Apple introduced one new computer and two changed Macs at their Worldwide Developer Conference this week. Meanwhile, we still see plenty of pop-up sales of earlier models from vendors such as this site’s exclusive advertiser, B&H. You’re probably trying to figure things out and what you might or should buy.
Let me cut to a chase for a moment: my minimum photographer recommendation is:
- Apple Silicon (M1 or M2)
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD (1TB if you can afford it)
The most critical element for photographic work is going to be first memory, second storage space. You can’t expand the memory on a Mac after purchase. However, you can add external SSD drives that are fast to add storage. I just picked up an extra 1TB one for US$75, for instance [Amazon link; as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases].
Does an M2 make a difference over an M1? Yes, however the M1 chips are pretty incredible to start with, and generally outperform any equivalent-priced Intel offering. Moreover, with more and more software now using GPU and neural units that are embedded in the M1/M2 chips, some activities on Apple Silicon just are in a different league than they were with Intel-based Macs. So: M1 good, M2 somewhat better.
First up on our list of new Macs to consider are portable MacBook portables: the Airs and the Pros.
The MacBook Air now comes in 13.6 and 15.3 inch models (shortened to 13 and 15 by most), while the MacBook Pro comes in 14.2 or 16.2 models (shortened to 14 and 16 by most). What’s the difference?
Quite a few differences, actually:
- The current Airs use LCD Retina displays, the Pros use Mini-LED Retina displays. The big difference most will notice is in how bright the displays can be. Basically, a Pro display can run (sustained) at twice the nits of brightness than an Air display. Thus, if you use your portable in bright conditions, you probably want a Pro, not an Air. Use it primarily indoors? An Air may be fine.
- The current Airs use a straight M2 chip, the Pros use M2 Pro or M2 Max chips. If you need more CPU/GPU cores, you’ll probably want a Pro, but for most work the 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU of the Air is probably fine.
- The current Airs max out at 24GB of memory, the Pros go to 96GB. Note my minimums, above: you can get an Air with only 8GB of RAM, but I generally don’t recommend this. All the Pros now come with at least my minimum suggested memory. Apple’s cost for adding RAM is high, and can only be done when ordering. So think this through. This is where the pop-up sales on the M1 units start to come into play: I’ve seen lots of great deals on the older units with more memory lately. Indeed, this site’s exclusive advertiser has some sales on the older 14 and 16 models running as I write this. My general feeling is that it would be better to buy an M1 Mac with more memory than an M2 Mac with constrained memory, all else equal. Photo software does tend to chew up memory.
- The current Airs max out at 2TB of storage, the Pros go to 8TB. Again, Apple’s pricing for internal SSD is high, and your choice has to be made at purchase. As many sites have noted, the lowest SSD storage choices tend to be one chip (slower), while the higher SSD choices are all two chip (faster). 1TB is a safe choice; 512GB is a budget choice.
- The current Airs have two USB/Thunderbolt ports, the Pros have three (plus an HDMI port and SD slot). This gets to expandability. If you’re going to use a portable computer also as a desktop, the Pro models are the way you should go.
Other differences that might make a difference are that the Air models use lower wattage Power Adapters (30-67W) than the Pros (67-140W), and the heaviest Air model (15) is lighter than the lightest Pro model (14). If you’re mostly using a computer portably, the Air has some advantages. Finally, for heavy processing, only the Pro 16 model has fan cooling* and no thermal throttling. If you’re a heavy video user, the 16 is your preferred choice, all else equal.
*The MacBook Pros have fans, the Airs do not. But the 14 MacBook Pro can throttle the CPU in overheat conditions, and tend to run hotter than the 16.
For desktop models, we have the Mini versus the Studio to consider. The Studio has now moved to M2 chips, so it’s a little easier to compare the two models now:
- The Mini is physically smaller, the Studio is taller and has more cooling. Heavy video editing suggests a Studio, but a Mini is perfectly fine for photographers.
- The Mini uses the M2 or M2 Pro chip, the Studio uses the M2 Max or M2 Ultra. This gets to CPU and GPU cores, as well as available memory choices. Again, for photographic use, a 16GB Mini works okay (I have one and can vouch for that), but Minis max out at 32GB. If you’re heavy into video editing or just want to future proof yourself with more memory, you need to move to a Studio, where you can get up to 192GB of RAM now.
- The M2 Mini at the levels I suggest supports only two displays, while the M2 Pro and higher Studio models I would recommend support three or more. The Studio models tend to have more USB connectivity, but that’s easy to fix on a Mini by adding a Satechi sit-under expansion case (which can also take up to a 2TB SSD card).
Generally, an upgraded Mini of some sort should be the choice for most folk. However, a Studio is more future proof, particularly if you added RAM when you bought it.
Finally, Apple discontinued the last Intel-based Mac in their lineup, and replaced it with an Apple Silicon one: the Mac Pro, otherwise known as the cheese grater for its unique heat redirecting case. This unit starts at US$7000 and maxed out, only hits US$11,800 (unlike the Intel model, which topped US$50,000). Since you can now get Studio models with the same processor, RAM, and SSD configuration (US$8800), this puts the users of a Mac Pro into a small, specific niche: those that need PCIe slot expansion. You pretty much already know if you fit that category or not ;~).
My general minimum to useful configurations:
- Air: 16GB, 512GB; consider up to 24GB, 1TB
- Pro: 16GB, 512GB; consider up to 32GB, 2TB
- Mini: 16GB, 512GB; consider up to 32GB, 2TB
- Studio: 32GB, 1TB; consider up to 64GB, 4TB
Going beyond those useful upper configurations, you need to have a reason. Photographers generally use external storage for both size and archival reasons, so these days it's usually best to max out the RAM in the machine before the internal storage. Also, external SSD support is going down in price, so you probably don’t want to push the internal SSD capacity too high, because Apple’s prices are inflated for doing that.
Of significant note to Mac users is this: macOS Sonoma will not support a number of older Macs. The oldest iMac that is supported is the 2019 model, the oldest Air/Pro/Mini that are supported are 2018 models. Apple tends to only provide current camera support for the latest version of macOS, so as new cameras get introduced, you’re going to want to be on macOS Sonoma and a Mac that’s less than five years old.
Finally this: Apple seems to have produced more recent Macs, particularly M1 ones, than have been sold on the market. Moreover, by moving to Apple Silicon, it appears that Apple themselves have more flexibility in pricing. Thus, we still have a lot of M1 Macs (Airs/Pros/Minis) in inventories sitting around, and they keep showing up in pop-up sales. Don’t dismiss those (slightly) older models. You can effectively get a better computer for fewer dollars by being a little patient and shopping around on deals. I’m mostly on M1 Macs these days, and they easily outperform the Intel Macs they replaced.
Update: added the fan/throttle clarification; tidied up some wording
