Any comments about using the Apple M3 chip with Photoshop?

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Level 1

54 points

Any comments about using the Apple M3 chip with Photoshop?

I have two M1 Macs, an M1 Mini desktop and a Macbook Air M1 13"

Both are great with Lightroom and Photoshop, and I have no complaints, but decided to sell my Apple laptop and update this hardware. When the time comes and if I finally decide to get the Macbook Air M3 15", I may even dock it when the mini resigns.

So, my question is: Are any of you using the M3 Apple chip, and what are your thoughts about its performance, especially in Photoshop and Lightroom Classic?

MacBook Air (M3, 2024)

Posted on Mar 26, 2024 12:07 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 30, 2024 6:56 AM in response to hani7up

The M3 MacBook Air can only be ordered with 24 GB RAM max and depending on what you plan to be doing with Photoshop, or any other concurrent applications, that may not be sufficient RAM and may require an M3 MacBook Pro with larger RAM capacity.

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Answer 2

hani7up Author

Level 1

54 points

Mar 30, 2024 7:28 AM in response to VikingOSX

That’s rather odd because the M3 15” MB Air that I’m interested in has 16 MB RAM.

my M1 MB AIR is an 8 MB 13” and works perfectly well with full frame RAWs in Lightroom AND Photoshop, but I am planning to buy the new M3 MB AIR because my M1 can still fetch a good price.

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Answer 3

Mar 30, 2024 10:50 AM in response to hani7up

Adobe's recommended RAM for Photoshop is 16 GB. Your mileage will vary… Neither macOS nor Adobe applications are getting smaller and if you purchase a 16GB RAM Air when more is available, you may be unrealistically limiting yourself for future RAM requirements.

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Answer 4

hani7up Author

Level 1

54 points

Mar 30, 2024 2:24 PM in response to VikingOSX

Sure. Adobe’s recommendation is to be respected but the truth is that I run Photoshop on an M1 MB AIR with 8 RAM, images on an external SAN Disk Extreme SSD and it runs as smooth as silk. Just stitched a panorama from 12 full frame NIKON RAW files like a breeze.

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