Choosing MacBook Pro M4 Pro for design software

Serafina_2 wrote:

I'm an interior designer and I'm looking for a laptop. I use programs like AutoCAD, SketchUp, and V-Ray, and occasionally Photoshop and Illustrator. I was considering a MacBook Pro M4 Pro with 48GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a 20-core GPU. Is this a good choice? Or would a 48GB GPU be a better option?

Not sure what you meant by "48 GB GPU," I see only up to 20-core GPU.

Several things to consider:

• The M4 Max chip will be faster for demanding tasks like autoCAD and Adobe Photoshop.
• 48 GB memory should be fine.
• You should consider how much disk space you will need. 1 TB is a lot but how much will you be using routinely? My daughter runs Lightroom and Photoshop all the time in a photography business and her 1 TB drive is often close to full. This slows down throughput significantly because those Adobe programs need a lot of scratch space (sometimes hundreds of GB depending on what you are doing) and also page to disk a lot. So she is replacing her old one with a new MacBook Pro that has 2 TB disk space. I imagine autoCAD also is depending in this way. You can use external storage to help with this but programs often do not allow the user to specify that scratch space is used on an external drive.

To compare the M4 Max and M4 Pro there may be benchmarks that you can look up online that may provide some indication of whether the extra expense would be worth it for your uses. For my daughter, she is getting a new 16" MacBook Pro M4 Max with 36 GB memory and 2 TB internal SSD.

both of those MBPs would be a good choice. they are both very capable machines. but you also should consider your needs as the Mac gets older. not just what you need now. if it were me, I would "upscale" a Mac as much as fits in your budget. its hardware cannot be upgraded after purchase.