New MBP for imovie editing - suggestions please

[Ekzapple]

I have a mid 2012 mbp that is getting sluggish when editing or exporting my large video projects from imovie (sometimes up to 3 hours with photos)

I currently have 16 GB and 750 GB and store my photos and movie libraries on external drives.

I don't do gaming... mostly use MBP for imovie editing, Pages editing of manuscripts with 500 pages and many photos, and photos editing.

I'm looking at buying a new computer...the 15.4" mid 2019 and deciding between 256 and 512GB and 16 and 32 GB, and i7 and i9.

At the moment, I'm using about half of my 750 GB of storage and as I said, keep most of my movies and photos on external drives.

In terms of imovie speed with exporting, my question is about which I should get... 16GB vs 32 GB and i7 vs i9.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[kohlson]

For recent MBPs you can't add memory. You can add storage, but only externally. Mac OS X is pretty good with managing memory, and I edit 4K with FCPX in my late 2013 (16 GB). But I would recommend spending money on memory over storage.
Can you get to an Apple Store? Bring in an iMovie project and try it on both i7 and i9. One thing to watch for is how much work the cpu and the gpu are doing. Use Activity Monitor. GPUs are also configurable at purchase, and may make a difference for iMovie. If you ever decide to move to Resolve or FCPX, these NLEs take advantage of the gpu at render (and other) time.

Or watch for reviews on Macworld or 9to5mac.

 

[Ekzapple]

For recent MBPs you can't add memory. You can add storage, but only externally. Mac OS X is pretty good with managing memory, and I edit 4K with FCPX in my late 2013 (16 GB). But I would recommend spending money on memory over storage.
Can you get to an Apple Store? Bring in an iMovie project and try it on both i7 and i9. One thing to watch for is how much work the cpu and the gpu are doing. Use Activity Monitor. GPUs are also configurable at purchase, and may make a difference for iMovie. If you ever decide to move to Resolve or FCPX, these NLEs take advantage of the gpu at render (and other) time.

Or watch for reviews on Macworld or 9to5mac.

Thanks for your reply. I used to use FCP but for my projects just didn't need it. I didn't know I could go to an Apple store with my own project and try out the computers. Thanks!

 

[kohlson]

I didn't know I could go to an Apple store with my own project and try out the computers.

I haven't done this in a few years, but I have done it. I've always asked one of the sales/floor people and they've always told me "no problem." One time I wanted to know how much faster it could process a spreadsheet with 250K cells in it (much faster!). They assured me that the systems were "scrubbed" every night.

 

[Ekzapple]

interesting. Thanks!

 

[Fishrrman]

Keep the 2010 MBP for light tasks, and get a 27" 5k iMac for the "heavy editing".
You'll like that big display!

 

[Ekzapple]

Thanks Fishrrman... I actually have a very large 2nd monitor that I use along with my laptop.