Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Film editing on Macbook Pro?

T

Tonkansson

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2011
2
0
Hello folks


I've been a PC person for my whole life but lately my mind has been completely set on buying a Macbook Pro. I'm in need of a laptop so why not give Apple a shot.

Now to my concern. I'm thinking about buying the high end 15" with 8 gb RAM ,the hi-res anti glare screen and the 7200 RPM HDD, but I'm not sure how well this computer handle film editing in full HD.

My three year old PC do have these stats:
Intel Quad Q9550 2,83 ghz
4 gb RAM
Radeon HD4870 X2 (2gb)

At a first glance, doesn't the Macbook Pro seem at bit... lame? Spec wise

A small note: I'm not going to buy SSD 'cause of the current pricing.

What should I do? Buy it, or maybe wait for the refresh next year? I actually don't need a portable computer until after summer 2012, but I really, really want it now anyway. So if the high end 15" can handle full HD video editing at least as good as my old computer, I will probably buy it.
 
S

Spencer Reynen

macrumors member
Apr 3, 2011
77
0
Really the MacBook Pro specs you have should be more than enough for what you need. Although, if you don't really need it right now, I would wait till the new ones come out maybe mid next year or so. There will be a huge bump in processor performance. But, it's up to you. Those specs are perfectly fine for video editing though.
 
heisenberg123

heisenberg123

macrumors 603
Oct 31, 2010
6,496
9
Hamilton, Ontario
Tonkansson said:
Hello folks


I've been a PC person for my whole life but lately my mind has been completely set on buying a Macbook Pro. I'm in need of a laptop so why not give Apple a shot.

Now to my concern. I'm thinking about buying the high end 15" with 8 gb RAM ,the hi-res anti glare screen and the 7200 RPM HDD, but I'm not sure how well this computer handle film editing in full HD.

My three year old PC do have these stats:
Intel Quad Q9550 2,83 ghz
4 gb RAM
Radeon HD4870 X2 (2gb)

At a first glance, doesn't the Macbook Pro seem at bit... lame? Spec wise

A small note: I'm not going to buy SSD 'cause of the current pricing.

What should I do? Buy it, or maybe wait for the refresh next year? I actually don't need a portable computer until after summer 2012, but I really, really want it now anyway. So if the high end 15" can handle full HD video editing at least as good as my old computer, I will probably buy it.
Click to expand...




Don't get the ram upgrade through apple if that's what you mean it's about 150 cheaper to do it your self
 
M

MacBookProzak

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
131
0
I actually use the high end 15' MacBookPro for video editing about 75% of the time over any given week. This MBP stay on for 13 to 16 hours every day. I did replace the internal HD with a Momentus XT Hybrid drive though. When I originally got this MBP it had the 8GB of ram in it, which was fine for editing, yet 3 weeks ago when I was able to get 16GB of ram for cheap, I put that in and it flys even better. I do the editing off an external Thunderbolt drive.

I used to do video editing on a PC as well (for alot of years), yet I will never go back to PC now for video editing.

Apple has the 14 day return policy as well. Try it for 2 weeks and use it actively and then if you think it sucks, take it back for a refund, no harm no foul. I would be surprised if you did return it after you test drove it though.

----------
iisforiphone said:
Don't get the ram upgrade through apple if that's what you mean it's about 150 cheaper to do it your self
Click to expand...

Yea, what he said. get the minimal ram when you buy it. Then just go an get the ram on your own. I got the Corsair 16GB of ram on the Black Friday sale for $189. This is what I put in and have had ZERO problems. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233217
 
T

Tonkansson

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2011
2
0
MacBookProzak said:
I actually use the high end 15' MacBookPro for video editing about 75% of the time over any given week. This MBP stay on for 13 to 16 hours every day. I did replace the internal HD with a Momentus XT Hybrid drive though. When I originally got this MBP it had the 8GB of ram in it, which was fine for editing, yet 3 weeks ago when I was able to get 16GB of ram for cheap, I put that in and it flys even better. I do the editing off an external Thunderbolt drive.

I used to do video editing on a PC as well (for alot of years), yet I will never go back to PC now for video editing.

Apple has the 14 day return policy as well. Try it for 2 weeks and use it actively and then if you think it sucks, take it back for a refund, no harm no foul. I would be surprised if you did return it after you test drove it though.

----------



Yea, what he said. get the minimal ram when you buy it. Then just go an get the ram on your own. I got the Corsair 16GB of ram on the Black Friday sale for $189. This is what I put in and have had ZERO problems. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233217
Click to expand...

Very helpful, thanks!

The Momentus XT Hybrid sounds really great. Definitly gonna think about it, as long as it doesn't void the warranty of course.

iisforiphone: Don't you worry, I'm gonna do it myself!

So you guys think it will perform better than my old computer? Even if i'm talking about After Effects (or Motion) and such things?
 
M

MacBookProzak

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
131
0
Tonkansson said:
The Momentus XT Hybrid sounds really great. Definitly gonna think about it, as long as it doesn't void the warranty of course.

So you guys think it will perform better than my old computer? Even if i'm talking about After Effects (or Motion) and such things?
Click to expand...


Replacing the hard drive or the RAM will not void your warranty. However when you do this you should use care and go slow. Any damage that happens while changing the hard drive out is not covered by the warranty, so just go nice and slow while doing this procedure.

Other question:
Yes, it will totally perform better. The PC I was editing on before was spec'd similar to yours, except I had 8GB of ram in the PC. Remember, you would have a 14 day window that you can test drive and then return it if you have any reservations.

For me, the day I got it, I took the original Mac hard drive out and put the Momentus XT in and never looked back... I was that confident after doing alot of research that this MBP would make my editing life better and it has.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom