MBA or MBP for Photographer?

Hi guys,

Was wondering, which one is more suitable for photographer (not Pro. semi)
I was looking at the Zenbook UX31/MBA/MBP

Most I'd be dealing with Lightroom/Photoshop/Office works/Browsing. And I also would like to bring it to travel.

Color/Contrast based, which one is better between MBA (13")/ MBP (13")?

For me, this should be the purchase which hopefully last for next 5 years.
Thanks

 

either the mba or mbp would work. I would store the images on a synology nas server anyway if it was me. that way the images are always safe and plenty of space regardless. the synology nas that takes 2 hard drives is nice. then you can set up raid 1 and not have to worry so much of data loss. assuming your pictures are worth it to you.

 

Hi ApplUsr,

Thanks for replying.
My 2 main concerns are:

1. Can I do editing (medium photo editing-Lightroom & Photoshop) in MBA properly ( I meant fast and not lagged )? Considering it "only" has 4 GB of RAM and Integrated Graphic Card

2. Color/Contrast Wise. Lots of people mentioned a toned-down color and contrast quality for new MBA? Would like the opinion on experts here.

Thanks

 

Definitely the Macbook Pro. You can easily upgrade storage and memory - and memory is a big issue. The current Macbook Pro officially supports 8GB of RAM, but users are upgrading to 16GB. Probably more than you'd ever need. There's also a big gap between ULV processors and full powered CPUs.

 

1. Yes, you can do editing in Photoshop with relatively low lag. I wouldn't do any 3D modeling but medium level Photoshop use won't be problems especially since the ULV processors in the MBA are about on par with the entry level 13" MBP (which has a full voltage processor).

2. I am no expert but I think most of the complaints come from the MBP having a glass overlay whereas the MBA is just a standard glossy panel. I can tell you that I have absolutely no problems with my MBA display.

 

You really don't need anything fancy when editing photos. Videos are a different story.

Heck I have a 6year old laptop (core duo) with 2gb rams that I do photoshop and illustrator on. No lag at all.

20 layers, 5000px x7000px, 300 pixel art.

 

Thanks guys

Well specifically I will be doing most on lightroom 5616x3744px, 1 file size is about 20-27mb.
I had my old PC with quad core i5 (I kinda forget the processor series), 4GB RAM and ATI HD5850 1GB, when I browse through the lightroom library, it will become slower after about 10 minutes, making my editing job less comfortable.

Comparing the raw spec of my old machine and current MBA, the MBA falls abit behind and I can't find an Apple Store where I can test with lightroom installed

So I was quite worried the MBA will choke up.

 

Both have plenty of horsepower to edit images.

Neither screen is suitable for professional image editing, but the pro screen is somewhat higher quality (but also lower resolution).

MBA will be fine running apps light lightroom, photoshop. This may come as a surprise to many, but you don't 16 GB (or even 4 GB) to edit images.

if you were chugging through the lightroom interface on your other computer, it was probably related to the hard drive.

 

I think my opinion matches those who already posted. MBA works fine for Lightroom. For myself and I just wish I had more screen real-estate. So if you're really serious you would be hooking it up to a monitor anyway. With the portability of an MBA you could do quick edits anywhere. For my workload importing 100-200 jpegs I haven't had many problems. I am limited in space and for myself I don't see that much of a difference so I don't usually shoot in raw. I have before and imported and edited it with the Air just to see how it performs and I didn't think it was terrible at all.

I absolutely hate the MBP's glass glossy screen. I hate having to have to pay an extra 150 dollars to get a matte screen in a so called pro machine. While the MBA screen is glossy the pro is on another level, mirror like.

 

The MBA is definitely less annoyingly glossy than the MBP 13. Unfortunately, the MBP 13 has no matte option. You have to go 15" or higher to get that.

 

My biggest concerns about air would be
1. Worse performance (might be bigger deal as the time goes by and seeing you specified 5 years it will be an issue)
2. Less durable then mbp (does matter if you travel to some 3rd world countries)
3. Less ports, no firewire.

