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Macbook Air or Pro for travel

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wiz105

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So I've recently updated my home computer (where I do most of my editing) to a Mac Studio M4 Max (64GB, 1TB). I upgraded from a 16" M1 Pro Macbook Pro(16GB, 1TB). I still have the Macbook Pro, but I don't really like travelling with it and was considering a different option for travel. I have a 13" Ipad pro, which usually travel with, and I have used for photo editing before, but it's not my favorite as it doesn't have the same capabilities as LR Classic. So I'm considering a 13" macbook air or 14" MB Pro. For reference, I shoot on a Z8 & Z7, mostly landscape and milky way stuff. Here are the options I'm considering:

1. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

2. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/1TB HD

3. 14" M4 MB Pro with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

I know the M1 Pro is still probably more capable, but it's a brick compared to these.

I'm not so much looking for spec comparison, as I'm aware of the spec differences, but more interested in user experience. Are these viable? Will I miss the HDR display if I go with the Air? Am I going to be frustrated with processing times? Is 512GB HD enough for a travel computer? That kind of stuff.

Thanks in advance!
 
wiz105 said:
So I've recently updated my home computer (where I do most of my editing) to a Mac Studio M4 Max (64GB, 1TB). I upgraded from a 16" M1 Pro Macbook Pro(16GB, 1TB). I still have the Macbook Pro, but I don't really like travelling with it and was considering a different option for travel. I have a 13" Ipad pro, which usually travel with, and I have used for photo editing before, but it's not my favorite as it doesn't have the same capabilities as LR Classic. So I'm considering a 13" macbook air or 14" MB Pro. For reference, I shoot on a Z8 & Z7, mostly landscape and milky way stuff. Here are the options I'm considering:

1. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

2. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/1TB HD

3. 14" M4 MB Pro with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

I know the M1 Pro is still probably more capable, but it's a brick compared to these.

I'm not so much looking for spec comparison, as I'm aware of the spec differences, but more interested in user experience. Are these viable? Will I miss the HDR display if I go with the Air? Am I going to be frustrated with processing times? Is 512GB HD enough for a travel computer? That kind of stuff.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
The 14" MacBook Pro is still bulky and heavy compared to the 13" iPad.
 
Greybeard2023 said:
wiz105 said:
So I've recently updated my home computer (where I do most of my editing) to a Mac Studio M4 Max (64GB, 1TB). I upgraded from a 16" M1 Pro Macbook Pro(16GB, 1TB). I still have the Macbook Pro, but I don't really like travelling with it and was considering a different option for travel. I have a 13" Ipad pro, which usually travel with, and I have used for photo editing before, but it's not my favorite as it doesn't have the same capabilities as LR Classic. So I'm considering a 13" macbook air or 14" MB Pro. For reference, I shoot on a Z8 & Z7, mostly landscape and milky way stuff. Here are the options I'm considering:

1. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

2. 13" M4 MB air with 24GB Ram/1TB HD

3. 14" M4 MB Pro with 24GB Ram/512GB HD

I know the M1 Pro is still probably more capable, but it's a brick compared to these.

I'm not so much looking for spec comparison, as I'm aware of the spec differences, but more interested in user experience. Are these viable? Will I miss the HDR display if I go with the Air? Am I going to be frustrated with processing times? Is 512GB HD enough for a travel computer? That kind of stuff.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
The 14" MacBook Pro is still bulky and heavy compared to the 13" iPad.
Click to expand...
I assume you meant the macbook air. That said, I did go into a store to compare, and I was ok with the extra thickness, but the length and width were about the same. The weight wasn't too much of a difference to me, but If I can save a few hundred dollars. To me the only reason to go with the pro is the screen and active cooling, but I'm not sure it's enough to justify $300 more. I know there are hacks with the airs where you can use thermal pads to improve the thermal throttling, so there's that too.
 
I have a 13" M2 MB air with 24GB Ram/1TB HD - it's great for travelling.





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I work with Nikon Z9 images on a 2019 Mac Pro but also have a 14 inch MB Pro with M2Pro chipset and 32GB of RAM.

My wife has a 13 inch M2 MB Air with 16GB of RAM.

Both of these run LR Classic without any problems.

