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NEW IMAC M1 good for photoshop?

I am a designer and I use photoshop and illustrator on windows. I want to shift to Mac but am unable to choose which one should I buy. I want to desktop. Is the new m1 imac desktop good enough to support my needs?

Posted on Oct 21, 2021 3:53 AM

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Posted on Oct 21, 2021 7:18 AM

abhishekx1 wrote:

I am a designer and I use photoshop and illustrator on windows. I want to shift to Mac but am unable to choose which one should I buy. I want to desktop. Is the new m1 imac desktop good enough to support my needs?

One of the 8-core CPU/8-core GPU, 16GB iMacs will outperform nearly all Intel-based iMacs available. It will run Photoshop just fine.

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Oct 21, 2021 7:18 AM in response to abhishekx1

abhishekx1 wrote:

I am a designer and I use photoshop and illustrator on windows. I want to shift to Mac but am unable to choose which one should I buy. I want to desktop. Is the new m1 imac desktop good enough to support my needs?

One of the 8-core CPU/8-core GPU, 16GB iMacs will outperform nearly all Intel-based iMacs available. It will run Photoshop just fine.

Oct 21, 2021 6:20 AM in response to ku4hx

My work generally includes designing designs on photoshop. Editing photos(RAW,JPEG). Designing designs on pro create and importing them on computer and editing them. Eg(tiff, jpeg). I’m a textiles designer. I usually work with designs having multiple layers and processing them does take time. I don’t need a super fast computer, but not a general one either. Just with enough computing power to process my designs. Is m1 good enough ?

Oct 21, 2021 6:34 AM in response to abhishekx1

My wife uses Photoshop and Illustrator on a 2020 Intel 27" iMac with 16GB RAM; they both run beatifically she says. So we know the two apps can run quite well on an iMac. Comparing your Windows specs to M1 specs is not going to be a one to one type analysis. But still, your Windows specs will be a guide of sorts.


RAM on the M1 machines is not utilized exactly as on the non M1 machines, or on Windows for that matter, but the general rule is buy the most you can afford to future proof your Mac.


Nobody is going to be able to tell you definitively will the M1 work for you unless they just happen to have the same exact specs you're considering. To do so would be foolish. I think it will, but I'm guessing at how much multitasking you do, what size files you work with and all that. If it were me, I'd go with 16GB RAM. But I believe in overkill and if more were available I'd opt for more. My experience with Adobe products is they are memory and disk space hogs.


It's up to you. Do the research on what's available spec wise, read others reviews, Check with Adobe user forums to get their takes if any and then decide. In the end, only you can make the decision, and being the M1s are so new, it's going to be a crap shoot.

NEW IMAC M1 good for photoshop?

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