MacBook Pro 13" 1.4 256/8GB + external GPU vs Pro 13" 1.4 256/16GB - Video editing

[andi87]

Hi guys,

I hope you can help me with my buying decision a little.

Right no I am Running a 15" Retina 2014 (2,2, 16GB) and would be very happy with it... However I'm having problems with it running a 3rd party SSD (Sabrent Rocket) - mainly booting issues and the common Hibernate Problem which is very annoying. The Book is also having the know Thunderbolt driver crash issue, so I can not use the original SSD anymore, it only works properly with another SSD, which consumes a little more power.

I am using the Book with an external monitor and am doing MTB photo (PS) and video editing (4K - FCPX) a lot, no 10 Bit and massive animations however.
The new 13" seems very capable and for travel reasons a little bit smaller would be ok for me.

Do you think a MacBook Pro 1.4 256 13" 8GB + external GPU would be the better option as a Pro 13" 1.4 256 16GB? Both the 1.4 GHZ models. I will be using external SSDs for editing.

For my understanding the MacBook Pro 13" 8GB + external GPU will be quicker in exporting but can be sluggish when editing due to RAM swapping and the 16GB 13" would be smoother in editing but slower in exporting. Am I getting this right?

I might be going to for a 15" as well again but don't wanna spend too much for the setup as Im afraid for future repairs, especially keyboard and GPU problems (which MacBooks are known for and which I had already) and will maybe switching to the 16" later this year as well.

What do you think? Help would be very welcome.

Thanks guys and regards from Germany!

 

[Smeaton1724]

It's difficult to say if you'll get more mileage out of 8GB RAM or an eGPU, the best answer is.... both. You have no eGPU then graphics performance will be weak. Have little RAM and 128GB storage then you'll be paging memory alot and the base storage is 'slow'.

The most flexible solution won't be the cheapest. Macbook Pro 13'' 2019, 1.4Ghz, 16GB RAM + 512GB/1TB SSD + eGPU. The 13'' has the portability and with the eGPU it will deliver more graphics power (Razer Core X Chroma and AMD Vega 56/64).

My reasoning for upgrading the SSD is that the 128GB drive is slow, 256GB is alot faster but from my experience 256GB most things will still be on an external. 512GB gives space to breath and 1TB allows more portability and you won't need externals a lot of the time. Externals affect battery life.

 

[andi87]

It's difficult to say if you'll get more mileage out of 8GB RAM or an eGPU, the best answer is.... both. You have no eGPU then graphics performance will be weak. Have little RAM and 128GB storage then you'll be paging memory alot and the base storage is 'slow'.

The most flexible solution won't be the cheapest. Macbook Pro 13'' 2019, 1.4Ghz, 16GB RAM + 512GB/1TB SSD + eGPU. The 13'' has the portability and with the eGPU it will deliver more graphics power (Razer Core X Chroma and AMD Vega 56/64).

My reasoning for upgrading the SSD is that the 128GB drive is slow, 256GB is alot faster but from my experience 256GB most things will still be on an external. 512GB gives space to breath and 1TB allows more portability and you won't need externals a lot of the time. Externals affect battery life.

Thanks for the reply Smeaton, I appreciate it!

Sorry I should have mentioned that I would have chosen the 1.4 with 256 anyway (+1TB NVME external), 128 would have definitely been to small. Do you know the R/W speeds of the 256 Model btw.?

I lean to the 16GB/512GB model - however the recent YouTube Videos have shown that the 8GB/128 with eGPU ist plenty powerful (reaching 15" area!) - I found it just confusing that nobody talked about RAM, especially when they run a lot of FCPX tests.

I found 4K editing with my recent machine (15" retina 2,0 - 8GB) quite good, that's why I thought just going for the 8GB/256 Model.

Maybe there is someone around here who has identical usage scenario.

Cheers!