Macbook Pro For Graphic Design 2018

1. Macbook Pro 2018 Gpu
2. Macbook Pro 13 Inch 2018

We're well into an effort by Apple to win over pro Mac users who have been dissatisfied with recent design and technology choices. But even as many of those users have expressed frustration, MacBook Pro sales have been relatively strong.

Part of that disconnect comes down to parsing what Apple means when it adds the 'Pro' label to a piece of hardware. Naturally, the term means different things to different people depending on what exactly they're professionals at doing.

Then there's the fact that the MacBook Pro has lived a double life not just as a pro workstation but as the high-end consumer Mac. Lots of people buy MacBook Pros who aren't professionals—at least, not professionals at doing the sorts of things they might actually need a $3,000 computer for. These users buy it because it's simply the best-performing Mac laptop.

So what kinds of professionals are the newly revised MacBook Pros for? Is it a worthwhile investment for consumers? We recently spent a week with the top spec of the 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro to find out.

Specifications

But for the outstanding design experience that Apple offers, and the courage to push its user base towards innovation and technology, the Apple MacBook Pro certainly deserves an ovation. Graphic designers will find AMD Radeon Pro Graphics and the high-resolution screen a pleasure to work with. The only drawback of this laptop is it's a hefty. Get the best deals on Graphic Design SSD (Solid State Drive). BRAND NEW SEALED Apple MacBook Pro 2018 Touch Bar Core i7 / 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD. 2019 13' MacBook Pro 1.7GHz Intel Core i7/8GB/256GB Flash/Space Gray. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Let's start with the 13-inch model's specs. The entry-level specification is priced at $1,299 (though the one with the Touch Bar starts at $1,799).

Macbook Pro 2018 Gpu

The screen is unchanged compared to the previous one. It's a 13.3-inch LED-backlit IPS display with a resolution of 2,560×1,600 pixels—that's 227 pixels per inch. It maxes out at 500 nits of brightness and supports P3 Wide Color and Apple's True Tone feature.

There are two CPU options in the 13-inch model: a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor and a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 for an additional $300. RAM is LPDDR3 (so the same as last year) at 2133MHz. The base spec is 8GB, but it can be upgraded to 16GB for $200. Solid-state storage starts at 256GB, with more expensive 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options.

Those chipsets bring Intel Iris Plus 650 graphics—this time with 128MB of eDRAM, twice as much as before. For reference, last year's models only had two cores and less maximum storage. For connectivity, you get four Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

And then there's the 15-inch, which we're reviewing today. It starts at $2,399. Once again, the display is the same: a 15.4-inch, 500-nit LED-backlit IPS display with a 2,880×1,800 resolution at 220ppi, with P3 Wide Color and True Tone support.

There are three Intel CPU options, all Coffee Lake/8th generation: a 2.2GHz Core i7 processor with six cores and with Intel's Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz; a 2.6GHz Core i7 with 4.3GHz Turbo Boost, and a 2.9GHz Core i9—also with six cores, and with Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz. The base spec has 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 memory—that's compared to LPDDR3 last year, and there is now an upgrade option to 32GB for $400.

The base GPU is a Radeon Pro 555X with 4GB of GDDR5, and you can upgrade to the 560X with the same amount of memory for an additional $100. All 15-inch models additionally have Intel's integrated UHD Graphics 630.

Things get really wild price-wise when we factor in the SSD. The options start at 256GB, but you can upgrade to 512GB (for an additional $200 over the base spec), 1TB ($600), 2TB ($1,400), or for the first time, 4TB ($3,400). For connectivity, we're again looking at four Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Some notes on configurations and pricing

Our review unit is a maxed-out 15-inch model with the 6-core Intel Core i9 CPU (8950HK). It also means 32GB of 2400Mhz DDR4 memory, a Radeon Pro 560X discrete GPU with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, and a whopping 4TB of flash storage.

To buy a MacBook Pro with the same specs from Apple's store, you'd have to spend $6,699. That's obviously outrageous territory for most consumers (though not necessarily for all pros) but note that the storage upgrade accounts for about half of that price. Dropping the SSD to a more modest 512GB lowers the price to a still pricey but more normal $3,500.

Apart from attaching Thunderbolt peripherals like external SSDs and eGPUs, there is no realistic upgrade path for any component in this computer. So make sure you get what you need in the initial configuration if you buy.

But do you actually need to spring for those additions? I live in Los Angeles, and many of my friends work in Hollywood in exactly the sorts of creative roles Apple had in mind with this machine. So I reached out to a couple of video editor friends asking if they would spring $3,200 to get 4TB of internal storage.

