Photography can be a demanding art, with modern cameras producing huge files and incredible levels of detail. But which Mac should you be looking at if you want to edit these images so that they look as good as possible?
We take a look at the best Mac for photo editing as well as some additional kit that you need to level up your digital photography.
For other creative options, read best Mac for designers and best Mac for video editing. We also have advice about the best photo editing software for Mac and the best free and cheap image editors.
Why Photographers prefer Macs
There was a time in the early days of digital photography when Macs had a huge head start on PCs when it came to photo editing. This was thanks to better color management, and, in the early years, Adobe Photoshop–which was only available on the Mac until 1993.
Thanks to this early start Macs became the preferred tool for photographers, and even though the photo editing software available today is available on all platforms, Apple’s Macs are still loved by photographers.
In the sections below we will discuss the specs that make the Mac a great choice for photographers.
You may also want to find out how to get Photoshop on a Mac and how to get the best deal on Adobe Creative Cloud.
Best Mac configuration for photography
Before we tell you what we think are the best MacBook and Mac for photographers, we will run through what you need in terms of specs. Here’s what you should consider when making your choice:
Display
One reason why Macs are a great choice for today’s photographers is their excellent color accuracy and display quality. For example, there is a 4.5K display on the 24-inch iMac. There was a 5K display on the 27-inch iMac, but Apple discontinued that model in March 2022 and it’s not yet clear if there will ever be another iMac with a larger screen.
The great quality displays aren’t only reserved for the iMac though. If you want a Mac you can carry around with you – so that you can edit photographs when you are out in the field – then you will want to consider a MacBook Pro.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro that was introduced in 2021 and updated in 2023 offers an excellent 3,024 by 1,964 screen (that’s 5.9 million pixels). The 16-inch MacBook Pro offers even more pixels – 7.7 million. In fact, Apple claimed that the screen on the 2021 MacBook Pro was the world’s best notebook display when it launched.
It is a Liquid Retina XDR display with an extreme dynamic range of, according to Apple: 1,000 nits brightness and 1,600 nits of peak brightness. There is also a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which should make it possible to see detail in shadows, deeper blacks and more vivid colors.
But the big deal about the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro screens is that these were the first, and so far only, Macs with ProMotion. ProMotion first arrived on the iPad Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro and it offers an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz (which means it can refresh images 120 times a second). However, it can also vary this refresh rate depending on what’s required – saving battery life.
If you want more pixels you can always plug in a separate 5K or 6K display to use with your MacBook–in which case any Mac could be a great choice for photo editing. In March 2022 Apple introduced the 27-inch Studio Display ($1,599/£1,499) to join its 32-inch Pro Display XDR ($4,999/£4,599). You don’t have to spend that much money on a decent display though.
For more information on using a second display with your Mac take a look at how to use a second screen with a Mac as well as how to connect two or more displays to an M1 or M2 Mac, and our roundup of the best Mac monitors and displays.
Processor
It’s been more than three years since Apple announced that it would be moving from Intel processors to its own Apple silicon processors. Apple has transitioned all of its Macs to this new silicon, introducing the Pro, Max and Ultra versions of the M1 and M2 generation of chips among which you will find various CPU and GPU options. It’s safe to say that the change has been an incredibly positive one.
One benefit for photographers of the new Apple chips is that the CPU cores are divided into performance cores and efficiency cores. What this means is that if your Mac is indexing your photo library in the background while you are busy editing a RAW image you shouldn’t experience any slowdowns, because the tasks will be divided between the cores in the most efficient way.
Over the years that followed the introduction of the M1 in October 2020 we’ve seen Apple add more CPU and GPU cores to variants of the chips, culminating in June 2023 with the M2 Ultra that offers up to a 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, either 64GB, 128GB or 192GB of RAM, and up to 8TB SSD.
Graphics
If you want more graphics cores you need to look to the Pro, Max and Ultra configurations. If you are working with very high res images you might previously have considered discrete graphics, but Apple’s graphics are included on the same system-on-chip, and share Unified Memory with the CPU.
