Companies are always talking about the importance of video. This could be specialist filmmakers, companies that make trailers for video games, or even marketing agencies who wish to create video content for their clients. With video being such an important asset the question that keeps coming up is;
Which is the best Mac for video editing?
Without a doubt, many people are considering the new iMac Pro. However, this will not be released until the end 2017, and if Apple’s recent product launches are anything to go by, I wouldn’t really expect to see this hit the shelves until early 2018.
Apple has also confirmed a new Mac Pro. Earlier this year Apple said that they were going back to the drawing board on this Mac and that we would have something in 2018. This probably means the end of 2018, rather than the beginning.
If you need a machine for video editing, realistically, you have 3 models to choose between:
The biggest consideration for our customers is always value for money. Processing speed and portability also tend to be key considerations for a lot of businesses. Video editing asks a lot of a machine’s processing and graphic capabilities, and the size of files means that storage is key.
Which is the best value for money?
There really is only one winner here. You take the top of the range 27” iMac with 5K Retina Display and upgrade it to the 4.2GHz i7 processor, and boost the RAM to 64GB. Add this to the impressive 2TB Fusion Drive, Radeon Pro 580 8GB Graphics and the recently improved 5K Retina Display, and you have a stunning machine. You might think this all sounds expensive but when we say that this all costs £0.95 + VAT per week less to lease than the 6 Core Mac Pro, you can see why this debate is a short one. When it comes to value for money, the 27” iMac smashes it out of the park.
What about the cheaper 15” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar?
When upgraded to the i7 3.1GHz processor, the MacBook Pro is cheaper, but with its smaller 512GB SSD storage and a Radeon Pro 560 4GB Graphics, it is not as fast (more on this later) as the iMac. However (not to state the obvious), it is the best for portability. If you need to edit video on the move, this is the machine for you.
What About Speed?
Can a 2013 specified machine beat something from mid-2017? Well, yes and no. On Geekbench’s test for multicore tasks, the 12 and 8 Core Mac Pros provide the fastest processing power of any Mac. Interestingly, the 4.2GHz i7 7700K processor that we mentioned earlier outperforms the 6 Core Mac Pro. The 15” MacBook Pro with the 3.1GHz i7 7920HQ processor also performs better than the i5 processors that come as standard in the 27” iMac range.
What does all of that mean?
Essentially, if you spend a lot of your time rendering videos, whether that be for movies, video games or even just creating content for your clients, then you will welcome the extra processing power of the higher end Mac Pros. If video editing is your game, then it is hard to justify the additional cost of a fully specified Mac Pro with an external monitor when you can look at the top of the range 27” iMac.
Followers of Lease Loop will know that we love the 27” iMac. Perhaps we are a little biased, but it is hard to look beyond this machine if you need a video editing machine today.
The big question is, will the iMac Pro provide video editors with the perfect balance or will its little brother still be the best value Mac there is?
