New computer for editing

[Tyler Purcell]

It's not a big enough target. In Q4 2017 over 91% of all personal computers sold did not run OSX. It doesn't seem that way if you live in the USA where iMacs and Macbooks and iPhones are commonplace, but really, globally, it's a drop in the ocean.

 

Well that and Apple's security is WAY better then microsoft's. It's SO EASY to bypass Microsoft security and install things without the user knowing. Yes with virus software it should ping you and say "hey something is being installed" but I've seen situations where it doesn't say a damn thing because the malware is so good these days, it doesn't look like a virus to the system. This is the same reason why it CAN be a problem on mac or any platform for that matter.

 

Viruses spread in files, but they'd have to be written specifically for the operating system and programs, to do any damage. Apple has a security protocol in each program that looks at files when they're opened and if it see's any code that is out of place, it comes up with an error message. Viruses for mac would literally have to be written with code that looks identical to the normal code. This would never happen because they'd be pulling their pants down on how they do their work.

[Justin Oakley]

Hey guys, I was looking at refurbished Macs and the second less expensive I saw was this guy.

 

At a glance, do these seem like ok specs for what Im trying to do? Also, I take it on board memory is the RAM?

 

15.4-inch

16GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory

256GB PCIe-based onboard SSD

Radeon Pro 555 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory

 

Again, Im a hobbyist not a pro. And I dont see any features in the foreseeable future. I use HitFilm Pro and DaVinci Resolve so Im sure this meets the minimum requirements.

 

I just want to make sure Ive got a machine that will work in the event that I, at some point, work with 4K OR raw footage...I know I wont be doing 4K raw. Thats just insane.

[Phil Rhodes]

It's hard to say as there's no mention of a processor there. One of the things with Macs is that people tend to say things like "I've got the 15" macbook pro," and given Apple's hale dedication to keeping confusing specifications away from people, it can be amazingly difficult to figure out what that actually means.

 

Assuming it's a reasonably recent Macbook Pro, it'll probably work, but it depends exactly what you want to do with Resolve. The Radeon Pro 555 only has 2GB of memory in most configurations which is below the minimum suggested for Resolve, and as a GPU it is outperformed by the very midrange GTX 1050. You might very plausibly run into limitations with only 2GB of memory on the GPU for 4K work although, as I say, it will depend exactly what you want to do.

 

Presumably you won't be storing (much) original material on the SSD, so bet on some sort of external storage.

 

As to the security issue, it is quite possible for Macs to get viruses. Stars of the 2010s include memorable names like Pinhead, Flashback and Crossrider. In fact, in 2013 and 2015, the CVE database actually compiled more vulnerability reports for OSX than Windows, although it's not clear how many of those were actually exploited and how many of them are engineering reports from inside the two companies. Suffice to say that there is absolutely no special provision of OSX which makes it any more difficult to attack, in principle, than any other operating system with a privilege hierarchy including modern versions of Windows. There is some argument that OSX, as a BSD-derivative Unix, has this hierarchy rather more thoroughly integrated than Windows, though it isn't easy to tell how much difference this makes in practice because of the huge difference in scale of deployment.

 

Apple know this, hence the existence of Gatekeeper and the underlying File Quarantine and XProtect provisions, which is what I think Tyler is referring to above. This works analogously to certain aspects of Windows' User Account Control, and if you want to have an argument about it, File Quarantine didn't emerge until OSX 10.5 in October 2007, whereas Windows XP would happily warn people about downloaded files much earlier than that.

 

In some ways this points to arguably the biggest security problem in OSX: user complacency, even to the point of Apple being very cautious about publicising antivirus updates in case it dents their reputation for being virus-free. A few years ago they specifically tweaked the AV protection to deal with a trojan that masqueraded as iPhoto without even listing it in the update notes (it appears in the XProtect.plist file anyway).

 

Macs are entirely capable of getting viruses in much the same way as anything else, it's just a lot less common. Regardless, people should run proper protection. Sophos has a free version of their antivirus suite for OSX.

