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New Macbook Pro build?

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david_g

New Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2019
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10
Location
Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Classic
Hi All,

If there are current threads I've over looked regarding this topic, please feel free to point me to them :)

Its been 5 years since my last Macbook Pro purchase (mid 2015 i7 2.5ghz 16gb) and frankly the old girl is struggling. My demands have expanded since that purchase and either i'm getting more impatient or the MBP slower or both ;)

I'm looking at a MBP 16 i9 2.4ghz and am wanting to know if its worth going to 64gb of RAM instead of 32gb. I have been doing more panoramas (upto 24 x D850 files combined), would have photoshop open, perhaps a plugin or two as well Nik Efex etc, Chrome with maybe 20 windows open plus my email etc.

I'm also looking at upgrading the GPU from 4gb to 8gb as its in Apple terms its cheap.

Appreciate your experiences and thoughts.

Thanks :)
 
From my experience with iMacs, 32GB is sufficient as is 4GB of VRAM. The most important features IMO are CPU Speed and CPU Cores. At one time Lightroom would only use 6 of 8 cores although this may have changed. I would suggest that 8 cores is sufficient. Unless you are an active gamer or watch a lot of FMV, 4GB of VRAM is all your will require for Lightroom Classic which only uses the GPU for SOME computation intensive develop operations.

I would opt for a faster CPU than the 2.4 gHz that you mention if that is a possibility on a MBP. I think 24 D850 NEFs for a panorama is ambitious. Photoshop might be a better panorama tool than LrC. I commonly shoot ~48mp Z7 NEFs and my last Panorama was using 40 images. It was tedious but successful in LrC.

FWIW My iMac is similar to your specs, but I have a 3.4gHz CPU, 32GB RAM, Quad Core and a 1TB SSD with lots of free space for working storage/
 
Thanks Cletus. MBP's currently top out at 2.4ghz and having the portability is of a laptop is important to me. Don't know if you know of a site that helps compare computational power of CPU's ie. 3.4ghz Quad core vs 2.4ghz 8 core. Cheers, David
 
I have one of the 2019 16" MBpros. 32GB memory, 1TB drive and the 4GB GPU. Oh and the 2.4Ghz i9 processor. Memory is not an issue. I debated hard about going higher on the GPU, but didn't. When I built smart previews for almost 2TB of images on an external drive, I used all 8 cores (16, if you count the virtual/hyper).

The one thing you will notice is that the fans will get going pretty loud. Apparently with the 16" they have it set to ramp up faster than the older 15". I run two apps, on lets me control the turbo boost. I have that set to turn off the boost when the fan goes over a certain limit. Turning of the boost for normal work will mean it runs cooler. That app is Turbo Boost Switcher Pro. Another app is gfxCardStatus which tells me whether the GPU is being used and lets you control when it is used. By tweaking those settings, it runs cooler and quieter for regular use, then it can go crazy when I need the horsepower.
 
Cheers @Woodbutcher I appreciate you sharing your experiences. A friend of mine who follows a photography/post producer my the name of Guy Gowan I believe uses those apps too. When I get my machine I'll most definitely be putting them into my system too.

I'm quizzed as to what type of photography/photographers make real use of 64gb of RAM.
 
Here's a youtube video where I got some of my info about the apps and the fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkmdHVfk4XE
 
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