As a professional photographer and designer, I‘ve been using Photoshop on Mac since version 3.0 in the mid-1990s. Over the decades, I‘ve watched in awe as this already powerful pixel pusher has evolved into an indispensable Swiss Army knife for creative pros. The 2023 release of Photoshop CC for Mac continues to expand the realm of possibilities, with AI-powered tools that feel like science fiction and optimizations that take full advantage of the latest Apple Silicon hardware.
While the Mac software ecosystem has matured considerably since the early days of Photoshop — with rivals like Pixelmator Pro, Affinity Photo, and Luminar providing ample competition — Adobe‘s venerable image editor still sets the standard for flexibility and depth. Whether I‘m editing photos, designing websites, compositing renders, or crafting digital illustrations, Photoshop remains my go-to tool for anything involving pixels.
Performance & Mac Optimizations
Reviewing Photoshop in 2023 means evaluating it within the context of the recent Mac renaissance we‘ve experienced thanks to Apple Silicon. The transition from Intel CPUs to Apple‘s own M1 and M2 chips has revolutionized performance and battery life across the Mac lineup. And thankfully, Adobe has stayed in lockstep with Apple, quickly releasing optimized versions of Photoshop and their other Creative Cloud apps to take advantage of the new processors.
On my 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max, Photoshop 2023 absolutely screams. Opening massive 100MB+ PSDs and RAW files feels nearly instantaneous, even with dozens of layers. Applying complex filters and effects shows a live, real-time preview. Zooming, panning, and making brush strokes all happen with imperceptible lag.
Here are some of my own informal benchmarks comparing Photoshop 2023 on my M1 Max MacBook Pro vs my older 2019 Intel iMac with an 8-core 3.6 GHz Core i9 CPU:
| Task | M1 Max MacBook Pro | Intel Core i9 iMac |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Photoshop to splash screen | 1.4 s | 3.8 s |
| Open 500MB multi-layer PSD | 3.2 s | 9.4 s |
| Apply complex AI filter to 61MP RAW photo | 11.6 s | 37.2 s |
| Batch process 100 42MP RAW files | 4 min 12 s | 9 min 38 s |
The performance gains are substantial across the board. And perhaps even more impressive, the fan rarely kicks on during intense operations on my M1 Max MacBook. Whereas on my Intel iMac, the fans would frequently rev up to a distracting whir when pushing Photoshop hard.
Much of these speed improvements come thanks to Adobe‘s work leveraging Apple‘s Metal graphics API. Metal allows Photoshop to hand off compute-intensive tasks to the GPU in an optimized way, freeing up the CPU for other operations. On the M1/M2 chips specifically, Metal can take advantage of the unified memory architecture to further accelerate tasks.
Adobe has also brought GPU acceleration to more areas of Photoshop in the 2023 version. For example, several of the new neural filters — which use machine learning algorithms to enable advanced effects like photo colorization and style transfers — are accelerated by Metal and run locally on your Mac‘s GPU. In previous versions, these filters would need to be processed in the cloud.
As any longtime creative pro can attest, time is money. So these performance improvements directly translate into significant productivity gains over the course of a day, week, or year of using Photoshop. A 2022 study by Pfeiffer Consulting found that creative professionals could save an average of 5.5 hours per week by using an M1 Ultra-based Mac Studio for Photoshop work versus an Intel-based 27-inch iMac.
Apple Ecosystem Integration
Another appealing aspect of running Photoshop on a Mac is the tight integration with the broader Apple hardware and software ecosystem. Adobe has made sure that Photoshop plays nicely with macOS features like Spaces, Handoff, iCloud Drive, Spotlight, and Sidecar.
One of my favorite examples is the Sidecar feature, which allows me to use my 12.9-inch iPad Pro as a secondary wireless display for my MacBook Pro. In Photoshop, I often dedicate the iPad screen to housing my palettes and tool options, freeing up valuable real estate on my primary display. And with an Apple Pencil, I can use the iPad as a Wacom-style graphics tablet input for tasks like dodging, burning, and making precise selections.
