Final Cut Pro x dual or quad mac book pro?

[Ryan Holmes]

So you’re considering doing all of your editing on a 13″ laptop? That’s not a lot of screen space….

The CPU matters more for exporting (though with GPU processing speeding up that’s becoming less and less the case). I always tell people to buy the fastest they can afford because if you keep this laptop for several years the mid-range now will be sluggish in 18 months. Top of the line now is fast and in 18 months it’ll be a mid-range computer.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Eric Ward]

Thanks Ryan.

I was reading in apple discussions that fcpx does not even use all 4 of the cores in a quad core machine. I can’t verify this to be fact though. But if it is true, and a quad core 15 is almost double the price of a dual 13, I would rather just replace with another $1300 machine years down the road, then to buy a $2000 or $2600 machine now. I would connect the 13 macbook pro to my 27 cinema display to view fcpx.

[Ryan Holmes]

That’s certainly an option. Only caution is that with a 13″ MBP you’re getting an integrated graphics chip so realtime playback of clips with effects could suffer (depending on the type of footage, the effect applied, etc.).

Stepping into the 15″ MBP’s you can choose to get a dedicated GPU which will help with smoother playback, as well as encoding/transcoding footage. Personally, I think the more horsepower the better. But if you’re just cutting DV25 footage then a 13″ MBP should be fine. It really depends on your needs and your budget.

You could also look at getting a refurbished MBP from Apple or buy a used computer on eBay or Craigslist as other options.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[James Cude]

It’s really the GPU that matter more than the CPU as far as FCPX is concerned. Therefor a 15″ MBP, an iMac or a new Mac Pro in order of power are what you want to get the most of FCPX. The 13″ GPU is at the lower end of performance for Macs.