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Hi everyone! It’s Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2024 weekend here. I always get a lot of questions from people on which computer, laptop, monitor and hard drives they should get. So I thought I’d write down a few general thoughts and update this as time goes on. I originally made this post in 2020. But I revise it every year, so this is the fourth version (though not much tends to change)

Also, I released a new course this week on my Image Quality (Noise, sharpening) workflow with Topaz Photo AI. Click Here to Find Out More and Take Advantage of the Sale and to find out more about how to purchase Topaz Photo AI with their Black Friday discount.

As we get started, keep in mind there is NO WAY to spec out the perfect computer and tell you exact specs on what you should get. But hopefully this helps point you in the right direction or maybe keep you from getting something you may regret in a year.

DISCLAIMER: Please don’t message me asking for more details on this topic. There are thousands of combinations of computers, screens and monitors, and I won’t be able to respond to any questions on “Should I buy this…”, or “Can you elaborate on this…”. Thanks in advance! 🙂

The Hard Truth to Come To Grips With First

The first thing to come to grips with is this. No matter which photo editing app you use (Adobe, ON1, Luminar, Capture One, Topaz, etc…), you are involved in one of the MOST INTENSIVE things you can put a computer through.

You may think you’re just an amateur photographer… just in it for hobby and fun, without a lot of requirements because you don’t have clients. But the moment you fire up one of those apps, you’re putting yourself in to the top 1% territory, when it comes to the specs you need for your computer. You require just as much power as a teen’s gaming computer or a pro wedding photographer editing thousands of photos. Your normal web browser or word processing app is nothing compared to the resources a photo editing app requires. So set your expectations (and Budget!) accordingly, knowing that running these programs is the hardest thing you can ask a computer to do. And if you want speed, then the cheapest option is never going to be the best.

Laptop vs. Desktop (or Tablet)

First, do you want a laptop or desktop? A laptop is portable and I’d ONLY go with this option if you absolutely need portability. If not, my recommendation would be to get a Desktop computer. A max’d out laptop (in most cases), will never be as fast as a desktop for similar money (generally). And in a few years, your laptop will start to feel very slow, and is typically not as upgradable as a desktop.

For me personally, things have changed a bit. I used to do all of my editing on an Apple iMac. I had an Apple MacBook Pro as well, and it held up okay. But remember, I need to be portable. Running an online business is 100% my livelihood. I travel often, and I need a laptop because I do teach on the road, travel, work remotely, etc… I need to have a computer with me all the time.

Anyway, one of the pain points for me is that you can guarantee whatever I wanted to work on was on “the other computer” when I had both laptop and desktop. So, back in 2021 I decided to trade in my iMac and laptop to Apple – while purchasing a new one. Then I ordered one of the MacBook Pro’s with the M chips (specs below). I now plug this in to a monitor (read on for which one) when I’m in my office – and the laptop has become my only computer. After nearly 4 years, I can say that I’m very happy with the choice and have had absolutely zero problems with it. And it still runs everything pretty fast, to the point where I don’t feel I need a new one yet.

What about a tablet?

While we do have a decent workflow with a tablet, I think of it more as an “extra”. Lightroom Classic isn’t available on the tablet and Photoshop only has some features (and not typically the ones you really want). So if you only use a tablet, you’ll need to use Lightroom on the tablet (not LR Classic) and be all in on the cloud, since it doesn’t work with local storage.

I’ll also add this. In my experience of diving head first in to this workflow this past year, I found that you’ll need a fairly well spec’d out iPad (preferably an iPad Pro). I tried doing a mobile workflow with a Samsung tablet that cost around $400 and it was painfully slow, so just remember that. As I mentioned, the tablet for you should only be an “extra” workflow option, for certain travel situations – not your main editing tool.

And, If you want to use it as an alternative travel workflow, then great. Heck, I’ll even teach you how with a course. 🙂

Apple or Windows?

No matter what anyone says, it just doesn’t matter. No matter how passionately they argue with you, it’s a personal choice. Don’t think either one will be faster than the other, or better for photographers or anything like that. Many will disagree, but you wanted my opinion so there it is 🙂 I will say that on average, you can get a better spec’d out PC for the same money vs. an Apple product.

