MacBook Pro 16” - accessories & photo apps?

[Ascender]

That's really what made me try a Mac for the first time all those years ago - I was just working with Windows machines all day every day and was sick of coming home and having to do the same thing. I think it was 1999 when I got my first G3 Mac and never looked back. They've definitely lost their way on the Mac side a bit but seem to be back on track now.

I use Windows 10 most days over Citrix for a couple of my clients, but only for access to email and productivity stuff. So I never really have to get my hands dirty so to speak - I admit that some of my struggles with Windows are just because I've lost my familiarity with it. But I do find it frustrating as everything just seems so illogical - and under this shiny Windows 10 sheen, the more you dig, the more I find windows and dialog boxes which seem to have been around since Windows NT4 days.

I think the built-in apps and the integration between them and also across iOS devices are one of the strongest things Apple has going for it.

[Orange Cola]

I do find some Windows apps have more features than Apple ones, for example Outlook, but I'm fucked if I'm using it by choice. I've found the Google suite to be a really good balance between commonly used features and functions and a reasonably good interface, however I was never taken by their Chrome book and Android is just too insecure compared to Apples iOS. After trying Android as a virtual machine I do want to try a google phone one day though, never got round to buying a cheap one off eBay. Windows phones had a lot of promise but ultimately turned out a bit shit.

When we get Windows 10 forced on us I'll be looking to switch it all back to the familiar Windows user settings!

[Ascender]

I love the simplicity of Apple's Mail app, but I'm thinking about trying some alternatives. I see a lot of Mac users on Outlook 365 now, but there seem to be a few different 3rd party ones out there which must be worth a look.

[Ascender]

Total u-turn.... MacBook Air went back as its thermal throttling wasn’t working very well and I’m currently down to just the iMac and the iPad with the Magic Keyboard. Which so far, is utterly brilliant.

[Carlos]

Total u-turn.... MacBook Air went back as its thermal throttling wasn’t working very well and I’m currently down to just the iMac and the iPad with the Magic Keyboard. Which so far, is utterly brilliant.

It's my daughter's birthday in May and she's nagging for a iPad to replace her quite nippy SSD equipped Acer E15 for school work and general use.

I don't have the budget to go balls out on a big screen Pro which she understands but is a new £450ish 10.5" iPad or iPad Air a suitable replacement for a laptop for school ?

I've never owned an Apple device so clueless and apologies for hijacking the thread.

[Ascender]

Total u-turn.... MacBook Air went back as its thermal throttling wasn’t working very well and I’m currently down to just the iMac and the iPad with the Magic Keyboard. Which so far, is utterly brilliant.

It's my daughter's birthday in May and she's nagging for a iPad to replace her quite nippy SSD equipped Acer E15 for school work and general use.

I don't have the budget to go balls out on a big screen Pro which she understands but is a new £450ish 10.5" iPad or iPad Air a suitable replacement for a laptop for school ?

I've never owned an Apple device so clueless and apologies for hijacking the thread.

Assuming all the apps you need to use are available on iOS then I’d say yes - cursor support has been the missing bit of the jigsaw for me. And Logitech have got a nice keyboard/trackpad case just released for the current iPad and Air - effectively you have a tablet and laptop device for about £600. The Pencil is very good for taking electronic notes too.

[Carlos]

The school stuff is all web based or Office365 which she has a school license for so sounds viable.

The Air has a newer processor but only 64gb compared to 128gb of memory of the normal one. There seems very little else in it. So I'll plump for the 128gb unless anyone can tell me otherwise ?

Thanks for the heads up on the keyboard as I assumed these were tied to Apple only accessories.

[Orange Cola]

I would have a look at YouTube to see what the in app experiences are like, they may be trimmed down versions of the office suite so you don't get full functionality, I also find that some tablet apps aren't a slick to use as their original desktop counter parts. That might not be an issue though, but it's worth understanding before you sink £600 into one.

Alternatively a second hand MacBook Air might be worth considering as it's a full laptop and can run a full MS office suite but it's thin and light enough to compare to the portability of an iPad.

[Carlos]

Alternatively a second hand MacBook Air might be worth considering as it's a full laptop and can run a full MS office suite but it's thin and light enough to compare to the portability of an iPad.

We've had a play on her iPhone and it all seems to work.

And as regards an alternative I'll assume you don't have a teenage daughter to even suggest it

[Orange Cola]

Alternatively a second hand MacBook Air might be worth considering as it's a full laptop and can run a full MS office suite but it's thin and light enough to compare to the portability of an iPad.

We've had a play on her iPhone and it all seems to work.

And as regards an alternative I'll assume you don't have a teenage daughter to even suggest it

Well if option A didn't work...

