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No Mac seems a good choice for photography


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<p>I've been using Macs for photo work for the last 10 years or so, which I do mostly with Lightroom, along with occasional use of Photoshop and Topaz plugins. Now it's time to replace my 6-year-old iMac, but none of the current Macs seems like a good choice. (I'm considering a computer only for photography, not games, writing, accounting, or any other use. And integration with my iPhone is of no interest to me.)</p>

<p>There are four types of Macs: notebooks, all-in-ones, minis, and Mac Pros. Notebooks don't have a large enough screen, and Mac Pros are overkill for what I need. Mac Minis are twice as expensive as equivalent Windows computers. (Look not at base prices, but ones with an Intel Core i7 and 16GB of RAM.) That leaves iMacs, but the problem with them is that I'm tired of replacing the whole computer when only the processor needs upgrading. I suppose I could get a MacBook Pro with a separate monitor, but that's a very expensive way to go, and the combination takes up too much space on my desk.</p>

<p>For photography, the choice of OS doesn't matter to me, because I spend nearly all my time in Lightroom and Photoshop, and they run identically on both platforms. (I'm a software developer, and use Windows, OS X, and Linux for that, so all of those OSes are familiar. I have about seven computers that I use for different purposes.)</p>

<p>Any other photographers steering away from Macs because none seems suitable and appropriately priced?</p>

<p><strong>Appendix: Intel NUC vs. Mac Mini</strong></p>

<p>Here's why I say a Mac Mini costs twice as much as a Windows computer. The following costs me $657 at Amazon:</p>

<ul>

<li>Intel NUC5i7RYH with 5th Generation Core i7-5557U (WiFi included)</li>

<li>16GB RAM (Crucial DDR3-1600 MT/s)</li>

<li>1TB hard drive (HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5-Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 32MB Cache)</li>

<li>Windows 10 Home</li>

</ul>

<p>A Mac Mini with an i7, 16GB, and a 1TB drive is $1400. Both the NUC and the Mac Mini have dual-core i7 processors (not quad-core).</p>

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<p>Macs costing more than windows/dos machines goes back to the mid 1980s. Not a new phenomena. There are plenty of people who look beyond cost and prefer Macs, for a variety of reasons. Indeed, for 2015, pc sales in general have declined while Mac sales have increased.</p>

<p>For processing photographs there are a lot of good Macintosh choices. </p>

www.citysnaps.net
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<p>Well, I gave up using Macs in 1999, and have never missed them. It is indeed old news that you pay through the nose for sticking with them. To me, desktop computers are exceedingly dull and about as interesting as washers or dishwashers, so go with whatever fits your requirements and wallet.</p>
Robin Smith
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<blockquote>

<p>Any other photographers steering away from Macs because none seems suitable and appropriately priced?</p>

</blockquote>

<p><br /> $5K for a cool garbage can that you can't upgrade...Yes, for sure, to answer your question. They're over priced fad gadgets. It's not just over priced hardware, but also the shifting sands of their OS's and software. In in my circles, when Apple (without warning) dropped Carbon years ago, one of their 64-bit architecture that Adobe was writing CS4 for, many switched to Windows because they could finally use more than 2.7 gb's of ram on Windows in CS5 and weren't stuck in Apple's 32-bit. This was just after many Mac users going through the switch from Motorola to Intel. People were spending $800 on Ps and only having it run on a couple years on Apple hardware while noticing that Windows XP is being supported for 14 years. Apple has long abandoned the professional desktop publisher. After that FCP fiasco a couple years ago, they're hardly in the film/video industry anymore. It's 2016 and they finally get 10-bit colour with El Capitan.</p>

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<p>With an iMac (or Mack Pro) you will not be harangued hourly with an offer to "upgrade" to Windows 10. For the moment, I have that harassment blocked. If Microsoft persists, I will switch platforms, regardless of the cost. I subscribe to the full Adobe Creative Cloud, which works on both Windows and OS.</p>

<p>Actually, software compatibility is less an issue than that of hardware, for which Windows 10 is notably deficient.</p>