The good news is that Apple’s GPUs have proven themselves against the discrete graphics previously found in the Intel-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro and in the (now discontinued) 27in iMac.
RAM
It is not possible to update the RAM (aka Unified Memory) on any Mac that features any M1- or M2-series chip, so you need to make sure you are buying a Mac with enough memory for your needs.
This highlights a particular disadvantage with the M1 chip, you cannot have more than 16GB of Unified Memory in those models. Luckily Apple rectified this with the M2 generation, with the M2 chip able to support 24GB RAM. For even more RAM you need to look to the M2 Pro for up to 32GB, the M2 Max up to 92GB and the M2 Ultra, which can max out at 192GB RAM.
16GB RAM should be plenty though. Another thing to note is that the RAM in an M1/M2 Mac works differently to the RAM in an Intel Mac. It’s known as Unified Memory and can be accessed by both the graphics and processor cores whenever they need it.
But if you think you will need more than 16GB RAM then the Pro, Max or Ultra will be the way to go.
Storage
As a photographer having enough space to store your extensive image library is likely to be one of your key requirements, although you may find that there are cloud storage options, or cost-effective external storage, that suit you.
We suggest that the minimum storage capacity to consider would be 512GB – which rules out the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. If you want more than that the M1 and M2 Macs offer up to 2TB SSD, while the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, offer up to 8TB.
An 8TB SSD has a very high price though–a better option might be an external SSD, which as long as you connect via USB C or Thunderbolt, should offer reasonable transfer speeds. We have a round-up of the best external SSDs for Mac and should you prefer capacity over speed we also have a round-up of the best external hard drives for Mac.
Battery life
One last area that will matter greatly if you are likely to use your Mac to edit photos when you are out visiting clients is battery life. Here the Macs with Apple’s own processors really take the lead over the Intel-powered predecessors, with the 16-inch MacBook Pro offering 22 hours of battery life, compared to 11 hours previously. Here’s how the battery life in the current Macs compares:
- 13-inch MacBook Air, M2 – up to 18 hours
- 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 – up to 18 hours
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro/M2 Max – up to 18 hours
- 13-inch MacBook Pro, M2 – up to 20 hours
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro/M2 Max – up to 22 hours
Ports
As a photographer, you may be hoping for an SD card reader on your Mac. The fantastic news then is that the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac Studio offer an SDXD card reader (on the Mac Studio this is UHS-II).
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBooks also offer three Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, HDMI and charge via a MagSafe 3 port.
The Mac Studio offers either four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports or six Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports and an additional two USB-C ports (depending on the model you choose). (Those Thunderbolt ports can be used for USB-C too).
The 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch/15-inch MacBook Air offer two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports and, as long as you get a M2 model, an additional MagSafe charging port. This may be sufficient for your needs – check out these USB C adapters and hubs if you want to add more ports. For example, the Twelve South StayGo costs £99.99 from Amazon, and extends your Mac with eight extra ports, including USB-C 3.1 for 85W Power Delivery (PD) charging of the laptop; an HDMI port; two 5Gbps USB-A 3.0 ports, and another USB-A port; Gigabit Ethernet; and SD and Micro SD card readers.
The 24-inch iMac has a different selection of ports depending on the model you choose. One 24-inch iMac offers two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports while the other offers an additional two USB 3 ports. This smaller iMac model no longer has a card reader though.
The Mac mini also has a neat selection of ports including Two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, two USB-A ports and an HDMI port. The Mac mini lacks the SDXD card reader offered by the Mac Studio and the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models though.
Mac or MacBook for photo editing?
Selecting a Mac for your photo editing depends on how you intend to use the device. Do you want to be able to edit photographs on the go or would you prefer to do your edits from the comfort of your studio?
If you know that you will need to edit out in the field then the MacBook Pro is clearly the way to go. But what if you want a big display to edit photographs on? The 16-inch MacBook Pro display is large, but you might even find that 16-inch display cramped if you are working on particularly large and high-resolution images. In that case, you would be wise to plug a second display into your MacBook when you are back at your desk.
