iMovie what hardware

[Ascanio1]

Hello,

What is the best Mac Book Pro hardware configuration to run iMovies on?

My wife employs a 2012 Mac Book Pro, 16GB Ram and 2012 Mac Book Pro CPU/GPU (don't know specs) to produce 40 minutes YouTube videos, with iMovie. Present average edit/process time is perfectly acceptable, under 10 minutes.

Her laptop display broke and it will cost 800€ to fix so I am considering a new Mac Book Pro. I am seeking advice as to where (which hardware) to invest. GPU? CPU? RAM?

From what I understand, reading online forums, iMovie:
1. uses GPU only for the UI and not for process/edit phase. So CPU over GPU;
2. uses one core at a time. So I should prefer core speed (GHz) over core number;
3. works fine with 8GB RAM (unless file is very large) so 16GB should be ok.

Am I missing/forgetting anything? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time/expertise. Can anyone recommend a forum that specializes on iMovie and Mac hardware?

 

[Dave Braine]

Like your wife, I use iMovie on my mid 2012 MBP without any problems, so I would think that any of today's Macs would be perfectly adequate.

 

[axboi87]

If you're buying "new", the air or pro 13" with M1 is groundbreaking in that it's competent enough for 8k video. I would go with the 16gb ram option and then whatever storage you need.

 

[ian87w]

Hello,

What is the best Mac Book Pro hardware configuration to run iMovies on?

My wife employs a 2012 Mac Book Pro, 16GB Ram and 2012 Mac Book Pro CPU/GPU (don't know specs) to produce 40 minutes YouTube videos, with iMovie. Present average edit/process time is perfectly acceptable, under 10 minutes.

Her laptop display broke and it will cost 800€ to fix so I am considering a new Mac Book Pro. I am seeking advice as to where (which hardware) to invest. GPU? CPU? RAM?

From what I understand, reading online forums, iMovie:
1. uses GPU only for the UI and not for process/edit phase. So CPU over GPU;
2. uses one core at a time. So I should prefer core speed (GHz) over core number;
3. works fine with 8GB RAM (unless file is very large) so 16GB should be ok.

Am I missing/forgetting anything? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time/expertise. Can anyone recommend a forum that specializes on iMovie and Mac hardware?

Is she doing 4K 10bit H.265 encodings? If so, consider the new M1 Macbook Pro of the M1 Mac mini. The better thermal headroom would be welcomed.

If she's doing more casual edits, more 1080p videos or non 10bit H.265 videos, then the M1 Macbook Air would probably be sufficient. Put the money on other upgrades like RAM and storage. It will still perform leaps over your old intel Macbook Pro, and silent. Make sure you get 16GB of RAM.

 

[Ascanio1]

My wife produces videos for YouTube in mpeg-4 movie 1920x1080 H.264 AAC color profile HD (1-1-1). File size is slightly in excess of 3GB for a 20 minutes video and proportionally larger for longer videos.

The original file, before editing, is generated by a Nikon 5200 camera in QuickTime movie, 1920x1080, Linear PCM H.264.

Her Mac Book Pro (*) worked perfectly well until her display broke (800€ to fix). She is not looking for better performances but, since we know that all software become more and more demanding on hardware with new generations, we want to invest where it will be more useful in future.

Does this information help to recommend the best RAM, GPU and CPU? Or is the information insufficient? If it is insufficient, kindly, what information do you need and where can I find it

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise in recommending new hardware.


(*) Mac Book Pro Retina (2012) 2.7GHz Quad Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1600MHz DDR3, Nvidia GeForce GT650M 1GB, Intel HD Graphics, 4000 1536MB

 

[ian87w]

My wife produces videos for YouTube in mpeg-4 movie 1920x1080 H.264 AAC color profile HD (1-1-1). File size is slightly in excess of 3GB for a 20 minutes video and proportionally larger for longer videos.

The original file, before editing, is generated by a Nikon 5200 camera in QuickTime movie, 1920x1080, Linear PCM H.264.

