Buying used Mac for 4k Video Editing (GH5)

[KMintyFresh]

I'm looking for a budget Mac laptop (used) that can edit and render 4k videos smoothly.
Preferred specs: quad core i7, ssd (size doesn't matter, lol), and 16gb ram.
Any advice? I'm pretty new to the Apple line, I just keep having windows laptops explode on me constantly.

 

[kohlson]

Which NLE? There seems to be some evidence that FCPX benefits from more GPU capabilities. Less clear on PP and Resolve. If you recording at some of the higher bitrates (100-200 Mbps) you're going to need some storage.

 

[HDFan]

ssd (size doesn't matter, lol)

If you aren't using your internal SSD for storage, what are you using?

that can edit and render 4k videos smoothly.

The answer to that question is relative to what you are doing. How long are the videos, what NLE, how many B-Rolls, effects, etc.?

 

[Sackofnickels]

If you are not using FCP I would suggest looking elsewhere for "affordable"....

 

[KMintyFresh]

ssd (size doesn't matter, lol)

If you aren't using your internal SSD for storage, what are you using?



The answer to that question is relative to what you are doing. How long are the videos, what NLE, how many B-Rolls, effects, etc.?

Hmmm. I'll definitely be using Premiere Pro and Lightroom, if thats the case I'm guessing i'll need around 512gb ssd. I plan on moving whatever project I finish to a portable SSD. The videos I make are relatively short, from around 5mins-15mins, small amount of effects but a ton of B-Roll.
[doublepost=1533395728][/doublepost]I would most likely be editing in a proxy as well.

 

[kohlson]

I'm guessing i'll need around 512gb ssd

That's sounds about right. A film buddy uses PP CS6, which if I understand it correctly works from the AVCHD directly. This helps to keep storage more manageable. I use FCPX, and on a recent project the AVCHD source was 16GB. At various points FCPX fluffed it up well past 100GB (background rendering, and I had lots of b-roll and pics). He says his PP projects stay pretty close to the source size, until final render. I am not saying one NLE or the other is better or worse - there's more to it than that. Anyway, he's been working with a 512GB SSD for 10 years, in HD, with lots of external disks.
Depending on which model you get, there have been some MR threads on increasing PP performance - fast CPU and an SSD for media cache (a second SSD). https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Premiere-Pro-CC-2015-4-Storage-Optimization-854/

 

[KMintyFresh]

Which NLE? There seems to be some evidence that FCPX benefits from more GPU capabilities. Less clear on PP and Resolve. If you recording at some of the higher bitrates (100-200 Mbps) you're going to need some storage.

Premiere Pro

 

[KMintyFresh]

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...-22ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

Planning on getting this one.

 

[kohlson]

A nice system. You'll like the larger screen - video work wants screen real estate.
The storage is a little light. You can either get a USB3 SSD, or upgrade the internal SSD with aftermarket if and when you bump up against capacity.