The iPads seem to last quite a while too, in that they're both supported software wise for a long time and they physically don't seem to drop off performance wise. They easily outlast a standard windows laptop for the same money.

[Ascender]

Microsoft can be slow to update some of their apps.... The iPad or MacBook Air will also come with the Apple suite of apps which are pretty damn good and getting new features all the time - they also let you open and save docs to MS format.

Here’s the new Logitech case which is getting good reviews.

https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product ... touch.html

MacBook Air is also a good choice...

[Ascender]

I’ve just ordered a MacBook Pro 16”, my main use will be photo editing on a portable platform. What accessories and photo apps do you all recommend?

I’ve already got a USB and SD card adapter so I can plug my DSLR SD card straight into it and I bought a case earlier. I was thinking of a Magic Mouse 2 but don’t know if I’m missing something else?

Photo apps - I don’t want a subscription service so that’s lightroom out the equation but I’m thinking photo shop elements free trial plus anything else I get recommended with a free trial to see what I get on with. I’ll then buy the app(s) I like the most. I’ll only be editing still photos in RAW or less likely JPEG too.

Just hope Apple can deliver the Macbook on time, i’m well signed up to tutorials following another camera and editing training day and with coronavirus about it feels like a good time to learn new skills.

How's the laptop going?

My great iPad experiment has failed so I've picked up a 13" MacBook Pro.

If you're looking to make more use out of the TouchBar, the BetterTouchTool + GoldenChaos preset is £8 well spent...

[Orange Cola]

It’s going great thanks, I just wish I could use it as my work machine too It’s managed to edit images quickly and so far hasn’t tripped even once. I’ve enjoyed being sat out in the sun not wishing for a brighter screen, the battery life is great and it’s got a brilliant screen. I’ve connected it to my iPhone for tethering and that’s been slick as anything where’s my iPad is constantly switching back to WiFi.

The biggest thing though has been editing in RAW, it just about got the fans going but I was able to take a photo, view it instantly on the Mac, tweak the set up and re-take the photo and finish off with a bit of editing. I haven’t done anything special, just getting to know the tools. It hasn’t struggled at all, the longest bit has been saving from RAW to JPEG. I’ve really improved my own skills by the fact it’s a big player in the process and it’s just not slowed me down at all and so I feel mentally tired, but learned something after spending an evening faffing with the camera.

The Touch Bar has been excellent and I’ll take a look at the suggestion, I also really like the fingerprint scanner. When this laptop dies/stops being updated I’ll be genuinely upset as it’s an amazing bit of kit. Even the speakers are decent.

What went wrong with your experiment?

[Ascender]

How's the MacBook then? I've ended up with a 16" MBP as well... My wife is off back to uni so needed a laptop, she liked the 13" so that was that. I'm not travelling much anymore so the larger footprint isn't an issue. I like having the bigger screen and the speakers are just incredible. I've got an 11" iPad Pro with the magic keyboard for when I do need something very portable.

The iPad Pro is just brilliant, but there's quite a few limitations when you start to use it with an external display. I knew about the letterboxing on apps, but one of the main programs I use for client work (Citrix Workspace) can't even display a cursor on it which made it a total non-starter.

[Nathan]

My sister bought the smaller MBP with 16GB RAM in July for photo editing.

I warned her not to (re: thermal throttling)

She won't admit it, but its a laggy, noisy fanned POS.

Unbelievable fandom.

[Ascender]

I knew the Air struggles with heavier duty stuff due to its design, but wasn't sure about the 13" one although I guess it depends what sort of photo editing she's doing.

I guess the 16" does have improved thermals and its size probably helps with heat dissipation too. I know their Pros are pretty consistent in terms of when you can expect to hear the fans kick-in.

[Nathan]

I knew the Air struggles with heavier duty stuff due to its design, but wasn't sure about the 13" one although I guess it depends what sort of photo editing she's doing.

I guess the 16" does have improved thermals and its size probably helps with heat dissipation too. I know their Pros are pretty consistent in terms of when you can expect to hear the fans kick-in.

Nothing complicated, just cropping album organisation. Ridiculous £1800 for that

[Mito Man]

Reminds me of a conversation with my friend last year.
Him, “I’ve bought a MacBook Pro for animation and video editing”
Me “They’re pretty pricey, what graphics card did you get?”
Him “It’s the standard intel iris one, the Apple Genius assured me it’s more than enough”

[Nathan]

If it hangs and the fans go mad flicking through an album, its shite sorry.

[Ascender]

If it hangs and the fans go mad flicking through an album, its shite sorry.

It really shouldn't be doing that though, you sure she's not got a lemon? The 13" MBP is a pretty capable machine even with its limitations.