New Windows or MacBook - HELP!

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bobjim

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Name
Rob
Edit My Images
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Hi guys,

I'm after some help / recommendations if possible please. Been out of the computer world for a while, I've been using my old MBP to edit but it has not become unsupported for Lightroom.

I don't edit anything too heavy, just some stacking, Timelapse etc.

Unsure if to go for a MB air with an M4 processor, or convert to a Windows laptop.... if a windows, where do I start? i9 processor? any particular brand?
I have a benq 34" monitor I use to connect to.

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm a bit of a newb on comps.

Thanks, Rob
 
If you're happy with the Apple operating system and there's nothing specific a Windows laptop offers then an M4 Macbook is likely to be a good fit for your use, they're well regarded for offering high performance and good batterylife.

There's more choice with Windows machines although increasingly they're following similar practices to Apple devices so they're not as flexible or upgradeable as they were in many cases. Personally I went for a Windows laptop over a Macbook Air because I could get a laptop with a few features that Apple don't offer, particularly upgradeable storage however if there's nothing you particularly want on a Windows device that Apple doesn't offer I don't see much of a reason to change.
 
I pretty much agree with John. I have an M1 Mac Mini and it handles everything I throw at it for photography and music, so the M4 chip is going to cope easily, and the MB Air shouldn't have any issues with your monitor.

I still use a Windows machine for work and I have to say that Windows is getting more and more annoying, so I'll be sticking with Apple for the foreseeable future.
 
My MB Air M1 does DXO Photolab and Affinity Photo so an M4 should be more than capable. :)
 
I'm using an 16" M4 MB pro max, it does anything I throw at it with ease, stacking a hundred images or so with Zerine takes seconds. Screen is good too, colours very true to life. The extra ports over my old M1 MB air make a big difference too. The new M5 MB pro 14" is out and seems to be quite a nice machine too. The higher end M5 MB pro machines are apparently due early next year.
 
If you go for Windows, you need to choose your processor and video card very carefully.

An i9 processor isn't faster than an i5 just because the number is bigger, there are some i9s that are slower than some i5s, and as most (if not all) graphics and photo programmes use the GPU as well as the CPU for number crunching, it makes a huge difference. Most of the fast Intel CPUs start with 13 in their model number (i5, i7 and i9), and probably the best is the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
The best value for money (for photo use) is the i5-13600 and then the i7-13700

You would want at least 32GB RAM

Look at PC Specialists, you can "build" a laptop or PC to your specs, usually able to select a different video card, but not processor, though they did have the fast processors available on the model I wanted.

I also wanted to be able to store everything on the laptop, and not have to access files over the network or external drives (used for back up only), I have three "hard drives", 2TB for the system, and 2 X 4TB for data. (you could have more by choosing larger drives)

I agree windows is becoming more like apple in the way they dictate what you can and can't do, and I am starting to agree apple breaks less often :)

But the big difference is price. The laptop I bought last year is about the same performance as the M4 apple laptop my son bought, but the apple was more than twice the price, without anything like as much storage, that is something I would never be able to find a reason to justify.
 
Honestly, I'd go for the MacBook Air.

I've used Macs for years, I had a 27inch iMac paired with a very powerful MacBook Pro for mobile use (8 core i9, 64GB RAM), ended up selling the iMac 2 years ago and the MacBook this year.
I replaced my iMac with a Mac Studio which fits perfectly on my desk, and for mobile use, I bought the M4 MacBook Air, and I think it's perfect, it's small, light and when I'm away it's more than capable of editing images from my Canon but also from my Hasselblad and Fuji GFX100RF, and these are big files.

I bought the 16GB RAM version and for my usage it's perfect. :)
 
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Sangoma said:
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An i9 processor isn't faster than an i5 just because the number is bigger, there are some i9s that are slower than some i5s, and as most (if not all) graphics and photo programmes use the GPU as well as the CPU for number crunching, it makes a huge difference. Most of the fast Intel CPUs start with 13 in their model number (i5, i7 and i9), and probably the best is the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
The best value for money (for photo use) is the i5-13600 and then the i7-13700

...
Click to expand...
The 13th gen have been superseded by the 14th gen (i5-14600, i7-14700), and these have in turn been superseded by the 'Core Ultra' processors.

In addition you also need to look at the specific version of a given chip (IE the letter codes which follow the number).
'K' indicates it can be overclocked for additional performance, 'F' indicates it does NOT have an onboard graphics processor - if you are intending to buy a fancy graphics card, you can save a bit by getting a 'F' version (or 'KF' which is overclockable with no graphics).
 
Thanks guys, really appreciate everyones input. I think bang for buck and convenience of editing, and using when travelling etc it's going to be a MB Air, just debating if the 24GB is worth the extra of 16GB.
 