Her Mac Book Pro (*) worked perfectly well until her display broke (800€ to fix). She is not looking for better performances but, since we know that all software become more and more demanding on hardware with new generations, we want to invest where it will be more useful in future.

Does this information help to recommend the best RAM, GPU and CPU? Or is the information insufficient? If it is insufficient, kindly, what information do you need and where can I find it

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise in recommending new hardware.


(*) Mac Book Pro Retina (2012) 2.7GHz Quad Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1600MHz DDR3, Nvidia GeForce GT650M 1GB, Intel HD Graphics, 4000 1536MB

I would still consider an M1 Macbook Pro with 16GB of RAM (that's the current max spec anyway, cannot go more than that). That will give her a headroom as well when she wants to do more. Only go with the Macbook Air if the Macbook Pro simply way over your budget. Definitely don't skimp on RAM as it is soldered in and cannot be upgraded afterwards. You can skimp on storage, but be prepared to use external drives as the SSD is soldered in as well.

 

[Ascanio1]

1. On the website apple.it I cannot find this M1 Macbook Pro. What difference is there between this M1 Macbook Pro and the one linked? Where can I buy this M1 Macbook Pro?

2. Budget is a concern but not the primary one. I am trying to understand how to better spend my money. To invest well I must first understand what hardware iMovie and other Apple programs are designed for. Apparently:
i. Apple software uses CPU rather than GPU for the editing workload and employs the GPU only for user interface.
ii. Apple video editing software only employ one core at a time.

If speculations (i) and (ii) were correct, then I would better spend my Euros by choosing:
i. the fastest MHz CPU, even if it is older and has fewer cores, rather than a more advanced CPU with more cores and
ii. I could avoid the more expensive GPUs as UI does not involve complex 3D effects or other GPU intensive routines.

Are there specific forums where software/hardware interaction are discussed? Or where iMovie is specifically discussed?

3. I will buy 16GB RAM as advised, thank you, and I will use an external HDD (or cloud) to increase sotrage as my wife only requires space for long term storage and not for recurrent use.

Thanks to everyone in advance for sharing your time and expertise.

 

[matrix07]

I'm using my M1 MBA 8 GB for iMovie and I still find it plenty fast. I agree if you can afford M1 MBP then that should be the one to go.

 

[AppliedMicro]

On the website apple.it I cannot find this M1 Macbook Pro

Only available in 13".

then I would better spend my Euros by choosing:
i. the fastest MHz CPU, even if it is older and has fewer cores, rather than a more advanced CPU with more cores

Irrespective of MHz (that they don't even advertise for the M1, the new Apple M1 have one of the highest single-core performances of all Macs - while being more affordable than older Intel CPUs. The M1 should likely also be much faster for common encoding tasks. And more future-proof (unlike, maybe, the iMovie app itself).

 

[Ascanio1]

The 13" is a deal breaker as my wife finds 15" too small ... Perhaps this new wonder M1 device will come also in 15" size soon? Have you heard any rumors?

Regarding my assumptions in my last post, are they correct?

 

[iluvmacs99]

My wife produces videos for YouTube in mpeg-4 movie 1920x1080 H.264 AAC color profile HD (1-1-1). File size is slightly in excess of 3GB for a 20 minutes video and proportionally larger for longer videos.

The original file, before editing, is generated by a Nikon 5200 camera in QuickTime movie, 1920x1080, Linear PCM H.264.

Her Mac Book Pro (*) worked perfectly well until her display broke (800€ to fix). She is not looking for better performances but, since we know that all software become more and more demanding on hardware with new generations, we want to invest where it will be more useful in future.

Does this information help to recommend the best RAM, GPU and CPU? Or is the information insufficient? If it is insufficient, kindly, what information do you need and where can I find it

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise in recommending new hardware.


