What is a good Mac setup for photo editing and management? I upgraded it to 16GB of ram, guess what, can't even compete with an Macbook Air with SSD.
![How To Upgrade A 2011 Mac Mini For Photo Editing How To Upgrade A 2011 Mac Mini For Photo Editing](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125391124/786962725.jpg)
Before you shell out a ton of cash for a new MacBook consider a few DIY options that can drastically increase the performance of your machine. For me, there is nothing more frustrating than having a program take four minutes to open, having programs crash or the spinning beach ball of death. Computers, like most things, need occasional maintenance and tune ups. If you don't address this on a semi regular basis then you are wasting all those duckets you spent on your fancy Macbook Pro. Consider the following DIY video I made that increased my MacBook's startup speed from 105 seconds to 10 seconds.
![Editing Editing](http://fplanque.com/media/dev/2011/.evocache/Mac%20Mini%202011%20link%20speed.png/fit-640x480.png?mtime=1372002442)
The biggest upgrade to consider, outside of maxing out the RAM, is actually replacing your operating system drive with a solid state drive, and if you are going to do that, you may as well get two solid state drives and get rid of that massive optical drive that just wastes space. You can do all of this with a Seriously, if you are using your 'DVD' drive on a regular basis then you are doing it wrong. I refuse to use DVD's for anything. If a client asks you to put their photos on a 'CD' then put them on a flash drive, spend an extra 3 dollars, and explain to them why this is better. Trust me they will love it and if they don't you are still somehow doing it wrong.
Another thing I refuse to purchase is the Retina MacBook Pro. That computer can suck it, and here's why. I salute Apple for making is so damn light and putting a bajillion pixels in the display, but I hate the fact that the RAM and solid state drive are actually soldered to the logic board. This means that if you purchase the Retina, or Tina as I like to call her, and your RAM or hard drive fail in X amount of months, you have to replace the entire logic board and RAM, as well. Or let's say you were on a budget when you purchased Tina, and now you want a bigger hard drive and 16GB of RAM. Well, you can't put a new one in there because it's soldered to the motherboard, and don't even get me started about not offering it in the matte display on the Retina Macbook Pro. The Retina screen is still reflective and a pain to deal with on set.
I can STILL see the reflection of the windows in the background, Apple; and seriously what the heck happened to the 30 inch Apple Cinema Display AKA: the best display ever built? Ok rant over. So, If you are considering a new MacBook Pro, please consider not spending the money and testing the waters with moreand a from somewhere like By replacing the optical drive with a second hard drive, you are able to increase your storage capacity for photo shoots and other large volumes while keeping your OS drive clean and pristine. If you are considering buying a new MacBook Pro, I would STILL recommend the regular with the anti glare matte screen. You have way more options down the road for upgrading your machine when YOU want to. PLEASE NOTE: Don't forget to backup your computer before upgrading with something like Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner if you want to reinstall your user account onto your new hard drive. Keep a bootable install of Mac OS on both HDD.
It saved my butt this week. As I was uploading the final files for a project I've been working on for months, my hard drive crashed, an hour before it was due.
Luckily, I had a backup partition on my second HDD, I just had to restart my computer and it chose that partition automatically. Having a backup is good but having one that's always in your computer and ready to go is even better. You just need to make a partition your big mechanical HDD with a partition the size of your SSD and clone it with CCC often. Killroy's advice is good. Acronis TrueImage is probably the easiest and best imaging (for backup, transfer, replication, etc.) software out there. You just need to create an image of your existing boot drive's boot partition to your new drive.
You can do this most simply by hooking up your new drive to your system with a cheap USB adapter. Some advice: most recent laptops do not come with recovery/installation discs. You need to make them through your manufacturer's utility application (Thinkvantage for Lenovos). Make sure you make these before you reformat your old drive, as you may reformat the separate/hidden recovery partition on that drive.
And/or when you are doing your image copying, copy both partitions to the new drive. For more info, as with most things, just do some web searching.