I would stick with a Macbook as you can hookup your old computer with a USB cable and use the Migration Assistant and soon your new Macbook will look just like your old one except it will be newer and faster!
 
Just remember the rule with Macs, to buy the machine you need in 3 years, because there's no upgrade path. It sounds like the right choice to make, since you already use that ecosystem.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Just remember the rule with Macs, to buy the machine you need in 3 years, because there's no upgrade path. It sounds like the right choice to make, since you already use that ecosystem.
Click to expand...
100% this :)

They also hodl their value much more, so spending a little extra now to up the spec a little will give you the benefit of a faster system but will also help with resale later on :)
 
A laptop is expandable (in most cases), a Mac you have to get it right when you buy it. This is the reason i use laptops, i go a 16gb , 512 m2 ssd. I upgraded it to 64gb, 4 tb . It cost in total including the laptop, approx £1100
 
Something to bear in mind regarding the what you need in three years is the development in computers and cameras is way slower than it used to be. So there is less time pressure now on upgrading a computer.
 
steve_lyt said:
A laptop is expandable (in most cases), a Mac you have to get it right when you buy it. This is the reason i use laptops, i go a 16gb , 512 m2 ssd. I upgraded it to 64gb, 4 tb . It cost in total including the laptop, approx £1100
Click to expand...
that's a fair point.
 
Pound Coin said:
Something to bear in mind regarding the what you need in three years is the development in computers and cameras is way slower than it used to be. So there is less time pressure now on upgrading a computer.
Click to expand...

In general I'd agree for ordinary uses. Photo processing seems to demand a lot more especially with AI being used in many places, so I'd say it's still worth spec'ing up a computer for photo editing.
 
steve_lyt said:
A laptop is expandable (in most cases), a Mac you have to get it right when you buy it. This is the reason i use laptops, i go a 16gb , 512 m2 ssd. I upgraded it to 64gb, 4 tb . It cost in total including the laptop, approx £1100
Click to expand...
It's a good reason to get a Windows machine but in many cases now, PCs are following the same path as Apple machines with less upgradeability. When I was looking at Macbook Air rivals I don't think there were any with upgradeable ram apart from Framework with even the 13in business type Lenovo X390/X13 series now offering no upgradeable ram. I went with a Galaxy Book which ticked the rest of the boxes and crucially still has an upgradeable SSD so was able to get it up to 2TB for £80 rather than £800.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
It's a good reason to get a Windows machine but in many cases now, PCs are following the same path as Apple machines with less upgradeability. When I was looking at Macbook Air rivals I don't think there were any with upgradeable ram apart from Framework with even the 13in business type Lenovo X390/X13 series now offering no upgradeable ram. I went with a Galaxy Book which ticked the rest of the boxes and crucially still has an upgradeable SSD so was able to get it up to 2TB for £80 rather than £800.
Click to expand...

This laptop is similar - Lenovo Flex 5 - came with 16GB RAM which is soldered and acceptable, and a 256GB SSD that I could and did change to a 2TB version. IIRC it was about £600 which was good for the performance overall.
 
I have only laptops now, as I value portability and the reduced space required, over the benefits of "desktop" machines.

Some of my laptops are ten to fifteen years old and still doing useful work. It all depends on what one needs and / or wants.
 
steve_lyt said:
A laptop is expandable (in most cases), a Mac you have to get it right when you buy it. This is the reason i use laptops, i go a 16gb , 512 m2 ssd. I upgraded it to 64gb, 4 tb . It cost in total including the laptop, approx £1100
Click to expand...

Mileage varies a bit on this.

I have two Dell XPS models. One had only one DIMM slot available - the other RAM was soldered. And it only had one NVME SSD slot.
The other had two DIMM slots and two NVME slot - but required a Dell heatsink for the second (spare) NVME slot. Macbooks tend to lack touch screen and pen functionality. (Decent pen functionality with a digitiser inbuilt into the screen was rare but now seems to be even rarer on PC laptops).

However I don't know anybody with a current Macbook Air who is in any way unhappy with it as an every day working laptop that is also used for on the move photo processing. I think once Apple moved to 16GB these machines are 'good enough' for general use. I'm not convinced that Apple are not taking the p*ss by not sticking at least 32GB into the base Macbook Pro models and offering 48 and 64 at a lower premium.
 
Dryce said:
I have two Dell XPS models. One had only one DIMM slot available - the other RAM was soldered. And it only had one NVME SSD slot
Click to expand...

I have my Dell XPS that I bought in 2014 - 1 SATA bay and 1 mSATA bay available available and at one time that had a 2TB drive in the SATA bay. It came with 16GB of RAM which was excellent at the time, and it remains a potentially useful machine
 
I can just pip that. My Dell XPS was bought in 2011. They really knew how to build them in those days. :D
 
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