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Macbook Retina vs iMac 5K vs Mac Pro for Editing

E

emrn

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 17, 2010
8
0
Hi People,

I own a start up company producing short films and tv commercials. I am a beginner in final cut and premiere pro.

I need a computer that will last me for a good 5-7 years without impacting on performance and would like to slowly upgrade my knowledge and skills on video editing.

My budget is 4.5K. I love the new retina imac but also want the portability factor as the computer I pick will be my primary machine. I'd need to edit raw footage shot from a 4K camera.

Is the retina macbook pro mid range with 16Gb worth it and capable of working with raw footage and rendering? I know next year Apple may upgrade their retina notebooks to 32Gb RAM. I had a macbook pro from 2010 and it had 4Gb but after a year-two it started to slow down. My only concern is that if i purchase the rMBP, after 2 years, it will slow down and may impact my work/business.

Please shed some light. I also intend to do css, python and html coding (not too much) and also run photoshop.

Thanks so much in advance
 
That's a tough call, but I'd say the 5k iMac. I don't think the rMBP will give you the longevity you're hoping for, it could but I doubt it. With a 4.5k budget you could get a slightly upgraded Mac Pro, but taking into consideration necessary peripheral purchases probably not too many upgrades. That leaves the 5k iMac which gives you a great screen to edit 4k video on and with a 4.5k budget you can pretty much max it out and get some long term performance from it. My two cents.
 
jdphoto said:
That's a tough call, but I'd say the 5k iMac. I don't think the rMBP will give you the longevity you're hoping for, it could but I doubt it. With a 4.5k budget you could get a slightly upgraded Mac Pro, but taking into consideration necessary peripheral purchases probably not too many upgrades. That leaves the 5k iMac which gives you a great screen to edit 4k video on and with a 4.5k budget you can pretty much max it out and get some long term performance from it. My two cents.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%. If you had a little more money the mac pro would be a good choice, but a maxed out 5k iMac is the best choice in your budget and will definitely last you for some time (as i type on my flawlessly preforming 2009 iMac).
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the information. I live in Australia and the Mac Pros have a $700-800 tax on them making it $5.5K for the 6core mac pro /:
 
emrn said:
Hi guys,

Thanks for the information. I live in Australia and the Mac Pros have a $700-800 tax on them making it $5.5K for the 6core mac pro /:
Click to expand...

That's unfortunate. If that's true then the iMac is definitely the best option. You will enjoy it for sure.
 
Hey guys

Sorry for the trouble again. But will the rMacbook pro give me at least 2-3 years?

I'm thinking of saving some money and purchasing DaVinci Resolve which costs a thousand dollars. Anyone experienced in using da Vinci with MacBook retina? Performance issues?

Is it worth it to get maxed cpu? 2.5 vs 2.8? Thanks
 
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