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PaulMac89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2020
11
3
Brampton, Ontario
I'm considering buying a 27-inch base 2020 iMac and adding RAM myself. I'm a teacher, and am thinking of buying the Pro Apps Bundle for Education. This includes Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, Logic Pro X, and MainStage 3.

Right now I use iMovie to make very short videos for use in online teaching. I'm thinking that if there are more Zoom outages, I may have to make longer instructional videos that students can download and watch.

I am on a budget of $2800 - 3000 Canadian, and that has to include the iMac ($2,269), tax ($300) and RAM ($200).

Has anyone here purchased this Bundle and used it? What do you think of it?

Given the cost in Canada, ($259.99), would it be worth getting the bundle?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
If you plan to use Logic and Final Cut Pro, then it is definitely worth the cost. I can’t remember what I paid; it was either $100 cheaper than FCPX by itself, or the same cost. So it’s like buying FCPX and getting free copies of Logic Pro X and Mainstage 3, which are the two programs in this bundle I use the most.

If you haven’t used FCPX before, prepare for a learning curve when moving on from iMovie. You may want to check out some
YouTube tutorials so you know what you’re getting into with FCPX.
 
Wow, what specs are you getting on your iMac? I’ve taught classes for several years using FCPX as our editing platform, I use a base model iMac i5 27” with a 1tb SSD, from 2017. It handles what my students are doing in 4K with aplomb.
 
Where are you in Canada?

I recently got a 27" iMac 2017 with the Radeon Pro 580 upgrade for $2k and it's been doing great. I upgraded to 40gb of ram for about $150? I think it might be a really good value. Not sure what much more you're getting out of a 2020 realistically (the 2017 has Thunderbolt 3).

Re: the bundle, I've only used Logic Pro (which I bought before I knew there was a teacher bundle, wonder if there is any discount upgrading to it), but I'm really impressed at the level of quality in the tools, including additional support on iPad (at least for my light-but-increasing needs).
 
Sinequanon83, I'm in Brampton, just outside Toronto. I hadn't thought of getting a 2017 iMac, but that's an excellent idea. Where did you buy yours, and what are its other specs? The model you describe would meet my needs perfectly.
 
Sinequanon83, I'm in Brampton, just outside Toronto. I hadn't thought of getting a 2017 iMac, but that's an excellent idea. Where did you buy yours, and what are its other specs? The model you describe would meet my needs perfectly.
Oh fun, I’m in Etobicoke :)

I went with Clickon Macs in Toronto. I emailed them about a computer they had on stock. They were really thorough in describing how the computer would perform vs the MacBook Pro I was upgrading to.

My particular model his the 3.8 GHz i5 with a 2 tb fusion drive. i am looking over the invoice and recalling they did the ram for about $250. That was in the height of the pandemic and I was just like “let them do it”, but I probably could have gotten a better deal and installed myself.
 
I'm considering buying a 27-inch base 2020 iMac and adding RAM myself. I'm a teacher, and am thinking of buying the Pro Apps Bundle for Education. This includes Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, Logic Pro X, and MainStage 3.

Right now I use iMovie to make very short videos for use in online teaching. I'm thinking that if there are more Zoom outages, I may have to make longer instructional videos that students can download and watch.

I am on a budget of $2800 - 3000 Canadian, and that has to include the iMac ($2,269), tax ($300) and RAM ($200).

Has anyone here purchased this Bundle and used it? What do you think of it?

Given the cost in Canada, ($259.99), would it be worth getting the bundle?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Well, Final Cut Pro X by itself is $300 US. When my daughter was in school, the bundle was $200 US. Since we use FCPx regularly, it was a no brainer... we also use Motion 5 regularly... like others have said, though, if you do not need or won't use any of the software, then why waste your money?
 
I’m a huge fan of FCPX and Logic — and the education bundle is a great price. The software is great too and Apple basically offers a perpetual upgrade for what feels like forever (I bought FCPX in 2011 or 2012...which is crazy to think about) — plus you can use it on all your Macs.

That said, for what you’re creating, you might be just as well suited with Camtasia or ScreenFlow. Cost wise, they might not be much cheaper (but check with your institution for potential discounts in addition to the educational prices both apps offer), but the software is a bit easier to use, especially if you’re doing intercuts with stuff recorded on your screen. The education bundle is a great deal but FCPX can get complicated so you might want to try trials of ScreenFlow or Camtasia first.
 
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Do you need the software? Then yes.
Do you not need the software? Then no.
Mic-drop moment. Not sure what other answer one could possibly need?! An answer that obviously only you can provide!

I mean, c'mon! With the ed-bundle, you're getting FIVE APPS for LESS that the price of just FCP by itself!
So… seriously? What is there to ponder?? And there are always 90-day trial versions of both FCP and Logic!

🤦🏼‍♂️
 
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But not the Fusion Drive... 😂😂😂
Honestly when my needs to store things that are going to take up a significant amount of the free TB I’ve got (after moving my other computer to the iMac), I’ll be buying a far faster external, so it’s all good.
 
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Not sure what much more you're getting out of a 2020 realistically (the 2017 has Thunderbolt 3).
Depending on the model, but taking the standard i7 option in each generation as an example, you only get 4 cores in the 2017 i7 vs 8 in the 2020 model. The 2020 model also adds the T2 chip to speed up video encoding, and you get double the VRAM.
 
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