There are a number of MacBooks on the market, each offering a powerful Apple silicon chip. Each is terrific for photographers, although we suggest the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max (2023) if your budget allows for it. It's the most potent MacBook available and offers plenty of upgrades to make the base model even more powerful.
That said, the base M3 Pro is still an incredibly capable laptop, while the 2022 MacBook Air remains our top recommendation for student snappers for whom cash might be a bit tighter.
We've outlined our top picks below, which are dominated by the various available MacBook Pro configurations.
Are you looking for something lightweight and ideal for taking to class? We also have the best MacBook for students summed up.
Quick List
Best overall
Introduced towards the end of 2023, the ultimate MacBook for photographers is the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Available with either the M3 Pro or M3 Max chip, it gives you the best power of storage, power and ports, as well as a huge and stunningly high-res Liquid Retina XR display. If you can afford it, you won't find better.
Best for mobility
If you seek Apple's best laptop in a more backpack-friendly form, with almost as many photographer-friendly features, the 14-inch MacBook Pro makes the most choice. You're giving up a USB port, and obviously a couple of inches of display, but for many the portability factor will make up for it.
Best Pro on a budget
Apple no longer sells the M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro, ditching it from the lineup in favor of the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, which when purchased in its entry-level configuration comes with the standard M3 chip. It no longer has a Touch Bar but offers superior battery life and a better display than its predecessor for less.
Best for student photographers
It may have been succeeded by the M3 MacBook Air now, but the M2 model is still sold by Apple and it's the best MacBook for student photographers (and indeed most people) thanks to its winning combination of price, display and design.
The best MacBook for photographers: in depth
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The best MacBook for photographers overall
For the professional photographer, there's nothing better than the M3-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro, which Apple introduced in late 2023. Like the 14-inch MacBook Pro (mentioned below), this model offers an M3 Pro or M3 Max SoC with up to 128GB of unified memory and 8TB of SSD storage. That's a lot of storage for your photos and videos. In addition, you can get a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU.
But there's much more. The latest 16-inch MacBook Pro features a 3456x2234 Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz. It's also packed with up to 22 hours of battery life between charges and comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera with an advanced image signal processor and computational video.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook models (2023) also have a MagSafe charging port, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot besides their three (two on the 14-inch model) Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports. If you're looking for any negatives, understand this is the heaviest MacBook Pro in many years (4.8 pounds at top spec). It's also costly, even at the base level.
The latest 16-inch MacBook Pro gives you the most power and performance, though the price tag is high.
The best MacBook for mobility
This laptop is for you if you want mostly everything on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, but with a smaller display. However, it offers most of same internals as the larger model for a little less. You can get a bit more RAM on the top-spec larger laptop, but both the M3 Pro and M3 Pro Max chips are available on the 14-inch mode. Better still, it weighs much less, coming in at 3.4 pounds.
On the negative side, when configured with either of the top-tier chips, the 14-inch MacBook Pro only offers up to 18 hours between charges, with up to 22 hours possible on the 16-inch model. For most on-the-go photographers, though, 18 hours will likely be more than sufficient.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro is nearly identical to the 16-inch model except for the smaller display and price.
The best MacBook Pro on a budget
At the end of 2023, Apple announced its new M3-powered MacBook Pro models, two of which are featured above. The M3 Pro and M3 Max laptop give you the most power, but the now entry-level M3 chip is still going to crush most laptops, and this version of the Pro will cost you significantly less.
Gone is the always divisive Touch Bar from the M2 line, and up goes the display size to 14-inch standard. The all-new M3 chip offers an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, up to 24GB of unified memory, and up to 1TB of storage. In addition, you'll get up to 22 hours of battery life, which is vital for photographers on the go.
The M3 chip has fewer cores than the M3 Pro and M3 Max and you can only equip it with 1TB of storage, which might be an issue for some professional photographers. But otherwise the cheapest MacBook Pro offers excellent battery life and the same beautiful display to view your photos.
The best MacBook for student photographers
The 2022 MacBook Air is our favorite MacBook overall because of its fresh design, light weight, and M2 chip. The Apple M2 on the MacBook Air offers an 8-core CPU, up to 10-core GPU, and up to 24GB of unified memory. When configuring your MacBook Air, you can select 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, and either 8-core or 10-core GPU. CPU is 8-core, regardless of your configuration.
It used to be that there were very few differences between the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. That's no longer the case, as the MacBook Air was significantly updated this time while the MacBook Pro was not. It offers a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and a 1080p FaceTime HD camera for the first time. Plus, it comes with a MagSafe charging port — just like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models before. The MacBook Air (M2, 2022) also comes in four colors: Space Gray, silver, Starlight, and Midnight.
The MacBook Air has the perfect balance of features and affordability with the new M1 SoC, Retina display, and great software. For students, it's the one to go for.
Q & A
What is the best MacBook for photographers?
The 16-inch MacBook Pro (late 2023) is the best for professional photographers. It offers blazing-fast internals thanks to your choice of the M3 Pro or M3 Max SoC. Both have been optimized for performance and efficiency. The model also offers up to 8TB of storage and 128GB of unified memory.
Add in the fact that you get up to 22 hours of battery life and a sharp Liquid Retina XDR display, and you'll have everything you'll need. It's the best MacBook Pro model you can currently find on the market. However, it doesn't come cheap, which is something to keep in mind.
Once you've secured this MacBook, you'll want to get some of the best cases and screen protectors to keep it looking shiny and brand new!
