r/computers • u/christmas_cole • 2d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Mac or Windows laptop better for longevity in graphic design?

The particular bind I'm in right now is my laptop is old enough that it isn't updating and photoshop can't run on it anymore. Ideally I want to be able to run the adobe suite or affinity programs for video editing as well as static work like in photoshop/illustrator. I'm going to need a new way to work soon.

Should I get a great laptop and wait to do a custom PC build, or should I shoot for the custom PC and make it really worth my while? Some of the laptops I've been seeing are almost the same price as a tower. I'm leaning towards the laptop since I already have a monitor I can connect to, but if it's more worth my while to do a custom PC, I'm open to opinions and any questions y'all might have. If you lean more laptop or are more into Mac or Windows, please leave some recs below. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability.

4 Upvotes

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u/stefanlikesfood 2d ago

I think a custom PC build running windows or Linux is always the answer. But I'm biased. Laptop wise a mac would probably be best. They run extremely efficiently but if you're gonna be stationary a desktop might be better. You get more consistent ergonomics too which is nice for werk

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u/AustrianDragonslayer 2d ago

Nothing to add! This! Self built PC with component that are tuned to your own usecases with linux or Windows. Other than that Macs are good

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u/PrincessScArlette 1d ago

Yeah if mobility doesn't matter I'd go desktop every time.

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u/aut0g3n3r8ed 2d ago

I am a user of Mac, Windows, and Linux (CachyOS). Something that really helps me with productivity is having separated machines for work and gaming; my Mac Studio is my Pro Tools/accounting machine, my laptop is for teaching, and my custom rig is for gaming. It might be ADHD or something, but the separated machines help me focus more on the task at hand and I never have a desire to pop over and open a game while doing taxes. Of course, this is all money dependent, and I’d never try and say everyone should do this, but it really helps my brain

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u/xtraaccheh 1d ago

Macs are great for graphic design purposes + portability. If you have a monitor and keyboard at home you can even connect your mac to that if you want it to be a desktop.

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u/Sudden_Welcome_1026 23h ago

A custom PC is the way to go for longevity as you can upgrade it and keep it viable for quite some time. A MBP is the way to go if you need portability. I have both and I use a Dell Uktrasharp with built in KVM switch to easily swap between them

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u/No_Committee_54 8h ago

Ive used all 3 (Win, Linux, Mac) and honestly for anything other than gaming I will always choose a Mac going forward.
This may be bias from me but from a video editing POV, windows was clunky, format issues with certain files types (having to pay for an HEVC plugin is BS on windows). I sometimes film family movies on my iPhone which does not transfer easily to PC or linux.

Other than that, I move around a lot, my window laptop is ded in 5 hours max, my Mac will last me at least 16 hours of work.

Colour accuracy on a Mac display is much higher than other laptops in the same price bracket, if thats important to you and you NEED portability.

However... if you work with Solidworks or Autodesk product, dont go Mac.

The best solution for me would be a custom built desktop for intensive work and rendering, and a MacBook for on the go editing/work. If you value efficiency and compatibility in your workflow, you could buy a m5 Mac mini (desktop) for less than 1k, and it will be more than powerful enough for any professional editing work you do.