(*) Mac Book Pro Retina (2012) 2.7GHz Quad Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1600MHz DDR3, Nvidia GeForce GT650M 1GB, Intel HD Graphics, 4000 1536MB

Unlike other software, iMovie isn't really all that demanding because it's designed to work as an entry level video editing software. So it doesn't leverage the GPU all that much as opposed to say Davinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. It does however use the CPU and the T2 chip for video encoding and decoding and Quicksync. So exporting a video with iMovie will benefit the most with Quicksync and the T2 chip if you stay with Intel or with the M1 CPU with its own internal video h/w codecs which speeds it up even more.

With 1080p video editing, 8Gb of RAM is more than enough with 16Gb of RAM a good size for transitions and special effects. Your wife's MBP 2012 is actually a machine used still by many professional indie producers because most of the time, they are producing 1080p shows either on Youtube or their own channels. GPU will be useful if you are dealing with 4K and up footage and doing color correction and Fusion work under Davinci. Otherwise as your wife had discovered, even with the onboard iGPU as well as the discreet GPU with only roughly 1 to 1.5 Gb of VRAM, it's more than sufficient for 1080p. If your wife is planning to stay editing 1080p, then any late Intel machine with the T2 chip will suffice mirroring the same specs as the 2012. The only noticeable speedup will be the decoding of footage of the Nikon D5200 and then the re-encoding of the footage via the T2 chip with Quicksync. It can speed up encoding by 4x or more. Otherwise, if your external GPU has 2Gb or more VRAM, then editing in iMovie will be more fluid. 4Gb of VRAM will be even better and be more 4K proof. 8Gb of VRAM will be the best. VRAM, not RAM, is more important for video editing moving forward.

The M1 macs are right now cutting edge; but as you said, your wife isn't looking to get faster performance and with 1080p editing, the M1 macs are somewhat of an overkill. You can get a larger display with the late Intel MBP. Bigger screen and the ability to support a second or third screen will be helpful with movie editing. You are not going to benefit much in terms of speed UNLESS you step up to something like Davinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro X where these software will take more advantage of the GPU.

 

[Ascanio1]

Thank you for your time and expertise. I appreciate both and the explanation is exactly what I needed. Thank you.

Given your useful and detailed explanation, new alternatives become possible: three in total.

1. Buying a 2 or 3 years old second hand MBP (maybe the best $/performance investment).
2. Waiting for an M1 MBP in 16" (I read rumors that it will be released in September this year)
3. Repairing our 2012 MBP

Option (3), fixing her display with 800€, is my first choice, given that her present MBP performances are more than sufficient. Are there any drawbacks (*) that you can envisage in this option?

(*) The Apple store manager tried to scare us off repairing in favour of buying a new one (even offered a 7% discount). He informed us that the 2012 unit may become obsolete because, according to him, Apple will end OS support which, in turn, will stop all software working, in a couple of years at most. Is this true or false? Consider that I use a 2002 Sony Vaio that still serves me perfectly well, even though Win 7 OS is no longer supported.

 

[iluvmacs99]

2012 Macbook Pro's last OS support is Catalina, so Catalina will stop receiving security updates in 2022 if she had Catalina installed on her Macbook Pro right now. Otherwise, Mojave will end its update support this year and anything older than Mojave (10.14.x) stopped being supported by Apple already. Being no longer supported by Apple doesn't mean her Macbook Pro stops working and iMovie stops working. The machine will continue to work. I have a PowerBook G4 which Apple stopped supporting since 2005 and it still works and runs my audio and Photoshop software I bought for it. iMovie continues to work on my Mini 2011 even though Apple stopped supporting it. So I'm not sure what the Apple store manager was implying though. The only concern I see with the 2012 MBP is parts supply from Apple moving forward. However, most 3rd party repair shops have access to new, used and other sourced parts and need be, repair your wife's MBP at the board level.

