Best recommendation for a new laptop for a PRO Photoshop user

[barrettbiggers82]

Hi there I've been using PS CC 2017 on a mid 2012 15" macbook pro retina for many years now and it is really starting to show it's age since I do very complex and massive digital artworks (sometimes 18"x24" 240DPI) involved hundreds of image layers, smart objects, shapes and blending modes. My doc sizes are in the 2-4 GBs usually. I was super excited to see macbook pro updated last year but as most pros feel a bit cheated that they still only allow a max of 16GB DDR3 RAM still (my old 2012 mac has that same amount!) However that being said the July update for macbook pro has added the 3.1/4.1 GHz Intel 7th gen and also a faster SSD HD to my knowledge.

Now I really really want to work with Mac OS I have never liked Windows OS but I could get a maxed out Dell Precision 15" with the same chipset, about the same screen, about the same graphics card, a type 50 SSD 1TB and most importantly up to 64GB DDR4 RAM. That of course would cost me an additional 1K. But I really would like to hear some real world artists opinions on the RAM issue. Is it truly going to make such a massive difference in speed by having more than 16GB? Since the processor is maxed out and PS mainly uses a single core wouldn't that be more important? Could I get away with the latest macbook with an upgraded 2TB utilizing the super fast SSD as a scratch disk? I have a 2013 Mac Pro Trash Can Cylinder with 64GB RAM and it seems to do better but the processor is also newer as compared to my 2012 macbook pro.

Now I could be smarter a bit in my work flow by rasterizing smart objects and working on a huge canvas and lowering resolution to say 72dpi and then downsizing to 300dpi after final. That may help too I'm sure. I just don't want to go to Windows lol.

Any thoughts on this? Appreciate it very much!

[JJMack]

If you want to use Mac OSX you know your choices.  You will most likely never be able to have a that workflow options the you have with windows and the hardware supported by windows.

[barrettbiggers82]

Thanks, I realize I might have been expecting too much in a mobile setup in the first place...and agree a custom built PC gaming laptop will be cheaper and better than a Mac laptop at this point the way Apple is headed.

[JJMack]

A mobile studio would be better for artwork.  However it will not be as cheap and will not be as portable as a good MAC or PC ultra portable laptop. Apple demands a premium price for their machines.  If you love OSX pay the price.  Windows users have many choices there are many venders of PC.  There is competition.

Companion devices are also a very good choice nothing is as portable as a iPad Pro and the Apple pencil is excellent and with Astropad you can use it like a Wacom Cintiq with your Mac desktop.  You can use your mature desktop applications like Photoshop and Illustrator. The down side is an iPad Pro with Apple pen and keyboard cost as much as a laptop. However you can use it without a keyboard and use any Bluetooth keyboard you currently have.

You can also use companion apps they are getting better all the time and it look like IOS 11 is going to make working with different apps  easier to do.  There is an IOS file system after all.

[D Fosse]

lowering resolution to say 72dpi and then downsizing to 300dpi after final

That wouldn't make any difference, you still have the same number of pixels and the same file. Pixels per inch is just printing metadata.

I would also add that any "pro" user should invest in a decent monitor, rather than rely on a mediocre laptop display. And they're all mediocre, whatever the logo on the lid. It goes with squeezing a display into a plastic lid a few millimetres thick.

[JJMack]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/D+Fosse  wrote

rely on a mediocre laptop display. And they're all mediocre, whatever the logo on the lid. It goes with squeezing a display into a plastic lid a few millimetres thick.

They make good desktop displays these day that are a few millimeters thick and Laptop displays are manufactured with the same technologies as desktop displays many are manufactured with IPS displays.  Laptop displays these days displays are no longer the poor TN display found in all but the very expensive laptops of years ago some are.  However, Laptops are also manufactured to use as little power as  possible so you can use your laptop for hours on a single battery charge.  Trade off have been made.  

[D Fosse]

Yeah, and the wafer-thin desktop monitors aren't particularly good either. How will you get even backlight in such a construction? It can't be done. It's just a strip of LEDs at the bottom and reflectors distributing the light.

[JJMack]

OLED displays do not have a backlight they do not need any they have execlent color. Thin not a problem for them.

[barrettbiggers82]

Oh yeah agreed - my laptop is just a mobile "get you through" option until I get back to my main mac pro tower setup which has dual Dell Ultra Sharp IPS so it's a bit better - debatable.  I'm more of a digital fine artist so color calibration/accuracy is not as important in my work as others.

[Warren Heaton]

Any MacBook Pro with 16 GB or RAM and as large of an internal hard drive as its your budget and you're good to go.

[barrettbiggers82]

Appreciate it. I ended up getting the 2017 macbook pro with 2TB SSD and 3.1/4.1 i7 - I have 14 days to return it if I do not see significant performance Photoshop gains as compared to my mpb retina 2012. Otherwise I may find someone who can Hackintosh it.

[Warren Heaton]

You're upgrading from a 2012 MacBook Pro?  You'll noticed a very good performance increase.