The most noticeable thing is the weight and thickness of the MB Pro compared to the MB Air.

The screen quality of the MB Air is fine.

I think a 512 GB hard drive is large enough for a travel computer, so your option #1 might be the way to go.
 
15inch macbook air m3, 24gig ram and 1T HD runs fine..I am not batch processing 150images at a clip but use r5, r5II, r6 II, X-h2 camera shoot compressed raw does fine.. Run LRC, photoshop, topas labs AI and DXO raw... I think when looked at comparsions between it and MBP the speed difference was minimal and not worth the extra cash and weight
 
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
 
wiz105 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
With Lightroom? you didn't say. If I were you, I'd get the Air with 512GB storage.

From the Lightroom Queen forum: [citation]

Importing approx. 700 RAW files took
- 1:30 minutes on my MacBook Pro M3
- 3:00 minutes on my MacBook Air M2
- 1:30 minutes to copy to my iPad Pro M1, but another 30:00 minutes for Lightroom import

Given that the M3 is about 15% faster than M2, let's say 2:34 on Macbook Air, 42% slower.
 
Last edited:
CAcreeks said:
wiz105 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
With Lightroom? you didn't say. If I were you, I'd get the Air with 512GB storage.

From the Lightroom Queen forum: [citation]

Importing approx. 700 RAW files took
- 1:30 minutes on my MacBook Pro M3
- 3:00 minutes on my MacBook Air M2
- 1:30 minutes to copy to my iPad Pro M1, but another 30:00 minutes for Lightroom import

Given that the M3 is about 15% faster than M2, let's say 2:34 on Macbook Air, 42% slower.
Click to expand...
Sorry, Yes I use Lightroom Classic.

Those times seem pretty fast. Maybe its just file with no previews. But it gives a good relativity. Doesn't seem like too much of a difference.
 
wiz105 said:
Will I miss the HDR display if I go with the Air?
Click to expand...
I assume you are using the 1600 nits display preset on your 16' MBP when you ae doing HDR editing in LR Classic? You can get an idea how the MB air will go with this by changing your display preset to the 500 nits option. I believe the MB Air has a peak brightness of 500 nits. I tried this on my 16" MBP and found you can still get an HDR effect but with the headroom reduced by a couple of stops.

Dave
 
wiz105 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
I don’t have an M4 MB Air, but I do have an M4 iMac (32GB) which is the same processor. Importing Z8 files takes twice as long on the M4 iMac compared to my M1 Pro MBP, which surprised me. I expected better after 3 generations of M chips. The M4 iMac may not be a good predictor for the M4 Air, but don’t get your hopes up too much
 
Last edited:
wiz105 said:
This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
Apple has a 14 day return policy, free shipping, no reason needed. They encourage returns.
 
Last edited:
Dave_J_E said:
wiz105 said:
Will I miss the HDR display if I go with the Air?
Click to expand...
I assume you are using the 1600 nits display preset on your 16' MBP when you ae doing HDR editing in LR Classic? You can get an idea how the MB air will go with this by changing your display preset to the 500 nits option. I believe the MB Air has a peak brightness of 500 nits. I tried this on my 16" MBP and found you can still get an HDR effect but with the headroom reduced by a couple of stops.

Dave
Click to expand...
Good suggestion. I'll try that later.
 
wilberforce_1 said:
wiz105 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
I don’t have an M4 MB Air, but I do have an M4 iMac (32GB) which is the same processor. Importing Z8 files takes twice as long on the M4 iMac compared to my M1 Pro MBP, which surprised me. I expected better after 3 generations of M chips. The M4 iMac may not be a good predictor for the M4 Air, but don’t get your hopes up too much
Click to expand...
That's interesting. How much ram is on your M1 Pro? I believe imports are more ram dependent. Also, I believe Memory bandwidth is 2x better on the M1 Pro vs. the base M4.
 
Last edited:
wiz105 said:
wilberforce_1 said:
wiz105 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Very helpful.

