Other What should be my priority?

[DukeDevlin]

Hello everyone,

Today I'm asking for your advice on what should be my priority when it comes to renewing devices in the short and medium term.

First of all, I'm a content creator who shoots videos with his iPhone and edits them on my Mac with Final Cut Pro X to put them on YouTube (so I also use Photoshop for the thumbnails). In short, I'm not a "classic" user.

I have an :

• iPhone 13 Pro Max.
• MacBook Pro 16 inch 2019 - 2.3 GHz Intel Core i9 8 cores / AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB Intel UHD Graphics / 32 GB RAM / 1TB storage.

Up until now, I've had buying habits where I changed my iPhones every 2-3 years (4S, 5S, 6S+, X, 12PM where I was lucky enough to later exchange it with my partner's which was a 13PM). However, I've noticed that since the iPhone 13, there's been a certain kind of maturity in the "Pro" formats, and that the evolutions have been minimal from year to year (I imagine that there won't be any more drastic evolutions from one year to the next from now on, and that each year the observation will be the same). So, if I follow my purchasing curve, this year I'll have to ask myself whether or not I should change models.

Except that in 2020, I made the mistake of buying a great MacBook Pro (to renew my 2013 MBA) that was almost rendered obsolete a year later with Apple's new chips. If I had to change, I'd go for a 14-inch MBP (After M2 Pro/M2 Max, not easy to know) where this time I intend to keep it for a long time (5-7 years).

At the moment, both devices are running. It's more my MBP which occasionally suffers under Final Cut Pro X (from time to time) and which has a rather long export time in 1080p I find (given the machine's performance) where I take 15-20 minutes to export a 15-minute video in 1080p which is 1.5GB. That's the only criticism I can really make of it.

That's why I asked myself the following question: What's more worth renewing (once finances allow, of course) and, above all, at what temporality? Should we start with 15PM and wait for MBP in M3/M4? Should we go for an M2 MBP and wait for 16-17PM? Should we wait a few more years for both? It's an open-ended question I was asking myself. What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you very much,

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

If you have a 13 Pro Max, I think you are good until next year. You won't notice a huge upgrade now, but the 16 Pro/Pro Max next year will obviously be even more of a jump.

 

[Fat_Guy]

If you are a content creator I would move your camera up from iPhones. iPhones are great in a pinch but a dedicated camera (or even camcorder) is best long term. Keep the iPhone for “B” roll.


That green flaring from iPhones just drives me crazy but the biggest issue is audio that you should focus on. That was my biggest issue for TV. I could show you my early evaluations and it was all about the audio.


Finally you should move from Final Cut to Davinci Resolve. If you are starting out this is the one to learn on.


But do what you want to do, just make sure the content is watchable…


I should add that as you become better, talk about equipment becomes less of a thing and technique becomes more of a thing…

 

[DukeDevlin]

Thanks for your advices! And on the Mac side?

 

[Fat_Guy]

I’m a PC guy and have several workstations as PCs are cheaper. Also more people know Windows so…


I have a gang with me so it makes sense to go PC.


Try out a feature length movie. One of the best learning experiences. 🤣