[Glenn Payne]

Thank you both for your replies! Yeah, I agree with you both. Seems pointless to wait longer. I think I’m gonna get a 2020 27″ iMac and see if I get 2-3 years out of it. Seems like it should work with the newest version of fcpx for the moment.

[Glenn Payne]

Thank you all so much for the advice. It’s been very helpful!

[Glenn Payne]

Thanks so much for the advice!

[Glenn Payne]

Thanks so much! Sounds like my 2013 iMac might work, but my mac mini is 2024 so I’m guessing that knocks out the possibility.

[Glenn Payne]

Thanks so much for the reply and sharing your thoughts! I’ve been a little worried I’d buy a mini or studio and then next year they’d release a 27-32″ imac, and I’d be mad at myself, but I feel like it may be a year or longer before they do, IF they do, so I’ll probably go ahead and get something now.

Two last questions for anyone that’s up for answering (I’ve gathered this info from some of you already)…

1. Which would you consider a better buy?
* Mac mini M4 – 32GB Ram – 10, 10, 16 core = $1,200
* Mac mini M4 Pro – 24GB Ram – 12, 16, 16 core = $1,400

2. Would you recommend any specific third party monitors that are over 27″? Maybe 32-40″.
ViewSonic VA2756 UHD is on my radar for 27″, but curious about slightly larger.

Thanks so much, as always!
Glenn

[Glenn Payne]

Thank you so much for the info! It’s sounding like a third party monitor with a mac mini or mac studio might be my best bet. I’m so lost when it comes to the number of cores and how much they matter, much less the chip variations. What do you all suggest when comparing the mac mini and mac studios? I see one has the M4 and the other M2. I SUPER appreciate any thoughts, since some of these stats are a bit lost on me.

Mac Mini M4 Pro – $1,399.00
<b data-equalize-sec=”title”>12-Core CPU
16-Core GPU
24GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage Footnote ¹

<b data-equalize-sec=”title”>Mac Mini M4 – $999.00

<b data-equalize-sec=”title”>10-Core CPU
10-Core GPU
24GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage Footnote ¹

Mac Studio M2 Max – $1,999.00

<b data-equalize-sec=”title”>12-Core CPU
30-Core GPU
16-Core Neural Engine

• 32GB unified memory
• 512GB SSD storage¹

<b data-equalize-sec=”title”>

[Glenn Payne]

Thanks so much for the advice! I’ve definitely thought about getting a third party monitor and doing a high powered mini. I hadn’t really thought about doing a MBP as the primary machine with an external. I have a 2020 model now that’s M1 with 16GB.

[Glenn Payne]

haha. Thank you both! Hoping to grab something fairly soon.

[Glenn Payne]

Thank you so much for your thoughts! I looked into some 2020ish iMacs as an option. What do you think of this system?

2020 iMac 27 Inch Retina 5K, 8-CORE i7 3.8ghz, 1TB SSD 128GB, RAM RADEON PRO 5700 with 8GB of video ram.

Ebay refurbished with 60 day return warranty. The price is $1,769.00. They claim it retailed at around $5,000. Would it noticeably out perform my current system?

Thanks so much!

[Glenn Payne]

Thanks for the thoughts! I ended up transcoding most of the clips in advance. It took time and space but I’m hoping it’ll prevent any hiccups at the end.