Question HELP: MacBook Pro 13' or 16'?

[ljh06]

Hi everyone,
I've been looking into the latest MacBooks for a few days now. I currently have an early 2015 MacBook Air with these specs:

1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

It got me through university, and it's been great, but I feel I need more power now but can't decide between the 13' and 16' MacBook pros.

I'll be using it for video-editing (mainly iMovie, possibly Final Cut X in the future), photo-editing (Canva, affinity photo), and usually have several tabs open at once with social media and marketing tools (Campaign monitor, hootsuite etc.)

The specs Apple recommended I should get are:

16' MacBook Pro

• 2.3GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz
• AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
• 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
• 1TB SSD storage

Is this overkill for what I'll be using it for? I'm happy to pay a bit extra to 'future-proof' the device, but not to the point of maxing a machine out for the sake of it.

Thanks!

 

[Joe Fernand]

Jigsaw24 are worth considering as a knowledgable supplier in the video edit market and would be worth a call to discuss which spec you go with - MacBook Pro | Jigsaw24

Joe

 

[ljh06]

Thanks, Joe. I'll give them a call this afternoon.

 

[CamFire]

I've got a few mates a work whose kids do videos for youtube and they've settled for a desktop Mac with all the horsepower they need to crunch the processing. Their ageing laptops are there for short durations and cursory video editing...

The current MacMini model iis very powerful and together with a relatively affordable Dell LCD monitor with DisplayPort, they give a run for your money.

 

[Phil1975]

Hi everyone,
I've been looking into the latest MacBooks for a few days now. I currently have an early 2015 MacBook Air with these specs:

1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

It got me through university, and it's been great, but I feel I need more power now but can't decide between the 13' and 16' MacBook pros.

I'll be using it for video-editing (mainly iMovie, possibly Final Cut X in the future), photo-editing (Canva, affinity photo), and usually have several tabs open at once with social media and marketing tools (Campaign monitor, hootsuite etc.)

The specs Apple recommended I should get are:

16' MacBook Pro

• 2.3GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz
• AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
• 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
• 1TB SSD storage

Is this overkill for what I'll be using it for? I'm happy to pay a bit extra to 'future-proof' the device, but not to the point of maxing a machine out for the sake of it.

Thanks!

Hi not sure if you need to buy fairly soon, but if you can I would wait for a few weeks, rumors of a refresh of the Macbook line up.

I have a 2011 Macbook pro which was grinding to a halt 18months ago until I did a complete wipe and reinstall, also swapped hard drive with an SSD my Macbook is now performing as new.
I'm now waiting for Apple silicon-based Macbook Pro's before upgrading, potentially Mini-LED displays too.

 

[CamFire]

Ah, the new ARM-ed laptops on the horizon after ten years of speculation... IMO, there'll still be a year or perhaps even two before the software & OS stabilise for serious work. Progress of ARM-based server chips replacing Intel ones has been dented by software - and a few start-up's have gone bust.

 

[ljh06]

I've got a few mates a work whose kids do videos for youtube and they've settled for a desktop Mac with all the horsepower they need to crunch the processing. Their ageing laptops are there for short durations and cursory video editing...

The current MacMini model iis very powerful and together with a relatively affordable Dell LCD monitor with DisplayPort, they give a run for your money.

I would love a desktop but I don't have the space for one. No space for a desk in my room.

 

[ljh06]

Hi not sure if you need to buy fairly soon, but if you can I would wait for a few weeks, rumors of a refresh of the Macbook line up.

I have a 2011 Macbook pro which was grinding to a halt 18months ago until I did a complete wipe and reinstall, also swapped hard drive with an SSD my Macbook is now performing as new.
I'm now waiting for Apple silicon-based Macbook Pro's before upgrading, potentially Mini-LED displays too.

I'm not sure i can wait that long unfortunately. Looking into Windows alternatives

 

[ljh06]

Ah, the new ARM-ed laptops on the horizon after ten years of speculation... IMO, there'll still be a year or perhaps even two before the software & OS stabilise for serious work. Progress of ARM-based server chips replacing Intel ones has been dented by software - and a few start-up's have gone bust.

Yes, a concern of mine would be buying a Macbook with the ARM chip and running into problem after problem while they fine tune the tech. I haven't got time to deal with the issues, I just need a laptop that works well for my needs

 

[CamFire]

Just remember that any laptop running busy with heavy duty applications, and with its fan(s) running at full blast often, will have a short working life due to heat stressing all the internal parts. You only need a failing supporting component to wreak havoc on your investment.

 

[ljh06]

Just remember that any laptop running busy with heavy-duty applications, and with its fan(s) running at full blast often, will have a short working life due to heat stressing all the internal parts. You only need a failing supporting component to wreak havoc on your investment.

Yeah, I know that is a concern I have. I'm considering getting a laptop and then a monitor to attach to it. So at least that way if I had to take the laptop with me somewhere then I can just detach it and take it. I'm just struggling with conflicting specs and advice (not from people on here). I'm hoping really I'd only be doing max 3 videos (5 mins max in length) a week so I'm not sure how heavily that would impact the health of the laptop over time.

 

[ascender]

If you can afford it, the 16" MBP is a far better machine objectively than the 13" in pretty much every department. More powerful, bigger screen, much better speakers...

The only real downside is the large footprint - but that might not be an issue in these new times where people are traveling far less. Its not that its massively heavy, but just that the footprint takes up a lot more space if you're working on the train, plane, coffee shop etc.