But personally, I’m an Apple user and I don’t see myself switching in the future. For me, the extra money is worth the experience I get, but I know many great photographers that are PC based. When that photo gets shown on Social Media, a website, or printed on the wall NOBODY can tell you which operating system it came from. Like I said… it just doesn’t matter. And if you think it does matter then there’s probably a website you can argue that on – but this ain’t it 😉

Onto the Specs…

Okay, onto the specs. Keep in mind I am as un-tech-savvy as any person out there. As I mentioned, please don’t send me questions asking me to elaborate because I won’t be able to. But here’s what I know:

PROCESSOR: Your main computer processor is one of the biggest things that will get you speed. Get the best one, with the most cores, you can afford. I can’t give you an exact number because there are too many with all M1’s, M4’s, i7s and i-this and multi-core-that’s. Just get the best one you can configure or afford. You won’t regret splurging on this choice, so splurge away. But for me, I’d get the highest M-number I could get. Some options:

1. Prioritize High Single-Core Performance:

Both Photoshop and Lightroom benefit significantly from strong single-core performance. Processors with higher clock speeds can enhance responsiveness and reduce processing times for tasks such as applying filters and adjustments.

2. Go for Multi-Core Processors:

While single-core performance is important, certain things, like batch processing and exporting, utilize multiple cores. A processor with a higher core count can really improve your speed.

Intel Core i9-14900K: This processor offers 24 cores (8 performance and 16 efficiency) with a boost clock speed up to 6.0 GHz, providing good performance for some of the more demanding tasks in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Apple M4 Max: For Mac users, the M4 Max chip, has up to 12 performance cores and 40 GPU cores. This is one of the newest Apple offers and will give you the longest lasting option you can get.

RAM: Right now for most applications the “minimum” specs are 8GB of RAM. That means that’s the absolute minimum for the software to operate. And when you buy the absolute minimum of anything be prepared for absolute minimal performance.

Most companies recommend 16 GB of RAM. Again, “recommend” is the word they use to get around making you spend a ton of money on a computer. And with recommended specs, you will still get minimal performance. I would suggest at least 32GB so you have room to grow, and I personally went with 64GB on my laptop. On my previous iMac Desktop, I ordered it with 8GB of RAM cheap option, and then went to Crucial.com and ordered the 64GB Upgrade kit and upgraded it on my own (it was super easy to do – took about 3 minutes and again… I’m not tech savvy at all).

HARD DRIVE: I’d recommend at least a 1 TB Internal SSD drive. They are fast and they are what you’ll put your applications on so they can be accessed very quickly. Plus, 1 TB gives you room for extra stuff. But don’t plan on putting your photos on your internal drive because you’ll run out of space.

Most people will end up putting photos on external drives. I use externals for all of my photos. I don’t use RAID or NAS (I don’t even know how to spell them!). I just keep it simple – put it on the drive and make sure that drive is always backed up (I use Carbon Copy Cloner on the Mac but I’m sure there’s a program for PCs if you look).

Graphics Card: This is a really tough one to write about. There are just too many options and every program uses the graphics card in different ways. I would say get at least 4GB of RAM (or VRAM or whatever they call it) for your graphics card. My best suggestion is to do a Google search for “Minimum Specs for Lightroom (or Photoshop or whatever software you use)”. It will take you to Adobe’s website and under “Graphics Card” there are typically recommended specs and even a “Read More / GPU FAQ” or something similar.

But if it’s me, and I went to configure a new computer, I saw I had an option for + $400 for a better card and + $600 (a 16GB graphic memory) for an ever better card. I’d get the best card. If you can afford it, do it. If you can’t get the best one, I’d go with 8GB if you can.

What About Monitors?

NOTE: I have since purchased an Apple XDR screen for my laptop that I wrote about here.

Okay, this is another really tough area. 99.9% of your photography will be seen on a device of some sort when you share it (phone or tablet). So get used to the fact that you have ZERO control over how your photos are seen to everyone else in the world. You can get the best screen in the world, calibrate your monitor every day, and it won’t do any good. The best you can do is just edit consistently.

You’ll read a ton about sRGB and Adobe RGB, etc… So my suggestion is decide if you are printing A LOT or not, and how important this is. If it’s important you’re going to spend more money. If you think you’re going to print at least every week or two (lab or at home), then you may want to spring for a more expensive monitor that comes close to supporting the Adobe RGB color space. If not, no need to go with an expensive monitor like BenQ or Eizo.

I used an iMac so it had a nice glossy bright screen, and that’s what edited on mostly. If I was going to print, I’d proof the photo on my BenQ screen. But I hate the way my photography looks on the BenQ screen. Photos always look better on bright glossy screens. Think about who views your photos and where they view them… most people look at photos on their tablet, phone and maybe computer too. Most of those have bright glossy screens, so the rest of the world sees your photo a certain way. But if you have a screen that’s really meant for color proofing for printing, you’ll see your photos differently. So I try not to use a matte screen much, unless I’m printing, and even then I’ve printed enough I’m able to proof on my Apple screen now.

