[UPDATE 3: In Nov, 2019, Apple released the 16″ MacBook Pro. While these specific recommendations refer to earlier MacBook Pros, my general suggestions in terms of where to spend money remain the same. UPDATE 2: In July, 2018, Apple updated MacBook Pros again. While the technology has changed, my general recommendations remain the same for these new units. UPDATE 1: In June 2017, Apple updated their MacBook Pro laptops with new processors, more SSD storage and renamed, but not changed, GPUs. ]
A frequent email request from readers is help in configuring a computer for video editing. There are many options and, sometimes, it is hard to decide the best place to spend your money.
Yes, the launch of the new MacBook Pro has had its share of controversy. But, what if you still need to buy a laptop for video editing? What do you really need? How much do you really need to spend?
You don’t need to spend a fortune to get the right system. Let me help you decide what you need to buy.
NOTE: Here are three other configuration articles you may find useful:
There are many reasons to buy a laptop, with portability leading the list. However, the MacBook Pro has enough power that you can reasonably consider it for your principle editing system, especially when you combine it with an external 5K or 4K monitor.
WHAT SIZE LAPTOP?
I recommend 15″.
Whether you are running Premiere or Final Cut, larger screen sizes help. Both these interfaces work better on larger screens.
Second, while Apple has expanded – and vastly improved – the speed and storage capacity of the MacBook Pro, I still recommend storing projects and media on an external drive. While there is a benefit to storing everything on the internal hard disk – portability and speed being two of them – using a second drive allows you to move projects between computers, as well as access to your data in the event your computer goes into the shop.
However, for best results, you would be well-advised to consider an external SSD if you want speed, or a RAID if you need more storage space. Single hard disks will work, but don’t equal the performance of the laptop itself, or these other two options.
DOES THE TOUCH BAR MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
I think it does. I found it increasingly helpful as I worked with the unit.
NOTE: Here’s an article that explains how the Touch Bar works in Final Cut Pro X.
SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT BATTERY LIFE?
I think the current battery controversy will be resolved quickly through software. However, even more than that, video editing burns through batteries, regardless of how long they are supposed to last.
For me, all my editing – even on the road – is done when I’m attached to wall power; excepting only the very tiniest projects. Since I’m never on battery power for editing, how long the batteries last is not an important consideration for me.
UPDATE: The battery issue was traced to a bug in the OS. This is no longer an issue.
WHAT SPEED CPU?
This depends.
If you are principally doing video editing, you can save money by purchasing the 2.6 GHz processor. Both Premiere and Final Cut heavily leverage the GPU and, while the CPU is important, if you are on a budget, you can conserve dollars here.
UPDATE. As the processors and speeds have changed, read this now as: Editing does not require as fast a processor as video compression. The base level processor will be fine for most editing, while a faster processor will benefit compression.
However, if you are principally doing transcoding and compression, then the faster CPU makes sense as both of these tasks use the CPU much more than the GPU.
NOTE: Keep in mind that all the new MacBook Pros use hardware acceleration for H.264 compression, which makes creating videos for the web extremely fast even on slower processors.
UPDATE: And, the 2017 versions now support hardware acceleration for H.265 video.
If budget is driving this decision, selecting the slower processor will be fine, the differences between the two are not significant enough to warrant the extra cost.
HOW MUCH STORAGE?
The internal SSD storage of the new MacBook Pro is the fastest I’ve ever measured. It is SERIOUSLY fast!
If you plan to store your media and projects on an external drive of some sort, then get the 256 GB SSD. The operating system and all your applications will take less than 30 GB, leaving plenty of room for temp files and general work space.
However, if you need to have everything stored on the laptop itself, buy the most storage you can afford. SSDs have continued to increase in storage capacity. If you plan to store media externally, you don’t need a very large SSD. Again, the OS only takes about 30 GB of storage.
UPDATE: Here’s an updated article on storage speeds and media requirements that will help you put your storage needs into perspective.
WHICH GPU?
This is the opposite side of the CPU question. A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is specifically designed for rendering bitmapped images very, very quickly. For the first time, all MacBook Pro laptops include both the “built-in” GPU from Intel and a discrete (meaning “separate”) graphics system from AMD called “Radeon.”
