Macbook Pro requirements for Final Cut or Premiere PLUS Adobe After Effects? Help!

[maxcady]

Hi everyone,

I'm about to buy a Macbook Pro so I can do some editing and learn After Effects as well as Cinema 4d (I think thats what it's called)

Problem is, I'm not sure what Macbook Pro specs are enough for these programs to perform well.


I was looking at the Apple Store Macs and saw these among others-



1.) MacBook Pro 2.0GHz quad-core Intel i7

Originally released February 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6490M

2.) MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Intel Core i7

Originally released April 2010
15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display (1440 x 900 pixel)
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory



3.) MacBook Pro 2.2GHz quad-core Intel i7

Originally released February 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M




Without factoring the price, can you guys tell me which one you would get and why?


Is option #1 for the programs that I want to run and for editing a full length digital feature film?


Thanks for your help!

[paulears]

This might not help, but I bought the 13" version with the 2.8GHz Intel core i7 processor with the 750G drive - and on this one no clever video graphics - but compared with my Dell that just died, I'm amazingly pleased (apart from the software you have to start from scratch with) - however, I'm running production premium and straight out of the box it runs 3 HD streams in multi cam with no stuttering and I am really pleased with it.It's such a surprise to be able to render out a file and be able to start word up, print a document, close it down, and then do some internet stuff without the rendering stalling - which always seems to happen when multitasking on windows.

I'd be happy with either of the current models.

[maxcady]

These Mac are awesome and I'll be upgrading from a regular Macbook to a Pro.

There is a $400 range between the 3 of those, so I just wanted to know if even the lower one is sufficient for all of my needs.

Thanks for your response!

[Marc Peters]

compared with my Dell that just died, I'm amazingly pleased.

Is this a like for like comparison? I have a two year old i7 dell laptop rinning CS5. This boots rapidly, never produces any unexpected errors, and multitasks admirably. I could quite happily render whilst surfing, but try to use the machine for editing alone.

[paulears]

No - not a like for like in terms of performance - but you can run happily on batteries for ages, and open the lid and it's up and running instantly. I'm not a windows knocker - but I now see why MAC users have always had those smug grins. The display on this 13" is crisp enough to mean I can edit without using an external monitor. Build quality is a totally different point. My dell - 3 years old is on it's second power supply - and of course, you can only use Dell PSUs or the won't charge the battery. The lid hinges are worn out, and the keyboard tired. The Mac is a lump of aluminium - so light and very rigid. The touch pad is much better than the Dell. When it was new, the Dell was pretty swish, but I'm impressed. Using parallels, and a brand new copy of windows 7 - it can happily run the few windows only programmes I have, and windows starts and shuts down in much the same time as my rack mount edit PC - which is also an i7. I've been working on a theatre show, with Act 1 on the PC system and Act 2 on the Mac, and render time seems about the same - give or take a few minutes, however - Encore failed on the PC - maybe just one of those germlins when compressing an unrendered simple edit - I don't know. It did it 2nd time fine.

This mac is also small enough that I ran it wired to the camera and used premiere to import live - which saved me some transfer time. I tried this on the Dell last year, but half way through Windows started doing something and the import stopped - so I never tried again. It could just be luck so far, I fully realise. The experience, however, so far is pretty positive and I've not found anything I dislike, although Finder isn't quite so nice as Windows Explorer - although I'm sure I'll adjust. More USBs would be nice, and they're a little close together for some of my dongles. Spending £1400 on a laptop is not something I did lightly - but the Apple store people are not remotely pushy, and splitting the information from the purchase does remove the 'sale at any cost' attitude computer shops usually have.

My results so far probably mean no more high end desktop PC purchases - I've always built my own before, on the assumption that apart from what they look like outside, only a few bits inside are critical. Maybe I'll change that view too?

One plus point is that for theatre use we frequently use Q-lab to run video and audio live, and I discovered that q-lab for audio use is free! You just pay for video, and rather neatly, you can buy a license, or pay for a weekly license only when you need it.

[maxcady]

Thanks for that detailed post. It's good to see that it's working out well for you and your projects. Yeah, after being a Mac user for 5 years, pc's won't be in my wishlist anytime soon. Good tip on Q-lab!