Is the 'entry' level IMac suitable for photo editing

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Magkat

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Ken
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Some words of wisdom, please for a newbie.
I've recently acquired my digital camera and a couple of lenses. Now, I need to learn how to work with/improve the photos. I've an old Apple Macbook Pro with limited Ram that is struggling with general browsing and I've no doubt would be unable to cope with processing software.
Of course, reading various advice entries of photo forum sites suggests I need a minimum of 16GB of Ram and a fast processor and good graphics on a 27" monitor. This was contested, however, by a salesman today in my local Curry's store ( the only retailer available to me) who was adamant that the 2023 M3 IMac with 8GB Ram in the entry/starter system with 24" monitor was more than sufficient for digital photo processing.
Is he correct? If so, it would save a lot of head scratching trying to build something using Mac mini Pro etc.
Any opinions gratefully received!
 
Why not suck it and see?

If your camera uses SD cards, photograph something and take the SD card to Currys. Ask the salesman if you can try editing the picture and stick the card in the SD slot. Run up Preview and see how it goes. At least you'll both find out something.

www.xda-developers.com

Does the new 2023 Apple MacBook Pro have an SD card slot?

If you're wondering whether you can use your SD cards with your new MacBook, read on.
www.xda-developers.com www.xda-developers.com
 
Yes he is correct ,more than good enough . I.e I use a M1 chip Mac mini with 512 gbHD ,and 8 gb ram and a dell 32” monitor ,I use the latest LR/PS and an old version of topaz de.noise , it’s lightning fast . The latest dedicated I .macs are even better and faster so yes the salesman was totally correct
 
It will work with 8gb ram but you will consume more than 8gb with most editing software which means you will be hammering the SSD with swap memory. While this is fast enough it will reduce the life of the SSD.

As neither the SSD or ram can be replaced or upgraded, I highly recommend at least 16gb ram.
 
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I bow to those with Mac experience above......

But as you don't mention what editing software you have or intend to use, all of the programs will provide their minimum and recommended hardware specifications. It might be a good idea to read what 'they' say about Mac specs required?
 
I bought a MacBook Air M2 with 8GB and 512GB in February and also have Late 2012 iMac 27 with 8GB and 512GB SSD via USB 3. Both are capable of photo editing with Lightroom. The MacBook is quicker of course and runs more recent (current) software. I guess they might well be better with more RAM, but they do what I need them to do.
 
I described my current outfit above , but since purchase I have added a u.s.b hub fits under the Mac mini and allows you to have all your usb outlets and a dual card reader at the front ,plus I have fitted it with a 2tb SSD .. .

My main thinking on this set up is having had a I.mac for many years and been forced into an upgrade due to obsolescence . I hesitated going the I.mac route again as has been pointed out you can’t upgrade once bought ..

However if my Mac mini fails it’s simply a case of replacing it with a up to date Mac mini unit .. the monitor ,hub, speakers keyboard ,mouse can all be retained for use with the new unit
 
Yes, the machine advised to you will be fine for now and the next few years, especially with the M3 chip. However, a few years down the road who knows what a minimum spec will be. Apple seem to be designing their machines with less emphasis on RAM and more on processor/cache speed.
 
Stephen L said:
Yes, the machine advised to you will be fine for now and the next few years, especially with the M3 chip. However, a few years down the road who knows what a minimum spec will be. Apple seem to be designing their machines with less emphasis on RAM and more on processor/cache speed.
Click to expand...
I think a lot of that could be due to the whole thing (RAM, CPU, Cache, Storage etc) being on a single chip. The article linked, suggests an economic lifespan of 7-years for the M2 MacBook Air.

If only 256GB SSD is selected (M2 and later*), only one SSD chip/array is utilised. This means that any memory swapping and storage read/writes all occur via that single resource. So I went for 512GB to get two, which I read gives improvement in both speed and longevity. I’ve no idea if that is true or not.