I got different answers; unsurprisingly, needs and priorities vary even within one profession. To be fair, though, they worked in different types of roles. The first works at a major broadcast network producing and editing on-air promos, and the second is a freelance story producer and editor for documentary films and reality series on Netflix and cable networks.

The first told me that, while filmed footage takes an enormous amount of hard drive space, video producers and editors are already accustomed to working on an external drive, and the existing connection for that (Thunderbolt 3) is good enough to make that workflow relatively painless. 'I don't see a reason to pay extra for the flash storage,' he concluded.

But the second friend told me that you can't put a dollar value on being able to do your work on the fly without extra equipment for certain types of productions—she specifically named big-budget reality shows that do lots of on-location shooting. She said, 'that's a lot of money,' but that she 'can imagine some scenarios where that could be useful.'

No matter where you settle on that, these are expensive computers, and most consumers don't need to spend that much. The entry-level spec of the 13-inch MacBook Pro is good enough for most people who want strong performance from a laptop, and the MacBook and aging MacBook Air are still attractive machines for everyone else. And there are the parallel worlds of Windows laptops and two-in-ones, Chromebooks, and even the iPad—all also viable options, depending on your priorities.

In my estimation, there are mainly three types of people who would spend $6,699, $3,500, or even $2,699 on this laptop: creative professionals and developers (and the companies that employ them) whose livelihoods depend on performance, core gamers who are married to the Mac platform and have no other viable choices with strong enough video performance, and well-heeled consumers who just want the best computer they can buy, whether they need it or not.

Design

The MacBook Pro is available either in the silver we've known for a long time, or the 'space gray' that Apple introduced to the line in 2016. If you liked the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro, you'll like this one. Istat 3 02. If you didn't, it won't change your mind. That's because the basic design remains the same.

The only major difference in the design department is the keyboard, so let's start there—there's a lot to unpack on that subject.

The keyboard: Butterfly 3.0

The third-generation butterfly keyboard in this MacBook Pro is an incremental improvement over its immediate predecessor, which was an even smaller improvement over the initial keyboard introduced in the 2016 MacBook Pro. Apple claims the keyboard on this machine is quieter than its predecessor. It is, though not drastically so. Windows movie maker for macbook air. It also has slightly softer-feeling feedback for each key press. I like the changes; it feels and sounds just a little more like the old chiclet keyboards.

If you liked the previous butterfly keyboards, you'll like this one. If you didn't, I doubt it will change your mind.

Then there's the question of reliability. The 2016 MacBook Pro's butterfly keyboards had a dust problem. Keys could get stuck and lock up—you might have had a situation in which a key endlessly repeated even though it wasn't being pressed or wouldn't register a press at all.

Based on reports we've seen, this was more common with the 2016 version of the keyboard than the 2017 one—the latter apparently made some small tweaks that improved the failure rate. But the problem was widespread enough that Apple launched a repair program for those keyboards; users who encountered the problem could get it fixed for free, whether they had bought AppleCare or not.

I encountered that myself in a 2016 model; my 'z' key got stuck. Because of the way the computer is built, Apple had to replace the entire keyboard and other hardware around it to fix that issue. It cost me nothing because I had AppleCare, but the receipt I received revealed it would have cost $700 otherwise. Apple replaced my 2016 keyboard with the slightly improved 2017 one, but we've learned that 2016 and 2017 models that are serviced in the program will not receive the 2018 keyboard as a replacement, unfortunately.

Apple hasn't publicly confirmed this, but it might have reasons not to. The problems with the keyboards in previous models have led to some lawsuits, and publicly discussing the changes could complicate those lawsuits. Whatever the case, I believe it's likely that this keyboard won't have the same frequency of issues. Another hint: Apple says the 2018 keyboard is not covered in the repair program.

I like this keyboard and believe that most people who give it a shot will get used to it—though it will take an adjustment period if you're coming from something wildly different.

My only major complaint about the MacBook Pro's keyboards up until this point was the reliability issue. So if this iteration is less likely to need repairs, all the better. But if you hate it, you hate it. Regardless of which camp you fall into, I don't think this design is going away any time soon.

About the author:This guest article was written by Emma Best from Laptopical - a guide to the latest laptop reviews and laptop related news. http://lkjosli.xtgem.com/Blog/__xtblog_entry/19077174-rss-button-for-safari-1-5-1#xt_blog. You can also follow her on Twitter.

I've been using my MacBook Pro since a while now and I must say: I really love it. The most common app(s) that designers use has to be Adobe Photoshop (Or the full suite). The app(s) are great, but there is a downside: The price tag. Photoshop CS4 costs $699, CS4 extended is $999 and the full Creative Suite starts at an stunning $1799. For many people this is just a little bit too much to 'play around with'.

