Personally…I would go with 5K vice 4…the Studio Display I have is pretty awesome.
M4 Mac Anyone?
- Thread starter Anjin San
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I didn't read what I wrote before I posted it. For clarification - the difference between my macbook air and the new pro is night and day. The difference is less pronounced between the studio and the new macbook - noticable, but nothing that would keep me from using my Studio still.I went from a M2 Air (stock config) to MacBook Pro M4 Pro w/24gb ram. In Lightroom there is a slight difference in performance - I'm guessing if I had opted for 48gb of ram it'd be even more noticeable, but for my planned 2025 workflow to work I need both machines. And it's not a huge difference or enough justifying me to change those plans. If they come out with an M4 (or M5) based studio next year, that may change my plans but as it sits, I am planning on keeping the Studio at my desk, and the Macbook for travel and editing situations where I'm too lazy to trudge out to my office. (Happens more than I will admit...)
Thanks…that makes more sense…and faster laptop which is my main machine outside of LR is better.
I bought a 2023 M2 Max with 32 GB of RAM in early 2023. I expect my next upgrade to be a few years in the future. Previous macs went 2010-2017 the 2017-2023. suggesting it could be 2029 before I see a new system.
And now there's a Black Friday sale on the Mac Studio with $300 off of the price, to make the money in my pocket even hotter, to burn a hole even quicker!
That’s always a problem…I’m still hemming and hawing over whether to upgrade my M1 Pro MBP. I don’t really need to…but faster computers is always better ya know.And now there's a Black Friday sale on the Mac Studio with $300 off of the price, to make the money in my pocket even hotter, to burn a hole even quicker!
Neil I thought this was interesting and as I recall you have a fairly high end set up now. The way I read it, if you aren't doing video there is no rush since you have a high end model.
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Yes! Just like bigger is always better, and amplifiers that go to eleven are the best!
Although Apple has turned the heat down after Friday. The $300 discount I saw in multiple places for the Studio display is now replaced by a $100 discount.
So, I'm passing on the Studio display and am likely going with the 27-Inch BenQ PD-Series 4K flagship, although the 32-inch model is tempting. If BenQ had their new 5K PD-Series monitor for sale, I'd likely have already jumped on that, depending on cost, of course.
I believe that their Black Friday sales run through today, but I'm not certain what they might do to extend them into "CyberMonday." So I've got some "decidin' to do" today.
...Along with finishing everything else I was supposed to do this last week and didn't... but should have... I guess... Ok, I know.
I will order in mid-December a MacBook Pro 14 in. with the Nano texture display, M4 Pro 12 CPU/16GPU, 48 gb RAM and 1 TB SSD (I may up the SSD to 2 TB - on the fence about this). It will replace my late-2021 M1 MBP very base chip model, which, while a really nice machine, is a bit slow compared the the new MBP M4 Pro. I’ll use the Apple trade in offer for my M1 that is $780 that will result in a final cost of about $2200 USD (my sales tax rate here is 8.35% and soon to jump another 0.75%). The new M4 Pro MBP will serve as my ‘do-all’ computer - at home operating in clam-shell mode with an Eizo CS 2731 monitor. The 14 in model is a great, compact travel system too. ArtIsRite M4 MBP Pro line comparisons are compelling.
So … as a hobbyist do I really NEED to do this? Honestly NO. But a few reasons sway me. First, really want the nano texture display. Second, while I don’t batch process lots of raw files, I’d like more speed for those apps I use. Third, at some point I had been planning to upgrade and the new M4 Pro MBP fits the bill nicely. The trade in makes sense at this time to me. Moreover, one other thing that has my attention is the possibility of increased cost in the future due to tariffs that are being threatened. Now, I am not not getting into politics here, just citing the tariff possibility. So, please avoid any political backlash at me. The MBPs are made in China. Some research online indicates tariffs on Apple products are possible. Will it happen? Who knows. But for me the specs are right for a new upgraded machine, the trade in offer helps soothe the financial pain, the fear of tarriff add-ons and the very positive stock market performance this year makes the finances work for me. And finally, we all love new toys, eh?
So … as a hobbyist do I really NEED to do this? Honestly NO. But a few reasons sway me. First, really want the nano texture display. Second, while I don’t batch process lots of raw files, I’d like more speed for those apps I use. Third, at some point I had been planning to upgrade and the new M4 Pro MBP fits the bill nicely. The trade in makes sense at this time to me. Moreover, one other thing that has my attention is the possibility of increased cost in the future due to tariffs that are being threatened. Now, I am not not getting into politics here, just citing the tariff possibility. So, please avoid any political backlash at me. The MBPs are made in China. Some research online indicates tariffs on Apple products are possible. Will it happen? Who knows. But for me the specs are right for a new upgraded machine, the trade in offer helps soothe the financial pain, the fear of tarriff add-ons and the very positive stock market performance this year makes the finances work for me. And finally, we all love new toys, eh?
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James, I am also looking to purchase now for some of the same reasons as you mention in your second paragraph. Although I like to have separate laptop and desktop systems, and the desktop I'll replace is a 2015 iMac that is just so slow, and also won't upgrade to the latest Mac OS. In addition, I'm going to move away from the iMac's all-in-one platform and go the route of the separate CPU and monitor. It just hurts to have to put away a 5K Retina display because the iMac interior components are long in the tooth.
And like you, I ask if I need to purchase a new system, and my honest answer is also no. However, I do believe that my iMac is getting to the end of it's useful service life, as far as my needs go. Apple has already stopped OS updates for the 2015 machine, long ago, so I'm running an OS that is several versions old, which presents several issues/problems to me. (Apple won't take it as a trade in, so that should tell me something, shouldn't it?)
FWIW, you might investigate online trying to use the display of an iMac as an external monitor that is 'driven' by another 'Mac' computer. not the computer that's internal to the iMac. I saw this - https://machow2.com/imac-external-monitor/ ... maybe it's not possible. So, if that's the case, then ignore my suggestion as technical naiveté.
Calson
Well-known member
At some point in 2025 Apple will be providing some of its computers with 10GB Ethernet ports which with the need to have data off the computer is a worthwhile improvement.
I bought my Mac Studio with 10gb and my house is wired to support 10gb (my office is currently the only space that has it to the desktop). My day job is in IT, so I tend to go overboard at home wrt network configurations. My NAS also utilizes 10gb. It's really helpful moving files around.
I think the new Mac Minis also provide 10gb ethernet as an option.
Thanks…I saw that too. I’m going to do some benchmark comparisons with the MBP and Studio I have and get the results from Geekbench on the M4…then evaluate the percentage gain and see if that amounts to a significant time saved for some common LR and DxO PP workflow things. My guess is actual time saved will be pretty small.Neil I thought this was interesting and as I recall you have a fairly high end set up now. The way I read it, if you aren't doing video there is no rush since you have a high end model.
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