There are three different Radeon GPUs: the 450, 455 and 460. The distinctions between them are the number of compute units – 10, 12, and 16, respectively – and the amount of VRAM – or RAM attached to the GPU itself. The 450 and 455 have 2 GB of VRAM, while the 460 has 4 GB. More compute units means more processing power, while more VRAM means faster performance.
NOTE: You can read more about these Radeon GPUs here.
UPDATE: With the 2017 upgrade, all GPUs were renamed, but not change. So, the Radeon 450 is now 550, 455 is now 555, and 460 is now 560. Performance and recommendations have not changed.
If you are principally doing video editing or motion graphics work, purchase the 455 or, if you can afford it, the 460.
If you are principally transcoding and compressing, the base-level 450 GPU will be fine.
SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT RAM?
All 15″ laptops have 16 GB of RAM. My tests have shown this is more than sufficient for virtually all video editing.
NOTE: Here’s an article that goes into editing performance on the MacBook Pro in much more detail.
DO I NEED CONVERTER CABLES?
Yes. The MacBook Pro only has USB-C ports. If you have existing devices, you’ll need a converter cable for Thunderbolt 2 devices and a second cable for traditional USB devices.
NOTE: Apple also realizes that we are in a transition phase between ports, so they’ve extended their promotional prices on Apple USB-C adapters (specifically, USB-C to USB-A, Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2, and USB-C to Lightning). Plus, the reduced pricing on the new LG 4K and 5K monitors have been extended to March 31, 2017.
Also, if you have a lot of devices, consider a dock, which takes a single USB-C cable from the computer and splits it into a wide variety of separate ports.
HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND?
The base level 15″ MacBook Pro is $2,399 (US). This will be fine for all SD and general HD editing that is not effects-heavy.
Adding a higher performance GPU to this system will improve effects and color grading performance and be adequate for virtually all HD editing, even multicam work. This raises the price to $2,599.
If you are working in 4K or higher resolutions, do lots of effects work in After Effects or Motion, and are principally focused on video editing, the higher end laptop with 512 GB of storage and a top of the line GPU will be a better choice. This raises the price to $2,899.
And, for those of you who believe that money is no object, the top of the line system complete with all the storage Apple can cram into it, will set you back $4,299.
If it were my money, I’d go with the $2,899 system:
As always, I’m interested in your opinions.
153 Responses to Configure a MacBook Pro for Video Editing [u]
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Selina says:
February 12, 2018 at 12:27 pm
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Larry says:
February 12, 2018 at 1:14 pm
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lostinmac says:
June 19, 2018 at 4:37 am
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Larry says:
June 19, 2018 at 7:51 am
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LostInMac says:
June 22, 2018 at 7:38 am
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Larry says:
June 22, 2018 at 11:13 am
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Heloise says:
April 16, 2018 at 6:05 pm
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Larry says:
April 16, 2018 at 6:06 pm
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Heloise says:
April 16, 2018 at 6:08 pm
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Mira says:
April 27, 2018 at 12:43 pm
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Larry says:
April 27, 2018 at 1:18 pm
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Bianca says:
May 16, 2018 at 5:25 am
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Larry says:
May 16, 2018 at 2:00 pm
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Peter says:
May 24, 2018 at 7:55 pm
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Larry says:
May 24, 2018 at 8:00 pm
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Peter says:
May 25, 2018 at 6:58 am
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Larry says:
May 25, 2018 at 7:19 am
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Trent Curry says:
June 3, 2018 at 9:03 pm
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Larry says:
June 3, 2018 at 9:25 pm
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Jason says:
June 6, 2018 at 8:30 am
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Larry says:
June 6, 2018 at 9:11 am
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David Crellen says:
June 7, 2018 at 5:01 pm
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Larry says:
June 7, 2018 at 6:07 pm
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nouman awan says:
July 31, 2018 at 7:53 am
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Jerry Deal says:
August 15, 2018 at 7:30 pm
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Larry says:
August 16, 2018 at 7:11 am
← Older Comments Newer Comments →Hi Larry!
Thank you so much for the detailed article and the responses to the comments.