Luckily, there are also many free applications out there that can do the same kind of job that Photoshop could do for you. This article rounds up the best 15 free Mac Programs for Graphic Designers. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use.

Keep your wallet in your pocket, since all these programs will cost you nothing.

GIMP

The most popular of all free photo editing software, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is highly-supported and frequently updated. Comparative to Photoshop, users can perform basic tasks such as photo retouching, color correction, and image size, or more complicated tasks like image composition and creation. GIMP has a scripting interface for advance users, as well as plugins, extensions, and filters.

Seashore

If you want GIMP, but don't have X11, then Seashore is the appropriate software for you. Based on GIMP, it has nearly all the settings and functions of the more advanced program without the higher requirements.

Inkspace

An excellent alternative to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, Inkscape is a free vector graphics program supporting standard SVG format, as well as XML and CSS standards. This program can do everything you'll need in a vector graphics program - tracing, path operations, direct XML editing, etc. Import and export formats include all the common image types, including JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.

Front End Digital Media Workshop

Don't waste time manually resizing individual photos for your various projects. Front End Digital Media is a batch conversion app for images (as well as video and audio), and allows you to mass resize, resample, split, join, and up/down sample JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PSD, and PICT image files.

Image Tricks

The biggest appeal for the Image Tricks app is the ability to apply dozens of different filters to over 20 different image formats. The finished photos can then be exported as either TIFF, JPEG, or PNG.

Macbook Pro 13 Inch 2018

Comipro Plus

If you create cartoons of any type, Comipro Plus is an excellent app. Designed in Japanese but usable to English speakers, this program helps create modern-looking comics, including editing and adding word bubbles.

Google SketchUp

Different from a normal vector graphics program, Google's SketchUp allows you to not only create a design, but view it in 3D. It is easier to use than more complicated 3D software, such as AutoCAD, and is free.

Colorate

Colorate is used to change and manipulate the colors in a photo. The Library generates a color swatch based on the photo, then allow you to add a new color pallete, either blending the current one, creating a custom one, or randomizing a completely new pallete.

Goldberg

This program is best used for those times when you're viewing your photos, and notice that a color is slightly off, or a side needs cropped a bit more. Instead of firing up a full photo editing application, you can simply make minor adjustments, including color correction, blurs, noise, and embossing.

NIH Image

If you need to animate one of your photos or designs, this program is for you. It's compatible with a wide array of programs, and in addition to animating images, it can also perform minor tweaks to contrast, sharpening, smoothing, filters, and more. It also analyzes particles, angles, and paths.

Scratch

This program is so simple, it can be used also immediately with no prior instruction. It is used for creating small games, interactive art, and animated stories, and is primarily marketed to children. Despite it's juvenile market, it is an excellent tool for putting together quick interactive banners and images without the learning curve.

DAZ Studio

If you're in need of realistic 3D models, DAZ Studio is an easy-to-learn 3D program for creating 3D objects, including people, animals, and objects (buildings, cars, etc). DAZ Studio is easier to use than other 3D animation tools, and is perfect for creating surrealistic and 3D art.

Bryce

Built to run with the aforementioned DAZ Studio software, Bryce is used to create real-looking landscapes using photos of real landscapes. Take a picture of your yard, a forest, some mountains, or other landscapes, import it into Bryce, and then add all the elements needed to turn it into a new world.

ArchiCAD

If you need a 3D design tool with more power and features than Google SketchUp, ArchiCAD is the right program to you. Similar to AutoCAD in both function and name, this program allows users to design their sketches and ideas into a realistic 3D render.

JAlbum

Every graphic designer requires an efficient way to keep all their photos and images organized. JAlbum is the ultimate photo organizer, as it not only allows you to organize your photos and folders using simple drag-and-drop functionality, but it also creates thumbnails and HTML pages of your photos for easy online publishing. The HTML pages to publish can be made to either export a gallery or a slide show. In addition, there's support for IPTC and EXIF data, lossless editing, image filters, style sheets, and an integrated FTP client.

Bonus: Pixelmator

I've added Pixelmator myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. I really love to use Pixelmator myself and I don't think it should be missing from this amazing list.

Pixelmator, the beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast and powerful image editor for Mac OS X has everything you need to create, edit and enhance your images.

Bonus: Blender

Just like Pixelmator, I've added Blender myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. Blender is a great open source app for 3d content.

Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.

Are there more Mac Apps that you, as a graphic designer, love to use that is missing from the list above? Please share!

This guest article was provided to you by Emma Best from Laptopical.

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