Mac Studio for Lightroom: Max or Ultra?

SethG · Mar 30, 2023

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

While I'll use it for a lot of stuff, LightroomCC & Photoshop performance is the main driver. Does anyone have any hands-on experience who can talk about both? I've seen some discussions from last spring, but I don't know that LR or PS had been optimized for all of those CPU & GPU cores.

And, I suppose I should also ask whether bumping up to 128gb (on the Ultra) would make a difference. My guess is that the 64gb Max, 64gb Ultra and 128gb Ultra will be able to handle LR & PS about the same.

Thanks!!

bakubo · Mar 30, 2023

SethG said:
Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

While I'll use it for a lot of stuff, LightroomCC & Photoshop performance is the main driver. Does anyone have any hands-on experience who can talk about both? I've seen some discussions from last spring, but I don't know that LR or PS had been optimized for all of those CPU & GPU cores.

And, I suppose I should also ask whether bumping up to 128gb (on the Ultra) would make a difference. My guess is that the 64gb Max, 64gb Ultra and 128gb Ultra will be able to handle LR & PS about the same.

Thanks!!

See these simple Lightroom Classic timings that I did:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66969653

Tom_N · Mar 30, 2023

SethG said:
Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

SethG said:
While I'll use it for a lot of stuff, LightroomCC & Photoshop performance is the main driver. Does anyone have any hands-on experience who can talk about both? I've seen some discussions from last spring, but I don't know that LR or PS had been optimized for all of those CPU & GPU cores.

Interactive editing probably is not going to keep all of the CPU cores on a M1 Max busy, let alone all of the CPU cores on a M1 Ultra. Where I'd expect to see a difference would be in lengthy CPU-bound batch jobs that make good use of all available CPU cores; and even then, the M1 Max is likely to be plenty fast.

SethG · Mar 30, 2023

Tom_N said:
SethG said:

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

Click to expand...

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

Tom_N said:

While I'll use it for a lot of stuff, LightroomCC & Photoshop performance is the main driver. Does anyone have any hands-on experience who can talk about both? I've seen some discussions from last spring, but I don't know that LR or PS had been optimized for all of those CPU & GPU cores.

Click to expand...

Interactive editing probably is not going to keep all of the CPU cores on a M1 Max busy, let alone all of the CPU cores on a M1 Ultra. Where I'd expect to see a difference would be in lengthy CPU-bound batch jobs that make good use of all available CPU cores; and even then, the M1 Max is likely to be plenty fast.

Now I'm thinking of a used Max with a 4tb SSD. Or maybe even a used 16" 64gb/4tb, which is only a few hundred more than the used Studio (bigger discount because the M2 MBPs are out). I REALLY wish Apple would announce a new M2 Max studio in April

PNad · Mar 31, 2023

Tom_N said:
SethG said:

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

Click to expand...

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

The ultra is literally twice as fast as the max at exporting photos, that alone can worth it for some

Abbott Schindler · Mar 31, 2023

I just went through a similar decision process with a MacBook Pro, and decided on getting a Max chip. Depending on whether/if Apple announces a new Mac Pro, I'll either get it or a Studio. I plan to keep my machines for at least 5 years (hopefully more). I don't care whether my "several years old" machine performs like then-current models; I just want it to be adequately capable for my needs.

All of the machines I'm looking at are far more powerful than I need today, and I could have opted for lesser machines. BUT...

I'm starting to get into 4K/8K video (DaVinci Resolve), and sometimes I want my machine to be working on video while I'm simultaneously working with Capture One Pro.

And once in a while I even play a graphics intense game (not often, but sometimes).

So my thinking: while I could save several (or a few) hundred bucks getting an "works fine now" machine, in a couple of years I could realistically end up needing to spend thousands to replace the machine with one that works at the time. That vs buy the "too much for now" machine and happily use it for my planned usage timeframe. Also, buying a new machine has the overhead of transferring data, configuring, and so on.

For me, buying the MBP Max and Studio make a lot of sense from a total cost-of-ownership and other perspectives. You may decide otherwise. But for me, the decision has more to it than "what's the appropriate configuration for what I do today". Just something to think about.

SethG · Mar 31, 2023

PNad said:
Tom_N said:

SethG said:

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

Click to expand...

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

Click to expand...

The ultra is literally twice as fast as the max at exporting photos, that alone can worth it for some

Honestly, I'm less concerned with export speeds than with navigation/edit speed. I'm not a professional photographer, so when DO do a "big dump" of pictures, which doesn't happen that often, I can just go in the other room and watch TV or something.

