PC to Mac Transition

[srs2582]

Hi guys,

I need some buying advice!

Background:
I have been a PC user for the past twenty years and now I am considering moving to a mac. For many years, I have resisted moving to a mac because of the cost barrier but now I find the itch too persistent to ignore it anymore. I am a freelance filmmaker and photographer. I do a lot of photo and video editing. Most of it is straight forward but sometimes, I end up in After Effects. I also use Resolve Lite for grading. I am planning to move from Premiere to FCP and Motion.

Choosing a mac:
I am currently working on a laptop with an i7-quad core processor(i7-2670QM), 2GB nvidia graphics card and 8GB of RAM. I went through the line up of new Mac Book Pros and I don't see anything more than a dual-core i5 in the 13" variants. The 15" models are way beyond my reach. I will be editing not more than 2k files in either blackmagic's prores variant or XAVC, AVCHD. The iMacs seem too outdated in terms of specs. I would prefer mobility, though, because I have a job that requires me to travel once in a few months at the least.

My question is - will the new 13" models, specifically the $1,499 one, match up to my current laptop's specs? Also, how much of future-proofing can I expect from this purchase? I change my laptop every two years out of wear and tear. Considering the cost of macs, I would like to elongate my purchase cycle. Is this feasible?

I have consulted my friends who use macs but no one is able to give me an answer except, "macs are awesome, pcs are sh*t" :/ If I can get a well-reasoned out and qualitative argument to make the purchase, it'll be really helpful for me to decide.

Thanks in advance,
S

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hi guys,

I need some buying advice!

Background:
I have been a PC user for the past twenty years and now I am considering moving to a mac. For many years, I have resisted moving to a mac because of the cost barrier but now I find the itch too persistent to ignore it anymore. I am a freelance filmmaker and photographer. I do a lot of photo and video editing. Most of it is straight forward but sometimes, I end up in After Effects. I also use Resolve Lite for grading. I am planning to move from Premiere to FCP and Motion.

Choosing a mac:
I am currently working on a laptop with an i7-quad core processor(i7-2670QM), 2GB nvidia graphics card and 8GB of RAM. I went through the line up of new Mac Book Pros and I don't see anything more than a dual-core i5 in the 13" variants. The 15" models are way beyond my reach. I will be editing not more than 2k files in either blackmagic's prores variant or XAVC, AVCHD. The iMacs seem too outdated in terms of specs. I would prefer mobility, though, because I have a job that requires me to travel once in a few months at the least.

My question is - will the new 13" models, specifically the $1,499 one, match up to my current laptop's specs? Also, how much of future-proofing can I expect from this purchase? I change my laptop every two years out of wear and tear. Considering the cost of macs, I would like to elongate my purchase cycle. Is this feasible?

I have consulted my friends who use macs but no one is able to give me an answer except, "macs are awesome, pcs are sh*t" :/ If I can get a well-reasoned out and qualitative argument to make the purchase, it'll be really helpful for me to decide.

Thanks in advance,
S

No the 13 inch won't come close to a quad core and dedicated graphics card.

For your use case if you can't go for the 15 inch one (remember to take a look at the refurbished store for some great prices, or B&H or Best buy open box etc even amazon has some good deals) then don't bother....

 

[srs2582]

No the 13 inch won't come close to a quad core and dedicated graphics card.

Thanks for hitting the nail on the head... I'm not sure there's a refurbished option over here but I will look into it.

Thank you so much!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks for hitting the nail on the head... I'm not sure there's a refurbished option over here but I will look into it.

Thank you so much!

Where are you, if in the uk then your best prices are amazon and apple refurbished.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Hi guys,

I need some buying advice!

Background:
I have been a PC user for the past twenty years and now I am considering moving to a mac. For many years, I have resisted moving to a mac because of the cost barrier but now I find the itch too persistent to ignore it anymore. I am a freelance filmmaker and photographer. I do a lot of photo and video editing. Most of it is straight forward but sometimes, I end up in After Effects. I also use Resolve Lite for grading. I am planning to move from Premiere to FCP and Motion.

Choosing a mac:
I am currently working on a laptop with an i7-quad core processor(i7-2670QM), 2GB nvidia graphics card and 8GB of RAM. I went through the line up of new Mac Book Pros and I don't see anything more than a dual-core i5 in the 13" variants. The 15" models are way beyond my reach. I will be editing not more than 2k files in either blackmagic's prores variant or XAVC, AVCHD. The iMacs seem too outdated in terms of specs. I would prefer mobility, though, because I have a job that requires me to travel once in a few months at the least.

My question is - will the new 13" models, specifically the $1,499 one, match up to my current laptop's specs? Also, how much of future-proofing can I expect from this purchase? I change my laptop every two years out of wear and tear. Considering the cost of macs, I would like to elongate my purchase cycle. Is this feasible?

I have consulted my friends who use macs but no one is able to give me an answer except, "macs are awesome, pcs are sh*t" :/ If I can get a well-reasoned out and qualitative argument to make the purchase, it'll be really helpful for me to decide.

Thanks in advance,
S

13" won't cut the mustard with CPU processing. Get the 15". What I can recommend in terms of why you'll have a good Mac experience:

- Quad Core i7 processors in the 15" models -- may be best to wait until October as there's likely to be a refresh with new Intel processors
- Exceedingly fast Flash storage, which is quicker the higher the storage (Flash chips work in parallel). On the current 2015 15" 256GB model I benchmarked at 1.4GB/s write & 1.8GB/s read. That's quicker than 2xSSDs in RAID, it's exceptionally, stupidly quick. Older models will be slower however.
- Force Touch trackpad: the trackpads in general on Macs are really great. 4-finger gestures, and the Force Touch means it's purely magnetic/tricks you into thinking it's clicking. So you can click anywhere on the trackpad and it's consistent, rather than on the older models where clicking wasn't consistent due to it being on a hinge.
- OS X. Much prefer it over Windows, though that's personal preference.
- Retina display. It looks like text/images are painted on. Looks gorgeous. Also the colour is really really good, fantastic for images.
- Unparalleled battery life for a computer this powerful.
- Gorgeously thin. Most Windows laptop users don't really care about this but when you see it you'll realise it's a thing of beauty.

Sorry to gush here - there's a lot I don't like about Apple but every time we get a 15" Retina in the office I get envy about how beautiful they are and how quickly they run - and that's compared to my computer (15" 2012 MBP with 16GB RAM/1TB 840 EVO SSD.) They really are the best laptops on the market right now, IMHO.

Again best to wait until Sep/Oct to see if they refresh with the new Intel chips and/or adjust pricing/base storage.

 

[srs2582]

Where are you, if in the uk then your best prices are amazon and apple refurbished.

I'm in India. I jumped the gun - refurbished ones are available here but I've never met anyone who's bought refurbished Apple products. I need to do some research regarding this.

 

[srs2582]

Sorry to gush here - there's a lot I don't like about Apple but every time we get a 15" Retina in the office I get envy about how beautiful they are...
Again best to wait until Sep/Oct to see if they refresh with the new Intel chips and/or adjust pricing/base storage.

I know, that damn thing looks so darn good. I will hold on until Sep/Oct, as you suggest, but if they don't bump up the line, I'm going to stick to a pc...

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Refurbished are at least as good as new, the extra testing means that you get a machine that has had any defects or little issues corrected. Everyone on here who has expressed an opinion, I have read, has nothing but great things to say about apple refurbished.

However having seen the troubles of others in india with getting support and parts etc for their apple products you may be better off with a PC anyway, at least there are lots of places that will fix it and readily available parts when needed.