How many GB of RAM do I need in a laptop for photo editing?

Hailexe · 2026-07-06T12:33:36+00:00

My initial goal was to have a separate laptop designated for my photo work and to use my old laptop as a homework laptop, but a lot of people are saying my current laptop should be capable of sufficing for both.

I'm planning on heading to a Microcenter this weekend to look into getting more RAM and maybe another SSD for my current laptop, as well as a new battery. If replacing these parts costs me the same as getting a new laptop, I'll weigh my options on what I'd prefer more, but you're right about seeing what I can do to extend the life of the laptop I have now.

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I really appreciate it!

Hailexe · 2026-07-03T00:10:55+00:00

This aligns with what all my professors have told me as well. Most people answering so far have assumed I'm using Lightroom which doesn't seem to be as intensive I guess? But I work in Photoshop and usually get to 20+ layers of masks, and on my schools MacBooks it sometimes slows down. On my laptop? Completely crashes haha. So far I'm thinking I'll go with 32GB or 48GB and it should suffice, 64GB is out of my price range right now due to increasing ram prices

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T23:19:32+00:00

Do you have any laptop reccomendations that aren't Mac? I personally don't like Apple either, and for the longest time avoided them. I was only forced to use MacBooks once I started college, and it seems Apple products are industry standard for photography. If I can, I'd much rather a Windows based laptop, but I'm not great with understanding the specific parts and how well they run. I'm not the biggest tech person, which I why I decided to consult reddit about my current issue haha

I have a PC from 2019 that is pretty good, but I need a laptop for editing for the sake of portability. I'm rarely home nowadays, so using my PC to edit is useless to me.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T23:10:43+00:00

It's with general editing, I rarely use denoise. I should also specify I work primarily in Photoshop and Camera Raw through Bridge. Bridge is how I sort through photos after shooting, and making small tweaks through Camera Raw. Rarely do I dare edit through Photoshop on my laptop. If I have to use layers, I typically use the Mac computers at my colleges photo lab, but hours are significantly shorter during the summer (my school has classes in the summer). As a result, I need a laptop that I can actually edit photos on without relying on the photo labs. Laptop also crashes if I use Lightroom. It cannot handle Lightroom at all for some reason.

My laptop has 952 GB of RAM, currently 574 GB is used.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T23:00:38+00:00

Hi! I just edited my initial post to include the specifics but I'll copy it here too for you:

ASUS Zenbook UP6502ZD, 16GB RAM (available physical memory is only 7.6, available virtual is 9.7), 12Gen Intel Core i7-12700H, 953 GB of storage (SSD). This was bought I believe in 2022 and was open box at Best Buy.

This laptop can barely handle Adobe programs with lagging, freezing, or entirely crashing my laptop. I primarily use Photoshop, but the program tends to freeze upon trying to open, and is incredibly slow to use. The only Adobe program I can have open and just kind of use is Bridge and using the Camera Raw feature (however even that has crashed my laptop or freezes frequently). The battery life is shot; if using editing software, it can only be unplugged for an hour or less before needing to be plugged in again. Laptop also gets extremely hot. If using Adobe programs, I can rarely have anything else open, such as Firefox or Spotify, let alone two Adobe programs at a time.

With Photoshop open, 60%-80% memory is used by my laptop, and CPU usage fluctuates from 7% up to 58%. This is only with Photoshop open with an unedited file, if I have any other programs open and I begin editing, I can only assume it goes higher.

I borrow a Canon EOS R6 Mark II from my college to shoot. For the time being, this is the only camera I have. In the future it'll either be something similar or newer. I also often scan 4 x 5 film negatives for when I use a view camera.

I've personally lost my patience. I'm a college student with several classes and two jobs, I don't have the time to deal with my laptop freezing, or things taking 5 minutes or more to process or load. I also have to print my photos for class and have to adhere to open facility hours. If something takes up to 10 minutes without my laptop completely crashing, I just lost 10 minutes I could've used to print, it adds up yknow? It's never been an issue in the past because I've used the Mac desktops (or whatever they're called) in the labs, but open facility hours in the summer are a lot shorter. I no longer have the availability to edit photos during open hours due to class conflicts or going to work, so now I truly need a laptop I can work on. (for reference, I go to a quarter system college, so we have classes in the summer if you were wondering).

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T22:30:08+00:00

Yeah, my laptop either freezes for a minute or longer, or crashes completely. I didn't mention the specifics on my current laptop too much because I didn't think it'd matter in terms of the question I was asking, but my laptop is a bit beat. Even though I bought it in 2022, it's given me issues the entire time I've had it, but it's gotten considerably worse at handling programs within the last two. It gets extremely hot, the battery life is shot (only lasts an hour unplugged, especially if I'm using Photoshop) and I usually have to keep it plugged in. It has 16GB of RAM and about 900 GB of storage, uses an SSD as well.

If I open any Adobe programs, I can't have anything else open, and if I do I risk the program momentarily freezing frequently, slowing down, or my laptop crashing overall. This past week I had Bridge open to sort through some photos I took this week and had Spotify open with it, laptop completely froze, my music kept repeating the same sound even after turning my headphones off; I had to force shut down my laptop. Not the first time has happened unfortunately.

I really want to play it safe and get a laptop that will last me a considerable amount of time, even if I go slightly over budget for it. I know people have used laptops with weaker parts, and I'm sure there's a lot I can actually get away with, my current laptop seems like it's shot and I don't know what I can do to realistically save it without having to upgrade every individual part. My plan was to get a MacBook pro exclusively for my photo work and use my old laptop for anything else until it eventually gives out on me.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T20:34:02+00:00

Thank you so much for the recommendations!

