iMac M4 for 4K editing

[appleseeded]

Hi mates,
I come from a Mac Pro 6,1 4 Cores and I am interested in a machine ready for 4k video edition, recording the raw content on an iPhone 14.

My budget is really low and I am thinking in an iMac because the all-in-one concept makes me save money in another screen.

The question is if the base model with 8 core and 16GB works flawlessly for an amateur editions.

I usually use at the same time Brave, PS, Text Edit, Notes, QT, Preview and maybe Illustrator. Not supose a problem close many of them If I need more free ram (my Mac Pro had only 12GB).

It’s worth pay more to get 2 extra cores and more RAM if I only work with FCX opened?

 

[BB1970]

The base is 256GB and I think you should have at least 512 for room to play with even if your footage is on an external.
I think people were working with previous base models and doing (generally) fine, obviously how heavy the workflow. I know the budget is tight, but my recommendation is to just be slightly uncomfortable with a next tiered spec because you’ll probably have it for a while learning the craft. Spend the few extra bucks and get the 512 and 10 core (But the 8 would probably be fine).

 

[coffeemilktea]

Considering how there were people editing 4K video on Final Cut Pro on the M1 MacBook Air, I think you'll be fine.

You might want to make sure you have enough storage space for all that video though.

 

[MacPro61]

Inmho, the internal iMac disk is solded to the board and you will have problems in the future with it if the SSD brokes. Waste the money in extarnal Thunderbolt disks. I can be wrong, of course!

I am at the same point and difficult to choose because the base model comes with only two external ports. Really poor if you have at least two disks and need to connect at the same time an iPad or iPod, etc…