Best Macbook Pro for Metashape/photogrammetry?

[mattt]

Hi all

I'm new to Metashape and photogrammetry and hoping to get some quick advice.

I design and create canvas bags and looking to use photogammetry to capture these and create 3D models for use on my website for AR etc.

As my current laptop is a low spec 11" Macbook Air I'm aware I will probably need a new laptop to be able to process the phots etc (and for my general sanity as will also be using Fusion 360 etc).

I'm looking at both a high spec 13" Macbook Pro and the mid spec 16" Macbook Pro (for the dedicated graphics card) and would love any suggestions or insights into which would be appropriate.

I prefer the physical size of the 13", but if the dedicated graphics card of the 16" will be substantially faster I could be convinced to get this ...

For both I was looking at 16gb RAM and a 1 TB hdd.

The other option I've seen mentioned is an external graphics card, would it be better to get the say the 13" Macbook Pro and then augment this with an eGPU?

I also won't be using photogrammetry day in day out (well to begin with anyhow), so if it was just to take an hour or so to process with.a slower laptop that wouldn't be the end of the world.

Thanks so much

Matt

[SAV]

Hi Matt,

Get the 16 inch Macbook Pro. The dedicated graphics card will make a big difference when it comes to processing, which is why I suggest to upgrade it to the 8GB version (standard is 4GB). Another advantage of the 16 inch Macbook Pro is that it comes with a 6 core CPU (or you can even upgrade to 8 cores) whereas the 13 inch Macbook Pro only has a max of 4 cores.

The 13 inch Macbook Pro + the eGPU would work too, but I think it's a cleaner/more streamlined setup if you just go for the 16 inch Macbook Pro. Plus you won't get into any issues with eGPU drivers etc.


All the best.

Regards,
SAV

[mattt]

Hi SAV

Thanks for the info, very good to know

Most appreciated,

Matt

[taran]

I'm about to get a new MacBook Pro to replace my ageing 2014 5K iMac. I'm going for the 16" 2.3GHz 8-core 9th gen i9 with 32GB RAM and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory. For my ~400 26MP photo projects I rarely see Metashape use more than ~20GB RAM as I tend to create meshes from depth maps rather than point clouds. If you can, get 64GB (I would if I could afford it, because you can never have too much RAM!).

Hope this helps.

[apw100]

1) Forget the 13" MBP, it's just not powerful enough in any configuration to provide a good experience for photogrammetry.

2) If you go for the mid-range 16" you should absolutely spend the extra $100 for the 5500M w/ 8GB of VRAM.

3) The 16" i7 6-core, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and 5500M w/8GB is $2799 plus tax from Apple directly. I bought mine from Adorama using the appleinsider.com coupon code and link. For your configuration that will save you $250 and they won't collect sales tax unless you are in NY.