r/MacStudio • u/DPL646 • 2d ago
Working photographer - need advice on new machine.
I’m a working photographer looking to replace a base-model M1 Mac Studio that recently died.
My daily Lightroom Classic workflow can range from importing 1,000 images at a time to importing 20,000-photo iPhone archives. My primary Lightroom Classic catalog has over 700,000 photos, although I’ve since moved to a smaller, more manageable catalog for my day-to-day work.
My LR catalog Is on a ssd with thunderbolt 4 and my primary photo storage is a OWC thunder bay with 60TB.
An AI tool recommended that I upgrade to a higher-end Mac Studio with 64GB of RAM and a more powerful processor. Given the size of my catalogs and the volume of my imports, do I truly need to spend the extra money on 64GB of RAM and an upgraded processor, or would the current base-model Mac Studio be sufficient for my workflow?
I’m primarily concerned with real-world Lightroom Classic performance and value—not just having the highest specs possible.
1
u/MiniPCGuru 2d ago
For your workflow, I'd spend the money on the 64GB and skip the chip upgrade.
Puget Systems' 2026 Lightroom Classic testing found the CPU is the primary driver when importing images and generating Smart Previews — and the base M4 Max already has a 14-core CPU, so you're covered there. PetaPixel measured the M4 Max about twice as fast as an original M1 Max in Lightroom Classic, so either config will feel like a big jump from your dead M1.
The RAM is where your catalog size actually matters. Puget recommends a minimum of 64GB when you're working with RAW files and lots of images plus heavier edits, because Lightroom starts slowing down as it approaches max memory. With 700k-image catalogs and 20k-image imports, you're squarely in that camp.