MacBook Air M1 8G or 16G for Lightroom and Photoshop?: Open Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review (2024)

1

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

2

Bassio wrote:

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

16GB. Definitely.

8GB is fine for web surfing, spreadsheets and word processing, but you'll be much happier with 16GB for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Keep in mind, too, that you can't upgrade the memory later.

Enjoy the new computer!

Bassio wrote:

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

Memory is cheap these days so don't scrimp. I would like to add I wouldn't buy an M1 MacBook just yet because so few apps run natively on the platform. In addition the first M1 MacBooks apparently have problems with dual monitors which IMO is essential for photo editing. I never recommend being an early adopter of new tech. Wait a year at least until things get sorted out.

1

Papegoye wrote:

Every app I've tried, inlcuding Lightroom Classic and Capture One, works flawlessly on my M1 Macbook Air with 8gb ram. Mind you I don't have a 50 megapixel camera, only 24 mp. And I don't do video editing.

Thanks and for the storage , is it fine to get the basic storage 256G and rely on external HD?

kaphinga wrote:

Bassio wrote:

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

16GB. Definitely.

8GB is fine for web surfing, spreadsheets and word processing, but you'll be much happier with 16GB for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Keep in mind, too, that you can't upgrade the memory later.

Enjoy the new computer!

Thanks and for the storage , is it fine to get the basic storage 256G and rely on external HD?

Now that is a different matter. Don't think of a computer as a storage device. Yes, storage should be external and multiply redundant. Personally I use machines with small disks and a big NAS for storage which is backed up and mirrored.

Personally I edit photos on a fairly low powered Mac with 4Gb of memory which runs C1, DXO lab 2, Affinity and the Topaz AI programs OK for D800 and X-T2 files. You do need to be patient if you have stitched a big panorama. Also I only process a few images. But yes, it will be years and years before you run out of processing power on a new Mac, so 16Gb would be my suggestion.

1

Bassio wrote:

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

I took the 16 GB RAM + 512 GB SSD. Expensive but it's to stay on the safe side. During the last decade while the size of the RAM steadily increased because it became cheaper, the applications took more and more advantage of it and unabashedly hogged it as if the memory was all theirs. So maybe LR will run with 8GB today but what about in a couple of years, five years, etc.? A Mac is a long term investment.

Consider also that you will have several applications opened at the same time: LR, a browser, a mail app, a word processing, etc., that all hog the memory too. OK, opening and quitting apps and saving docs is extremely fast on the M1 chip but it's a drag to have to do it often.

That said the M1 chip SSD is extremely fast and efficient so Big Sur makes extensive use of virtual memory and you can exceed the actual amount of physical RAM without even noticing it.

Besides that you need to consider the MacBooks, at least the current models, have only 2 Thunderbolt ports, so whatever you need to do you'll have to either use WiFi or connect a dock with Ethernet, HDMI and/or DisplayPort, USB-C, USB-A, ports etc. If your budget allows it I recommend a Thunderbolt 3 compatible dock as a long term investement.

Nick

2

Bassio wrote:

kaphinga wrote:

Bassio wrote:

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

16GB. Definitely.

8GB is fine for web surfing, spreadsheets and word processing, but you'll be much happier with 16GB for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Keep in mind, too, that you can't upgrade the memory later.

Enjoy the new computer!

Thanks and for the storage , is it fine to get the basic storage 256G and rely on external HD?

I would suggest more storage. At least 512gb. It does fill up easily and working from a SSHD is considerably more efficient - do have an external for back up though. Note also that the M1 uses memory differently from other architectures and 8gb will go a longer way than hitherto.

Bassio wrote:

Papegoye wrote:

Every app I've tried, inlcuding Lightroom Classic and Capture One, works flawlessly on my M1 Macbook Air with 8gb ram. Mind you I don't have a 50 megapixel camera, only 24 mp. And I don't do video editing.

Thanks and for the storage , is it fine to get the basic storage 256G and rely on external HD?

I went with 512 and I’d recommend it to everybody.
Also regarding RAM, supposedly M1 processors demand less than the Intel architecture, so I think 8gb might be enough for most purposes, maybe except video

1

Bassio wrote:

kaphinga wrote:

Bassio wrote:

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

16GB. Definitely.

8GB is fine for web surfing, spreadsheets and word processing, but you'll be much happier with 16GB for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Keep in mind, too, that you can't upgrade the memory later.

Enjoy the new computer!

Thanks and for the storage , is it fine to get the basic storage 256G and rely on external HD?

I tend to over-spec my computers and then live with them for a long time, and so I went for the 1TB drive, which may be overkill. 512GB is probably the sweet spot. Personally, I would find 256GB a little tight, but it's fine if you are willing to rely on an external drive.

If it's a choice between memory and disk space, choose extra memory because you can always plug in an external hard drive.