*the M1 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD utilised two 128GB arrays.

MacBook Air lifespan - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
 
I am very pleased with the 13" M2 MacBook Air, it's a very nice machine to use, quick, portable. The only downside for me is there are only 2x USB-C ports, but a £15 plug-in module gives SD card, HDMI and a few USB3 ports, so not a biggy. I would definitely recommend that anyone looking for a new Apple machine should consider one. The new M3 version will be a step up. But, the M2 is now quite a bit cheaper than when I got mine in February, and currently looks very good value.

If I didn't already have my old iMac 27, I'd simply get a decent 27" monitor, keyboard and mouse to use the MacBook in desktop mode. Did that for years when we went over to laptop Windows machines at work and it worked out really well. It's like having two computers for the price of one.
 
Magkat said:
I've recently acquired my digital camera and a couple of lenses. Now, I need to learn how to work with/improve the photos. I've an old Apple Macbook Pro with limited Ram that is struggling with general browsing and I've no doubt would be unable to cope with processing software.
Of course, reading various advice entries of photo forum sites suggests I need a minimum of 16GB of Ram and a fast processor and good graphics on a 27" monitor. This was contested, however, by a salesman today in my local Curry's store ( the only retailer available to me) who was adamant that the 2023 M3 IMac with 8GB Ram in the entry/starter system with 24" monitor was more than sufficient for digital photo processing.
Is he correct? If so, it would save a lot of head scratching trying to build something using Mac mini Pro etc.
Any opinions gratefully received!
Click to expand...

It is subjective to what you are doing with the photos.

If the photo editing involves just adjusting light levels, colour levels, cropping, stuff like this. Then he could be correct.

But if you're planning on turning a photo into an artwork artwork, like photo-manipulation, turning the photo into watercolour like painting, trying to be more creative with your photos. In other words, a major photoshop work. then you could do with an extra RAM.
 
I really struggled with 32gb ram and find 16gb laptop nearly unworkable. Perhaps I push things beyond what many are doing here but at end of the day you are not opening 10 50mp layers or working with 3m long posters on a system with compromised ram capacity.
A 24" glossy screen with colourful bevel... Well should not really require much explanation!
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I really struggled with 32gb ram and find 16gb laptop nearly unworkable. Perhaps I push things beyond what many are doing here but at end of the day you are not opening 10 50mp layers or working with 3m long posters on a system with compromised ram capacity.
A 24" glossy screen with colourful bevel... Well should not really require much explanation!
Click to expand...
Horses, courses…

I used to work with people that were rendering video/CGI animations that would run overnight on very powerful rigs. My own needs on the other hand are much more modest, so have not had a problem with 8GB.
 
With iMac's I'm a firm believer in buying the best you can afford. In 2009 I went for top of the range 28" i7 2.8 GHz and I'm still using it now.
The graphic card has been in the oven twice, but apart from that is been very good, I think the HDD is really slowing it down now.

I will probably go for a studio next, once you start to look at the upgrades on iMac you quickly get into studio price point, I have an apple keyboard so it just a monitor to buy.
 
Delphin said:
With iMac's I'm a firm believer in buying the best you can afford. In 2009 I went for top of the range 28" i7 2.8 GHz and I'm still using it now.
The graphic card has been in the oven twice, but apart from that is been very good, I think the HDD is really slowing it down now.

I will probably go for a studio next, once you start to look at the upgrades on iMac you quickly get into studio price point, I have an apple keyboard so it just a monitor to buy.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I was costing a decent Mac Mini, but fortuitously @Nikon f1.8 ’s Studio came on the market at a lower price.
 
I have MacBook Air M1 16GB, lightroom (not the online version) and regularly stitch pano shots; very happy with the M1 16gb machine. It's not instantaneous, but is fast enough that I don;'t have to set it off, then go do something else.

13" screen, I think I might look at macmini in the future, or try VR meta for editing the panos after stitched.
 
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