--
- Seth -

SethG · Mar 31, 2023

Abbott Schindler said:
I just went through a similar decision process with a MacBook Pro, and decided on getting a Max chip. Depending on whether/if Apple announces a new Mac Pro, I'll either get it or a Studio. I plan to keep my machines for at least 5 years (hopefully more). I don't care whether my "several years old" machine performs like then-current models; I just want it to be adequately capable for my needs.

All of the machines I'm looking at are far more powerful than I need today, and I could have opted for lesser machines. BUT...

I'm starting to get into 4K/8K video (DaVinci Resolve), and sometimes I want my machine to be working on video while I'm simultaneously working with Capture One Pro.

And once in a while I even play a graphics intense game (not often, but sometimes).

So my thinking: while I could save several (or a few) hundred bucks getting an "works fine now" machine, in a couple of years I could realistically end up needing to spend thousands to replace the machine with one that works at the time. That vs buy the "too much for now" machine and happily use it for my planned usage timeframe. Also, buying a new machine has the overhead of transferring data, configuring, and so on.

For me, buying the MBP Max and Studio make a lot of sense from a total cost-of-ownership and other perspectives. You may decide otherwise. But for me, the decision has more to it than "what's the appropriate configuration for what I do today". Just something to think about.

This is a good point. the 64gb/2tb Max Studio is about $2900, while the 64/2 Ultra is about $4000. My out of pocket for the Ultra would be $300 or so, but that's still a BIG jump in cost. So how many extra years would I need to be using it for the 33% price increase to pay for itself (even though I'm using Amex points - I don't have to convert ALL of them)

Abbott Schindler · Mar 31, 2023

Sounds like you've got your answer: based on your need and cost, the Max seems like the way for you to go.

jrp50635 · Mar 31, 2023

For Lightroom I’d spend more money on memory (RAM and, depending on your setup and workflow, SSD) than upgrading the processor / GPU. But it depends, if you batch process tens /. hundreds of images at once, you may get value out of an Ultra, otherwise a Max or even a Pro will do the job. The extra GPUs just drain battery.

PNad · Mar 31, 2023

jrp said:
For Lightroom I’d spend more money on memory (RAM and, depending on your setup and workflow, SSD) than upgrading the processor / GPU. But it depends, if you batch process tens /. hundreds of images at once, you may get value out of an Ultra, otherwise a Max or even a Pro will do the job. The extra GPUs just drain battery.

Had no idea the Mac Studio ran on batteries

SethG · Mar 31, 2023

PNad said:
jrp said:

For Lightroom I’d spend more money on memory (RAM and, depending on your setup and workflow, SSD) than upgrading the processor / GPU. But it depends, if you batch process tens /. hundreds of images at once, you may get value out of an Ultra, otherwise a Max or even a Pro will do the job. The extra GPUs just drain battery.

Click to expand...

Had no idea the Mac Studio ran on batteries

And I was already maxing out the M1 Max ram.

SethG · Mar 31, 2023

Abbott Schindler said:
Sounds like you've got your answer: based on your need and cost, the Max seems like the way for you to go.

Yeah, the Ultra probably doesn’t, get me much beyond the Max. Although maybe further optimization by Adobe might make a difference in the future.

im dragging my feet a little because I was hoping for an announced M2 Max Studio, but that’s not going to be in the cards, I think. Of course, I could go a little crazy and get an M2 Max 16”…

--
- Seth -

Abbott Schindler · Mar 31, 2023

SethG said:
im dragging my feet a little because I was hoping for an announced M2 Max Studio, but that’s not going to be in the cards, I think. Of course, I could go a little crazy and get an M2 Max 16”…

Wicked-good machine (I bought one last month). So far none of my processing is using much of the core capability and the machine barely warms up. I’ll do more extensive testing on a trip next week, but I’ll bet you’d be more than happy with one of these. The Studio still benchmarks better in a couple of areas, but nothing that you or I are likely to notice in routine work.

Jacques Cornell · Mar 31, 2023

SethG said:
PNad said:

Tom_N said:

SethG said:

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

Click to expand...

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

Click to expand...

The ultra is literally twice as fast as the max at exporting photos, that alone can worth it for some

Click to expand...

Honestly, I'm less concerned with export speeds than with navigation/edit speed. I'm not a professional photographer, so when DO do a "big dump" of pictures, which doesn't happen that often, I can just go in the other room and watch TV or something.

My 16/512 M1 Mac mini is plenty responsive with Lightroom (used mainly for DAM) and batch exporting hundreds of 42MP images from PhotoLab. I run my high-volume event photography business with it.

