that I don't know how well it stacks up to running the full range of programs.

You can get a really nice Lenovo ThinkPad that would be able to handle everything that you can throw at it. Mom just got a new one of those and she is Ps, Draw and a few other programs with no problem. Now these do not have a gaming graphics card, but their graphics cards are more suited for CAD applications, designing etc. It's not going to render Diablo all that quickly, but for our programs it will be more then sufficient.

Or you can do what my dad did and get an Asus VX7. That would be you up to about the cost of the higher end MacBooks.

 

[Brands Imaging]

Most expensive is not always the best bang for your buck. Unless you're planning on playing computer games, your only real qualifications are processor, RAM and screen size. For storage I'd use an external hard drive, either desktop or pocket...

This is not really a discussion about external storage. My real question was about the ability of the processor and RAM of the Mac Pro. I have a custom built PC with a Sandy Bridge 2700 3.4 and 16 gigs of RAM. I did a lot of research before we purchased the components of this bill. The computer is great but still lags with heavy Photoshop files. From my research this is the best possible PC build out there (at the time of purchase 5/11). And I feel that it's still lacks a bit of performance.

My only thought about the Mac Pro would be that this machine would be the only alternative left to purchase for these specific tasks.

 

[bjones]

'This clunky home made mashup PC that nobody can support stuffed in some chinese garbage can with neon lights is so much better than your overpriced easy to use mac!'

 

[Brands Imaging]

'This clunky home made mashup PC that nobody can support stuffed in some chinese garbage can with neon lights is so much better than your overpriced easy to use mac!'

Not really trying to be rude, but that was a senseless comment. Looking for some constructive feedback on why the Mac Pro cant do heavy lifting with Photoshop files.

 

[Move In Media]

This is not really a discussion about external storage.

Pardon me, I suppose I didn't clarify: I meant you can save on the price of the laptop a bit if you opt for a smaller capacity HDD than it comes with.

My real question was about the ability of the processor and RAM of the Mac Pro. I have a custom built PC with a Sandy Bridge 2700 3.4 and 16 gigs of RAM. I did a lot of research before we purchased the components of this bill. The computer is great but still lags with heavy Photoshop files. From my research this is the best possible PC build out there (at the time of purchase 5/11). And I feel that it's still lacks a bit of performance.

Hmm, that does sound like a powerful machine, I don't know why it would lag, are you sure you have both Win and CS 64 bit versions? Are you running lots of windows open, any malware? Overheating? Also, I heard that SSD can improve performance slightly, I think mostly to do with loading files and such. They're just still too dang expensive for me to try out personally.
Could also try to optimize your CS a bit, found this article:http://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2011/05/how-to-tune-photoshop-cs5-for-peak-performance.html

My only thought about the Mac Pro would be that this machine would be the only alternative left to purchase for these specific tasks.

Unless you're dealing with real cheapo PC hardware, I dont think a comparable to a PC machine is better just because its made by Apple(their notorious motherboard producer, Foxconn, is also known for making crappy PC motherboards). I know there is an advantage regarding Apple monitors and color calibration, but as far as computing power I doubt there is any real difference in speed. Now there may be other factors affecting your PC's performance, such as overheating, malware, messy registry, etc. etc.. And you just may not want to deal with this, and just get a Mac. Although these days Mac viruses are less rare, I'd say OSX is still a more stable OS in my experience. You dont have to deal with the registry, all applications are encapsulated in one package(prevents spread of some viruses), and the interface is a bit more streamlined that Windows. It maybe also be possible that somehow Adobe products are optimized for OSX, but I've not seen any credible evidence to that yet. I've used both for many years and while I enjoyed my MBP, when I upgraded I opted for a PC, based on a limited budget. SUre I have to reinstall windows once in a while, but I've made an image of my esentials and reload usually takes no more than 10 minutes, and I store all my archive files on an external disk.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

I bought a weak macpro with very slow processors off ebay for cheap. I then spent about 700 dollars in updgrades and now have a screaming 8 core machine with a nice video card and ram for about the third of a new mac pro.

The benchmark tests are off the charts for processing and video power.
The ram is a bit slow, but I didn't upgrade to a faster speed, just more of it.
It's never bogged down once.

Depending on what your macpro is, you can upgrade it for not much money. If you're technically inclined.

 

[Move In Media]

Thats a perfect example why a desktop is better for work than a laptop, unless you absolutely need mobility in your line of work like a photographer or on-set editor or something. Even with Mac's you can still get a better bang for your buck.

 

[rjssigns]

The real crucible for computers is a college. Where I went to school all the Macs are on a 5 year replacement schedule just because. The PC's were on a 3 year, but a majority of them failed around the 2 year mark. PC's are now on a 2 year replacement schedule. The school will eventually put Mac's in all classrooms possible in the coming years.

Not trying to start a flame war. Just speaking from what I saw and experienced. It intrigued me enough to ask questions of the IT staff and administration. They point to the ancient dual boot Macs that are in all the public access areas on campus. The ones they didn't sell after they had their fifth birthday.

I was anti-Mac until I went back to school. Now I really like 'em.

Wife is still PC. Hates the Mac's file system. May get her a HP Z1.