MacBook Pro 16" (2019/2020 model)

Report · Nov 29, 2019

Hi, My 6-year old Windows laptop is slowly giving up the ghost although I did manage to upgrade (free) from Windows 7 to Windows 10 a while back which runs Lightroom v5.7 as smooth as silk. Whilst I have looked at several Windows replacement laptops i.e. the Dell XPS series the internet is full of user complaints in one form or another and whilst I accept that this is par for any web/forum site Macs appear to come in for far less criticism. So my intention come the new year is to splash out some hard earned pocket money and invest in a Mac laptop along with a subscription to Lightroom Classic. Which brings me to the reason for this post and that is to seek users advice on whether a MacBook Pro with the following specs would be up to the job of running Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro X although not all at the same time of course. The switching between LR and PS will be limited because I'm not into editing to the tenth degree so to say and from past experience jumping between the two lies between 1-2 photos out of every 10.

MacBook Pro 16"

2.3 GHz 8-core 9th generation Intel Core i9 Processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHy. Haven't quite figured out what that means at this time with further web searches needed lol.

16GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory although could push finances to 32GB is absolutely necessary although not really desirable at this time

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. This is the max that Apple offer.

1 TB of SSD storage which considering I store all my images on EHD's should suffice. Extending this to 2GB would cost an arm and a leg.

Report · Nov 29, 2019

This machine will work fine for what you want. They have gorgeous screens (looked at one a few days ago) and the keyboard is back to being good (the one complaint with the Mac Book Pros that I've had in the last few years. If you can grok it I would go for the 32 GB internal. I do Classic, Photoshop, and After Effects/Premiere Pro on a 2018, 15" MBP with a 2.9 GHz, 6-core i9 and 32 Gig internal and it is supersmooth. Only complaint is the keyboard which is now fixed in the new 16". You can definetly find more powerful machines for less in windows land but everything has its issues including Apple machines but in general the hardware is well thought out in my opinion and I like the operating environment.

Report · Nov 29, 2019

Thanks for offering your opinion, Jao, although not too sure regarding the 32GB memory. I realise that there's an element of future proofing in your reply but as things currently stand in terms of my antiipate application use isn't it a bit overkill? And yes, I did read quite a few posts here and there regarding the keyboard issue and had I not read that this had now been resolved wouldn't be too inclined to jump ship in respect of environment.

Report · Nov 29, 2019

You don't really need 32 gig but my answer was indeed wrt future proofing. Getting the better GPU is probably more important than upgrading the memory. The keyboard thing caused enormous rejoicing in Mac land as Apple finally seemed to listen to user complaints: https://daringfireball.net/2019/11/16-inch_macbook_pro_first_impressions

Saw that you were still using LR 5.7 which won't run anymore. You'll need to go to Classic if you go the new MBP route.

Report · Nov 29, 2019

Yes, it did indeed surprise me that Lightroom v5.7 continued to run following the free upgrade to Win10 from Win7 but it's smooth as silk so I'v been happy with that for a while now. I did mention in my opening post that I intended going down the Classic route although it pains me that here in Europe we appear to pay over the odds for everything with Adobe stamped on it.