Any concerns or experience with photo imports for the base M4 chip in a MB air? That's my only worry with the air is the passive cooling on those extended tasks. If I import like 1000 photos from a week on my M1 Pro, then it takes like 20-30 min to download with my file sizes (45MP raw files). That's with active cooling. With the air, should I expect better, similar or worse performance? This is stuff they just don't let you test out at a store, lol.
Click to expand...
I don’t have an M4 MB Air, but I do have an M4 iMac (32GB) which is the same processor. Importing Z8 files takes twice as long on the M4 iMac compared to my M1 Pro MBP, which surprised me. I expected better after 3 generations of M chips. The M4 iMac may not be a good predictor for the M4 Air, but don’t get your hopes up too much
Click to expand...
That's interesting. How much ram is on your M1 Pro? I believe imports are more ram dependent. Also, I believe Memory bandwidth is 2x better on the M1 Pro vs. the base M4.
Click to expand...
I have only 16GB on my M1 Pro and despite that, it is faster at LR imports than my 32GB M4. Both doing full size previews of Z8 raw files. Maybe there is some other explanation, but I believe I have checked all settings etc.

If there was an M4 Pro processor available for the iMac I would have got it. However I am generally satisfied with the M4 for LR and PS editing; just need some patience for batch processing or denoise, things like that.

Note also that the base M4 has only 4 performance cores, whereas the M4 Pro has 8 or 10 performance cores. LR uses all the cores when importing and generating previews.
 
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ajr images said:
I work with Nikon Z9 images on a 2019 Mac Pro but also have a 14 inch MB Pro with M2Pro chipset and 32GB of RAM.

My wife has a 13 inch M2 MB Air with 16GB of RAM.

Both of these run LR Classic without any problems.

The most noticeable thing is the weight and thickness of the MB Pro compared to the MB Air.

The screen quality of the MB Air is fine.

I think a 512 GB hard drive is large enough for a travel computer, so your option #1 might be the way to go.
Click to expand...
This is similar to me. I'm still using a 2021 14" M1 Pro MBP and my wife has that same 13" MBA. Having 3 USBC ports instead of 2 is a fair convenience, but you need a travel hub anyway so breaking it out sooner rather than later isn't such a big deal. As far as weight and dimensions they're almost interchangeable to me since I'm never carrying it around on my back. For hiking with it or bringing on boats or etc the difference is more useful.

For a travel laptop, either with 16G ram and 512 is minimum but large enough, would be great, depending on if it stays in the room or gets carried around. I'm still used to and happy with my MBP M1Pro but I'm very impressed with how when I use my wife's MBA it handles everything terrifically and feels very good too.
 
In January I picked up a 15" M3 MB air with 24GB RAM and 512GB SDD and it's fantastic. I used to only get 256GB SSD for my travel laptops but I waited too long to decide and would have not gotten it in time before an extended trip.

I had a 2020 M1 13" and it just became too small for me. That extra 2 inches sure made a big difference. I'd recommend you to consider it.
 
vdubreeze said:
ajr images said:
I work with Nikon Z9 images on a 2019 Mac Pro but also have a 14 inch MB Pro with M2Pro chipset and 32GB of RAM.

My wife has a 13 inch M2 MB Air with 16GB of RAM.

Both of these run LR Classic without any problems.

The most noticeable thing is the weight and thickness of the MB Pro compared to the MB Air.

The screen quality of the MB Air is fine.

I think a 512 GB hard drive is large enough for a travel computer, so your option #1 might be the way to go.
Click to expand...
This is similar to me. I'm still using a 2021 14" M1 Pro MBP and my wife has that same 13" MBA. Having 3 USBC ports instead of 2 is a fair convenience, but you need a travel hub anyway so breaking it out sooner rather than later isn't such a big deal. As far as weight and dimensions they're almost interchangeable to me since I'm never carrying it around on my back. For hiking with it or bringing on boats or etc the difference is more useful.

For a travel laptop, either with 16G ram and 512 is minimum but large enough, would be great, depending on if it stays in the room or gets carried around. I'm still used to and happy with my MBP M1Pro but I'm very impressed with how when I use my wife's MBA it handles everything terrifically and feels very good too.
Click to expand...
Honestly if my m1 Pro was 14" rather than 16", I wouldn't even be looking. But I didn't have a desktop computer back then, just the laptop, so I wanted the bigger screen.
 
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