I am a photographer as well (mostly designer but still) i cant imagine doing any kinda of work for anything smaller then 17 inch. I am terribly annoyed when i need to fix something and i only have my mbp15 with no external monitor. Stuff just doesnt fit on the screen.

TLDR mbp13 if you need to choose from the 2.

 

I would choose the Air though, having used both the MBP and the MBA, the MBA 's higher res works well here.

Not too much of a point going to MBP 13.

 

Its not going to be any worse than the baseline 13" MBP. Look at the benchmarks, they put the Core i5 MBA behind the baseline 13" MBP but not by a whole lot and it definitely won't be something that is noticeable. The Core i7 13" MBP pulls way ahead for video editing (and that is noticeable) but not really for Photoshop work.

I don't see that as an issue either especially since the MBA is just as durable as a MBP. The display, although thinner, doesn't have any flex in it and neither does the chassis. Being thinner does not make it less durable especially since its made of the same materials as the MBP.

I could see how the lack of FireWire might deter some people especially since that has been in Apple's ecosystem for some time now. However, the 13" MBA has the same amount of USB ports as the MBP and even comes with an SD card slot reader. Essentially the only things the MBP has over the MBA are the FireWire 800 and ethernet ports. Given that most networks are wireless now (and the bandwidth of 802.11n), the lack of ethernet shouldn't be a big deal. Belkin is coming out with an expensive accessory that adds FireFire 800 (along with four more USB 2.0 ports and HDMI output) to any Thunderbolt equipped Mac. They are marketing it more towards the MBA but the accessory works through Thunderbolt.

 

Yes, but you can't upgrade memory in the MBA and the ULV processors are weak, weak, weak. I know some professional Photoshop users swear uphill and down that 12GB of RAM is a minimum.

The screen on the MBP 13 has a much better color gamut than the MBA13.

 

If you will do some quick editing on the go, the definitely go for the macbook air due to its screen resolution at 1440x900 as compared to the mediocre 1280x800 if the macbook pro. It's lighter and will be faster than the pro due to the presence of the ssd. I would definitely fo for the air if i were you. The 2011 model is a huge improvement over the last generation. the 1.7Ghz dual core i5 is plenty powerful.

 

Again, with the MBA, you're stuck with soldiered in RAM and only 4GB. Even the best ULV processors aren't up to mid-range full power CPUs. Yes, the screen resolution is somewhat higher, but the screen itself is inferior in terms of contrast and gamut. The MBA 13 has a good screen, but the MBP 13 is better.

 

If you're doing the type of photoshop work where 12 GB of ram is necessary, neither computer will be sufficient, because the screens aren't good enough.

The macbook air isn't going to be color accurate enough, and the resolution is too low.

The macbook pro 13 still isn't going to be color accurate enough, and the resolution is even lower.

 

Again, the ULV processors in the MBA are right up there with the Core i5's used in the 13" MBP and other mainstream notebooks. Where are you getting that the ULV processors fall that far behind? Look at the benchmarks and real world performance tests, they put the 13" MBA neck-and-neck with the entry level 13" MBP for most tasks (even the Core i7 13" MBP).

The amount of RAM isn't going to really matter either as many, many, many units equipped with 2GB of RAM can perform most tasks in Photoshop without issues. 4GB seems to be the sweet spot for OS X since, unless you plan on performing some extreme multitasking or gaming (which isn't going to happen on a 13" MBP either), you won't notice a difference between 4GB and 8GB of RAM.

 

There's a huge difference between the CPU in the base MBP 13 and the MBA 13. You're comparing a Passmark score of 3499 to 2640. Moreover, RAM does make a great deal of difference, especially for photo editing. The perception of the performance of the MBA tends to be colored by the SSD, but in the long term, SSD reliability remains an issue.

You're concentrating too much on the resolution and too little on gamut and contrast. I've done plenty of photo editing on a 1280 x 800 screen and even 1366 x 768. It's not a big deal. For detail work, I'm typically using an external display.