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<p>Marc, I feel your pain. I finally upgraded my 2009 Mac Pro to a Late 2015 27" iMac Retina. I don't like the idea of a Mac and monitor as a single unit and having to put my HD's on the outside. I loved my Mac Pro. But the Retina iMac is the only viable solution if you don't need/want a laptop -- unless you tried Hackintosh. I was hoping the Mac Mini would get quad core i7's. With a PCIe SSD that would have been a Mac Pro killer - hence the crippling. But the iMac screen is something else...</p>

<p>At work I'm running LR on a PC laptop. I think we are on 5, but a few updates behind. There is a bug in the Windows version where it can only show a few hundred keywords in the right panel before they get cut off. Just FYI in case that is not fixed yet in LR and it would be hassle.</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>Indeed, for 2015, pc sales in general have declined while Mac sales have increased.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Which proves nothing with regards to what the OP wrote. Yes, Apple is selling well, mainly thanks to the iPhone/iPad drawing people in, and mainly notebooks (which are excellent pieces of hardware). The question in the OP is rather: how well are they serving their "original" consumer base, the graphics artists? I agree with the OP that there is a gap between Mac Mini and Mac Pro which the iMac does not exactly fill. I see a lot of youngsters with their notebooks, for casual fun use - so yes, they sell well, but it's a different demographic.<br>

The Mac Pro is indeed very competetively priced, for the level of hardware it offers; pricing on the iMacs isn't very high either, considering the quality of the LCD panels used. The notebooks prices are in line with competing products with similar specs. The myth that a Mac is much costlier isn't all that true anymore. Complaints about the lack of upgradability are, in my view, however 100% justified; on a notebook it's excusable, on a desktop a lot less so.<br>

As for "forced" OS updates: Mac OS X maybe nags less about it, but it has the same cycle of free OS updating, with glitches just like Windows and backwards compatibility issues, just like Windows. The grass isn't always greener elsewhere. You could just try Windows 10, and if you really don't like it, revert within 30 days. It's not a bad OS (and to me, Windows 7 isn't all that great, actually).<br>

I've had two Macs in the past, and basically found that <em>for my uses</em>, OS X isn't a better OS in any sense; I simply prefer Windows and Windows 10 so far doesn't get in my way which means it works well. I prefer to build my own desktop, to my own specifications. But I am quite sure I'm not saving loads of money that way, it's more the satisfaction of ending up with exactly the system I want, and keeping the upgrade paths open as I see fit.</p>

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<p>I have used both Apple and Windows machines at home and work since the late '70s. While Macs are more to purchase the long term cost of ownership is less. I a business setting when we moved from Windows to Apple OS our overall IT costs were reduced substantially (we didn't need the on site support staff and our replacement cycle went from 3 to 5 years). I currently have a five year old, full house iMac. It is supported by an Apple server and 30 TB of RAID memory. I do wish it had a better graphics card, but that is its only shortcoming. I use CS5 and a number of Topaz plug ins. If I were to make your decision today I would not hesitate to get another full house iMac. However, I might consider the Pro and do some shopping. At times there are some bargains to be found when Apple introduces a new product and the old one can be found at a bit of a discount. I find the ease of use of Apple products and their interoperability a significant benefit. The integration with my phone, iPad, iPod and Macbook Air is seamless. </p>
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<p>You have to be careful of (cherry picking) stats. The only place I have seen Mac sales increase is with notebooks in coffee shops and it's almost always MacBook Air...hardly a production machine. It's almost embarrassing to pull my MBP out when everyone is also hovering over the glow of the apple logo. Erie....we're all in Starbucks, all dressed the same, all behind apple logos...it reminds me of a scene out of 1984.</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>With an iMac (or Mack Pro) you will not be harangued hourly with an offer to "upgrade" to Windows 10. For the moment, I have that harassment blocked. If Microsoft persists, I will switch platforms, regardless of the cost. I subscribe to the full Adobe Creative Cloud, which works on both Windows and OS.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not in my experience, Edward. I only get it when I boot. I'm still on Mavericks on the MBP and I'm harangued into OS updates just like W8 wishes me to go to W10. The W8 demands a mouse move to dismiss while the MBP is egging me on for El Capitan and demands two mouse moves to go away. Also, I have a home theatre pc running W8 and what is more annoying, is that up to half an hour into into a full-screen movie with seven speakers and a sub woofer trying to keep up, I get a full screen iTunes update notification! That's infuriating. No other software does this and iTunes certainly wont be there when I rebuild it with W10.</p>