Get the 16Ram. My M1 can do things with 8Ram that I wouldn't even attempt on my Windows machines with the same amount but I would spend the extra $250 or so on the 16Ram option. I've been doing 200 megapixel panorama stitching with my 8Ram with no problems but I did get a low memory message when I imported 128GB of raw files from an SD card into my image viewer while having two photo editing apps, two browsers with several tabs, and Apple TV all open at the same time. The machine didn't even blink or slow down but I closed one of the photo editing apps and it was totally fine. I don't use Lightroom or Photoshop on the M1 though, I use Pixelmator and Affinity.

I intend to get a machine with the next ARM Mac iteration end of this year or early next year with 16 or 32RAM so I got the 8RAM M1 out of curiosity.

I am currently using an 8GB RAM Intel MacBook Pro 2017 model and to keep Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop open at the same time can be difficult at times, especially if I am using Super Resolution from Adobe ACR. Maybe the M1 Chip handles this effectively, but I think 16GB RAM is the best.

BUT DO NOT buy the M1 Chip Model just yet. Rumours has circulated that a MUCH BETTER PERFORMING M1X/M2 Chip is coming out later this year in a 14 inch and 16 inch MacBook Pro. You might wanna wait and scroll through the rumours.

tbcass wrote:

Bassio wrote:

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

Memory is cheap these days so don't scrimp. I would like to add I wouldn't buy an M1 MacBook just yet because so few apps run natively on the platform.

There are native versions of Photoshop, Lightroom (cloud version), Affinity Photo, and Office 2019. Adobe is working on native versions of other applications, like Lightroom Classic.

In addition the first M1 MacBooks apparently have problems with dual monitors which IMO is essential for photo editing.

The first Apple-Silicon-based MacBook Airs and Pros only support one external monitor. (See technical specifications on Apple site.) It can be a very-high-resolution monitor, but you are limited to the one. This is probably due to some limitation of the M1 chip.

There is a third-party technology called DisplayLink that allows M1-based MacBook Airs and Pros to drive multiple monitors.

I never recommend being an early adopter of new tech. Wait a year at least until things get sorted out.

Presumably future Apple Silicon chips will support more RAM, more USB4 (Thunderbolt 3) ports, and more external monitors. At that point, you may see the 16" MacBook Pros and the rest of the 13" MacBook Pros switch from Intel CPUs to Apple Silicon ones.

Tom_N wrote:

tbcass wrote:

Bassio wrote:

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

Memory is cheap these days so don't scrimp. I would like to add I wouldn't buy an M1 MacBook just yet because so few apps run natively on the platform.

There are native versions of Photoshop, Lightroom (cloud version), Affinity Photo, and Office 2019. Adobe is working on native versions of other applications, like Lightroom Classic.

You've made my point. It's still not there yet. In addition if you already have software that you are using on your Intel Mac be ready to shell out big bucks for new native versions.

In addition the first M1 MacBooks apparently have problems with dual monitors which IMO is essential for photo editing.

The first Apple-Silicon-based MacBook Airs and Pros only support one external monitor. (See technical specifications on Apple site.) It can be a very-high-resolution monitor, but you are limited to the one. This is probably due to some limitation of the M1 chip.

There is a third-party technology called DisplayLink that allows M1-based MacBook Airs and Pros to drive multiple monitors.

I never recommend being an early adopter of new tech. Wait a year at least until things get sorted out.

Presumably future Apple Silicon chips will support more RAM, more USB4 (Thunderbolt 3) ports, and more external monitors. At that point, you may see the 16" MacBook Pros and the rest of the 13" MacBook Pros switch from Intel CPUs to Apple Silicon ones.

All good reasons to not buy an M1 Mac just yet. If you were trying to counter my recommendation to hold off you actually did just the opposite. Don't let GAS push you into jumping in too soon.

kaphinga wrote:

I tend to over-spec my computers and then live with them for a long time,

It has always been my policy too and in the long run it proved a winner. The total cost of ownership is lower. Naturally you need to avoid doing an overkill with specs you have no chance of needing any day. So you need to find the right compromise.

If it's a choice between memory and disk space, choose extra memory because you can always plug in an external hard drive.

Right and you can't upgrade the RAM.

Nick

Saint 112 wrote:

Right and you can't upgrade the RAM.

Nick

Sure you can.

tbcass wrote:

Saint 112 wrote:

Right and you can't upgrade the RAM.

Nick

Sure you can.

Not with the M1 chip.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3597569/m1-macs-memory-isnt-what-it-used-to-be.html

Bassio wrote:

Dears;

I am planning to get a MacBook M1 mainly for Photos Editing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Is 8G RAM enough for this ? or shall i get the 16G RAM ?

Based on my experience, 8GB works fine, but all the RAM gets used. If it is "mainly" for photo editing, I would get 16GB. And 16GB will give you a longer product useful life.

My wife got her m1 macbook for mainly office/web tasks, so we got 8GB. But I have loaded up Photo editing apps and it performs very well.

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