MacBook Pro 13" - suitable for processing?

julianhj · 13 Sep 2012 at 09:13

I've always been a PC user, and have previously swayed away from Macs due to the cost and the fact my software was mainly Windows-based. My Dell Studio 15 is getting a bit old and I was speccing up a replacement. The prices were not far off a MBP 13". The key factor is the screen, I'm sure anything I do will not tax any reasonable new machine's CPU, but the screen is a different matter.

I have a lovely 1440x900 matte screen on the Dell, but the MBP 13" only comes with a glossy screen. The Apple Store employee I spoke to said that the glossy screen could make images look better/more vibrant than they would appear on other screens. I currently use an X-Rite i1 Display 2 calibrator on all my screens. My two questions are:

1) Will 13" be big enough for Lightroom etc?

2) Will I get a decent representation on a glossy screen?

DanF · 13 Sep 2012 at 09:33

Really depends on lighting in the room at the time, if there's bright sunlight shining in at the wrong angle the gloss screen can be a pain but otherwise it's really nice. It gives slightly more vivid liquid look so really depends on what you prefer. I think the MBP screen is fairly accurate, I've not actually calibrated mine yet.

1440x900 is a bit tight for hours of editing but fine for a bit each night.

julianhj · 13 Sep 2012 at 09:46

Cheers. Which size screen do you have? The glossiness (sp?) is something I think I can live with, providing I won't be way out with brightness etc.

I've managed for the Dell 1440x900 for a few years without too much issue. Most of my processing is done on my desktop.

The MBP is 1280x800, so the loss of pixels and a couple of inches is my main concern - I was wondering if anyone in a similar position could advise?

DanF · 13 Sep 2012 at 09:56

I've got a gen older 15" with gloss screen and 1440x900. tbh if you're buying new I'd really look at the 13" air as it's really light and slim and also has a 1440x900 res screen. They're really nice to use, about the only thing your missing out on is extra ram and disk space but if your using your desktop for most of your editing it'll be fine.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:28

BTW,there is noise of the MacBook Pro 13" being updated with a retina display. It will probably still be glossy and of I course I cannot predict how colour accurate it will be,but perhaps it is worth waiting and finding out.

The Asus UX21A Ultrabook has a glossy display too,but it seems quite colour accurate even when compared to the MacBook Pro 15" it seems:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5843/asus-zenbook-prime-ux21a-review/4

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/5

It uses an 11.6" IPS panel with a resolution of 1920X1080.

It does seem more and more laptops are having IPS panels,like the Lenovo X230:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/31/lenovo-thinkpad-x230-review/

It is matt although the resolution is low at 1366X768.

James J · 16 Sep 2012 at 23:00

I edit photos on a 13 inch macbook air 2011 model and it seems to cope quite well. Most demanding files I've pumped through it so far are a 5D mk ii's 21mp RAWs but it didn't really slow it down to any extent where it was unmanageable at all. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the speed of exporting and make drastic changes to RAW's via aperture on this MBA.

Saying that, I've got a D800 lined up as my next camera in a few weeks (if that) so I hope it continues to perform nicely with the RAWs from that, but shouldn't be "too bad". The only thing I genuinely could use is a higher res for seeing more of a photo when doing 1:1 crop editing on it. Removing dust/dirt from product shots etc being a prime example where res comes above pretty much everything else on a computer!

julianhj · 17 Sep 2012 at 05:09

I went for the 13" MBP in the end, chears for the replies. I'm very happy with it, and having it on my lap, comparing it with my Dell, I think I've made the right choice.

Schizophonic · 17 Sep 2012 at 09:43

I know this is a slightly old thread but others who want to get a MBP with rentna display.

Read more
http://fstoppers.com/the-new-macbook-pro-a-photographers-perspective

So with all this you are thinking, “Hmm, a perfect laptop?” No.

This laptop ushers in a new era that is going to be painful before it gets better. You see, the resolution is a double edge sword in that it looks beautiful to see images on it, but since most of our websites are at 72dpi, they look absolutely terrible. Yes, you can always display them smaller, but the draw of full screen is taken away. Yes, you could always upload all the image at 220dpi, but your site will take roughly 14 years to load (that’s an approximation).

So where do we find ourselves? The laptop is great… for the person that uses it on set, but horrible for the person who’s clients shop photos on it.”