Having said that; I would investigate other 3rd party repair shops that can repair Apple Macbook Pros and get a 2nd and 3rd opinion and compare prices, because I always found Apple repair prices rather absurd if you didn't buy it with Apple Care +. I'm not implying that you should consider repairing the Macbook Pro as it's already close to 10 years old, but the 2012 MBP is considered one of the most reliable Mac laptop Apple made and under an experienced board repair Mac person, it can be repaired at much less cost than what Apple wanted. And as I had implied earlier; it's a favorite amongst indie movie producers and most of these people don't have a large Hollywood budget either. See if you can find a shop near you who can actually do board level work as sometimes 2012 display problem can be as simple as replacing a malfunctioning LVDS cable which connects the motherboard to the LCD which is a common fault if the LCD screen is not cracked. I used to service Macs and MBPs in a non-profit tech organization.

Or else, wait for Apple to introduce the 16" version of the Apple Silicon Macs. But if you can get her MBP 2012 repaired enough to last until the 16" become available and sold as refurb the better.

Here below is an example of the service repair on the LCD screen, LVDS cable and the front panel cover. CAN BE done easily by an expert Macbook Pro repair tech or a DIY project..

Macbook Pro LVDS Cable & LCD Screen Replacement - YouTube

and replace backlight fuse on A1278

How to replace a backlight fuse without hot air or hot tweezers - YouTube

 

[Ascanio1]

Thank you, again, for your time and expert insight.

I checked with three Apple specialists in my area and all offered the display repair cheaper @ 600€. One even offered 6 months warranty. Thank you for the suggestion. The display is not cracked and shows no pixel errors.

I discussed with my wife the obsolescence concern. She concurs with you and does not require the latest iMovie version. Her concern is with the sync and update between her iPhone and her Mac: in 2012 we purchased this new MBP because her older Mac could no longer sync and update with a new iPhone, purchased in 2012. If I remember correctly, the problem was that the new iPhone used a newer iTunes version that could not be updated on her older Mac.

 

[Ascanio1]

An Apple repair specialist changed the LVDS cable but this did not fix the problem and the display will have to be changed for 600€ with a 6 month warranty and I am considering the repair.

I only have one question left: is it possible that iTunes and/or other essential Apple software will stop working?

 

[iluvmacs99]

The 2012 Macbook Pro can be fully upgraded to Catalina, which is 10.15.x. One thing that had changed for the better is with how Apple requires the iPhone to sync with the Mac. From El-Capitan (10.11.x) to Mojave, which is 10.14.x, you need to use iTunes version 12.8 or later to sync with your iPhone. Whereas from Catalina and onwards, you just use the Finder to sync her iPhone. No one knows what's going to really happen after Apple fully transitions from Intel to Apple Silicon Macs and how they are going to deal with the sync to iPhone issue and other essential Apple software. The software may stop communicating with newer Apple devices if it requires that the Mac be an Apple Silicon Mac to have the apps continue its sync feature with iCloud and the newer iPhones. Catalina is not due to loose support until 2022 and I think she has about 2-3 years to think about that. Right now, there isn't much of a selection in Apple Silicon Macs in the larger screen sizes either.

 

[Ascanio1]

The 2012 Macbook Pro can be fully upgraded to Catalina, which is 10.15.x. One thing that had changed for the better is with how Apple requires the iPhone to sync with the Mac. From El-Capitan (10.11.x) to Mojave, which is 10.14.x, you need to use iTunes version 12.8 or later to sync with your iPhone. Whereas from Catalina and onwards, you just use the Finder to sync her iPhone. No one knows what's going to really happen after Apple fully transitions from Intel to Apple Silicon Macs and how they are going to deal with the sync to iPhone issue and other essential Apple software. The software may stop communicating with newer Apple devices if it requires that the Mac be an Apple Silicon Mac to have the apps continue its sync feature with iCloud and the newer iPhones. Catalina is not due to loose support until 2022 and I think she has about 2-3 years to think about that. Right now, there isn't much of a selection in Apple Silicon Macs in the larger screen sizes either.

Thank you for your time. It was really appreciated.

Looks like we will repair our unit.