Is the 13'' MBP up to video editing

[Splutterbug]

I posted a couple of days ago with problems with my Macboo Pro screen and it's now officially died and it's upgrade time so as it's a bit unexpected I was hoping for a little help.

My options are really the 13 or 15 Macbook Pro, I'll be using a little photoshop, a little FCP (mostly shorts and showreels) with 1080p footage from a Canon 550D. Majority of use will be word processors, surfing the web, converting some video, what I guess you'd call home use. My last machine lasted about 4.5 years and I'd be looking to get the same out of this so from a future proof point of view is the 13'' too underpowered? I was particularly worried about it being dual and not quad core and the graphics card

btw my reasons for being torn between these two aren't portability but budget

 

[SandboxGeneral]

The MacBook Pro is well suited for video editing, hence the Pro tag on the model.

 

[kahkityoong]

The bottom of the current MBP range (13") beats the top of the previous range (17") in benchmark tests so I would say the 13" is up to the job. Make sure you upgrade to 8GB RAM.

 

[zedsdead]

The 15" with the higher resolution option would be your best bet. The quad-core and graphics card will be important, especially if you use Final Cut Pro X which can take advantage of the extra cores and processing power.

 

[Simplicated]

I posted a couple of days ago with problems with my Macboo Pro screen and it's now officially died and it's upgrade time so as it's a bit unexpected I was hoping for a little help.

My options are really the 13 or 15 Macbook Pro, I'll be using a little photoshop, a little FCP (mostly shorts and showreels) with 1080p footage from a Canon 550D. Majority of use will be word processors, surfing the web, converting some video, what I guess you'd call home use. My last machine lasted about 4.5 years and I'd be looking to get the same out of this so from a future proof point of view is the 13'' too underpowered? I was particularly worried about it being dual and not quad core and the graphics card

btw my reasons for being torn between these two aren't portability but budget

It works pretty well but make sure, as the above poster told you, to upgrade to 8GB RAM for optimal performance.

The MacBook Pro is well suited for video editing, hence the Pro tag on the model.

MacBook Pro is great for video editing. But Final Cut Pro X...

 

[dagamer34]

Photo and video editing is probably one of the few things that scales linearly with CPU power. I think you should go for the quad-core here, even the base model, should you want your system to last a few years.

As far as budgets go, I feel it's better to wait longer and save for a better system that better suits your needs than to set a strict budget and "hope for the best".

 

[Splutterbug]

Thanks guys, usually I'd wait and save but with my current one on it's last legs the sooner the better for me, nice to know the 13'' seems more than capable. I think I'll take the wife to a store at the weekend and we can try them both out and see which we prefer in terms of both screen size and speed

 

[windowstomac]

I adore my 13.3" MBP but for video editing....it has no dedicated graphics card, and the screen resolution is pretty low....perhaps save for the 15"

 

[Splutterbug]

You've all convinced me, just put an order in for a 15 on Amazon which was about 10% cheaper than the Apple store!

I have a time machine backup of my other laptop so now it's a case of do I just start from scratch and re-install programmes manually on the new clean machine or do some kind of restore from Time Machine? I'm tempted to try to start from scratch and only copy across what I really need and make it all a bit more stream lined, I could always restore if it feels like a bit too much work. Is it advised to stick with the clean install or does it not really make a difference?

 

[davmcn]

I posted a couple of days ago with problems with my Macboo Pro screen and it's now officially died and it's upgrade time so as it's a bit unexpected I was hoping for a little help.

My options are really the 13 or 15 Macbook Pro, I'll be using a little photoshop, a little FCP (mostly shorts and showreels) with 1080p footage from a Canon 550D. Majority of use will be word processors, surfing the web, converting some video, what I guess you'd call home use. My last machine lasted about 4.5 years and I'd be looking to get the same out of this so from a future proof point of view is the 13'' too underpowered? I was particularly worried about it being dual and not quad core and the graphics card

btw my reasons for being torn between these two aren't portability but budget

What's your budget for your computer.

Honestly the i5 in the MBP 13' is going to be more than capable of doing FCP and photoshop, but if your worried, go for the 15' base model, it has a decent graphics card and has a quad in it. Best of luck