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MacBook ok for FCPX or Mac Pro?
Hello,
I am a novice when it comes to video editing above and beyond iMovie and am going to take the leap into FCPX.
I was wondering if someone can help me regarding computer configurations. I’m in need of buying a new computer (used, actually) and am trying to make a decision between:
MacBook Pro with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM with a 500 GB HD, or,
a Mac Pro with the configuration: 8 GB RAM – 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor, 2 Terabyte HD.
Both are used and the Mac Pro is significantly more expensive ($2000 vs $1000).
My use is mainly personal but I anticipate doing half hour movies that could be somewhat intricate. My guess is the Mac Pro is much better but I just don’t know if the MacBook would be completely fine for someone who’s basically doing intricate personal video productions. Would the MacBook be significantly slower than the Mac Pro? Is it a “night and day” difference?
Any opinions out there would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Alan
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2 Replies
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Hi Alan
The Core i7 Macbooks and iMacs run FCPX remarkably well. The advantage with the Mac Pro is the ability to add more RAM (I recommend 16gb in iMacs and Mac Pros) and faster graphics cards. It is also capable of adding a video in/out card for proper video monitoring, but that may not be of interest to you.
I’d also think that if this laptop has thunderbolt, you would have better expansion options for storage – although you can much more cheaply stick 6/9Tb of storage in a Mac Pro. If it doesn’t have thunderbolt, you will always be restricted on the speed of storage you can add.
I’d have a hard time right recommending an older Mac Pro – newer models, or forms of pro machines are probably around the corner. An i7 Macbook pro with thunderbolt will, however, give you a number of years of happy FCPX usage.
Personally? I’d take the third way and buy a 27″ iMac 3.4 Ghz with 2Gb GFX and 16Gb RAM. At around the same price as the old Mac pro, you’d have a lovely FCPX machine!
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Ben,
Thanks so much for the response. It’s greatly appreciated and helpful.
The MacBook Pro option is not a new computer – probably just under two years old, no Thunderbolt, and the Mac Pro is around 8 months old.
My head is spinning a bit, but I’ll likely check out the iMac option you mentioned above. …. If you have a moment to answer one last question, in trying to understand how these things work for optimum performance, is my understanding correct that the more RAM one has, the better the performance of FCPX?
The MacBook pro has 8 Gig RAM, but maybe the best option for me is to simply upgrade my two year old iMac to 16 GB RAM and that’s the simplest solution for me?
Thanks again,
Alan
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