I’m trying to decide between a refurbished and substantially cheaper MacBook Pro 2015 15,4” Quad-Core 2,2 GHz 256 GB SSD 16 GB RAM 1536 MB Intel Iris Pro Graphics or a new Macbook Pro 13″ Touch Bar 3,1 GHz Dual‑Core 512 GB SSD 16 GB RAM 2133 MHz Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 from the Apple Store. I’d like to be able to edit 20 hours of HD videos for a final video of 30min on Final Cut Pro and work on 3D animations in After Effects and I don’t mind carrying external hard drives. I was wondering if either of these macbooks work smoothly and if so which one would be a better pick or if you’d advise me to go a bit above my budget and purchase a refurbished MacBook Pro 15 Touchbar Mid 2017 Intel Core i7-7820HQ (2.9 GHZ) – 512 Go SSD – 16 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro 560 Graphics if this GPU would substantially improve my workflow.
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!
Selina:
First, always go with a bigger screen. Video editing and motion graphics take a lot of real estate.
Second, motion graphics and FCP really depend upon the GPU.
So, my first choice is the 2017 MacBook Pro. My second choice is the 2015 MacBook Pro. Both will edit well. The 2017 will handle rendering and motion graphics more easily. I would not recommend the 13″ version for video or motion graphics.
Larry
Hi Larry, thanks for a great post!
I want to ask about the 2015 Model with integrated graphics card, you mentioned “Second, motion graphics and FCP really depend upon the GPU.
may I know how much difference in performance are we talking here in terms of using FCPX on the 2015 integrated graphics vs the 2017/2016 dedicated GPU.
I am also on a tight budget, based on this list here “https://www.apple.com/hk/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15”, will you recommend the 2015, 2016 or the 2017 model? I am also worried about the high failure rate of the keyboard in 2016/2017.
Highly appreciated for your feedback.
LostInMac:
There’s no perfect answer here. It all depends upon the codecs, frame sizes, bit rates and number of streams of the media you are using. For HD work, this system will be fine. Even if you are creating effects-heavy projects, it will work, it will just take a bit longer to render the images.
For 4K and HDR and larger frame sizes, it will be underpowered, but still work. Again, you’ll want to use proxy media for your editing and wait a bit longer for renders. This isn’t necessarily bad – one of my edit systems is a 2013 iMac. Works great, I just allow a bit more time for rendering.
Larry
P.S. Your comment wasn’t deleted – in fact you posted it three times. However, all comments are moderated, which means I need to approve them before they appear. This allows me to control spam.
HI! It’s me again 😀 Thanks in advance!
I have decided to get the 2017 version for more future proof due to little price difference.
I am just wondering if I should get the Base or the more advanced version.
Base: 2.8Ghz, Radeon 555 2GB Ram, 256 GB SSD
Advanced: 2.9Ghz, Radeon 560 4GB ram, 512 GB SSD.
I can save about $345USD.
1. I think the 555 2GB GPU is fast enough for FCPX?
I normally just edit HD video(~ 30 to 60 mins length) in the next 1 to 2 years. Some transition, stabilization from FCPX, and mostly some effect like this
https://www.motionvfx.com/store,free_motion_project_010,p857.html
2. I know the 512GB is an even faster SSD than 256, but I assume day to day usage wont matter much. Yes 512 has more spaces, but honestly if I edit video, even 512 GB is not enough for video storage, an ext.SSD/harddrive is always needed.
Base on this, would you recommend me to buy the base version? What’s your opinion?
LostInMac:
Given that you are principally editing HD, the Base system will be more than fine. You’ll be very pleased with it. And it will last you several years.
Larry
Hi Larry,
I have a 2015 Mac Book Pro with 8 GB memory. I’m wanting to edit on Avid on it if possible, and not have to buy a new computer. I’ll be using an external monitor and a Raid for media storage, do you think I’ll be able to do it with this model?
Cheers.
Heloise:
Well, it depends upon the codec, frame size and whether you are editing Raw files or not. For HD, it will be fine.
You may be pushing it for 4K or HDR.
I’d touch base with Avid tech support and get their opinion.
Larry
I Should also add…its got a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, and Intel Irish Graphics 6100 1536 MB.
Hi Larry, long time listener, first time poster.
I do freelance video editing on the side — nothing too intense, just 3-min marketing videos for some brands. I’m working with Premiere and After Effects. My 2009 15′ MacBook has finally bitten the dust.
I’m debating which MacBook to buy next. I’d like to save money if possible. Again, video editing is not my sole source of income, but I want to continue doing it.
