Surface Laptop Studio or m1 mac for photographer?

I have a question? First how are you and your family doing? I’m looking to upgrade from a Surface Book 2 i7, 8RAM, 256gb.

I was looking at a Surface Laptop Studio 32Ram, i7, and 2Tb. Or a M1 MacBook 14 in equivalent.

So currently I use Photoshop, Capture One, and Lightroom and use Google Drive for my cloud storage. As you know I shoot weddings, portraits, and events.

Seeing what is the best device to get. A few former Microsoft co-workers are telling me get a M1 and one MSFT coworker told me get a SLS .

Conversation 9 comments

  • rob_segal

    Premium Member
    20 July, 2022 - 4:09 pm

    <p>If you’re fine using macOS, I would get a MacBook. 16 GB of RAM will be enough for a Mac. Don’t go for 8GB if you go with the Air. I wouldn’t get less than 512 GB of storage. The M2 MacBook Air is a great choice if you’re fine using a USB-C hub for extra ports. The M1 MacBook Air is still really, really good.</p>

  • dmclaurin

    20 July, 2022 - 4:36 pm

    <p>I’m using a Laptop Studio and it has been working fantastic for me.</p><p>Only issue is that it does not have an SD card reader out of the box, so you do need a USB-C hub to connect it.</p><p>The fact that I can use a pen for editing is a big plus for me.</p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    20 July, 2022 - 4:47 pm

    <p>It all depends on how you like to edit. If you use the machine like a tablet and use the pen (you have to buy separately) then get the Surface. If you use it like a laptop and either use a mouse or Wacom to edit then the Mac can enter the discussion.</p><p><br></p><p>As for me, I use the screen and pen to edit directly on the image and you can’t do that natively on a Mac. dmclaurin is right that there is no SD Card slot on the SLS, but that’s OK my camera uses CF Express Cards anyways.</p>

  • rob_segal

    Premium Member
    20 July, 2022 - 4:56 pm

    <p>Here’s something else you can consider. For the price of the laptop studio model you mentioned, you can get an M1 or M2 MacBook Air and an iPad Air. </p>

  • Errole

    20 July, 2022 - 8:24 pm

    <p>I am use to MacOS. I def use touch/pen on PC with the Surface book. I never liked the Wacom tablets. The M1 14 2 tb 32 gb ram might be the best. Plus Apple has stores to get support, and sadly MS closed down. </p>

    • rob_segal

      Premium Member
      20 July, 2022 - 11:20 pm

      <p>Are you considering an iPad as a secondary device? You can use Capture One and Photoshop on an iPad, too. You may benefit from Apple’s ecosystem and device synergy. A MacBook and an iPad Air could be an excellent combination for you at this high price point.</p>

      • lvthunder

        Premium Member
        21 July, 2022 - 1:02 am

        <p>Have you actually used Photoshop on iPad. There is still a lot missing there.</p>

  • Errole

    20 July, 2022 - 8:25 pm

    <p>But the Studio seems it can do more over a Mac.</p>

  • pecosbob04

    20 July, 2022 - 9:42 pm

    <p>I see two issues:</p><ol><li>Has the Mac software you would use been ported to run natively on Apple Silicon?</li><li>Is the pen on screen issue an absolute show stopper? (beside the mouse / trackpad solutions there is the ability to use an iPad with your MacBook to edit on screen see Rob Segal’s comment above)</li></ol>

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