Which Macbook Pro is sutable? Final cut pro - Video Rendering

[Brendan Del]

I'm sure this has been discussed amongst other threads but i have yet to see a thread which focuses on video rendering/intensive apps which require a lot of juice.

I am looking to purchase my first Macbook and have been looking at the 13inch with the 2.7ghz processor but coming from a PC with all of the high end specs etc. i noticed the graphics card isn't the best and the only option would to be going with the 15inch 2.2ghz with the 1GB video card. Or maybe even the 15inch with the 2.0ghz and the 256mb graphics card is enough? I can't keep up with all these new specs...

I would mainly be using this computer from schoolwork as i am shortly starting my final years but i would also be using the computer for many different intensive apps such as final cut, photoshop, etc.

What would everyones recommendations be between these two laptops? Obviously there is a huge difference in performance but would it be possible to do full hd video rendering with the 13inch with some multi-tasking etc? I'm a little tight on the money and there are rumors on a new macbook pro design coming out early next year so i'm not sure if i should get a 13inch now and then in a year get a new 15inch, or simply get a 15inch now.

I'm very stumbled at the moment and would greatly appreciate any help.

 

[GGJstudios]

I'm sure this has been discussed amongst other threads but i have yet to see a thread which focuses on video rendering/intensive apps which require a lot of juice.

Anyone using their MBPro for Video Rendering?
2011 Macbook Pro 13" for Video Editing

 

[cambookpro]

I bought the 2011 MBP for FCP as well.

Here are my specs:

2.2GHz Quad Intel i7
ATI Radeon HD 6750M 1GB
8GB RAM (3rd party, of course)
750GB HD

Seems to be really good at rendering and FCP in general.

 

[Brendan Del]

I bought the 2011 MBP for FCP as well.

Here are my specs:

2.2GHz Quad Intel i7
ATI Radeon HD 6750M 1GB
8GB RAM (3rd party, of course)
750GB HD

Seems to be really good at rendering and FCP in general.

Great laptop that is and im sure it has no problem rendering in final cut but my concern is does the 13inch have enough power to render such high quality video with effects, transitions etc. I've heard the graphics card is kind of a put down to the system and thats my only concern :/

 

[ecschwarz]

Ah, yes, avoiding the editing labs...

Any of the current Macs will render video just fine...you may just have to wait a little longer on some. I still do some video work on my MacBook Pro (Early 2008 - 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 256MB graphics card) and the biggest performance gain was when I upgraded the RAM.

Not to sound like a jerk, but just a few years ago the "ultimate" video editing Mac had a PowerPC processor and is considered a dinosaur due to the architecture change. In fact, I got through the later years of college with a G4 Mac mini for a lot of "take home" projects—it was a dog even by pro video standards then, but I wasn't waiting too long. Then again, it was standard definition video...

Now, it's more that it can run software to take care of the Intel chips, 64-bit processing, and that you have enough RAM. Pick a form factor that you like best and max out the RAM from one of the usual online tech retailers (Apple overcharges). You may even opt for the 13" with an external display (then you have a small portable, but also dual screens, which really comes in handy for editing/previewing content). These should have no problem handling HD (even a 3-year-old Core 2 Duo can suffice). ;-)

 

[Mac-key]

Great laptop that is and im sure it has no problem rendering in final cut but my concern is does the 13inch have enough power to render such high quality video with effects, transitions etc. I've heard the graphics card is kind of a put down to the system and thats my only concern :/

I run the full Final cut suite on my 13" MBP (see sig)... handles it just fine. Could it be faster? sure. But it does get the job done