Mac or iPad based on M2 chip for photo editing?

I saw recent announcement of new iPad pro and earlier some mac books based on the M2 chip.

I currently use a Dell XP8700 desktop from 2015, with 4th gen i7 and 16GB RAM, for personal use. About 75% of that usage is for photo editing. When I bought this, laptops were not powerful enough for heavy photo processing. Some parts are now failing and it's slowing down. I prefer that the replacement is a portable device.

My idea is to get an M2 chip-based apple device. I will be primarily using Nikon NX Studio, may be a new version of DxO PhotoLab for now, and not sure what might be needed in future.

Are the mac book or iPad Pro models with M2 chip good for photo editing? If so, what RAM configuration would you recommend?

The largest files I have are from Nikon D810 (36MP). I may buy Z7.2 (47MP) or similar when I move to Mirrorless completely. My other cameras produce 24MP APSC files and 20MP M43 files.

Thanks.

In my opinion and ipad will drive you crazy. Importing/exporting files and having to peck away at the screen is just maddening.

The new chips will be more than plenty for editing still images. These are the specs of my MBP. I bought it used on eBay. Only issue is the battery isn't that great-since it's older. I was tempted to buy a brand new one but I only need this machine in certain traveling circumstances. With that said. I'm able to have Lightroom open processing files while also working in Premiere editing ProRes Raw files (about 5 gigs/minute file sizes) and have no issues. Guessing the newer chips will give you an even bigger boost. I have a mac studio for my desktop and it's truly remarkable how fast it process/export files.

As far as specs. Simple. Get the highest you can afford to somewhat future proof your purchase. For sure get a bigger capacity storage and of course a SSD internal drive. I got this for less than 1/2 of a brand new machine and it's working fine for me-and I am a 100% full-time video/still shooter.

The newer machines however do have the standard USB port and SD media card slot. Mine only has 4 USB-C ports. Not a huge deal but something to consider. And from what I've read the newer ones have incredible battery life.

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

Processor 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

Memory 64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Satyaa said:

I saw recent announcement of new iPad pro and earlier some mac books based on the M2 chip.

I currently use a Dell XP8700 desktop from 2015, with 4th gen i7 and 16GB RAM, for personal use. About 75% of that usage is for photo editing. When I bought this, laptops were not powerful enough for heavy photo processing. Some parts are now failing and it's slowing down. I prefer that the replacement is a portable device.

My idea is to get an M2 chip-based apple device. I will be primarily using Nikon NX Studio, may be a new version of DxO PhotoLab for now, and not sure what might be needed in future.

Are the mac book or iPad Pro models with M2 chip good for photo editing? If so, what RAM configuration would you recommend?

The largest files I have are from Nikon D810 (36MP). I may buy Z7.2 (47MP) or similar when I move to Mirrorless completely. My other cameras produce 24MP APSC files and 20MP M43 files.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes they are both good for photo editing but the iPad and MacBook are quite different in use and available software - it’s not like Windows - Apple created very different operating systems for the two product lines.

On the Mac I would choose 16GB unless I had very complex requirements - on the iPad the memory size is tied to storage - 1TB and over you get 16GB otherwise 8GB.

my iPad Pro is a couple of years old and only has 4GB of memory but it’s still capable of still and video editing

Thank you for sharing the specs

Thank you for that OS distinction.

I’ll research more into that

The iPad isn't really suitable for image processing due to the OS it runs. iOS (which the iPad runs) has a different library of applications which are much more basic than MacOS applications. The newer iPads have enough processing power and memory but you're limited to iOS applications which are okay for basic stuff but are not a substitute for a Mac computer and the applications it can run.

Satyaa said:

I saw recent announcement of new iPad pro and earlier some mac books based on the M2 chip.

I currently use a Dell XP8700 desktop from 2015, with 4th gen i7 and 16GB RAM, for personal use. About 75% of that usage is for photo editing. When I bought this, laptops were not powerful enough for heavy photo processing. Some parts are now failing and it's slowing down. I prefer that the replacement is a portable device.

My idea is to get an M2 chip-based apple device. I will be primarily using Nikon NX Studio, may be a new version of DxO PhotoLab for now, and not sure what might be needed in future.

Are the mac book or iPad Pro models with M2 chip good for photo editing?

Click to expand...

