New MacBook Pro: M5 or M4 Pro for photo editing

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Level 4

2,741 points

New MacBook Pro: M5 or M4 Pro for photo editing

Hello everybody,

Currently I plan to update my MacBook and would like to get some recommendations / feedback from you.

My current setup is 15-Inch MacBook Pro (2017) with 2,9 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 (Radeon Pro 560 4GB) with 16GB Memory & 512GB SSD, macOS Ventura 13.7.8. Main camera is a Canon 5D Mark IV (30 Mega Pixel 6720x4480).

I run Lightroom Classic 14.5.2 and Photoshop 27.3.0 and Apple Photos.

This is also in the Lightroom Classic Community, but maybe somebody here has some insight on this topic.

Currently I consider the 14-Inch MacBook Pro with 1TG SSD in these options:

M5 Chip with 10‑Core CPU, 10‑Core GPU, 16-Core Neural Engine and 32GB Memory
M4 Pro Chip with 12‑Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, 16-Core Neural Engine and 24GB Memory

Both options would cost 2.549 Euros

Potential updates for the M4 Pro Chip version:

From 12 to 14-Core CPU, from 16 to 20‑Core GPU, 16-Core Neural Engine would be additional 250 Euro (Number of Core CPU + 16% / Number of Core GPU + 25%)
From 24GB to 48GB would be additional 500 Euros

My questions would be:

Is it better to spend the money on a faster processor (Pro Chip / more Cores) or on more memory above 24GB?

The M4 Pro is faster but I get it only with 24 or 48GB, the M5 is available with 16, 24 or 32GB.

Will I really get more speed with more memory or is it not needed for a 30MP CR2 / DNG?

Adobe recommendation is 16GB or more

I know that Apple could release the M5 Pro in the next few weeks / month, but the general question would still be valid. Therefore I will wait until April / May with my final decision.

Hopefully somebody has experience / feedback on this topic, Thanks in advance.

Ralf

Posted on Feb 12, 2026 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 12, 2026 9:08 AM in response to Ralf-F

First, the M4 or M5 will blow your Intel away! Your head will spin!

1TB drive? I know that Apple charges an outrageous price for another TB, but it's hard to depend on an external drive on a laptop--it's not just that it looks funny carrying it around with a box dangling from it--it will fill up faster than you can imagine. My Nikon NEF files are over 60MB each. It looks like you hang on to a computer for some time, and it won't be long before you overload that 1 TB drive.

My M3 MBP has 36GB, 2TB, 12 cores, and Lightroom runs fine on it.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

216,488 points

Feb 12, 2026 10:02 AM in response to Ralf-F

Let me give you some info on the performance of Silicon Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM and the 10 core CPU:

1 - when opening a 538 MB .psd file the first time (for at the app) it took ~ 25 sec to open fully.

2 - once PSE was open it too 8 seconds to open the 538 MB file. It only takes 3 seconds to open a 338 MB .psd file.

3 - opening a 2.7 MB (2316 × 3088 pixels) jpeg file takes 1 second.

4 - the only time I had a lag was when trying to use the Healing tool on the 538 MB file. It was about a 2 second lag.

So it depends on what size images you'll be editing as to what you need in a new MacBook. I would not purchase any Mac with less than a 1 TB boot drive.

If you're concerned over budget additional woking space could be achieved with the OWC Envoy Pro MINI which comes in sizes up to 2 TB and is very easy to carry along with a laptop:

or if that price is still above your budget you could go the extreme low end with this:

They are still easy to carry along with a labtop and have 500 Mb/s read and write speed. I can open a 18s6 MB Photos library on one in 1 second.

Just some food for thought.

P.S. - Richard is right. An M4 or M5 will run rings around your Intel MacBook. I had an i7 2017 27" Intel iMac and my new Mini M4 out runs the Intel by 10x or more.

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Answer 3

Ralf-F Author

Level 4

2,741 points

Feb 12, 2026 1:53 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

1TB sounds small but currently I have 500GB and use 430GB.

I mainly have Lightroom’s lossy DNG on my MacBook.

Canon CR2 will be imported and I delete everything that I will not keep, then I will develop the remaining photos.

After I'm happy with the results I will convert to lossy DNG and the original CR2 files are copied to an external SSD.

All old projects (older than 6-7 years) will also be moved to an external drive.

Could you do me a favour?

How much memory is used when you export a large number of NEF files to JPG 6MP?

Here my results from Lightroom Systeminformation:

Real memory available to Lightroom: 16.384,0 MB

Real memory used by Lightroom: 4.002,3 MB (24,4%)

Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 41.687,8 MB

Would be nice to know if the needed memory will increase if the calculations are faster / more memory is available.

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Answer 4

Ralf-F Author

Level 4

2,741 points

Feb 12, 2026 2:07 PM in response to Old Toad

Normally my files are smaller, they only get that big if I use focus stacking or combine multiple photos to a bigger poster.

Good to know that I don't need more than 24GB RAM.

I have already a few external HD's and SSD's that I will use for my CR2 files and the older projects.

Looks like my selection was not that bad.

Now I just have to wait if / when the M5 Pro will be released.

Also I'm still not 100% if I go with the 14-inch or 16-inch version.

The bigger screen would be nice, but I checked both versions at the Apple Store. 16-inch is really heavy.

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New MacBook Pro: M5 or M4 Pro for photo editing

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