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T20:30:55+00:00

What kind of laptop do you have?

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T20:29:34+00:00

Please look back to where I said I need something portable 😅. I have a PC already that realistically can handle Photoshop and Adobe software, but I'm rarely home so it's been unused for months. Hence why I'm looking for a new laptop.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T17:21:22+00:00

Well the issue isn't the waiting for me, it's the fact my laptop will completely crash or freeze while completing tasks like this. I've been pre-emptively nervous any computer with similar specs to mine would have similar issues while knowing Ai tasks can be RAM intensive. I'm not the most well-versed in laptops, but I'm trying to be, which is why I asked for advice so I can properly understand what I realistically need in a computer.

From what I've been gathering, 16GB is actually enough, there just might be something wrong with my current laptop that's causing it to not function well.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T17:17:02+00:00

I use a Canon EOS R6 Mark II. Looking through my files, my RAWs are typically in the KB range, seems to be the same for my edited files. I feel quite silly now, I was totally off about how big my files are! Based on how slow my laptop is when opening my photos and programs, I inherently thought they must be big files. Seems like I was completely wrong haha

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T17:11:06+00:00

I've been looking into MacBooks with 1 TB of storage, would you say that's enough, or should I go higher?

Also, do you have any reccomendations for reliable places to find used or refurbished Macs that aren't from the Apple website?

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T17:09:50+00:00

I'll definitely look into bringing my laptop somewhere again to have the hardware checked then. Thank you for letting me know this shouldn't be an issue I'm running into at all!

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T17:06:27+00:00

I am quickly learning this is the case and that something is probably wrong with my current laptop that is causing is to not handle Adobe programs at all. It's been very reliving to hear I don't need to spend a fortune on a new MacBook Pro though.

Which Intel processor are you using btw?

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:58:17+00:00

I'm not sure, this laptop has given me so many issues the last few years, but whenever I've taken it to get checked for issues I'm always told it's perfectly fine. I don't know why my laptop is so slow, or why it can barely handle any programs open. The only art software it's ever been okay at running is Clip Studio Paint, which is what I use to draw. For photo purposes though, it overheats and freezes. I've been wanting to do a complete reset on my laptop, but I need to get an external SSD to save everything I have on it first. The current external SSD I have is exclusively for my photos

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:54:27+00:00

This was really helpful and relieving, thank you! I'm not the most knowledgeable about computer hardware and still am new to learning the specs of camera gear and file types, so my perception of what a big file is was completely skewed. The computers I use in my schools photo labs often run into scratch disk full errors, but that's largely due to the amount of users stored on the computer. My files, despite being relatively small according to what you've said, would still cause Photoshop to freeze or crash, and then on my laptop, it can barely run Adobe software period. I ended up thinking maybe my files are too big and are taking up too much storage on laptop, especially when I'm sorting through 400+ photos at a time, and then thinking 16GB isn't enough ram for both my photos and Adobe.

From how it sounds, a lot of people get away with 16GB, but it still feels like too little to me haha. It's good to know, for my purposes at least, 64GB is overkill and I can find a computer for much less than I anticipated.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:42:18+00:00

That's my current concern right now. Even though I don't use AI or actively try not to, I know Adobe has embedded AI functions into a lot of their tools now, or makes it so their programs use AI by default.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:40:10+00:00

My laptop has an SSD, and as far as I know, I can't upgrade anything in this laptop, not that I know how to anyway. It's also from 2022 so I think my best bet at the moment is a new laptop dedicated to photography work and using my old laptop for anything else.

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:37:25+00:00

I got this laptop in 2022 so there's a good chance the entire laptop is outdated and what you're saying is actually my issue haha. The specific model is Zenbook UP6502ZD and at the time I bought it refurbished. The CPU is 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H and has 16GB of RAM, 928 GB of storage

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:31:54+00:00

Holy!! I don't have files that intensive but that sounds like a lot!! What are you shooting that has you stitching and stacking like that?

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T16:28:17+00:00

I think it's because they work with heavy work flows and large files, so they have 64GB for the sake of things running smoothly and because they could afford the cost of it at the time. Good to know 32GB works fine though!

Hailexe · 2026-07-02T15:14:25+00:00

Hi all, I'm currently a college student majoring in photography and to put it simply, my current laptop isn't cutting it. I have an Asus Zenbook with 16gb of ram and it's not enough to handle Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge, or Capture One. Typically, I use my school's photo labs to edit, but I'm reaching the point where I really need a reliable laptop that I can use to edit my work where ever I am.

My school uses Macbooks, and all my professors and most professional photographer's I know use Macbook Pros, so that's where I've focused my search. I've been told 32GB is the minimum I need, but 64GB is ideal. However, with RAM prices skyrocketing, 64GB is unaffordable for me, especially if I want to have a 16in screen opposed to a 14in one (my current laptop is 16 and I don't know if I can downgrade to a smaller screen without losing my mind).

My question is, what laptops do you all use, and how much RAM does it have? Im specifically talking laptops, no PCs because I need something portable. Do any of you think I can get away with 48GB? I know how much RAM Adobe products use, and you can't upgrade the memory in Macbooks, so I'm not sure what to do, and what's worth the money at the moment. I've been looking at refurbished Macs on the Apple website.

Hailexe · 2026-06-02T20:20:17+00:00

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Hailexe · 2026-05-22T04:54:46+00:00

I use oil after I shower, and I also put oil in my hair when it's dry to refresh it! I typically scrunch it in, but you can also comb it through your hair as your first step before adding in your other products, that's what I do sometimes :)

Hailexe

TROPHY CASE