Based on the software that you want to run, I believe that you would be much happier with an Apple-Silicon-based Mac than with an iPad Pro. A M2 iPad Pro may be similar, in a lot of hardware respects, to a M2 MacBook Air – but one runs a mobile OS and the other runs a desktop OS.

In particular,

NX Studio requires a Windows-based PC or a Mac. It doesn't run on iPads. I don't think Nikon has a Apple Silicon version; their macOS Monterey Compatibility Announcement says "Compatibility has been achieved (the software runs under Rosetta 2)." Rosetta 2 is a decent translator, but I'd expect an eventual native version to run a bit faster.

DxO PhotoLab requires a Windows-based PC or a Mac, and the latest Mac versions are native on Apple Silicon. Likewise for the main Adobe photo applications – Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic. I believe there are Photoshop and Lightroom apps that run on iPads, but they may not be as full-featured as the Windows/Mac programs.

Satyaa said:

If so, what RAM configuration would you recommend?

Click to expand...

At least 16 GB of RAM.

M2-based machines can have 8, 16, or 24 GB of RAM. You may have to custom-order a machine from the online Apple Store to get 16 or 24 GB.

Thanks Jeff

Thanks for the detailed analysis.

I’ll probably stick with Mac book

Thanks to everyone for your responses and details.

The key points for me were that iPad is ruled out, MacBook is a good candidate, I need at least 16 GB.

Another interest I have in buying a Mac is this package from Apple at educational pricing. My daughter will use the music side of things while I use the photo/video side.

I usually buy these electronics at Costco with their credit card for additional warranties.

I only see M1 based MacBook Pro models with 16GB right now. I can wait until they introduce M2 models with 16GB or look at Apple directly.


Screenshot from Costco site

Thanks.

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I would strongly recommend more ram. Files are only getting bigger and the software more complex. For a few hundred bucks, you might be extending the life of your mac. Nobody ever complained they had too much ram.

Satyaa said:

Thanks to everyone for your responses and details.

The key points for me were that iPad is ruled out, MacBook is a good candidate, I need at least 16 GB.

Another interest I have in buying a Mac is this package from Apple at educational pricing. My daughter will use the music side of things while I use the photo/video side.

I usually buy these electronics at Costco with their credit card for additional warranties.

I only see M1 based MacBook Pro models with 16GB right now. I can wait until they introduce M2 models with 16GB or look at Apple directly.


Screenshot from Costco site

Thanks.

Click to expand...

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Valid point

thanks

Satyaa said:

Thanks to everyone for your responses and details.

The key points for me were that iPad is ruled out, MacBook is a good candidate, I need at least 16 GB.

Another interest I have in buying a Mac is this package from Apple at educational pricing. My daughter will use the music side of things while I use the photo/video side.

I usually buy these electronics at Costco with their credit card for additional warranties.

I only see M1 based MacBook Pro models with 16GB right now. I can wait until they introduce M2 models with 16GB or look at Apple directly.


Screenshot from Costco site

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Note that there are major differences in Apple's product line between

• 13" MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, using the M1 and M2 chips
• 14" and 16" MacBook Pros, using the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips

The system-on-chip choice strongly influences many other aspects of the systems, from the options for the amount of RAM, to port and video support.

The 13" Airs and MBPs have 2 USB4(Thunderbolt) ports and a headphone jack. The 14" and 16" MBPs add a third USB4 (Thunderbolt) port, a HDMI port, a MagSafe 3 charging port (also present on the 13" M2 Air), and a SDXC card slot.

The 13" Airs and MBPs can drive a single external monitor. The 14" and 16" MBPs can drive two or three.

The 14" and 16" MBPs are less portable – especially the 16" MBP, which weighs 4.7 – 4.8 pounds to the 13" M2 MacBook Air's 2.7 pounds.

Satyaa said:

I only see M1 based MacBook Pro models with 16GB right now. I can wait until they introduce M2 models with 16GB or look at Apple directly.

Click to expand...

14" MBPs like the ones shown in that screenshot use higher-end M1-family chips. It's reasonable to assume that Apple is working on M2 Pro and M2 Max processors to use in a future update of the 14"/16" MBPs. But those chips aren't out yet.

