Best Value M4 PRO Setup for Video Editing?

• 

  CrispyChrispy on 01/12/2024 - 16:19

  +1

  Well depends, do you need the portability of a laptop or not?

  • 

    jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 16:51

    +1

    portability is a bonus but not a must, the mac mini is small enough to setup a mobile workstation if needed. I don't see myself doing long video editing sessions in a cafe or elsewhere, hence why it's not a must.

• 

  afayd on 01/12/2024 - 16:21

  +2

  It really depends on what you want to do. Overall, I am happy with the performance of even my M1 16gb when editing dual angle 4k videos. I don't do complex edits/effects, so it might be a different story if that were the case.

  One thing to keep in mind wrt macbook vs mini is that if you're using keychain like I do, you'll be using touch id on the macbook pro which is very convenient. You can get the same functionality on the mac mini with a touch id keyboard but it's extra cost and less elegant.

  • 

    jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 16:52

    I haven't used keychain much. Is it that necessary/better compared to a third party password manager?

    • 

      afayd on 01/12/2024 - 16:58

      +2

      I haven't used a 3rd party one before, but all you do is tap your finger on touch id whenever a saved password is required and that's it.

• 

  AustriaBargain on 01/12/2024 - 16:25

  +2

  I got M3 Max, base model, and have no regrets. Except maybe not getting the black M4 Max.

  • 

    jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 16:50

    Can you elaborate on why base Black M4 Max is not good? or are you saying M3 Max base is a better option than all of the above?

    • 

      AustriaBargain on 01/12/2024 - 17:13

      +1

      M3 Max is obviously a lot cheaper at the moment. The black M4 Max is a lot cooler, because it's black instead of grey.

      • 

        jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 17:15

        I can't buy m3 Max on apple education unfortunately though.

        • 

          AustriaBargain on 01/12/2024 - 17:16

          +1

          @jb22: I got mine Officeworks, think it was $4500. Kicking myself for not getting that monster M1 Max 64GB 2TB deal for like what was it, $3000? I'll never forgive myself for not jumping on it.

          • 

            jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 17:20

            @AustriaBargain: ah okay, just had a quick search and no M1 max available, also the $4500 m3 max is out of my budget. Looking around $3,000 range max. For that price I can get close to fully specced out M4 Pro Mac Mini or baseline M4 Macbook Pro.

            • 

              AustriaBargain on 01/12/2024 - 17:22

              +1

              @jb22: I considered the Studio, but for just a little more you can get the amazing display, keyboard, trackpad, the decent speakers. And portable. The new mini is a different equation. I tend to keep it always plugged in because I don't want to rearrange all the spaces on the four external monitors, which is a bit of a shame really.

              • 

                jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 17:29

                +1

                @AustriaBargain: Yeah feels like the benefits of baseline 14in Macbook Pro outweigh the benefits of speccing up the Mac Mini. Doing that would also save me buying a new laptop as I'm currently using an 8 year old Lenovo Thinkpad.

      • 

        Thinkscape on 02/12/2024 - 09:05

        Both M3 and M4 macbooks pro come in same colours
        I've had both space black and they are identical.

        • 

          AustriaBargain on 02/12/2024 - 09:10

          @Thinkscape: Well I guess my regret is that Officeworks didn't have the black M3 Max on sale.

• 

  arms on 01/12/2024 - 17:09

  +2

  Another consideration is if you already have a colour accurate monitor and if you would like the higher refresh rate of the macbook panel. Those things aren't cheap at all. I haven't looked at specs/reviews for the newer models, but the colour accuracy of my M1 pro macbook was very satisfactory for an all-in-one package.

  • 

    jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 17:14

    Thanks, you make a great point. I have a Lenovo L32p-30 monitor. It's 4k resolution but don't think colour accuracy is that great. I think it's better suited for office needs.

    • 

      arms on 01/12/2024 - 17:37

      +2

      If you're editing out of pleasure I think you'd be fine with mac mini and your monitor. However for work I would consider the Macbook if only to perform colour grading on that display.

      • 

        jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 17:45

        I think you're right, for an extra $900 getting the portability, colour accurate screen, touchpad benefits etc of a macbook seem to be a much better deal.

      • 

        jb22 on 01/12/2024 - 18:00

        Ps thinking of getting the Education Pro Apps bundle and using Final Cut Pro, seems like a good deal for $300. Do you use Final Cut Pro?

        • 

          arms on 01/12/2024 - 20:59

          +1

          @jb22: Without being you I can't really say what's the right pick for yourself. I think other users are correct in saying that your decision should be informed by if you need the portability of the macbook or not.

          If you don't plan on moving your setup very often or working while travelling I would consider a lower spec mac mini with a new monitor (and magic trackpad if you wanted one). I wouldn't think of a mac mini setup as portable unless you plan on bringing a monitor around.

          I find the 14" macbook display to be a little small to be working on ideally, but it does the job. However, I only do a bit of photo editing as a hobby, and so wasn't too fussed to be working on a smaller screen every now and again. I don't use Final Cut Pro, only an unauthorised copy of photoshop and lightroom.

          I personally quite like the magic trackpad, picked up one on gumtree to have a larger trackpad vs macbook.

          On storage, I use a separate M.2 drive in an enclosure. Storage on Apple computers is very expensive, and data transfer speeds through a thunderbolt cable is, while not as fast as onboard storage, very fast.

• 

  getk on 01/12/2024 - 20:28

  +3

  Two tips from my experience
  - Go with 'max' CPU models (anything above M2 is good enough)
  - Buy plenty of space (4TB+). Though people say its not necessary, think of longer term for 5+ years and disk space at high IOPS is quite a necessity

  • 

    AustriaBargain on 01/12/2024 - 22:35

    +3

    External storage over thunderbolt will probably suit video editing. And if you count cores and performance, then last year's Max is closer to this year's Pro, for each generation of M series chips. RAM is the thing you need to think the most carefully about when buying a Mac today.

• 

  Kayrhcp on 02/12/2024 - 08:07

  +4

  I can tell you right now that you do not need 64gb of ram to edit video on the Apple silicon chips. Which is why I voted for the 48gb option of the Mac mini. Even that is complete overkill but at least you’re not paying for the screen of the MBP so it’s relatively the best value.

  Src: im a professional video editor and I edit on an M1 Max with 32gb ram and it scrubs through multiple 10bit 4K clips without any issue at all.

• 

  Thinkscape on 02/12/2024 - 09:03

  +2

  From an experienced Davinci editor:
  * as much GPU power as possible for vfx/compositing etc.
  * encoding speed for h264/hevc/prores is similar across the board b/c of the onboard accelerators.
  * encoding speed of 10/12bit, AV1 and other non-accelerated codecs will depend on GPU speed.
  * ideally 64GB+ RAM (b/c it's shared as VRam)
  * 1TB+ for OS and a 10Gbps NAS or TB4 enclosure with 4-8TB SSD (you will easily get a few GB/s and fast enough for 4k prores)

  Because M4 was just released, you can get great deals on used M3 - they are only like 1 year old at this time.
  I'd probably scan eBay/gumtree for a deal on used M3 Max with heaps of ram.