Which is beter for Final Cut editing?

[tarsierspectral]

I currently have a 2012 iMac.

Here are the specs for my current iMac:
27" iMac (late 2012)
Processor: 3.4 GHz Core i7
Memory: 32GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048MB
HD: 3TB Fusion Drive

Will this MacBook Pro outperform my current iMac?
MacBook Pro 15"
Processor: 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
Memory: 16GB
Graphics: Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB memory
HD: 1TB SSD

Thank you

 

[Johnsyounger]

Final Cut X will benefit from more cores. So assuming the iMac is 2 core, then the MacBook Pro.

 

[joema2]

I currently have a 2012 iMac...Will this MacBook Pro outperform my current iMac?...

The GeekBench4 numbers for your two listed machines are:

2012 iMac 27 CPU performance: 3,912 single core - 12,356 multi-core
2012 iMac 27 GPU performance: 30,000

2016 15" MacBook Pro CPU performance: 4,350 single core - 13,700 multi-core
2016 15" MacBook Pro GPU performance: 54,242

In general the MBP is only a little faster on the CPU side but it's GPU is considerably faster. The 1TB SSD will be vastly faster than the 3TB Fusion Drive but with video editing you normally have your content on an external drive.

 

[tarsierspectral]

Final Cut X will benefit from more cores. So assuming the iMac is 2 core, then the MacBook Pro.

thanks
[doublepost=1486562312][/doublepost]

The GeekBench4 numbers for your two listed machines are:

2012 iMac 27 CPU performance: 3,912 single core - 12,356 multi-core
2012 iMac 27 GPU performance: 30,000

2016 15" MacBook Pro CPU performance: 4,350 single core - 13,700 multi-core
2016 15" MacBook Pro GPU performance: 54,242

In general the MBP is only a little faster on the CPU side but it's GPU is considerably faster. The 1TB SSD will be vastly faster than the 3TB Fusion Drive but with video editing you normally have your content on an external drive.

Thank you. Yes, my content is on external Thunderbolt drive, which I might not be able to use with the new MacBook Pro. I haven't looked what they have for adapters.

 

[e1me5]

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter

There you go!

 

[tarsierspectral]

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter

There you go!

thank you

 

[sevoneone]

Final Cut Pro X is generally better optimized for AMD graphics and well performing OpenCL cards and it is very likely why Apple went with AMD over Nvidia on the new MBP. Depending on the type of video you work on, you should see solid gains.

CPUs I would call a wash. Synthetic benchmarks are not real world performance. A desktop chip has a higher thermal envelope and will be able to maintain peak performance for longer periods. The i7 in your iMac might actually be faster in real world tests than the one in the MBP. All things equal, the difference would be hardly noticeable.

Depending on the type and length of project, RAM might be an important factor. Your iMac has 32GB, the MBP has, and is stuck at, 16GB.

Using external storage should be more or less equal.

My advice: Get the MBP if you need portability. Otherwise, desktops always provide way more performance for your money when it comes to design/media. The next iMac update should bring Kaby Lake,support upto 64GB RAM, and have grapics equivilent to an RX 470 or RX 480.

Might be worth sticking it out to see what happens.

 

[joema2]

...Get the MBP if you need portability. Otherwise, desktops always provide way more performance for your money when it comes to design/media. The next iMac update should bring Kaby Lake,support upto 64GB RAM, and have grapics equivilent to an RX 470 or RX 480. Might be worth sticking it out to see what happens.

I second this, and I would say "Get the MBP *only* if you *absolutely* require portability AND will regularly be doing major editing tasks in the field. In all other cases a 2017 iMac 27 (whenever that is released) will be a better choice. If you need a relatively inexpensive laptop for utility tasks in the field (e.g, consolidating files from SD cards), get a used MacBook Air off eBay.

 

[3568378]

In general the MBP is only a little faster on the CPU side but it's GPU is considerably faster. The 1TB SSD will be vastly faster than the 3TB Fusion Drive but with video editing you normally have your content on an external drive.

+1 on the SSD comment. Your fusion drive has a portion that is SS but the majority of your content would have been stored on the platter side which that year was probably 5400 RPM. That's 2004 technology . The SSD will be awesome - you can of course hook up an external drive but if your projects are small enough keep them on the SSD and take advantage of the speed. I have a 2015 with 512 SSD and though I shoot everything in 4K and the project files are 200-300 GB, I don't keep much else on my computer so I'm able to keep the files and thus do all the editing all on the SSD and it's fantastic. Once I finish the project I dump it to an external storage option.