 

Since you're not locked into OSX (I see you mention the Zenbook), why not consider the Vaio Z2?

It's on sale right now, starting at $1649. That includes an external GPU, a full-power i5 cpu (not ULV like the MacBook Air), and a 1600x900 13.1" screen (not the same screen as the Vaio SA, for the record). The screen is matte and has a contrast of 1146:1. Upgrades to 8 GB ram, a dual-core i7 cpu, and a 1920x1080p screen are available. Without the external GPU plugged in, it's comparable to the MacBook Air in terms of size and weight.

Here's the notebookcheck.net review of the Z2 with the 900p screen:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-Z21Q9E-B-Subnotebook.61141.0.html

 

Not really, no. Adobe Photoshop CS4 performances are spot on (the MBP only a few seconds ahead of the MBA), single-thread Cinebench R10 has the MBA and Core i5 MBP on par with each other (with the Core i7 MBP pulling ahead of every Mac out there), 3D single-thread rendering in Cinebench is only 20% faster in the Core i5 MBP (not something that will be noticeable), multi-threaded Cinebench rendering is comparable for both the MBA and Core i5 MBP, and even multi-threaded Cinebench R11.5 tests put the MBA and Core i5 MBP neck-and-neck. Even Geekbench scores have the MBA and Core i5 MBP at the same levels.

So no, there's not a great deal of difference between the two in terms of performance and the MBA is not hiding behind its SSD. Furthermore, as previously stated, the work that the OP wants to do can easily be handled by systems with 2GB of RAM so 4GB isn't going to be a limiting factor. Advanced photo editing would require more RAM but that also wouldn't be done on ANY Mac notebook currently on the market either.

 

I recommend looking at the return policy. Buy low and if it doesn't meet your need return it and buy the next level up. Maybe it's crappy for the store if you do have to return it but why spend more money if you don't have to?

Also AMEX Gold cards typically have return insurance that covers restocking charges up to $300. If you don't have an AMEX, they also sell insurance for returns as well.

 

Sony isn't exactly known for their customer service, and at the rate Sony is losing money, I question the future of both the Vaio line and Sony itself. Moreover, the Sony Vaio Z is a very expensive curiosity that probably wouldn't exist except for the Japanese home market, where Sony still has significant brand loyalty.

Mitlov, this isn't the first time you're posted your endorsement of the Vaio Z on a thread that in no way pertained to the Vaio Z. I get it. You're apparently a Vaio Z fan. Could you just keep your Vaio Z endorsements in the Sony subforum?

That's why so many stores have restocking fees. Paying 15% on a Macbook isn't cheap.

You can exchange and upopened Macbook at Apple Stores, but what's the point of that.

In this life, it's cheaper to buy exactly what you want to begin with, because changing your mind can cost you a restocking fee! That's how Best Buy stocks Cowboom.

 

And like I said, you can find insurance for that at a low cost (especially compared to the restock fee) from different companies. I only named AMEX, but I'm sure others do as well.

Just make sure you save absolutely everything if you take that route.

 

Thanks for all the consideration and insights guys.

I have taken the plunge and bought a 13 Air.
Did some Lightroom tests and to out of my believe, it's actually pretty good. No lag, except when I browse through the library continuously.
Well it's a huge file size which is understandable, but overall I'm happy with the Air performance.

Thanks!

R

 

Good choice, I knew you weren't going to have too many issues with it. I don't think anything would have been instantaneous when accessing such large files anyway (unless you had some 8-core monster with 16GB of RAM and a full fledge of SSDs).

 

This is the quote that you need to understand most if you are considering using any MacBook for photography. The color gamut is too small on all versions. MacBooks are incapable of correctly displaying the color red in particular. No amount of calibration can correct for the basic color problem present on all Macbook displays.

 

Hey guys,

If, in the future, I'd like to upgrade the SSD, does this mean I have to buy the Lion again thru the AppStore?

