M4 pro - More memory or higher core count better for LR and PS?

[DentalTech]

With the new Macs and the M4 pro chips coming online, and especially with the higher base memory, is it worth upgrading the to a higher core count for Lightroom and Photoshop, or is more memory (48gb) better? Or both?

I wonder if I should 'future prove' my purchase with either or. I read through this thread: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4782339?page=2 and from what I can gather is that the memory offered in the new MacBook Pros (24gb), should be enough for regular LR and PS use. But what about upgrading to a model with more cores than what the entry level MBP with the M4 pro chip offers?

Thanks in advance!

M

 

[Jacques Cornell]

With the new Macs and the M4 pro chips coming online, and especially with the higher base memory, is it worth upgrading the to a higher core count for Lightroom and Photoshop, or is more memory (48gb) better? Or both?

I wonder if I should 'future prove' my purchase with either or. I read through this thread: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4782339?page=2 and from what I can gather is that the memory offered in the new MacBook Pros (24gb), should be enough for regular LR and PS use. But what about upgrading to a model with more cores than what the entry level MBP with the M4 pro chip offers?

Thanks in advance!

M

Depends on what you're doing. Building 1:1 previews seems to benefit from GPU cores. OTOH, working on huge layered PSDs or stitching very large panoramas can require lots of RAM.

In my high-volume batch processing work with Lightroom Classic and PhotoLab, 16GB RAM seems plenty, even with 61MP RAWs. 32GB reduces memory pressure to only about 40%-50%. Today, I'd go for 24GB-32GB RAM and 512GB SSD and then use any additional funds for more GPU cores.

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+.
http://jacquescornell.photography
http://happening.photos

 

[DentalTech]

Depends on what you're doing. Building 1:1 previews seems to benefit from GPU cores. OTOH, working on huge layered PSDs or stitching very large panoramas can require lots of RAM.

In my high-volume batch processing work with Lightroom Classic and PhotoLab, 16GB RAM seems plenty, even with 61MP RAWs. 32GB reduces memory pressure to only about 40%-50%. Today, I'd go for 24GB-32GB RAM and 512GB SSD and then use any additional funds for more GPU cores.

Thank you for your response! I do like panos, although I don't do high volumes.

 

[MarshallG]

With the new Macs and the M4 pro chips coming online, and especially with the higher base memory, is it worth upgrading the to a higher core count for Lightroom and Photoshop, or is more memory (48gb) better? Or both?

I wonder if I should 'future prove' my purchase with either or. I read through this thread: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4782339?page=2 and from what I can gather is that the memory offered in the new MacBook Pros (24gb), should be enough for regular LR and PS use. But what about upgrading to a model with more cores than what the entry level MBP with the M4 pro chip offers?

Thanks in advance!

M

Having sufficient RAM is more important than processing speed, and faster processing speed is better than excess RAM.



My 16 GB M1 machine has more RAM than I need, so 24 GB should give you plenty of buffer for future software and higher res sensors. I don’t think that 32 or 64 GB is useful unless you have specific needs, such as running virtual machines, docker containers, or compiling large applications from source code.



To explain — when you run a virtual machine or docker container, you’re booting up a self-contained operating system inside of MacOS, so you’ll use up all the memory of that OS. So you can see how that can be 4 GB or more for each instance. But photographers don’t do that; it’s a specialized thing.

 

[Bob U]

I have exactly this same question.

Coming from a 7 year old PC that takes 11-15 minutes to denoise a 24MB image, I MUST upgrade. So considering a Macbook after not having a MAC since 1995. And since they are not upgradeable, I am deer in the headlights. And budget consciousnesses. But not to the extent I'll want to trade in next year.

There are a lot of opinions around. My choices seem to be M4 Pro 24GB for about $2,100 or Mr MAX 36GB for about $3,000. I would much rather put that $900 toward a studio display, but don't want to buy built-in obsolescence.

I do a lot of LRc. Much less PS. Always fond of 24MP images, but that can change with new cameras coming. Not rare to do 200 shots for a shoot. And then process 50-80 of them.

Anyone have hands on and good advice? Black Friday around the corner.

Thanks!

Bonus points: Anyone compared the competition with the Apple Studio display and find any of them worth the savings?

 

[Bob U]

OK, still reading. I think I must go with M4 Pro 14/20 24GB 1TB which I can get for about $2000 rather than MAX for another grand and put that toward display.

