Performance: Modest upgrades, disappointing battery life It’s worth noting that 2GB of graphics RAM is the recommended (not minimum) amount in the system requirements for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. You can boost the graphics RAM to 4GB for demanding applications or to run multiple 4K/5K displays from the MacBook Pro. (In older 15-inch MacBook Pros, only the top of the line model had discrete graphics.) The base model has 2GB of RAM dedicated to discrete graphics, sufficient for most photography-related applications. In most cases this just means you order your MacBook Pro with the maximum 16GB RAM.Īll 15-inch MacBook Pro models now have Radeon Pro discrete graphics in addition to integrated Intel HD Graphics. The Mac system dynamically allocates RAM to integrated graphics based on the amount of system RAM installed, so to get the most out of integrated graphics for photography your computer should have several gigabytes more RAM than you need for applications. Graphics: 4K/5K friendlyĪs in previous generations, the 13-inch model has integrated graphics (Intel Iris Pro). If your display brightness is set too high, your prints will be too dark. However, just having a wider gamut does not mean these new laptop displays are as accurate or uniform as a wide gamut desktop display.Īpple claims the display is also much brighter than the previous generation, so the screen will be easier to see under conditions such as a sunny window or doing a tethered photo shoot outdoors. But if you edit photos for print, having a brighter display doesn’t necessarily help because your display brightness should be consistent with the lighting conditions under which you view your prints, and that light level is usually much lower than the maximum display brightness. You no longer have to plug in an external display to view your photos in wide gamut color. For photographers, the larger gamut is a major point in favor of the MacBook Pro since most other laptop displays are still based on sRGB. The 2016 MacBook Pro displays now cover the same P3 color gamut as the Retina iMac, iPad Pro, and iPhone 7. The resolution of the Retina displays hasn’t changed. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is now only 3 pounds, while the 15-inch MacBook Pro is just 4 pounds - almost a third lighter than the 5.6 pounds of my current 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro.

To start with, if you take your laptop with you on jobs, especially when traveling, the slimmer dimensions and lower weight are welcome. I don’t yet have a 2016 MacBook Pro, but we can arrive at some reliable conclusions from the published specs. How does the 2016 MacBook Pro measure up for photographers? Let’s take a look at some of the changes, and what they mean for photographers and other creative professionals.

Is mac really better for photo editing