R

 

didnt you get some sort of flash storage with lion on it? I mean they usually give you a copy of system in case you need to reinstall. And no, you dont need to pay for lion again ofc.

 

Sorry I meant if I change to another SSD.

Does the Lion OS license tiies to the motherboard?

 

Apple stopped shipping OS X thumb drives with MBA's. I am not really sure why but they did and are forcing users to instead go off of the bootable partition that is on there for any type of recovery/re-installation process.

You can upgrade the SSD in a MBA, I think OWC is currently one of the only offerings on the market. They are expensive but it is possible. Luckily OWC gives you an external enclosure with every MBA SSD upgrade purchase. From there, you would want to either clone your internal SSD onto the new one (via the enclosure) or use Time Machine to backup your system, install the new SSD, and boot from the network to install Lion and restore the Time Machine backup.

Your version of Lion is not tied to your logic board per se. Even if it was, you would not be replacing that with an SSD upgrade and rather just one small component.

 

All i can say as a fellow photographer is ditch the mba if it's between it and MBP. The mbp has far better color accuracy..

 

There is no such thing to worry about, you don't have serials to go with OSX, just install and be a happy man

 

The Lion models offer internet recovery. Plug in your new SSD, plug in Ethernet (or have Wireless available), hold command-r and boot. The laptop will connect to Apple, download and install Lion for you.

 

I believe that only works if Lion is actually installed on the internal storage option. I pretty sure there is a command that can be used if you have a blank HDD/SSD installed that will allow the Mac to boot from Apple's networks but I don't readily remember it. There might also be a way to boot from a Timemachine backup but I am not 100% of that (and maybe just confused it with something else).

Also, as previoulsy pointed out, the color accuracy in the MBP line still isn't accurate enough for serious photographers. Both the MBP and MBA will be just fine for amateurs but any serious work would be done on a properly calibrated external display. It sounds like the OP isn't doing any serious work what so ever, hence why the resolution increase of the MBA will provide them with a better boost over the 13" MBP whereas the color accuracy isn't going to do much for them.

 

It works without Lion on an internal storage option. At least on the 2011 MBP. I swapped out the original HDD for my SSD, held Command-R while booting and the EFI did all the work connecting to Apple and installing Lion.
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery

The reason I point out the 2011 MBP is that in another thread someone said it did not work for them. I don't know what laptop they have and I can only say what the website says and voice my own experience with a new 2011 MBP (bought last week).

According the Apple it's any laptop that shipped with Lion and some models that you could upgrade to Lion you can go through and upgrade the EFI now (select models) to support the internet recovery.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4904

 

Macbook Pro without a doubt IMO. MBA is nice, but just not serious.

 

Well, I am delighted to have pulled the trigger on MBA. Bought Lightroom and Photoshop, and use it quite flawlessly.

I brought the MBA for my outing and it felt lighter (well, compared against 2.xx kg toshiba satellite) and I definitely needed the portability as I used heavy setup for my cameras (5d mk ii, lenses, flash, tripod).

It really boils down to what you need and at the end, it is all that counts.

PS: I might upgrade to 256SSD though, however not in near time

 

assuming you need extra space to store photos i would cross fingers and wait for thunderbolt external hdds. That should work.

 

Haha, yeah Lieto. That should be interesting!

 

i use my air for the same thing.....kind of regretting not getting the 256 gb

 

Are you talking about print work? I am pretty sure it can fully handle sRGB for web work without an external display.

 

certainly too low for print and broadcast ( 60-67% calibrated ), IMO too low as well for web work too but im picky as are my colleagues who do our web work. ( they prefer 85%+ for accurate reds and greens)

 

How are you liking the color accuracy on the MBA? Have you tried calibrating the display yet? Is it driving you mad, like it did me on my MBP? Push it too far and it's umpa-lumpaville. I finally got mine looking decent, but the color red just fails to impress.

 

ive calibrated a few times ( hardware ) yes it still drives me nuts in red and green spectrums. ( orange and purple shift )