Macbook

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bazza
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Hi all I am looking for a MacBook for editing can someone tell if this would be ok
MacBook Pro 13inch
2012 core i7 2.9
8gb ram
750gb
a1278
its about £400
 
Hi all I am looking for a MacBook for editing can someone tell if this would be ok
MacBook Pro 13inch
2012 core i7 2.9
8gb ram
750gb
a1278
its about £400
That's what I use.
Works for me. I did add an ssd drive though.
Obviously a bigger screen, more ram etc etc would be better, but all that comes at a price.
 
Hi all I am looking for a MacBook for editing can someone tell if this would be ok
MacBook Pro 13inch
2012 core i7 2.9
8gb ram
750gb
a1278
its about £400
It's an 8 year old computer, and while it will function, using current software and a high resolution camera, it's going to struggle. At least you can upgrade the ram in one of these.

What software and what camera files were you planning to use?

TBH if you're not tied to Apple you could buy a much more powerful, faster machine for around £500.
 
Last edited:
Hi all I am looking for a MacBook for editing can someone tell if this would be ok
MacBook Pro 13inch
2012 core i7 2.9
8gb ram
750gb
a1278
its about £400
What editing software do you use?

The biggest issue you will have is the OS can’t be upgraded past Catalina (big sur is the latest OS released Nov 2020). If you use lightroom classic Catalina is currently one of the recommended OS’s. Mojave is compatible but it’s the last OS compatible. In a couple of Lightroom versions time it’s unlikely to be compatible with Catalina which could make it impossible to keep up with the latest lightroom updates.

I’ve got a MacBook Pro 2013. It’s got a 128GB SSD 8GB RAM. I use it occasionally for photos whilst away (it really needs a external drive for photo use as the SSD is too small) but it’s mostly used for video calls and internet.
 
No no and no. That price is an absolute ripoff for an obsolete pc.
I've got a 2006 MacBook Pro that still does useful work and my wife uses a 2004 G4 iBook to host a scanner. These things aren't obsolete until they no longer do useful work.
 
But it's not a pc, it's a macbook.... :LOL:
It is overpriced though.

It's PC hardware with a couple of extra bits in an expensive ali case - essentially LLP is correct - although a key difference is that if it WAS a PC with windows then it wouldn't be obsolete because it would still run the latest version of windows and whatever software suite was required. I'd have said for £100 it's fine, but you'd have to really want to use an obsolete (in terms of no longer running the current version of the OS with related security measures) Mac to pay £400 for it.
 
It's PC hardware with a couple of extra bits in an expensive ali case
That's one view, although an annual turnover of $274 billion suggests that some people have a different one... :naughty:
 
But it's not a pc, it's a macbook.... :LOL:
It is overpriced though.

Intel based so technically a pc. MacBook is obviously a branding. It can run very old osx, current windows 10 and current Linux. I suspect either of the latter two would make more sense from that selection... Pretty much obsolete for anything photography related though. £200 tops for mint condition.
 
Sometimes you have to look at outliers in a thread and discount those posts. ;)
 
Strange how I can edit photographs on my 2006 MBP. Obviously, I'm living in a different universe to you. :LOL:

Good for you. That's all I can say. Hopefully it lasts till 2050 saving you a fortune :LOL:
 
Works no problem.....
I'm not saying it would work with 60mp files, but not everyone has a 60mp camera....

Try it. It may succeed loading one by the time you finished a cup of tea :LOL: patience is a great virtue
 
And I could still edit photos on my late 2008 MacBook, although it wasn't a pleasant experience.

It seems poor advice to me to encourage someone to invest a significant amount of money in something with such a limited potential. Sure if they keep using the same software and camera for another 10 or 20 years it will be just as good then as it is now, provided it gets occasional maintenance, but how likely is that?

So to me, if it were £100 or a little more that would be fine, but £400 is far too much.
 
The biggest issue you will have is the OS can’t be upgraded past Catalina (big sur is the latest OS released Nov 2020). If you use lightroom classic Catalina is currently one of the recommended OS’s. Mojave is compatible but it’s the last OS compatible. In a couple of Lightroom versions time it’s unlikely to be compatible with Catalina which could make it impossible to keep up with the latest lightroom updates.

I'm using a 2010 iMac with an SSD and upgraded RAM, which is on High Sierra. It's perfectly usable as an everyday computer, but it can be a bit slow for photography (viewing a photo in LR at 100% takes a minutes or so). I tried to update LR Classic the other day and was told my OS isn't compatible. Now I have the choice of either buying a new mac or accepting that I'm paying a monthly subscription for the latest and greatest software version which I can't even update. :facepalm: I don't need a new mac, so unless there's a groundbreaking update in LR Classic I'll probably just stick with what I have. Although if the new M1 iMacs do come out this year then I might buckle and buy one :LOL:
 
it will be just as good then as it is now, provided it gets occasional maintenance, but how likely is that?
Pick a number, any number and use it. That's all we can do in the absence of hard information. Or you can start by knocking on randomly chosen doors and asking... :naughty:
 
Hi all I am looking for a MacBook for editing can someone tell if this would be ok
MacBook Pro 13inch
2012 core i7 2.9
8gb ram
750gb
a1278
its about £400

Just to skip all the arguing and Wuhans "opinion".

@vectra it will easily do what you need unless you are using it commercially and all day every day. The 2012 MBP is a great one to get as it's the last of the properly upgradeable Macs which is why Im still using mine which is the i5 version of what you are looking at and I happily run Photoshop and Lightroom with no issues whatsoever.

HOWEVER, that is after I upgraded to an ssd (250gb) and moved the original 500GB HDD to the cd slot in a caddy, then I upgraded from the standard 8gb to 16gb. Previous to this it was starting to get slow, so if you buy this Id recommend the same upgrades, easy diy jobs.

On Price, £400 is a bit much, I'd say £300 even and that's the like of CEX which would give a warranty. Non warranty second hand I'd push for £200 and tell them it's going to cost you £100 plus to get it to a spec you can live with.

What I will say though on the practicality of these is that they keep on ticking, I've dropped this one or had it knocked to the floor several times, it's had a hard life but it's been brilliant for me and if it ever dies completely on me I'll be on ebay and buying another and strip the drives and memory for transplanting!
 
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