Buying advice for Film Editor

[serenespeed]

I edit films & commercials for a living.
1) My current system is an old suprer-dated Late 2012 27" iMac i5 with 16 GB of RAM. iPhone 14 Pro is probably faster than it. But it kind of gets the job done. I want to upgrade as new software updates aren't supported on this obsolete system.
2) I use Premiere Pro, MS Office and Final Draft for my professional needs. Audition, Logic X or Davinci for fun sometimes.
3) I edit off the external drives provided by the production with the dailies transcoded 99% of the time in ProRess LT or 422 as requested in 1080p. I don't need to transcode.
4) I don't use After Effects, nor do I colour or deliver masters. Once my edit is approved I just pass and XML for picture lock and omf for audio post.

I was considering to get a MBP 16" with 18gb of ram and an external monitor. Any folks who use this setup and have similar usage. Are you'll comfortable with the performance? or any niggles you'd like to warn me off?

Advice and comments are welcomed.

 

[Ben J.]

So, just to be clear; you really want to have the portability of the macbook Pro? If not important, you both avoid some potential limiting factors like batteries and such, and you have lots more options on mac model, screen configurations and so on.

 

[Alameda]

So, just to be clear; you really want to have the portability of the macbook Pro? If not important, you both avoid some potential limiting factors like batteries and such, and you have lots more options on mac model, screen configurations and so on.

Yes, a 16” screen is still no match for a 27” or 32” screen.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I was considering to get a MBP 16" with 18gb of ram"

For what you do, once you move to an m-series CPU, I wouldn't consider anything less than 32gb RAM.

Do you HAVE TO HAVE portability?

If so, wait for the m4pro MacBook Pros -- should be out in 3 weeks, possibly last few days of Oct. or perhaps Nov. 1.

If you DON'T really need portability, you might consider either the m4pro Mini (also coming in about 3 weeks), OR... a Mac Studio (which will have m2xx CPUs).

With ANY of these, I'd consider the minimum size for an SSD these days to be 1tb...

 

[serenespeed]

So, just to be clear; you really want to have the portability of the macbook Pro? If not important, you both avoid some potential limiting factors like batteries and such, and you have lots more options on mac model, screen configurations and so on.

I'd say I don't need portability 80-90% of the time. I need it when I have to meet the director or an agency to present the edit of a commercial. I currently do that with a dated MBP from 2013 with an i7 chip.
The thought of having a new MBP and a screen, potentially a LG c3 42" oled was that I could work at home while connecting my laptop and take it out when I need to occasionally.

 

[serenespeed]

OP wrote:
"I was considering to get a MBP 16" with 18gb of ram"

For what you do, once you move to an m-series CPU, I wouldn't consider anything less than 32gb RAM.

Do you HAVE TO HAVE portability?

If so, wait for the m4pro MacBook Pros -- should be out in 3 weeks, possibly last few days of Oct. or perhaps Nov. 1.

If you DON'T really need portability, you might consider either the m4pro Mini (also coming in about 3 weeks), OR... a Mac Studio (which will have m2xx CPUs).

With ANY of these, I'd consider the minimum size for an SSD these days to be 1tb...

Occasionally I need portability. So the thought was to have a new MBP with a large additional screen for home usage.
Could you emphasize why I'd need 32gb of ram a minimum?
With the new ones coming out might be a good time to grab a deal on the older m3 macs then, no?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Could you emphasize why I'd need 32gb of ram a minimum?"

Think of it this way, insofar as the Apple Silicon Macs go:
16gb is "the new 8";
32gb is "the new 16"...

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Could you emphasize why I'd need 32gb of ram a minimum?

You’re using a 12-year-old computer now… sounds like you don’t upgrade often. So when you do, speccing it as though it’ll need to last a few years only makes sense.

 

[ChrisA]

For editing 1080p video, just about any current Mac with 16GB RAM will work well. But let's say you keep this for a few years? Will you still be editing 1080p? Also I'm sure that these editors (after effects, FCP, Resolve) will all be usng AI and wil be bigger in 5 or 6 years.

People here tend to be VERY conservative when they say what to get.

 

[zqbobs]

WRT RAM needed - I would run Activity Monitor while doing your typical work. The different memory loads reported at the bottom give you an idea of how much you're using. For example, right now on my 2017 27" iMac with 32GB RAM and Ventura, I'm using about 22GB, including 17GB app memory, 3GB wired memory (system), etc. Individual app memory usage will also show. This Apple support site explains the different types of memory shown - https://support.apple.com/guide/activity-monitor/view-memory-usage-actmntr1004/mac

I recently bought a MacBook Air M3 with 24GB RAM and am in the process of determining if it (plus an external display) can replace my iMac. The M3 is really more "responsive" than the Intel iMac - a good analysis of "performance" vs "efficiency" CPU cores for the M-processors is here - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/mac-studio-review-a-nearly-perfect-workhorse-mac/#page-4 and here - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...dio-review-who-needs-a-mac-pro-anyway/#page-4

I agree with earlier comments that you should expect RAM requirements to grow over time, so if you are pushing the 16GB you have now, I would definitely go with 24GB or 32GB, not 18GB. We will see what the options are soon if Apple announces new Macs as expected.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Moving from your ancient hardware means that any M series Mac will be a huge improvement. I don't do much video work, but support folks who do have a similar workload, and they are all thrilled/content with editing on M2 or newer MBPs with at least 16GB of RAM.

Keep in mind you may move the performance bottleneck from CPU/heat to the external drive or bus. It might be time to upgrade to high-performance external SSDs, at least for uploading raw data and editing.

 

[serenespeed]

You’re using a 12-year-old computer now… sounds like you don’t upgrade often. So when you do, speccing it as though it’ll need to last a few years only makes sense.

Yea I don't upgrade often, I come from a mindset, it doesn't need to be replaced till it stops working. lol.

 

[serenespeed]

WRT RAM needed - I would run Activity Monitor while doing your typical work. The different memory loads reported at the bottom give you an idea of how much you're using. For example, right now on my 2017 27" iMac with 32GB RAM and Ventura, I'm using about 22GB, including 17GB app memory, 3GB wired memory (system), etc. Individual app memory usage will also show. This Apple support site explains the different types of memory shown - https://support.apple.com/guide/activity-monitor/view-memory-usage-actmntr1004/mac

I recently bought a MacBook Air M3 with 24GB RAM and am in the process of determining if it (plus an external display) can replace my iMac. The M3 is really more "responsive" than the Intel iMac - a good analysis of "performance" vs "efficiency" CPU cores for the M-processors is here - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/mac-studio-review-a-nearly-perfect-workhorse-mac/#page-4 and here - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...dio-review-who-needs-a-mac-pro-anyway/#page-4

I agree with earlier comments that you should expect RAM requirements to grow over time, so if you are pushing the 16GB you have now, I would definitely go with 24GB or 32GB, not 18GB. We will see what the options are soon if Apple announces new Macs as expected.

got it, makes sense, sounds like base max is the way to go.

 

[serenespeed]

For editing 1080p video, just about any current Mac with 16GB RAM will work well. But let's say you keep this for a few years? Will you still be editing 1080p? Also I'm sure that these editors (after effects, FCP, Resolve) will all be usng AI and wil be bigger in 5 or 6 years.

People here tend to be VERY conservative when they say what to get.

I am pretty sure ProRess 1080p is the way forward too as I don't need to deliver masters or work with raw files. But I do get everyone's experience. More ram is better.