There are 13" M1 MBPs (now discontinued) and 13" M2 MBPs. They are successors to the old low-end 13" Intel-based MBPs that had

• Two USB-C (Thunderbolt) ports
• Older Intel CPUs
• A maximum of 16 GB of RAM

owenleve said:

I would strongly recommend more ram. Files are only getting bigger and the software more complex. For a few hundred bucks, you might be extending the life of your mac. Nobody ever complained they had too much ram.

Click to expand...

I have only 8MB and it's fine, although I don't run any Adobe software, just DxO, Topaz, Affinity, XnView, GIMP, etc. I would think 16GB is sufficient unless you are the type of person who has 100 tabs open in Chrome.

My question is in the subject line.

Is it the 256GB storage model of the M2 Air that has slower I/O because all the SSD is on one side channel, instead of on both as with the 512GB model?

I saw that OP Satyaa plans to wait for the M2 Pro model, but I'm wondering for myself. It would be nice to have Magsafe charging instead of only two USB-C as on my M1 Air.

Thanks for the additional info in both your posts above.

Saves me time in research. I can look for the right combination.

CAcreeks said:

My question is in the subject line.

Is it the 256GB storage model of the M2 Air that has slower I/O because all the SSD is on one side channel, instead of on both as with the 512GB model?

Click to expand...

This seems to be an issue for the 256 GB variants of both 13" M2 laptops (MacBook Air and MacBook Pro).

9to5Mac – Entry-level M2 MacBook Pro has a slower SSD than M1 model
MacRumors – Base Model MacBook Air With M2 Chip Has Slower SSD Speeds in Benchmarks

Reports say that the 256 GB M1 laptops used a pair of 128 GB flash chips, and that the 256 GB M2 laptops use a single 256 GB flash chip. So there aren't any chips that could be accessed in parallel until you get to the 512+ GB models.

I use an IPad for a lot of my editing, especially on the go. If all you use is Adobe software, the ipad versions of Photoshop and Lightroom are getting better all the time. You can do maybe 80-90% of everything you need. The thing I find most lacking is the ability to do any sort of stacking or stitching.

That being said I also recently bought a MBP as they were running heavy discounts just a couple weeks ago (-$400 on the 14” and 16” standard builds). I ended up buying the 16” with the 16GB ram and 1TB drive for the better battery, larger HD, and better thermals. But, that base 14” M1 Pro build at that discount is $1599, is basically at or below what you would probably end up adding on to a 13” MBP. You get the better processor, better screen, more ports, better thermal management. I’m sure it will go on sale again once right before they announce the M2 MBP’s sometime in the next few weeks/months.

Since you have made clear that you will be using the device for more than photo editing, a computer is the obvious choice. However, your original question was "device for photo editing". I recently wrote a review of the Capture One software for iPad. Since I have that, I hardly use my computer anymore for photos. The iPad saved me money for upgrading the computer. So in general, one should not rule out the iPad, but it depends on the other uses one gets from the device. There is also software for iPads that simplifies creative tasks, e.g. drawing with a pencil.

My review of the iPad software:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66530695

I'm a long-time corporate event professional. As such, I shoot 600-2000 images a day and deliver 300-800 of those, and I have to turn them around on pretty tight deadlines. Since I work mainly in pretty poor light, I rely on DxO PhotoLab to make my images look great.

My current setup, which replaced a $5000 custom upgraded 8-core cylinder Mac Pro, is a $1099 M1 Mac mini with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. I couldn't be happier with it. The Neural Engine in the M1 and M2 chips is as fast at processing DeepPRIME noise reduction as an Intel machine with a GPU card that, on its own, costs as much as a base M1 mini. As far as DeepPRIME performance goes, the M1 mini is a remarkable bargain. Everything else about PhotoLab performance is also better than anything I've used previously.

I also use Lightroom Classic, mainly for culling, ranking, selecting prior to processing in PhotoLab, and then also manipulating the resulting JPEGs, TIFs and/or DNGs. LRC performance on my M1 Mac mini is also very good. I have no complaints. I've run a 5-day studio portrait shoot involving 7000 images through LRC in real-time on my $999 M1 MacBook Pro, and I was very impressed with how well this base-model bargain handled it.

I wouldn't even think of trying to do this kind of work on an iPad, even if PhotoLab could be made to run on one, if only because the tiny screen would drive me crazy. I have 24" and 32" displays connected to my mini.

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