Photoshop also integrates seamlessly with the MacBook Pro‘s Touch Bar. Adobe has mapped contextualized controls to the Touch Bar, surfacing relevant tool adjustments, layer properties, and action buttons depending on what you‘re doing in the app. For example, if you‘re using the brush tool, the Touch Bar will give you quick access to things like brush size, hardness, flow, and opacity. It even previews your current brush in the Touch Bar strip so you can visualize the results.
Though a smaller detail, I appreciate that Photoshop supports the macOS share sheet. This allows me to quickly send a flattened version of my document to other apps and services, like Mail, Messages, or Slack.
Finally, while cloud storage and cross-device workflows are available to all Photoshop users regardless of platform, the integration feels particularly seamless on a Mac. Documents I saved to the cloud on my MacBook automatically show up in the Photoshop home screen on my iMac. And the edits I make on my iPad using Photoshop for iPad reliably sync via Creative Cloud no matter which device I use.
AI-Powered Features
The headline feature of Photoshop 2023 is undoubtedly the machine learning-powered neural filters. Building on the feature set introduced in the previous version, Adobe has expanded and refined the AI capabilities in ways that feel transformative.
For example, the photo restoration filter can now effectively remove scratches, dust, and other imperfections from old scanned photos with a single click. In my own testing, it does a remarkable job of inpainting missing details and intelligently patching damaged areas in a natural way.
The colorize filter, which uses AI to add realistic color to black-and-white images, has also been noticeably improved. Adobe has trained the underlying machine learning model with millions of reference images, allowing it to make smarter inferences about what colors should be applied to various elements of a scene. With a bit of guidance and fine tuning on the user‘s part, the results can be indistinguishable from an original color photo.
Other standout AI-powered features and enhancements in Photoshop 2023 include:
- Extend Background: Analyzes a photo and generates additional background pixels beyond the original frame, seamlessly filling in scenery/patterns.
- Remove Background: Automatically detects the subject in a photo and creates a precise mask/selection of the background for easy removal.
- Style Transfer: Applies the artistic style of a reference image to the content of a target photo, enabling stunning painterly looks.
- Harmonization: Matches the color and tone of pasted elements to better blend them with the background in a composite.
- Color Transfer: Transfers the color palette and lighting from one image to another. Great for quickly changing the mood of a shot.
From a photo editing workflow perspective, these tools are game changing. Tasks that would have previously required careful selections and meticulous pixel pushing can now be automated with astonishing accuracy. That frees up more time and mental bandwidth to focus on the creative side of image-making.
Looking ahead, Adobe has announced that Photoshop will be one of the first of its creative apps to integrate the company‘s "Sensei" generative AI model. Currently in closed beta, this text-to-image generator lets users create novel images from natural language descriptions.
For example, you might type "a majestic lion sitting in a field of purple flowers, golden hour lighting, 85mm lens" and the AI would generate a photorealistic image to match that description. Adobe has trained Sensei with its vast library of stock images and artwork, so the model has a strong foundation in understanding a variety of artistic concepts.
While the prospect of generative AI in Photoshop may alarm some creatives who fear being replaced by machines, Adobe sees it more as an assistive technology to augment human creativity and speed up workflows. Ethically, it‘s a nuanced issue that the industry will need to grapple with. But the potential for these tools to amplify our creative output is exciting.
Value & Recommendation
There‘s no denying that Photoshop carries a premium price tag compared to some of its competitors. The standalone Photoshop plan runs $27.99/month, while the full Creative Cloud suite (which includes Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, and all of Adobe‘s other apps) costs $84.99/month. And those costs are recurring since Photoshop moved to a subscription-only model in 2013.
In contrast, Pixelmator Pro is a one-time purchase of $49.99, Affinity Photo runs $82.99 for a perpetual license, and Luminar is available for a one-time cost of $199 or a subscription of $14.95/month.
However, for professionals and serious enthusiasts who use Photoshop as an essential daily driver, I believe the subscription is worth the cost. The continuous updates and cloud services included with the Creative Cloud membership keep Photoshop on the cutting edge and well integrated with modern Mac hardware.
If you don‘t need the full scope of Photoshop‘s capabilities, I would recommend looking at one of the less expensive Mac alternatives mentioned above. They can capably handle the majority of photo editing needs and graphic design tasks. But if you want the most powerful, flexible, and refined image editing experience — and one that‘s deeply optimized for Apple Silicon Macs — Photoshop remains in a class of its own.