which macbook pro?

sid-180 · 12 Jan 2014 at 09:18

Looking at buying the 13 inch retina macbook pro to run lightroom 5 on it.

Just wanted some suggestions on which one to go for?

Can't afford the 15 inch model

Slobbo · 12 Jan 2014 at 09:26

What's your budget?

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15

sid-180 · 12 Jan 2014 at 09:36

max £1300 and that is max

GTRacer · 12 Jan 2014 at 10:39

I'd go for the base 13" Retina MBP with 16GB ram upgrade (£1349). If £49 is too much, go for the mid spec one with 256GB SSD/8GB ram. The reason why I prioritised RAM over storage is because the RAM is soldered onto the board whereas the PCIe SSD can be upgraded if you really need to (although keeping photos/documents in an external is better since you keep your OS and docs separate in case of theft or whatever). Although it really depends on whether you do a lot of work with big files often. You might find better deals if you go for a refurb model as well.

PU7E · 12 Jan 2014 at 11:36

You can get the previous model 15" mbp retina with 8gb new for £1349 on the rainforest (better imo as it has the nvidia discreet).

Other then that the newer 13" mbp retina is better as it has the iris graphics, the previous 13" retina I found wanting a bit when plugged into a second display.

I'd try and stretch for 16gb but it's not essential as it works perfectly fine for LR/PS with 8.

sid-180 · 12 Jan 2014 at 18:21

Well i went and purchased the 13 inch retina with 8GB ram and 256GB storage.

v happy with the purchase although it will take a little time getting used to using a MAC as i have always been a pc user.

Lightroom 5, photoshop cs6 and final cut pro x installed along with my 2tb external drive

An Exception · 13 Jan 2014 at 09:45

^^^
Mac is a nice OS. But being an ex. windows user, you might want to look into buying hyperdock for the window snapping/ preview feature. Don't know why Apple haven't included this basic functionality yet. Also having a red button that doesn't actually close some programs but closes others is PITA. Learn to use CMD Q. Also having a green button that doesn't always maximise a window is another teeth grinder.
Think about getting another 2tb drive to backup the 2tb drive you are currently using. Time machine is fantastic.
When you have more cash. You could look into getting an airport extreme, especially if you macbook has the new faster AC wifi. Then you can just plug that 2tb as well as a few other drives (by using a USB hub) into the airport extreme and have as much remote storage as you like. i.e. I have a drive dedicated as remote backup drive (My main comp already has two internal drives dedicated to time machine). I then have an external raid 1 box plugged into it for semi important files that don't get backed up.
The best thing is these external drives are shut away in a cupboard and you don't see them, but I can access them from any computer in the house.

GTRacer · 13 Jan 2014 at 12:00

Better Touch Tool also has window snapping as well as touchpad gestures and it's free.

sid-180 · 13 Jan 2014 at 18:15

thanks for info guys!

also is there a way to backup my lightroom 4 settings and presets and transfer them to lightroom 5 on the macbook pro?

Genoma · 13 Jan 2014 at 18:37

An Exception said:
^^^
The best thing is these external drives are shut away in a cupboard and you don't see them, but I can access them from any computer in the house.

Does it play nice with Windows machines too?

An Exception · 13 Jan 2014 at 19:13

Yeh works well with windows.

lamboman · 13 Jan 2014 at 19:33

Moom is another option that is more flexible than HyperDock for window management but doesn't give you any dock addons (whether those are necessary or not is arguable, personally would rather use built in OS X features such as Mission Control).

XtraFinder is a must.