Now that Apple no longer sells the 27-inch iMac that isn’t really an option we would suggest you consider (even though you may still find stock of these Intel-powered Macs at various resellers). The 24-inch iMac does offer a great display, but we feel that the M1, which it still has despite all the other Macs being upgraded, is not going to be good enough due to its graphics and RAM limitations.
There are two other Mac desktops you could consider though: the Mac mini and Mac Studio, for which you would need to purchase an external display (but you may already own one anyway). The Mac mini offers the cheapest way to get your hands on an M2 Pro and the Mac Studio brings the M2 Max (and M2 Ultra, which would probably be overkill). We think that the M2 Pro might be better suited to the needs of a photographer, and that’s only available in the Mac mini and MacBook Pro.
So, if you need a decent Mac and want one you can carry with you the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro is the best choice for photographers. And if you don’t mind leaving it behind in the studio the Mac mini could be a cost-effective solution. Read on to find out or recommendations of which model and the best prices.
Best MacBook for photo editing
If you want to be able to edit images on the move a Mac laptop with a decent-sized screen will be invaluable.
1. Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)
Pretty much any of the current MacBook range will be good enough for photo editing, but your needs will determine what the best option is for you.
If you are a professional photographer likely to be editing very high res and RAW images then the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with its large screen and powerful configuration, would be the best option.
The fact that this model allows you to maximize your RAM to 64GB (or even 96GB if you go for an M2 Max chip) and max out the storage is a real point in its favor.
The M2 Pro or M2 Mac graphics, compared to the graphics in the M1 and M2 Macs, are likely to be a real bonus if you are working with large images.
2. Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)
Everything about the 16-inch MacBook Pro also applies to the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which could be a way to save some money if you don’t need the extra screen size. YOu may also consider the 14-inch MacBook Pro screen to be sufficiently big if you are going to plug into an external monitor when in the studio. See our best picks of Mac displays.
The specs are practically identical to the larger model, except that at the entry level there’s a model with a 16-core GPU instead of 19-core. This model, which costs $1,999/£2,149 may well be sufficient for your needs.
If $2,000 is still too expensive there are other options though. You could look at the Mac mini with M2 Pro, or, if your main criteria is a Mac laptop with a large screen you might want to consider the 15-inch MacBook Air, which we’ll discuss next.
3. Apple 15-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2023)
Apple introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air in June 2023. While it may be somewhat hampered by its M2 chip, this is the cheapest way to get a larger display on a Mac laptop.
If you are thinking of buying the 15-inch MacBook Air with a view to using if for editing photography we’d suggest that you upgrade the storage to 512GB, as the 256GB SSD has been found to be slower (and you’ll probably want the extra storage anyway). We’d also recommend that you get 16GB of unified memory (or more if your budget allows). With 512GB and 16GB RAM the price will be $1,699/£1,799, which is $300/£350 less than the 14-inch MacBook Pro, so it isn’t as big a saving as you might expected.
Best Mac desktop for photo editing
If you do your editing at home rather than onsite, then there are some good options when it comes to Macs.
1. Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
If you want an M2 Pro you don’t have to pay MacBook Pro prices. There is a Mac mini with M2 Pro that costs $1,299/£1,399 and, while you will also need a display, mouse and keyboard, that price is sufficiently below the 14-inch MacBook Pro to buy a really good screen.
As with the 14-inch MacBook Pro the standard model offers a 16-core GPU, but you can upgrade to the 19-core GPU if you think you will benefit.
2. Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
If you want more power from your desktop Mac you could spend a little more on the Mac Studio, which is the cheapest way to get the M2 Max (which is also an option in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Just like the Mac mini, you will need a monitor, mouse and keyboard, but you may already have these. The entry-level Mac Studio offers a 12-core CPU and 30-core GPU, 32GB unified memory and lots of ports for $1,999/£2,099. It’s a powerhouse for a fraction of the price of the M2 Max MacBook Pro.
Decided which Mac you want? Don’t pay more than you should. Check our best deals round-ups:
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld almost two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.