 

P

[Justin Oakley]

Heres what I saw regarding processor

2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz, with 6MB shared L3 cache

 

As far as storage, yes, I save all of my projects/project files on external hard drives.

 

So 2gb is pretty much maxed out for the Radeon graphics card?

[Tyler Purcell]

Yea, I wouldn't do that radeon card, ya need something more powerful. The specs I listed on the first page are what you should be going after in a laptop.

[Bruce Greene]

If you at all thinking of editing using Davinci Resolve, get the laptop with the most GPU memory you can get. I think, if you're buying a Mac, that kind of means the top of the line. But, a used one will work also.

[Justin Oakley]

Yea, I wouldn't do that radeon card, ya need something more powerful. The specs I listed on the first page are what you should be going after in a laptop.

Right on.

The link you provided has a Radeon card. In fact thats the only card Ive seen on the Macs Ive looked at. The one you showed is 560 with 4gb.

 

Still not good enough?

[Justin Oakley]

If you at all thinking of editing using Davinci Resolve, get the laptop with the most GPU memory you can get. I think, if you're buying a Mac, that kind of means the top of the line. But, a used one will work also.

The most Ive seen is 4gb...unless Im reading these wrong.

 

Sorry guys. Like I said, I absolutely suck at computers and reading/interpreting specs.

[Mark Dunn]

It may be too late, and I'm no expert and have absolutely no experience, but Lightworks breezes along on my very ordinary HP all-in-one desktop from straight editing and transitions, compared with Premiere Pro.

It's free for a fully-functioning version, you just have to pay if you want to export HD above 1280x720.

I'm only cutting 25Mbps 1080, though.

Edited June 11, 2018 by Mark Dunn

[Tyler Purcell]

Right on.

The link you provided has a Radeon card. In fact thats the only card Ive seen on the Macs Ive looked at. The one you showed is 560 with 4gb.

 

Still not good enough?

It's the best they have today. Apple will have a new laptop soon, I assume the biggest upgrade will be the GPU since the current one is so behind the times. So maybe it's wise to wait a bit?

[Justin Oakley]

It's the best they have today. Apple will have a new laptop soon, I assume the biggest upgrade will be the GPU since the current one is so behind the times. So maybe it's wise to wait a bit?

I see.

I wish I knew how to compare graphics cards. I have no freakin idea. If you were two list two I wouldnt be able to tell the difference.

 

So what about external GPU? I read about those things yesterday. From what I gather, you plug them into your computer like you would an external HD or something? I guess they make some that are compatible with newer Macs and hook into those thunder ports.

 

So you plug it in and juice your graphics a bit? It seems a little too simple. It sure sounds great but I get a feeling that Im not fully understanding how this works.

[Tyler Purcell]

You can buy thunderbolt 3 chassis and run external GPU, but then you lose the point of having a portable. Plus, you only get around 60% of the performance. So yes for sure an option for someone with a desktop and they want to run a lot of cards in an external chassis, but not great for someone with a portable trying to get better performance out of it.

 

Comparing graphics cards is not really important because you can't change the GPU in the laptop, so you just go to apple's website, look at the best/highest configuration they offer for a particular computer and that's the best card you can get really.

 

I do think the computer I recommended on the previous page isn't bad, it's way above average in the world of laptops. Only dedicated gaming machines have better GPU's.

[Justin Oakley]

You can buy thunderbolt 3 chassis and run external GPU, but then you lose the point of having a portable. Plus, you only get around 60% of the performance. So yes for sure an option for someone with a desktop and they want to run a lot of cards in an external chassis, but not great for someone with a portable trying to get better performance out of it.

 

Comparing graphics cards is not really important because you can't change the GPU in the laptop, so you just go to apple's website, look at the best/highest configuration they offer for a particular computer and that's the best card you can get really.

 

I do think the computer I recommended on the previous page isn't bad, it's way above average in the world of laptops. Only dedicated gaming machines have better GPU's.

Ok. So theyre not exactly portable...the external GPU

 

I may end up getting he one you linked.