This guy has a good article: https://www.bythom.com/reviews--books/recommended-mac-hardware.html

Still a few days for other opinions or agreements

 

[alicelewis]

Hello. For that same use case, what about the 16' m4 pro with 48gb ram (512ssd)?

is a little less expensive than the m4max but with more ram...

or do you think it is still overkill for mainly lightroom use (vs the m4pro 24gb ram)?

thanks

 

[Bob U]

I don't think its overkill, but just partial to the small size laptop for taking out in my camera backpack.

Macbook will be here Wednesday, so we shall see in a few days how it handles denoise

 

[wilberforce_1]

Look at recent youtube videos by artisright, which address many of the questions in this thread. With one caveat: consider which of his tests actually are relevant to your usage. For example, a test exporting 1000 photos, if you never export many photos, would not be relevant.

 

[MarshallG]

Hello. For that same use case, what about the 16' m4 pro with 48gb ram (512ssd)?

is a little less expensive than the m4max but with more ram...

or do you think it is still overkill for mainly lightroom use (vs the m4pro 24gb ram)?

thanks

When I edit 45mp RAW photos in DxO PhotoLab on my 16 GB M1 Mac, the memory pressure always stays in the green unless I ran many other applications. When I edit, I close other apps except the Chrome web browser and have no memory difficulty at all.

 

[graybalanced]

Hello. For that same use case, what about the 16' m4 pro with 48gb ram (512ssd)?

is a little less expensive than the m4max but with more ram...

or do you think it is still overkill for mainly lightroom use (vs the m4pro 24gb ram)?

The base model with 24GB should be OK. I have 32GB and it is usually more than enough for LR Classic. The few occasions when Memory Pressure got orange have not been frequent enough to make me think about more memory.

48GB is about the top, I wouldn’t see needing more than that except for editing very large files all the time.

That said I would get the 48GB because while 24GB has been OK, Apple’s increase of the base model RAM from 8 to 16 means they think Apple Intelligence is going to make the system need more RAM. For future proofing then, we might need a little more memory to run macOS than we thought in the past.

If the 16” Pro came with 36GB I would take that. But it’s 24 or 48, so I like 48.

 

[DentalTech]

I ended up with the (un-binned) 14-inch base model MacBook Pro and 48 GB of RAM. It’s very snappy, and all the tasks in Photoshop and LRC are quick. However, I am a bit disappointed with the battery life!

That said, I’ve been using a first-gen M1 chip MacBook Air (8 GB) for the last few months while waiting for the new M4 chips (I handed my M1 Pro 16-inch down to my son :-D). Since the latest Adobe updates, the Air has regained some of its 'youthfulness'. Sure, Denoise, Export, and similar tasks take longer, but there’s no major difference in my regular workflow in LRC. Before the updates, it felt very sluggish.

I also ran a purge with 'OnyX', which may have helped.

In short, it seems that any of the M4 MacBooks will handle most workloads almost flawlessly. This is also confirmed by the reviews on YouTube.

 

[CAcreeks]

I ended up with the (un-binned) 14-inch base model MacBook Pro and 48 GB of RAM. It’s very snappy, and all the tasks in Photoshop and LRC are quick.

So you decided more memory is better than higher core count? Some people need lots of memory so they can have dozens of tabs in Chrome. I'm not one of those. My daughter is. No idea how she remembers that many tabs.

Aha, Macbook with M4 Pro 14 goes up to 128GB, but M4 regular (non-Pro) only up to 32GB. (I was wondering how you got 48GB on the base model.) The M4 Max offers a 36-core GPU!

Did you get Matte screen?

However, I am a bit disappointed with the battery life!

That would be a reason to buy the M4 Macbook 16, which has 99.6 Wh battery.

That said, I’ve been using a first-gen M1 chip MacBook Air (8 GB) for the last few months while waiting for the new M4 chips (I handed my M1 Pro 16-inch down to my son :-D). Since the latest Adobe updates, the Air has regained some of its 'youthfulness'. Sure, Denoise, Export, and similar tasks take longer, but there’s no major difference in my regular workflow in LRC. Before the updates, it felt very sluggish.

I'm glad for you and other Lightroom users that Adobe improved performance on ARM. DxO is what I run, and it has been highly performant since the M1 days.

I also ran a purge with 'OnyX', which may have helped.

This? It's not in the Apple store.
https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

 

[DentalTech]

So you decided more memory is better than higher core count? Some people need lots of memory so they can have dozens of tabs in Chrome. I'm not one of those. My daughter is. No idea how she remembers that many tabs.