I know that all sounds vague, but my advice is that most of you reading this aren’t printing often. So don’t buy a screen that is made for printing, or you’re wasting money. Even if you don’t have a screen made for printing, you can easily dial in your settings and develop a workflow to get a good print with any screen (I do, and don’t use the BenQ anymore).

Finally, if you need something a little more concrete here’s some suggestions:

  • At least a 23″ screen. I’d actually recommend nothing smaller than 27″ if your eyesight is as bad as mine 🙂
  • What about 4K, 5K Screens? I think they’re great, but make sure you can change the native resolution. Some of those high pixel screens use a really high resolution that makes it hard to read the text. Some screens will let natively change resolution so that you can read everything and it’s still great quality.
  • Remember the larger the screen the more strain you put on your graphics card and computer overall – which in turn translates to your photo apps running slower. And if you add a second screen you’ll want to make sure you have a great graphics card that can handle it. Nobody thinks about this and wonders why their computer is slow. Two screens require a lot more from your computer than one.
  • Apple came out with the Studio display a while back. If you’re an Apple user, that’s what I’d get and not think twice about it.
  • Dell Ultrasharp monitors are good. Honestly, all Dell’s are good.
  • LG Screens are good too. Not sure if they make glossy ones anymore but that’s what I’d look for.
  • BenQ makes good photo monitors if you want to spend more and print a lot. Don’t get one if you don’t print. I hate to say it, but it’s a waste of money and you’ll be seeing your photos on a surface that nobody else will.
  • Eizo also makes good screens and they fall in to the same category as BenQ – don’t get one if you’re not printing a lot.

External Hard Drives

I wrote last year about my hard drive and backup solution. Since then, I’ve switched hard drives to a Samsung 8TB SSD drive. The drives are really meant to go internally in your computer, but for another $15 I added this enclosure which plugs in to any USB port. Super simple to use, so even if you’re not techie, you’ll have no problem.

For those that remember, my previous hard drive was 8TB as well, and I didn’t go up in size on purpose. I’m tired of clutter. If you’re not a workflow pro with a specific need, then Almost none of us have 8TB of photos worth keeping. And contrary to the popular saying, I don’t feel that “storage is cheap” – well, GOOD fast storage that is.

So recently I’ve gotten really good at deleting photos. It’s just too much. I have Terabytes of 9-bracket HDR photos that sit and do nothing because I already picked a photo from the shoot that I like 10 years ago. I also deleted PSDs and TIFFs for photos that are finished because I know myself, and I’ll never go back and re-edit them.

So I went on a photo-deleting-rampage, and got my photo library down to something that comfortably fits on to an 8TB drive, with room to grow. And I’m more picky than ever about what I keep. Not only that, I just feel better about my photo library. It’s lean, easy to look through, and I don’t have terabytes of bad photos looming over my head anymore.

Overall I have no complaints about this switch. Oh and I have no idea how to even spell NAS or RAID or anything else that complicates hard drives, beyond the one that plugs in to your computer. In my opinion those options are for experts, which I know there are a bunch of here. Just don’t let those experts tell you it’s easy – it’s not. My advice is to go old school, and simple 🙂

PS: I do also use BackBlaze.com as an extra layer of Cloud backup protection. Cheap and easy!

Finally… Try It Out

My last piece of advice is to buy something you can try out. That may be harder with a computer, but with a monitor it should be easy. Make sure you get something that you can return. And make sure you watch the return policy. I’ll personally never buy anything from that “Blue/Yellow” electronics store because I hate their 14-day return policy. I’m just so used to 30 days that I inevitably forget and get stuck with something I didn’t want. But this time of year, most places will give you until January to return things. And if it’s shipped to you, pay attention to the return policy shipping fees. You don’t want to get stuck spending $100 (or more) just to return something that you don’t want.

Final Thoughts…

One final thought and it’s more of a way to think about this. Whatever computer you get will feel fast for a total of about 24 hours. After that, you settle into working on it and it will feel slower again. It’s just the way it works. No computer speed ever consistently exceeds our expectations for a long period of time. It may sound harsh, but you know I’m right 😉 Good luck!

PS: Don’t forget to check out my Topaz + Adobe Workflow course, as well as grab Topaz Photo AI while it’s on sale.