What do I need for Photo Editing?

[No Regrets]

Hi,
I currently have a late 2011 Macbook Pro 13" i5 4GB laptop. It has been upgraded from Lion to Maverick and the current iPhoto.

When I try to edit raw images with the iPhoto by using the sliders...it seems to hesitate or play catch up.

Is my problem the 4GB of ram needs more? Or, the i5 isn't powerful enough...maybe both?

I'd like to start using Lightroom and Photoshop which may have more power needs than just the iPhoto app. What would be ideal for me for editing photos?

 

[Karsten75]

If anything, I guess it's the RAM. What is the resolution on those Macbooks again? It might be that your IGPU is chewing up some memory as well.

 

[No Regrets]

If anything, I guess it's the RAM. What is the resolution on those Macbooks again? It might be that your IGPU is chewing up some memory as well.

My current 13" is 1280 x 800. I'm considering getting a new 15" with a Retina display would be quite a bit higher resolution and give me more real estate for editing purposes.