Older 2009 White Unibody MacBook for PS6?

[jon_kobeck1]

I have a 2009 MacBook that I wanted to start using for Lightroom ad some Photoshop. It is the iconic white plastic

unibody model. 2.2 GHz with 4 GB of Ram and OS X

I realize its old and slowish. I like it though. Maybe its because its the last of the white plastic models.

I was thinking about putting in an SSD since they are so cheap now, to speed things up.

 

I happen to be looking at the MacBook Air and it looks like the specs are slower then m older MacBook. Intel Core i5 -

4GB Memory - 128GB Flash Storage

 

Any thoughts? Can I edit photos on the oder MacBook? Perhaps put in an SSD or a larger HD with an external drive?

Or spend 1K on an Air?

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>The older MacBook will struggle compared to newer ones, but I've run PS CS5 on an even older MacBook than that, and it kept up, only 4G of RAM, but it kept up with 12MP and slightly bigger files.</p>

<p>No way would I use a MacBook Air for this, for many reasons.</p>

[noreen]

<p>I run Photoshop CS6 on a silver unibody MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM, running OS X 10.6.8. I'm processing very large images (raw files from a D7100). It's slow going, but it does work.</p>

[john_wheeler6]

<p>Hi Jon<br>

You may be in luck. The late white unibody MacBook can be upgraded in memory and disk size much larger than the original specs. I have used MacSales for upgrades of both memory and disks form my Macs and had great results. Here is the link: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/Macbook_selector<br>

I think your model is in the upper right on this web page (yet others are shown if I am wrong).<br>

If you have any concerns about selecting the correct memory, just call the sales department and they walk you through it (you want the exact correct memory). I suggest at least 8G and it is cheap enough I would just go for 16G as it indicates your model should support that much. You can also upgrade your disk to a much larger HD or SSD.<br>

Note that this site also provides videos on the exact steps for installing both the memory and HD/SSD<br>

You still won't get the speed of more recent models of course yet this would help.<br>

A key factor. You should make sure that your system will meet the system requirements for CS6 in the following link when you are all said and done with the graphics card and OS version that you have or you could have other issues:<br>

http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements.html<br>

http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html<br>

<br />Hope the above information helps.</p>

[ljwest]

<p>If this is the "late" 2009 MacBook with the 2.26GHz Core2Duo (aka MacBook6,1), you've still got a little breathing room, but not much.</p>

<p>One thing to know, is that although Apple specced it at a maximum of 4GB of RAM, it will actually use up to 8GB. You'll need every bit of that for photos.</p>

<p>The biggest issue you may get into - particularly if you shoot a lot, and in RAW - is expandability. The only external interface is USB2, which, today, is extremely slow for external storage and backups. Thunderbolt and USB3 are much better suited for today's digital photographer.</p>

<p>Don't be fooled by the clock speed of the different processors! The current MBA benchmarks close to twice as fast as a late 2009 MB, even with the seemingly "much slower" processor.</p>

<p>If you see yourself doing a lot of work with photos, I'd recommend taking a serious look at the 13" retina MacBook Pro over the 13" MBAir. For an extra $300, you get 8 GB RAM (which will cost you $100 extra on the Air), and a 2.6 GHz processor, which benchmarks more than 4x faster than your MacBook.</p>

<p>Also, with any of the MacBooks that cannot be upgraded with RAM after purchase (Air, retina), I recommend getting the maximum RAM you can buy from Apple. For an extra $100, the Air goes from 4GB to 8, and for an extra $200, the retina goes from 8 to 16. This will help to ensure a long life, relatively immune from the OS or your apps getting ever bigger.</p>

<p>The Flash storage on these is a little more complex a decision. It is upgradeable from third parties, but you may need to start off with a higher-end MacBook, and the cost difference between getting it from a third party and getting it from Apple may be negligible.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>It will run, but not strikingly fast. I run PS CS5 extended for drive-by-editing on a similar vintage MacBook and an new Air each with only 4GB. If you don't ask too much of it, it will do.</p>

<p>You'll need to make sure any upgrades will work with the older machine before you buy memory, etc.</p>

[J.W. Wall]

Peter - Just curious -- why not a Macbook Air?

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>Not enough storage space, RAM, horsepower vs. the full-sized options. lack of I/O</p>

<p>Air is designed for the guy who wants to do email/web/MS Office (or Apple counterparts) kinda stuff, not digital audio/video/photo/graphics creation.</p>

[J.W. Wall]

Thanks, I see what you mean.