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isacl84730927
Participant
August 20, 2019
Question

Best Mac computer for heavy indesign & photshop work?

  • August 20, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 4958 views

Hi there!

Yeah, as the title reads I am looking for a new Mac to serve my pretty CPU & RAM heavy work in Indesign & Photoshop. Atm I got an Macbook Pro 13 inch with the following specs:

- 2,3 GHz Intel Core i5

- 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3

- Macintosh HD

- Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB

I am working with catalog production for a home decor company where each catalog tends to be about 100 pages and consists of high resolution TIFF images which today's location does not work very smoothly on my computer. The computer also operates a 32" 4k screen (for the multitasking purposes) which also kind of outperforms its performance.

So... I need a more powerful Mac but the question is which one? My devoted budget is 2100 dollars.

Do you guys have any recommendations?

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

JonathanArias
JonathanArias
Legend
August 20, 2019

i layout magazines, emodules in indesign (nothign but long documents). heavy layout, lots of photoshop and illustrator files linked. A mac mini with 16gb of RAM works fine, i spent under $1800 all set and done.

If you do video work, go with 4k. otherwise, you will not visually see a difference using a 4k monitor for making catalogs in indesign. Why do you feel you need a 4k screen?

R
Community Expert
Randy HaganCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 20, 2019

I thought about that when I made my recommendation.

1) I'm a little guy. It sounds like the original poster has the same budget limitations. If I'm ponying up for a new system, it's going to have to last me a long time. The price difference between 1080p and 4K monitors today is so small that I feel it's worth springing for now to further future-proof my purchase.

2) In Photoshop, more resolution means higher display-view percentages for a given screen size and image within it. I'm a big believer in retouching/editing images at 100% display-view percentage or better, so I know when I affect one pixel on the screen, I'm only affecting one pixel in my image. In this case, bigger screen/more resolution is always better.

2a) (selfish reason) With higher screen resolution, it's easier to get higher resolution screen captures from my system. That's no small issue when you're trying to capture a small piece of the screen for print-quality reproduction. That's why I made the upgrade.

R
Community Expert
Randy HaganCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 20, 2019

If it's a freelancer's budget, I'd go for the latest MacMini and work from there. Get the upmarket, i5 six-core version, with the minimum amount of RAM and SSD. Then I'd go to OWC and buy my 64GB upgrade RAM and the fastest, largest external SSD in a Thunderbolt/USB-C case that I could afford. A wireless keyboard and mouse, good quality 4K monitor and be good to go. With some careful shopping, you could get into the whole setup for around $2,100US.

Now for the really dirty question: Does it have to be a Mac?

InDesign and Photoshop perform the same on either the Mac or Windows platform, down to the keyboard shortcuts. And you could equal or exceed the specs of the setup above and save yourself roughly $500 on the deal.

*puts on Flame Suit*

Jus' sayin' ...

Good Luck,

Randy

    davidc69929907
    davidc69929907
    Inspiring
    August 20, 2019

    I +1 the latest MacMini if you want a desktop experience. My opinion is that the current MacMini is the best value Mac available today. Outside of that, a used MacBook Pro with at least 16GB of RAM would be ideal if you need the mobility.

    Danny Whitehead.
    Danny Whitehead.
    Legend
    August 20, 2019

    The small amount of RAM is probably the biggest problem with your current machine.

    Are you particularly attached to that 32" 4k, and do you need a laptop rather than a desktop?

    If not, the 3.1GHz iMac 5k 27", with as much RAM as you can afford (bought separately as it's really easy to install) might be the best bet.

      Derek Cross
      Community Expert
      Derek CrossCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 20, 2019

      At least 16GB of ram is recommended these days.

      Also check out using native PSD or uncompressed JPGs for your images, the quality difference between TIFs and uncompressed JPGs may be negligible and will be easier to handle due to the smaller file size.

      Maybe the larger screen if the iMac may make it easier to work on than 13” MacBook. And possibly more accurate screen calibration.

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