You'll find reams of detailed write-ups/walk-throughs. As Joseph and Killroy point out, it's usually quite easy to do many upgrades with a PC. If you have a Lenovo, browse around on their support discussion forums for a lot of in-depth discussions on specific upgrades/fixes/etc.
Of specific models and model families. Or just do some simple web searching to find the same discussions there and at many other discussion forums. Just two things to point out as random shots: if you have an Thinkpad X series laptop (compact 12'), then the newer models need the shorter stack height 7.5mm 2.5' drives. There are some SSDs with 7.5mm height and some that can be easily modded for the shorter height. And if you have a Thinkpad T series laptop, you can get an adapter to convert the optical drive bay to a bay for another storage drive.like what Gary describes doing with his Mac above. And depending on your model, you could potentially create a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array from the two drives.
(Generally it can be RAID if you started out with RAID, but cannot be retrofitted.) Also depending on your model, you might have an mSATA slot where you can pop in an mSATA SSD drive. So you can get two drives without ditching (or having) an optical drive bay. Possibly three if you do.
AND if you use a Thinkpad, don't forget the Mini Dock add-ons for further expandability. Depending on the Mini Dock you add, it could give you an eSATA port (which you can also add via your ExpressCard slot) as well as the extra run-of-the-mill ports you would expect. And depending on your model of Mini Dock and model of Laptop, you can use the Mini Dock to run up to three monitors simultaneously. Two as a matter of course. Unless I missed it, I did not hear him talk about static electricity and how it can damage your computer. If you do this on your own, read about static electricity effects on computer components and get the proper tools / items to protect your computer. Usually you just need to get an anti-static mat and a wrist / ankle band that you can ground.
Anywhere you can by hardware to upgrade your computer will usually carry an anti-static mat and band. Also, in my experience Apple will honor their warranty as long as the parts you added did not cause the failure. It's a good warning for all that don't know this already, but I don't think static electricity is such a big issue, that you need to buy equipment. I have never felt a static discharge while working on my computer. Touching any metal part of the computer, except the CPU radiator (just to be extra safe), before touching the components, will fix any static problem. And one extra thing, don't wear cloths that you know they make you statically charged, unless you want to make a 'how to' video an you want to look stylish AND get ankle band, so we don't see it in the video.;-). Did this a while back and was amazed at the difference.
Did the RAM when I first got my 2010 macbook pro (it was a used purchase) and it got nice and snappy. Put in the solid state a few months back and wow! I was amazed. I didn't watch the whole video (bad me) but in case it wasn't mentioned you need to make sure you set the start up disk once your done putting in the ssd. I couldn't figure out why I had a 28 second boot time and then found out I forgot that step. Dropped down to some lower number that if I tried to remember I'd end up lying lol.
Couple of side notes: - Have a decent understanding of what you are doing before you do it. The More You Know, the easier it will be to work on. Watch multiple video/tutorials from different people on how to perform these tasks. And don't expect it to go smoothly, an experienced person will make it look easy. (see ANY tutorial on how to remove a screen on just about anything) - You don't need to go crazy protecting yourself from static, but you do need to be careful. One thing people neglect to realize if the oil on your hands etches copper and creates tiny little holes and can cause degradation or errors. If it's copper, or gold color don't touch it.
When you have the system apart, clean it with a can of compressed air, ya it's $4 for a can but it's worth it. Hold it UPRIGHT. Not all SSDs are created equal! For God sakes, if you buy the cheapest thing you can find what's the point of upgrading. In the market there is a wide variety of companies producing a wide variety of quality.
MANY SSDs fail, like a LOT. Companies like OCZ will release a brilliant product, then release a horrible one. The same goes for your RAM, just not as big of a deal - and lastly there is NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING WRONG with paying a professional to do it for you if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. These upgrades are well worth the little extra money you have to pay to have somebody to it and save your from the headache. (Disclaimer since I know somebody will mention it: I said IF you DON'T feel comfortable doing it).
Unless you absolutely need a Mac mini for your home, school, or business, we recommend waiting until 2018. The Mac mini is Apple's least expensive desktop computer — an aging Mac's guts stuffed into a 7.7-inch box.
