PURCHASE ADVICE ON A BUDGET

[wowow13]

hey guys i hope im posting correctly as this is my first port

here is my dilemma

i do audio and video for a hobby not for work and because its not my "work" i dont have a big budget for a super mac pro

i plan on running some audio programs such as logic or ableton but also video production programs like final cut after effects and/or adobe products ..

i posted in this forum because from what i hear the video programs require more power than the audio so if it works for the video ill have enough power

a friend recommended me getting a used 2012 macbook pro with an i7 processor .. replacing the SSD with a 1TB samsung 850 pro and adding 16GB of ram .which should cost me appx $1300 canadian
my only drawback is the bulkiness of the macbook

then i was looking online and i see i can get anywhere from a 2013-2015 i7 which is the thinner retina from what i understand for a bit more .. hover i think 2012 was the last year you can upgrade the guts ..

does any one have any other options or feedback ? im sorry if these are rookie questions just didnt know where to start

tnx

 

[Fishrrman]

Newer models will have a better GPU which may (or may not) help with video.

Will your video be 1080p or 4k?

 

[wowow13]

Newer models will have a better GPU which may (or may not) help with video.

Will your video be 1080p or 4k?

im thinking 4k

ive been doing research all night and i think i may go with a 2015 model .. my problem now is that i prefer a 13" but the 3.1 processor only had 2 cores and im not sure if thats bad .. i saw a you tube video showing more cores are better for rendering times

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"i think i may go with a 2015 model .. my problem now is that i prefer a 13" but the 3.1 processor only had 2 cores and im not sure if thats bad"

I don't consider myself an expert, but I doubt that setup is going to be a good performer for 4k video. It's probably going to chug along, if you get my drift. Perhaps others will jump in and correct me.

If you REALLY want to do 4k, you should be looking at an iMac 27" with an i7 CPU -- along with LOTS of external fast storage...

 

[BeechFlyer]

If you REALLY want to do 4k, you should be looking at an iMac 27" with an i7 CPU -- along with LOTS of external fast storage...

wowow13, I think the above is fair advice. The screen of a 13" MBP will not allow you to view the final result of your 4K work. To make editing bearable, you'd probably need to create proxy files in HD resolution and render the final result in 4K - that's probably not too bad for workflow.

I have both a 13" MBP and a 27" iMac, for mostly HD and occasional 4K video work, and the large screen of the iMac makes it sooooo much easier.

 

[wowow13]

i appreciate you guys .. i was thinking a 27" but i need a laptop because i'm on the rd alot i was also thinking to get a dock to connect to 2 27" screens
so i think im going to go 2015 15" retina i7 with 16ram 512SSD

 

[BeechFlyer]

I think you'll be happy with that configuration (15" MBP, i7, 16GB). Even adding just one large external monitor will be a great addition. Maybe even before that, think about what external storage solution you'll want in the long run (e.g. Thunderbolt RAID) and maybe start getting the first building blocks for that, for you'll soon find that 512GB SSD isn't a whole lot for video editing these days.

 

[wowow13]

I think you'll be happy with that configuration (15" MBP, i7, 16GB). Even adding just one large external monitor will be a great addition. Maybe even before that, think about what external storage solution you'll want in the long run (e.g. Thunderbolt RAID) and maybe start getting the first building blocks for that, for you'll soon find that 512GB SSD isn't a whole lot for video editing these days.

thank you .. i will be adding an external for sure .. .. i just with there was a 13" that was powerful enough
thank you all for your advice !!!