The only thing I do in Lightroom that makes me wait at all is building 1:1 previews, and for 1000 images it's a matter of minutes. While I'm waiting, I unpack my camera bag.

--
"Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. Because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Banzai
http://jacquescornell.photography
http://happening.photos

zorgon · Apr 1, 2023

Exporting is the only Lightroom task that scales linearly with the number of cores, so that's the only real performance benefit you'll see with the Ultra. In terms of responsiveness and speed of editing, there's little difference. The M1 Ultra has more of a benefit in video editing, but better to wait for the M2 Max for video.

Ken Seals · Apr 1, 2023

PNad said:
Tom_N said:

SethG said:

Hey All! I'm in the fortunate position where I have enough Amex points to get a refurb Studio 64gb/2tb. The question is whether I should "go big" and get an M1 Ultra, or get the M1 Max.

Click to expand...

The M1 Ultra is gross overkill for Lightroom.

Click to expand...

The ultra is literally twice as fast as the max at exporting photos, that alone can worth it for some

That looks like a graphic from "ArtIsRight" YouTube channel. If it is, you should give him credit

--
Regards,
Ken - LR ACE
FAA Remote Pilot Certificate, ATP ASMEL
Mizzou PJ '66
www.kenseals.com

bakubo · Apr 1, 2023

bakubo said:
See these simple Lightroom Classic timings that I did:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66969653

You probably were able to glean from my post above that a much faster CPU, many more CPU cores, and a much faster GPU does not matter in making LrC interactive performance even faster. Even my old Dell ultrabook is about the same as my M2 Pro 12/19 MBP. Both have 32gb.

As a matter of fact, for LrC going for an M2 Max instead of an M2 Pro will probably not gain you anything with LrC. If you want 64gb though then you have to go with the M2 Max.

SethG · Apr 3, 2023

bakubo said:
bakubo said:

See these simple Lightroom Classic timings that I did:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66969653

Click to expand...

You probably were able to glean from my post above that a much faster CPU, many more CPU cores, and a much faster GPU does not matter in making LrC interactive performance even faster. Even my old Dell ultrabook is about the same as my M2 Pro 12/19 MBP. Both have 32gb.

As a matter of fact, for LrC going for an M2 Max instead of an M2 Pro will probably not gain you anything with LrC. If you want 64gb though then you have to go with the M2 Max.

My understanding is that LR can eat as much RAM as you can feed it, which is why I was looking at a 64gb machine. Most likely I’ll end up with a refurb Max studio. An Ultra Studio or m2 Max MBP will be $1000+ more expensive

Jacques Cornell · Apr 4, 2023

SethG said:
bakubo said:

bakubo said:

See these simple Lightroom Classic timings that I did:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66969653

Click to expand...

You probably were able to glean from my post above that a much faster CPU, many more CPU cores, and a much faster GPU does not matter in making LrC interactive performance even faster. Even my old Dell ultrabook is about the same as my M2 Pro 12/19 MBP. Both have 32gb.

As a matter of fact, for LrC going for an M2 Max instead of an M2 Pro will probably not gain you anything with LrC. If you want 64gb though then you have to go with the M2 Max.

Click to expand...

My understanding is that LR can eat as much RAM as you can feed it, which is why I was looking at a 64gb machine.

That may be, but this doesn't make oodles of RAM necessary.

I digiteched a 5-day studio portrait shoot for a mentor who's a commercial shooter, a guy I started out assisting at the beginning of my career 20 years ago and who I still enjoy assisting, despite the fact that I've been a pro shooter myself for over 15 years. Anyway, he trusts me and doesn't ask a lot of questions.

My job was to periodically download cards (big studio with two sets = tether impractical and unnecessary) into Lightroom, build 1:1 previews and Smart Previews for review, and apply minimal WB and exposure tweaks, with Adobe Cloud sending the Smart Previews to an iPad, then export full-rez draft JPEGs for the client to take away pending later delivery of the finished product. Probably 1000-1500 images per day. One backup kept up-to-date in real-time and a client copy updated every hour or during a lull in the action.

In other words, constant action. I did it all on an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. The only time I wished for more speed was when generating 1:1 previews, but the job got done on time. Putting the backup and client copy on external USB 3.x Gen 2 SSDs, instead of portable HDs, helped.

SethG said:
Most likely I’ll end up with a refurb Max studio. An Ultra Studio or m2 Max MBP will be $1000+ more expensive

Mac Studio for Lightroom: Max or Ultra?

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