Best Video Editing MacBook Pro?

[jonathanlinsley]

BUYING MACBOOK PRO FOR VIDEO EDITING

Hello Guys!

I'm in the market for a video editing MacBook Pro (probably gonna be retina).

I'll be running Final Cut Pro - (Hopefully Final Cut Pro X) - and Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 software.

I understand that I need:
8gb ram (preferably 16gb)
Graphics of Intel HD 4000 (again, preferbly better - Intel Iris Pro Graphics)
Atleast Dual-Quad Core Processor of 2GHz
SSD Drive - is 256GB flash storage ok?
64-bit? I'm assuming most MacBook Pro's are, yeah?

Does anybody recommend the refurb route through the Apple website? I can't afford the above spec brand new.

Does anybody has any advice on my spec above? is this spec correct for my needs?

Also: This is the model I'm looking at buying - is this good value? http://store.apple.com/uk-business/product/G0PT3B/A/refurbished-154-inch-macbook -pro-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display


One final point - I have Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 on my Windows8 machine, is there any way that I can posssibly get this onto my Mac? Or would I have to purchase a Mac enabled version?

Thanks Guys! I'm new to Mac so all advice is appreciated.

Jonathan L. (UK)

 

[dan1eln1el5en]

Good choice,
regarding specs, seems ok, can be better, but definately very well.

regarding CS6, you can transfer your licens, but the install files are different (where Windows uses an install.exe, the Mac have a install.dmg)
the process is fairly simple, on windows deregister your licens, then on the mac install the trial version and then register your version.
please notice that with each licens you are able to run your registration on two machines (so why not keep the windows machine at the same time, just in case).

I would also recommend a bigger external Harddrive, because 256 GB get filled fast when you have a lot oc caches etc. related to movie editing.

 

[augustya]

So why does everyone here then keeps harping the same point again and again that if one is into Video Editing you need a Dedicated GPU machine ? So what was of all that about ??

 

[TheIguana]

So why does everyone here then keeps harping the same point again and again that if one is into Video Editing you need a Dedicated GPU machine ? So what was of all that about ??

With Adobe Premiere at least you gain significant benefits only from a dedicated graphics card (Intel's cards including the Iris Pro are not supported). OpenCL/CUDA acceleration for Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine are only supported on dedicated cards with Adobe's offerings.

Appears that Final Cut Pro also benefits quite significantly from a dedicated GPU: http://blog.alex4d.com/2013/10/30/brucex-a-new-fcpx-benchmark/

 

[Vanilla35]

So why does everyone here then keeps harping the same point again and again that if one is into Video Editing you need a Dedicated GPU machine ? So what was of all that about ??

As soon as the guy mentioned he can't afford a brand new model they realized he wouldn't value the benefit of having the dGPU model for $1000+ more

 

[kathyricks]

So why does everyone here then keeps harping the same point again and again that if one is into Video Editing you need a Dedicated GPU machine ? So what was of all that about ??

I think it's a macho thing...without a dedicated GPU you can still get the same video work done, it'll just take 30-50% longer.

 

[am2am]

So why does everyone here then keeps harping the same point again and again that if one is into Video Editing you need a Dedicated GPU machine ? So what was of all that about ??

about the time

1. late 2013 rMBP 15" 2,3GHz i7/16GB/512/ Nvidia 750M
2. late 2013 rMBP 15" 2,3GHz i7/16GB/512/ IrisPro (forced by gfxCardStatus)
3. late 2013 rMBP 13" 2,4Ghz i5/8GB/256/ Iris

Short test movie with transitions (1m41s) export from iMovie 10.0.2 into file (mp4 1920x1080)

1. 31s
2. 51s
3. 1m20s