I am a video editor/social media content creator with the intensions to go to university for graphic design.
Currently I am using the 14" MacBook Pro (2021) with M1 Pro 10 Core/16Core, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
The software I use for my work, for the things I need for university and what I want to teach myself: FCPX, Apple Motion 5, Affinity Suite, Pixelmator Pro, Adobe Creative Cloud, Logic Pro X, probably Blender at some point.
Normally it works fine with my specs. A bit of a problem (what I think) is, that my Mac is permanent on 11-13GB of RAM usage, no matter what I do. In the last few days I began to learn Logic Pro and downloaded all the instruments in the Library so I can follow along tutorials without having to wait to install them. While that download my Mac ran 2x into the problem, that there was no more ram left and I had to force quit programs to make everything work again, plus one time logic just force quitted itself.
Also what I noticed, when I work in fcpx (4k video files) and edit them, it runs mostly smooth without proxys, sometimes it lags when there are some effects or so. Another problem I noticed, when I finish a project and render it, but immediately after I pressed render, start to work on a new project it just can't render the video I put to render (idk if its because the performance is too weak or it is because some settings or just fcp can't do this). I of course know I could use proxys but then my library gets big and I need to delete the proxys after or my ssd is full within seconds. I do store finished projects on an external hard drive but still there are about 500gb used of my 1tb ssd and there are currently only a few projects on my Mac.
Now I am thinking of getting a better speced 14" MacBook, as I a will go to university and will learn motion design, design, animation, etc. and I know that some programs (like photoshop, after effects, blender, fcpx, logic, etc.) need much ram and a good cpu and gpu performance.
Also a quick side note, I work with 2 external 4k monitors plugged in and like to have multiple safari windows with some tabs open (ik this takes some ram, but it's just the way I like to work)
The question for me now is what would you advise me to do? Would you just stick with my current Mac (bought in July 22) and just accept the performance and use proxys etc. and just go to university using this and if I get to the point where I say its just to slow get then a new one (as I think we won't need high performance the first about 2 semesters) or would you advise me to get a new MacBook Pro 14" and sell my current one (if that's your advise please give me some input on what specs you would advise me to get...). Another idea I had, but idk if this is a good idea, I could stick with my current 14" and get a MacStudio (probably with 32core m1max, 64gb ram and 1 or 2tb ssd) but im quite unsure about that, as I can't take a MacStudio to university and if we need some more performance (they say 16GB ram is ok, but better 32) I would need to buy a new MacBook again after spending money on a Macstudio.
I would really appreciate it if some people can tell me what they think, give me some advice or share their experience...
Currently I am using the 14" MacBook Pro (2021) with M1 Pro 10 Core/16Core, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
The software I use for my work, for the things I need for university and what I want to teach myself: FCPX, Apple Motion 5, Affinity Suite, Pixelmator Pro, Adobe Creative Cloud, Logic Pro X, probably Blender at some point.
Normally it works fine with my specs. A bit of a problem (what I think) is, that my Mac is permanent on 11-13GB of RAM usage, no matter what I do. In the last few days I began to learn Logic Pro and downloaded all the instruments in the Library so I can follow along tutorials without having to wait to install them. While that download my Mac ran 2x into the problem, that there was no more ram left and I had to force quit programs to make everything work again, plus one time logic just force quitted itself.
Also what I noticed, when I work in fcpx (4k video files) and edit them, it runs mostly smooth without proxys, sometimes it lags when there are some effects or so. Another problem I noticed, when I finish a project and render it, but immediately after I pressed render, start to work on a new project it just can't render the video I put to render (idk if its because the performance is too weak or it is because some settings or just fcp can't do this). I of course know I could use proxys but then my library gets big and I need to delete the proxys after or my ssd is full within seconds. I do store finished projects on an external hard drive but still there are about 500gb used of my 1tb ssd and there are currently only a few projects on my Mac.
Now I am thinking of getting a better speced 14" MacBook, as I a will go to university and will learn motion design, design, animation, etc. and I know that some programs (like photoshop, after effects, blender, fcpx, logic, etc.) need much ram and a good cpu and gpu performance.
Also a quick side note, I work with 2 external 4k monitors plugged in and like to have multiple safari windows with some tabs open (ik this takes some ram, but it's just the way I like to work)
The question for me now is what would you advise me to do? Would you just stick with my current Mac (bought in July 22) and just accept the performance and use proxys etc. and just go to university using this and if I get to the point where I say its just to slow get then a new one (as I think we won't need high performance the first about 2 semesters) or would you advise me to get a new MacBook Pro 14" and sell my current one (if that's your advise please give me some input on what specs you would advise me to get...). Another idea I had, but idk if this is a good idea, I could stick with my current 14" and get a MacStudio (probably with 32core m1max, 64gb ram and 1 or 2tb ssd) but im quite unsure about that, as I can't take a MacStudio to university and if we need some more performance (they say 16GB ram is ok, but better 32) I would need to buy a new MacBook again after spending money on a Macstudio.
I would really appreciate it if some people can tell me what they think, give me some advice or share their experience...