<p>W10 was a surprise to me. I plugged in my Samsung laser printer from 2005 and nothing happened. Usually we get some sort of activity on the monitor when a usb device is installed. But nothing. I sighed and muttered "typical windows". It was a clean install on a new ssd after all and I expected some driver grief. But I was too quick as it was there in the print dialogue box when I needed it. It was then the same with my Epson printer and found it in Ps without any effort. It just works. The MBP? Lol, it took a min of 8 clicks, a google search, and three panels in order to navigate and select. Windows 10 is free now on Apple products and I'm tempted to give Bootcamp and W10 a shot on the MBP.</p>

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<p>From using both systems, I am definitely of the belief that here is less fussing with a mac and that they perform at the top of their class when it comes to photo and video processing. Less driver, issues, virus, etc. You've heard them all.<br>

But @Eric, you'll never get anywhere if you where cloths into the starbucks. You just need a good case, careful cherorgraphy and you'll fit right in with you MBP.Just a Back-pack and pair of boots and i'm ready to surf the net!:)</p>

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<p>I love Windows 10, but check for drivers for all your affiliated hardware, such as your printer. I needed a printer upgrade and used it as an opportunity to move up to the Canon Pixma Pro-100 for $150. A lesser printer, equivalent to my old Canon would have been $80, or so.</p>

<p>I use DxO Optics Pro and Adobe Creative Cloud (LR and PS) for processing 70MB Raw files. Speed of processor, graphics card and RAM all have a part in you speed of processing.</p>

<p>My daughters and granddaughters all use Apple. Only the network engineer has a legitimate need for a MacBook Pro, where she runs the four OS that she needs to function as a network engineer. We've had problems with Apple at about the same rate as PCs, with around 1/3 having some type of failure requiring replacement or service center repair.</p>

<p>I started with PC in 1980 because there were business applications and the competition was mainly into toys. Later, when Apple opened up development of software and got away from trying to control all software, they became competitive. The two solutions are now roughly equal, unless you've got some specific software that runs better on one vs. the other, but that's not the case with DxO, LR and PS.</p>

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<p>Spec for spec Apple always charges a premium for computers made from much the same parts as their Windows only rivals. It is down to the individual consumer whether they wish to pay that higher price for these products. Personally, I prefer using Mac's but that is my preference and if you are using mainly Lightroom and Photoshop I doubt very much if it would make any difference to the end results you are able to achieve working with your images. That "difference" is mainly in the design of the products and what feels to me a more user friendly feel to the whole experience. If using your computer is that bit more enjoyable , then the time spent working with it can be just that little bit more pleasant, kind of like the choice you make buying a new car, many choices at different price points, made from similar components. Whichever car you choose you will still get to your destination but have you enjoyed the journey in getting there?</p>

<p>The other thing to bear in mind is that most Mac's have a much better residual value than their PC equivalents, i.e. you can still expect to get something back from selling a 5 year old iMac or MacBook Pro, which partly offsets the higher initial buying price. For instance I am typing this on an iMac which is somewhere around 6 to 7 years old and is still working very well with Lightroom and Photoshop, albeit maxed out to 16GB RAM. Or you can go the PC route and upgrade more often which should be more affordable due to the lower initial purchase price.</p>

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<p>Residual value is an issue with both, as OS change over time and older machines don't have the power to handle the new OS. Both systems have been guilty of this at various times in their history. Fortunately, you can generally get through two or three generations of OS and then the other applications start demanding more power and an upgrade gets driven by increasing demands for speed and capacity.</p>
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<p>Marc, why all the rationalizing? You've answered your own question! Just get the PC from Amzn and be happy! I still have G5 Mac towers from back in the early part of the century that still run and are rock solid reliable. The PCs that I have are only useful when running Win10, everything else sux. I have a MBP that also runs Win10 using VMWare Fusion8, Rock solid and faster than my comparable i7 PCs running Win10. Maybe the Mac system board is just that much better?<br>

If you believe the Win10 PC suits your needs as an appliance for your photography, then you really have no questions to ask. Just make your move!</p>

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