I was looking at the base model MacBook Pro M4 pro binned (that is what they call it, didn't know until recently) or un-binned. The difference is a couple CPU cores and 4 more GPU cores. Upgrade is $200. I think I may have misspelled it initially. Sorry for the confusion.

Aha, Macbook with M4 Pro 14 goes up to 128GB, but M4 regular (non-Pro) only up to 32GB. (I was wondering how you got 48GB on the base model.) The M4 Max offers a 36-core GPU!

Yes, the M4 pro goes higher. I went with the 48GB, which is another, outrages $400...

Did you get Matte screen?

I did not. Didn't see a use case for me.

That would be a reason to buy the M4 Macbook 16, which has 99.6 Wh battery.

Correct, but I chose mobility. I had the M1 Pro 16-inch, which has a fantastic battery life. But it is rather big. The screen is great, though.

I'm glad for you and other Lightroom users that Adobe improved performance on ARM. DxO is what I run, and it has been highly performant since the M1 days.

I have not tried DxO. Maybe I should give it a shot.

I also ran a purge with 'OnyX', which may have helped.

This? It's not in the Apple store.
https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

Correct, that is the one. I have been using it for a few years now, and it seems to do the trick when things get a bit slow.

 

[CAcreeks]

So you decided more memory is better than higher core count? Some people need lots of memory so they can have dozens of tabs in Chrome. I'm not one of those. My daughter is. No idea how she remembers that many tabs.

I was looking at the base model MacBook Pro M4 pro binned (that is what they call it, didn't know until recently) or un-binned. The difference is a couple CPU cores and 4 more GPU cores. Upgrade is $200. I think I may have misspelled it initially. Sorry for the confusion.

You spelled it correctly.

With Intel, a Core i5 is just a Core i7 with some processor modules that are defective, so they "bin" (throw it into a discount bin) and disable the defective cores. Same with i7 vs i9.

Apple does the same thing with M, where the lower-priced chips have fewer cores.

Thanks for posting your purchase decision.

 

[MarshallG]

I don't think its overkill, but just partial to the small size laptop for taking out in my camera backpack.

Macbook will be here Wednesday, so we shall see in a few days how it handles denoise

It will be extremely fast. It definitely won’t take 24 minutes.

 

[Bob U]

It only takes 11-15 now But I am sure will be fast.

Before installing LRc, trying to figure out whare to have my catalog so accessible for Mac or PC. Images on my NAS, but catalog can not go on the NAS. So decisions to make before installing.

 

[jeffnles1]

Time will tell if it is the right choice or not. I bought the "un-binned" M4 Pro (14/20) with 24gb RAM and 2TB internal drive. To me, it seemed better to opt for more drive space (I really dislike all the external drives hanging off the computer) than for 48gb RAM that I may never really push.

I have the MacBook Pro 13" M1 with 16gb RAM and 512gb drive. I run my photos library off an external drive and my video library is also on an external drive. I really dislike taking the external drives with me when I travel.

Plan is to keep my main / current photo library on the internal drive and leave the back libraries and the video library on external drives since I rarely feel the desire to edit videos while traveling.

Time will tell if it was the right choice. I think it should be current enough for at least 5 years before needing to be upgraded.

Jeff

 

[Philip Eihuyar]

Time will tell if it is the right choice or not. I bought the "un-binned" M4 Pro (14/20) with 24gb RAM and 2TB internal drive. To me, it seemed better to opt for more drive space (I really dislike all the external drives hanging off the computer) than for 48gb RAM that I may never really push.
I have the MacBook Pro 13" M1 with 16gb RAM and 512gb drive. I run my photos library off an external drive and my video library is also on an external drive. I really dislike taking the external drives with me when I travel.

Plan is to keep my main / current photo library on the internal drive and leave the back libraries and the video library on external drives since I rarely feel the desire to edit videos while traveling.

Time will tell if it was the right choice. I think it should be current enough for at least 5 years before needing to be upgraded.

Jeff

Your setup is also what I ordered and it --at this point -is beyond the needs of what I use. 2 TB SSD, 48 GB RAM in a M3 Max 16-inch with the following configuration:Apple M3 Max chip with 16‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine. It replaced an intell 2019 of similar specs but while most of the photo-editing on the intell is way slow, this machine is instantaneous in doing the same things. To me, it is worth it and I'll plan on keeping it for quite a while like more than 5 years. For an external backup drive, a 4 TB SanDisk extreme. Hopefully, this machine will be future proofed for an indefinite time, I expect so...

 

[jeffnles1]

thanks. so far so good.