I’m considering the 2017 15″ 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of 1600MHz memory and 256GB SSD. Versus the 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of 1600MHz memory and 256GB SSD. It’s a $200 difference between the 2.5GHz and 2.8GHz. I don’t need it to be blazing fast, and if speed is the primary bonus here, I’d even consider going down to 2.2GHz, if you think that’s still capable of motion graphic animations?
Many thanks for sharing your wise knowledge! You’ve really taught me a lot over the past couple years — thank you!
Mira:
You won’t notice any difference between the 2.5 and 2.9 GHz CPUs for the type of editing you are doing.
HOWEVER, where you want to spend your money is get the fastest GPU you can afford and maximize your RAM.
Larry
P.S. Welcome!!
Macbook Pro 2016
2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor
512 GB SSD
Radeon Pro 460 with 4 GB of VRAM
or
Macbook Pro 2017
2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 processor
512 GB SSD
Radeon Pro 560 with 4 GB of VRAM
Are there any significant differences?
Bianca:
The main differences are in the GPU – the MacBook Pro GPU is faster. This will have a beneficial impact on color grading, rendering and exporting. Whether it is “significant” depends upon what you are using the system for.
* Media compression? No.
* Editing? No.
* Effects and motion graphics? Yes.
* Photoshop? Not particularly
* 3D modeling? Yes
… you get the idea. It all depends upon what you are using the computer to do.
Larry
Hi Larry, Thank you for this post!
I stream video via web cam and screen share switching between multiple apps simultaneously. Mostly Zoom and OBS to FB live. My 2015 13”MBP 2.9 i5 16GB can’t produce quality result when streaming. 45% lost frames with OBS and beyond choppy to Zoom.
I’d love the portability option of the MBP and the convenience of using 1 machine in the office and wherever else I might be. What I’d love your thoughts on is whether a pimped out 15” i7 could produce a silky solid 30 FPS stream or should I give up the 1 machine dream and get a killer iMac?
Peter:
I wouldn’t do anything till after Apple’s WWDC keynote in a week. Rumors are that new hardware is coming. Hold off until then and I can give you a better answer.
Larry
I wouldn’t buy until the new gear is available if it makes a difference. If we assume WWDC will announce improvements do you think the current MBP 15 has enough juice?
Peter:
From your description, a high-end MacBook Pro should work – because you are using multiple apps, maxing out RAM will help. Because you are converting to H.264 for streaming, a high-end graphics card is necessary. Again, let’s see what WWDC brings.
Larry
Hi!
So I’m a Junior in college needing a laptop for multi cam editing on Adobe Premiere. I really can’t spare extra money, shoutout to school loans lol, but my entire career AND hobbies include using Premiere and Pro Tools. I am an Apple consumer but I will take anything that works best for the best price, regarding my needs. What laptop would you suggest me purchasing? Or what specs are a NECESSITY as I’m not very familiar with computer tech.
Trent:
Any computer released in the last four years will work fine for the work you are doing now. When you turn pro, considering buying a new computer. For now, get something used. I recommend a used 15″ MacBook Pro laptop sold by OWC = a reliable company that warrants their gear. Get something from 2013 or later, based upon how much you can spend. More RAM is better.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple-Systems/Used/MacBook-Pro
Larry
I plan to start a YouTube channel, so please which laptop would you recommend for me.
Jason:
The answer depends upon your budget and what you want to do with the computer. Tell me more.
Larry
Thank you, Larry. Once again, you are the ONLY ONE we can rely upon for real, pragmatic answers to our real issues!
My only remaining question is whether I can use my maxed out 27″ retina iMac as an external monitor and storage resource for my new-to-be MBP – or should I sell it and buy a new 5k monitor.
David.
No. You can’t use an iMac as an external monitor or storage.
http://www.techgeekhelp.club/2018/07/new-macbook-pros-get-major-power-boost.html
same artical there
I will be editing a feature on my Mac Pro in FCP but also want to do some prelim color correction. I am currently researching the best 4K monitors for this. I don’t need the top of the line expensive $20k monitors that a professional colorist would use, as I will just offload that work to them when needed. Any suggestions on monitors or spec requirements? Thanks!
Jerry:
Take a look at the monitors from Flanders Scientific.
Larry