It was last updated in October 2014, over three years ago; it's far from being a competitor in the desktop landscape, but it still provides a lot of flexibility for those looking for a low-cost Mac box. That's right, box: Unlike the iMac, the mini needs to be connected to an external display, keyboard, and mouse in order to work. On the plus side, you can customize pretty much every aspect, in part because — in addition to its four old-school USB 3 ports — you can daisy-chain up to six peripherals to a single Thunderbolt 2 port (and there are two of them). It also has an HDMI port, and believe it or not, a built-in SDXC card slot. So, your display, speaker, keyboard, mouse, and hard drive options are practically unlimited. The Mac mini starts at just $499 for the baseline low-end model; the midrange model hits $699, while the high-end, fastest processor starts at $999.
All three models are configurable with more memory and storage, and the mid- and high-end models are configurable with faster processors. The dual-core processor starts at 1.4GHz and can be upgraded to as much as a 3.0GHz Intel Core i7 processor. You can start small with 300GB of hard drive storage, or shoot for the moon with as much as a 2TB Fusion drive. The low-end model sports 4GB of memory, but the high-end model expands to as much as 16GB.
The graphics range from HD 5000 for the low-end and Iris for the rest. You won't get an advanced gaming machine or a dedicated movie and music editor out of the Mac mini, but it's still a serviceable desktop computer for a reasonable price. It's a great machine for anyone switching from PC who already has a display, keyboard, and mouse that they love; it's also ideal for use as a home media server, or a basic computing device for small businesses looking for an in-house server. If you don't mind owning a machine with aging internals and already have all of the accessories you need to get to work, the Mac mini is a great low-cost investment. If you need something with more power, or you need a computer with a display and peripherals, you should instead take a look at the iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro line.
The most recent update to the iMac line brings Kaby Lake, faster SSD options, and Thunderbolt 3 to the lineup. The iMac is Apple's all-in-one computer — literally. The iMac's processor, GPU, and other internals are hidden behind its display, giving it a remarkably thin (5mm at its edge) appearance for having so much tucked inside. It also comes with a Bluetooth-connected Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 (though you can swap to the Magic Trackpad 2 if you choose) to let you start working right out of the box. The iMac comes in two sizes and three models:. the 21.5-inch with 1920 x 1080 sRGB display (primarily for education). the 21.5-inch with 4096 x 2304 Retina 4K P3 color display.
the 27-inch with 5120 x 2880 Retina 5K P3 display All sizes and resolutions support millions of colors; additionally, the 5K Retina display supports an even billion colors, and both the 4K and 5K displays a 500-nit brightness rating. Pricing starts at just $1099 for the base model, though costs can exceed $5200 if you go for a fully-loaded 27-inch 5K model. Each model of iMac differs slightly in processor power, memory, and speed:.
The standard resolution iMac sports a 2.3GHz dual-core i5 processor, with 8GB (upgradeable to 16) of memory and a 1TB hard drive (upgradeable to a 1TB Fusion Drive or 256SSD). The 21.5-inch 4K model starts at a 3.1Ghz quad-core i5 (upgradeable to a 3.6Ghz i7), with 8GB (upgradeable to 32) of memory and a 1TB Fusion Drive (upgradeable to a 256GB-1TB SSD). The 27-inch 5K model starts at a 3.4Ghz quad-core i5 (upgradeable to a 4.2Ghz quad-core i7), with 8GB (up to 64GB) of memory and a 1TB Fusion Drive (upgradeable to a 2 or 3TB Fusion drive, or up to a 2TB SSD). Additionally, their graphics cards differ:.
The base model ships with an integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 card. The 21.5-inch 4K model ships with either a Radeon Pro 555 card with 2GB video memory, or a Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB video memory at a $200 premium. The 27-inch 5K model ships with a Radeon Pro 570 card with 4GB video memory standard; additionally, you can upgrade to a Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory or Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB video memory for $200 and $500, respectively. While the iMac still lags behind others as a top-notch gaming device, you can do quite a lot with the machine.
