Which MacBook Pro is best for me?

[stayreckless]

Im a senior in high school and i go to a school for Film Production and Photography. Im looking for a MacBook Pro that will run really well with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. At school we use iMacs & they run great for editing. Ive been looking at these 2 MacBooks & cant seem to figure out which one would be better. I can do some upgrading in the future and also get an external hard drive. heres the 2 im down to:

1.) http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A#overview

2.) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...&skuId=5430505&st=apple macbook pro&cp=1&lp=5


or do you suggest another MacBook. i need it to be portable so dont tell me to get an iMac. & i dont wanna go over $1600 unless i really have to.

Thanks very much!

 

[aircanman]

Im a senior in high school and i go to a school for Film Production and Photography. Im looking for a MacBook Pro that will run really well with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. At school we use iMacs & they run great for editing. Ive been looking at these 2 MacBooks & cant seem to figure out which one would be better. I can do some upgrading in the future and also get an external hard drive. heres the 2 im down to:

1.) http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A#overview

2.) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...&skuId=5430505&st=apple macbook pro&cp=1&lp=5


or do you suggest another MacBook. i need it to be portable so dont tell me to get an iMac. & i dont wanna go over $1600 unless i really have to.

Thanks very much!

It depends on the screen size you are after, personally I don't think the GPU will matter that much, the intel 4000 is no slouch.

8GB ram may help you. So spec that.

 

[Greg M]

Im a senior in high school and i go to a school for Film Production and Photography. Im looking for a MacBook Pro that will run really well with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. At school we use iMacs & they run great for editing. Ive been looking at these 2 MacBooks & cant seem to figure out which one would be better. I can do some upgrading in the future and also get an external hard drive. heres the 2 im down to:

1.) http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A#overview

2.) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...&skuId=5430505&st=apple macbook pro&cp=1&lp=5


or do you suggest another MacBook. i need it to be portable so dont tell me to get an iMac. & i dont wanna go over $1600 unless i really have to.

Thanks very much!

1) Not 13" because they are substantially slower then the 15" models.
2) Not glossy because that "mirror" screen will be horrible in a bright florescence lit classroom.
3) Early 2011 15" MBP or later because you can use up to 16gb of ram and they have a quad core processor.
4) Remove superdrive and install a second HDD because video software benefits greatly from a second HDD for your video files.
5) When you do the hard drive upgrade get at least a 128gb SSD for your main drive and at least a 500gb 7200rpm hard drive for your files. The file drive doesn't have to be an SSD because it is mostly for file storage. With 16gb of ram you'll be working mostly from the ram. The drive will be for reading the file, not so much working on the file.

The real benefit of the 2012 over the 2011 is USB 3 for external file storage. USB 3 is plenty fast, readily available, and considerably cheaper then thunderbolt.

These suggestions are going to be more then your desired budget but it can be done in stages. It will also be a much more capable tool for what you'll be using it for.

BTW, make these upgrades yourself. Don't buy Apple ram or Apple's SSD.

 

[dhartung02]

I dont think you would go wrong with either of those options.

 

[Greg M]

I dont think you would go wrong with either of those options.

For photography I agree but for Film Production there would be a substantial difference in rendering. Quad core vs dual core and the difference in the graphics capability. If the laptop is the only computer then there will be much less frustration with the 15" then the 13".

 

[golu14]

Im a senior in high school and i go to a school for Film Production and Photography. Im looking for a MacBook Pro that will run really well with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. At school we use iMacs & they run great for editing. Ive been looking at these 2 MacBooks & cant seem to figure out which one would be better. I can do some upgrading in the future and also get an external hard drive. heres the 2 im down to:

1.) http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A#overview

2.) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...&skuId=5430505&st=apple macbook pro&cp=1&lp=5


or do you suggest another MacBook. i need it to be portable so dont tell me to get an iMac. & i dont wanna go over $1600 unless i really have to.

Thanks very much!

Go with the base retina, or if money is an issue, the older 15" one with upgraded memory. But dont leave anything for the future ;D make most of now.

 

[Greg M]

Go with the base retina, or if money is an issue, the older 15" one with upgraded memory. But dont leave anything for the future ;D make most of now.

For film processing having 2 drives improves performance considerably. With a regular MBP you can add a 2nd drive which you can't do with the retina. It's not about the size of the drive, it's about having 2 separate drives.

Also I doubt that Final Cut Pro will ever be optimized for the retina which is another reason against the retina.

The retina is NOT Apple's best laptop for every circumstance. I love mine but I have a dedicated hackintosh for video editing. If my MBP was my main computer for editing I certainly wouldn't have purchased a retina.

 

[InlawBiker]

I was considering both of those same MBP's for pretty much the same tasks. I went with the 2011 15" base MBP.

I agree with the others it's a better choice for video. Quad cores is nice to have for rendering. The larger screen will make your life a bit easier, and it's somewhat cheaper than the 2012 13" high-end MBP. It's something like $1379 refurbished, which will enable you to put 16gb RAM into it and still be under $1600.

I did put 16gb into mine the other day, it was $79 at Newegg and a snap to install. You should have a respectable video editing station with this setup.