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iMac Pro or 15'' MacBook Pro + 5k Display

  • iMac Pro

    Votes: 7 70.0%
  • 15'' MacBook Pro + 5k Display

    Votes: 3 30.0%

  • Total voters
    10

tomdwan

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 19, 2015
37
18
Hi,

I do some video editing (1080p at the moment and 4k in the future) and podcasting.
I am well aware, that this is some pretty light work and that the iMac Pro is total overkill for that.

Nevertheless, I have a budget of $5.000 that I will either spend on:
- a 15'' MacBook Pro + a 5k display
- a base iMac Pro

Just in terms of value for money, what would you advise (I mostly work from home)?
Given my work, would I even notice the benefits from the iMac Pro (mostly rendering and exporting files from Final Cut Pro and Logic)?

My thinking is: even if I don't really need the iMac Pro, if it can speed up my work compared to the MacBook Pro, it will probably be worth it.

Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
Last edited:

pajako

macrumors member
Dec 22, 2017
79
79
I am ‘downgrading’ from a MacBookPro 15” tb with ultrafine displays to an iMac Pro. Reason: I rarely need the portability of a notebook and I never saw a real increase in needed speed when I upgraded my late 2014 MBpro with the late 2016 MBpro. And regularly I find that I would love some more snappyness and speed when working hard so I hope moving to an iMac Pro will deliver.
I am afraid the culprit is Adobe CC though, but I will find out in a couple of weeks...
 

tomdwan

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 19, 2015
37
18
I am ‘downgrading’ from a MacBookPro 15” tb with ultrafine displays to an iMac Pro. Reason: I rarely need the portability of a notebook and I never saw a real increase in needed speed when I upgraded my late 2014 MBpro with the late 2016 MBpro. And regularly I find that I would love some more snappyness and speed when working hard so I hope moving to an iMac Pro will deliver.
I am afraid the culprit is Adobe CC though, but I will find out in a couple of weeks...


Thanks for your reply.
What config are you going to get?
 

Bryan Bowler

macrumors 601
Sep 27, 2008
4,053
4,430
The first thing to evaluate is whether or not you need the portability of a laptop. If the answer is yes, then you need a MBP. If the answer is no, then your money would be better spent on an iMac.

For your current usage, a high end 2017 iMac (with base-level RAM that you upgrade yourself to 32 GB) would totally serve your needs and serve them well. Also, with a 2017 iMac, you could very easily bump up to 64 GB of RAM in 4-5 years. If you have no need to save that extra $1,300, then you certainly could buy an iMac Pro now and it’s a nice machine to have, but it’s not really needed for what you do now.
 
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