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Mac Book vs Mac Book Pro
Hey everyone.
I am currently deciding on wether to get the MB or the MBP. Basically I already kind of decided to get the MB especially after reading an article about how good the MB handles FCP and Motion.
Having said that I would love to get confirmation on wether the MB will be able to run Pro apps like CS2 / CS3 and especially Adobe After FX. Apple says no, but they said the same with FCP and Motion; in which the above mentioned article proved them already wrong.
So, does anyone have any experience running After FX on the MB? I wouldn’t even worry about speed too much, since I usually work on a G5 quad core, but just want to make sure After FX will run at all, so I could at least play around with it when on the road. The actual render I could still do on my G5 desktop.
It would be very helpful to hear someone’s experiences on this topic. Thanks heaps for your help in advance.
Cheers. pat
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10 Replies
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[pat@postproduktiv] “…since I usually work on a G5 quad core, but just want to make sure After FX will run at all, so I could at least play around with it when on the road. “
There is a whole “mega-thread” on this subject in the After Effects forum’s stickies posts area, found at the very top of the page. There is tons of feedback there. Please read it and don’t ask people to answer the same questions that they have been answering over and over since the Intel Macs shipped. It would be appreciated.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
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Trying to run AE on a 13″ MacBook is like filing down your own teeth without using a pain-killer.
You can do it, but…why?
chuck
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there are two areas where the mbpro would be better….
the gpu on the mbpro is faster and has its own vram (the mb shares ram with cpu – slower and takes ram from system). the gpu and vram are the primary performance determiners in motion.
the other is screen size. all the apps you’ve mentioned have lots of palettes, windows and panels. i think you may feel a bit cramped working in the mb screen.
one last thing… although not quite as big of a deal, the mbpro can hold 1gb more ram. although 1gb isn’t huge, it is 50% more than the mb, and more ram is a good thing to have in ae.
aside from possibly motion, i don’t think the performance differences would be night and day, but the mbpro would be the better choice for pro apps.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Thanks for your thoughts guys.
As I am normally running AE professionally on a G5 quad with a 30″ monitor, I know that it won’t be perfect to run AE on the MB speedwise and monitor size-wise. Mainly I want to use the MB for emails, music, web, photos, etc anyway; just wanted to make sure if it would be possible at all to play around with some ideas in AE/FCP/Motion when on the road. Which Apple officially says no, mainly because of the graphic card if I understand it correct.
It sounds like you guys are saying it is possible but a bit painful; that’s all I wanted to hear. I reckon for my purposes the MB will do just fine. Especially since I like the look better and it’s easier to transport (and cheaper!)
Sorry Ron, didn’t find the “mega-thread” on this toppic but will have a look for it again before keep annoying you guys.
Cheers. pat
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[pat@postproduktiv] “Sorry Ron, didn’t find the “mega-thread” on this toppic but will have a look for it”
It’s the one in the sticky posts section at the top of the page in the main AE forum. It is the one called “Intel Macs and AE7” in red.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
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i would double check motion’s gpu requirements to make sure the onboard intel gpu will work.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Just to throw in an extra two cents here – I have the white Macbook with a mere 1GB Ram as my primary email/misc/on-the-road machine. I run FCP, After Effects and even MAYA 3D (but only using Parallels) on it just fine. Needless to say it’s not ideal (screen size is somewhat cramped, not enough RAM, renders are a little slow etc. etc.) but it DOES work.
I wouldn’t throw a bunch of Macbooks into production, mind you, but it does work great for on-the-road comping, editing etc. as long as your expectations are properly set in advance.
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Just a minor correction here – The Macbook CAN address 3GB Ram just fine, same as the Pro model. Apple just doesn’t offer it in any of their configs. The reason? The integrated graphics card can’t function in dual-channel mode when you use 3GB RAM, but several tests prove the performance gains make it worth it.
Just thought I’d throw that out there, because my feeling is the Macbook Pro is WAY overpriced, when all you really get is 2″ of extra screen and a mobile video card. Not worth an extra $1k in my book.
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can you please tell me where you saw this article? a link maybe?
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I am a 19 year old male living in lakewood washington and I had the same question
and yes it can run both just fine
only diffrence is the processer. the mbp is faster than the mb. so I would go with the mbp if you deal with that kind of thing
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