Mac replacement..iPad Pro ?

[Stephen white]

Our 21 inch iMac is now 10 years old ,so we think it’s time to look at replacing it...it is used for all the usual domestic stuff plus I use Photos and Afinity.
has anyone experience of making the switch from say a 21 inch screen to a 16 or even 13 inch on a Mac book ?..if so how did you find editing on a smaller screen ? Is it ok ?
as in other threads I am wondering if the impending change by Apple to their own silicon is something to be aware of...don’t want to invest in something that is immediately outdated.. ( of course Apple have not given any time frame for the change )
initial thoughts were to go for a MacBook Pro 16 inch with the 512 SSD .
would welcome peoples thoughts..
steve.

 

[AZ6]

Personally, I'd never go back to a tiny screen, and I started off with using 12-14" monitors with Macs, way back nearly 30 years ago.

It is likely that any current Intel based Mac would become 'obsolete' quicker than any new Apple Silicon hardware that will be released over the next year or so. That's why I'm holding out myself; I just bought an older 2012 MacMini to tide me over until the new stuff becomes available. When it does, I'll most probs be going for an iMac with 27" or so screen, cos I don't need portability, and the iMacs offer much better vfm in terms of spec, over laptops.

If you buy a laptop, there's a strong likelihood that you will end up buying a larger screen to do graphic/photo work on; every single person I've known, who's bought a laptop to do such work, has ended up doing this. Tiny screens are ok for watching a film on a train journey, but crap for doing any serious editing work. Just too fiddly having to constantly move around a small portion of your image. Go to any design/advertising/photo studio, and they're all using larger screens (27" and up seems to be the trend these days). A decent screen needn't cost a fortune though; you can get a perfectly capable 4k monitor for a few hundred quid these days.

But of course, the proper answer, is a new MacPro with the Pro screen. Maxed out with RAM and SSDs etc , of course. And the monitor arm.

 

[TCR4x4]

I use a 16 inch MacBook Pro for photo and 4k video editing. Don’t find the screen an issue. I’ve used 15inch laptops for the last 10 years plus for the same.
I did used to have a 21 inch iMac and I still have a dual 24inch screen pc setup, but I much rather using the laptop.

Macs have been using intel for many years, so they won’t become obsolete for many years just because the next gen will use the ARM system.
The new gen will have limitations like not allowing the use of boot camp to run windows too, that the intel ones don’t.

 

[AZ6]

Macs have been using intel for many years, so they won’t become obsolete for many years just because the next gen will use the ARM system.

Bit of a risk though. And new softwares will be developed, to make full use of the new, better chips, meaning the older machines may well not be supported.

The new gen will have limitations like not allowing the use of boot camp to run windows too, that the intel ones don’t.

Meh. How many Mac users really care? For those who might need Windows, there's always VM Ware etc.

I won't be buying another Intel based Mac. Not when there's something better just around the corner...

 

[LCPete]

You mentioned iPad Pro unfortunately I’ve had issues with raw conversion of Canon files using the iPad version of affinity photo sometimes the converted tiff is very dark this is a known problem apparently
Just happens occasionally but is frustrating, I’m hoping that they fix the issue soon

 

[ancient_mariner]

I sometimes edit on a 15" QHD (Dell XPS) or 13" 1280X800 (Macbook) when travelling, and for me personally it really sucks. When I had a 20" screen I wanted bigger, and although I use a 24" now, I'd still like more space.

Be aware that small, high res screens can make your images look better than they appear when viewed at normal sizes on conventional monitors. If you did buy a Macbook then there's no reason not to run an external screen off it when you're at home.

 

[Pound Coin]

Bit of a risk though. And new softwares will be developed, to make full use of the new, better chips, meaning the older machines may well not be supported.


Meh. How many Mac users really care? For those who might need Windows, there's always VM Ware etc.

I won't be buying another Intel based Mac. Not when there's something better just around the corner...

VM Ware and similar will not be the same on Apple Silicon compared with Intel. Windows would not be virtualised, but instead emulated.
the 16“ MBP is a hugely capable machine and will be for some time.

 

[AZ6]

VM Ware and similar will not be the same on Apple Silicon compared with Intel. Windows would not be virtualised, but instead emulated.
the 16“ MBP is a hugely capable machine and will be for some time.

Well, we none of us actually know what will be, or what won't. It's all just speculation and supposition. I'm sure Apple will have looked at how many Mac users actually use Windows, and are making their decisions based on that. Whilst I have used Windows via BootCamp and WMWare, I have no real desire to want to, tbh. And I'm sure most Mac users don't either; why have a Ferrari, then bung a Ford Escort engine in it?

As for the Laptop v Desktop thing; as before, unless you need portability, then a desktop will always offer better spec for the same money. Personally, I prefer a desktop for actual work stuffs, and an iPad for portable use. You can do most stuff with an iPad anyway. I see a lot of folk buying expensive MacBooks etc, when an iPad will actually suffice. Tbh, 90% of folk don't need anything more powerful. But for photo/video/graphics work, a larger screen has to be preferable, no? The current iMacs have 5k, 5120x2880 resolution screens! The best a MBP can offer is 2048x1280. Why would you want to work on a smaller screen???!

 

[Pound Coin]

Well, we none of us actually know what will be, or what won't. It's all just speculation and supposition. I'm sure Apple will have looked at how many Mac users actually use Windows, and are making their decisions based on that. Whilst I have used Windows via BootCamp and WMWare, I have no real desire to want to, tbh. And I'm sure most Mac users don't either; why have a Ferrari, then bung a Ford Escort engine in it?

As for the Laptop v Desktop thing; as before, unless you need portability, then a desktop will always offer better spec for the same money. Personally, I prefer a desktop for actual work stuffs, and an iPad for portable use. You can do most stuff with an iPad anyway. I see a lot of folk buying expensive MacBooks etc, when an iPad will actually suffice. Tbh, 90% of folk don't need anything more powerful. But for photo/video/graphics work, a larger screen has to be preferable, no? The current iMacs have 5k, 5120x2880 resolution screens! The best a MBP can offer is 2048x1280. Why would you want to work on a smaller screen???!

Where to start...

The most an MBP can do is 3854 x 2240. I occasionally use that on mine.

As for " It's all just speculation and supposition." It isn't really, it isn't. Unless Microsoft bring out an ARM version of Windows that works, there will not be virtualisation, there will be emulation. Emulation, by its nature is slower than virtualisation.

This is what you said:

Meh. How many Mac users really care? For those who might need Windows, there's always VM Ware etc.

When what you appear to mean is

Meh. I don't care about anyone else that wants things different from me.

 

[AZ6]

As for " It's all just speculation and supposition." It isn't really, it isn't. Unless Microsoft bring out an ARM version of Windows that works, there will not be virtualisation, there will be emulation. Emulation, by its nature is slower than virtualisation.

It is, it really is.

Microsoft's own Surface X uses ARM processors, the same as will be in Apple Silicon™ machines. It runs Windows. Of course it does; it's made by Microsoft! So; I think we can expect to see fully ARM-compatible Windows in the future.

When what you appear to mean is

Nope. I've known hundreds of Mac users over the years, seen many many thousands of instances of Macs being used in all manner of professional applications, from CNC/CAD type operations, to running a patisserie, etc etc etc. In all that time, I've only ever seen a couple of instances of Mac users having to use Windows because of some specific application or other (I know people who own and use both systems, for particular tasks). Nobody buys a Mac to just run Windows on it. So I think my point about 'how many Mac users really care', still stands.

Meh.

 

[Pound Coin]

There are other people in the world, besides the ones you know.