The top-end 5K model with the Radeon Pro 580 is also VR-compatible, if you're considering integrating VR into your household. The iMac is truly Apple's Swiss army knife of computers: With an all-in-one shell, it can fit in almost any environment where users don't already have external peripherals. Its base model is great for educators and household tasks, while the 4K model provides an excellent mid-size screen and horsepower for basic video editing, day-to-day work, and gaming. If your needs exceed these tasks, the 5K iMac provides a huge jump up in parallel processing power and graphics, offering VR-ready performance and room to process video, photography, and basic software development. But even the 5K model may not be enough for you: If you work in an industry that requires heavy-duty rendering power and simultaneous processing, you may want to set your sights on the iMac Pro or Mac Pro.
The iMac Pro. If the iMac is a Swiss army knife, the iMac Pro is a high-end chef's instrument.
It serves one primary purpose: To utterly destroy any and all multithreaded tasks and rendering thrown its way. The iMac Pro is not a computer for your average user.
Though its space gray sheen may attract those who otherwise don't need the machine, its $4999 starting price tag should ward off most idle interest. That price is out of the ordinary for an iMac, and for good reason: This iMac is packed full of hardware to make video editing, photography, VFX, software development, gaming, and base VR development, as easy as possible. While most people should wait while Apple before buying a headless pro Mac, if you don't want to consider the iMac Pro, the newly speed-bumped Mac Pro offers a nice discount off its original 2013 configuration.
Let's start here: The current Mac Pro line is not for everyone, and the upcoming 2018-2019 Mac Pro won't be for everyone, either. Currently, Apple offers the Mac Pro as a niche machine aimed at content creators in professional video editing, graphic design, music, and more. Couple that with the fact that the current Pro was launched in 2013 and has only seen a minor speed bump in the years since, and, well. It's not a machine that I'd. That said, there are still folks who the current Mac Pro might have appeal, and it's for those that we write this guide. The Mac Pro's peculiar cylindrical design has been likened to an office trash can.
That mistake is easy to make when you're looking at pictures, but in real life, it's different: the Mac Pro is less than 10 inches tall. Given its astonishing performance, it's downright tiny. And in this case, form follows function: The very shape of the Mac Pro has been designed to mimic a jet turbine, whisking away hot air from the very powerful internal circuitry. Inside the Mac Pro, Apple has used Intel's Xeon processor, designed for workstation and server applications, with boosted levels of internal cache and enhanced multiprocessing capabilities, and AMD's Dual FirePro GPUs. These processrs aren't the GPUs you might find at your favorite PC game hardware outfit: They're designed for optimal performance in high-stress environments for video cards to work in — 3D rendering, for example. AMD's chips are optimized for OpenCL — a core Mac technology and an open standard —so any application driven by that process will fly on these chips.
(Unfortunately, the Mac Pro doesn't support Intel's CUDA technology, nor High Sierra's support for external GPUs.) The Mac Pro eschews conventional hard disk drive technology altogether for PCIe-based flash storage. That means that the Mac Pro is not very expandable: It tops out at 1 TB. But that 1 TB is terrifically fast. And RAM is expandable at present to 64 GB of 1866 MHz DDR Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory. Despite the relative dearth of internal expansion options, the Mac Pro can still be expandable.
On the outside. Four USB 3.0 ports and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports are only the start - there are also six Thunderbolt 2 ports. That means the Mac Pro can simultaneously accommodate RAID, Storage Area Network (SAN) systems, exotic network interfaces like Fibre Channel and up to three 5K displays — making this a decent companion for professional film editing (as long as you're still using USB 3 and Thunderbolt 2 peripherals). If the iMac Pro doesn't appeal to you and you absolutely need a new pro-level Mac, you might want to consider this Mac Pro; for most professionals, however, I'd recommend waiting for Apple's new iteration of the machine. Still thinking about it?
If you're still not sure which Mac desktop is right for you, get some advice from the iMore community in the. Our readers can be fantastic sound boards for your thought process and offer suggestions to help tip you in the right direction. Updated December 2017: Updated to reflect the details and specs of Apple's current Mac desktop line.