Apple hardware suggestions

Brizzel81 · Mar 10, 2019

While trying to use my mid 2014 MacBook Pro 2.66ghz i5 processor to edit H265 files. Play back was very choppy. Wondering if I need to upgrade my hardware. I hate PCs. Mac is the only option for me. What systems I have worked for other people? Looking at older Mac pros with 8 to 12 cores. Do I need this?

Thomas B · Mar 10, 2019

You may be happy with a newer MacBook or more RAM and a good video card, but Apple, and I have used them since the late 70’s, doesn’t seem to do well with H265 yet. Try recording, exporting and processing videos as H264 and you may well get what you want and smooth playback

Phantomrain.org · Mar 10, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
While trying to use my mid 2014 MacBook Pro 2.66ghz i5 processor to edit H265 files. Play back was very choppy. Wondering if I need to upgrade my hardware. I hate PCs. Mac is the only option for me. What systems I have worked for other people? Looking at older Mac pros with 8 to 12 cores. Do I need this?

You want to use Final cut X pro 10.3.4 if you are running El Capitan, or 10.4.4 if you hare using High Sierra or Mohavie.
Amazon sells the software for about $150

You can use 4K footage with something called a Proxy which allows you to edit the footage in 1080 and yet export out in 4K , works really well.

When it comes to rendering : Ram is just as important as the number of cores.

sar104 · Mar 10, 2019

Your MacBook has a Haswell processor - those do not support the hardware decoding that is needed for H265. That requires Kaby Lake processors (2017 MBP) or later (the current MBPs use Coffee Lake which handles H265 just fine).

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

I have been looking at the 2012 Mac Pro 5,1s. One in particular with dual 3.46 six core processors (12 cores) and 24 MB of RAM. I really like the older Mac pros. So much upgrade potential. I think it should do the trick.

Thomas B · Mar 17, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
I have been looking at the 2012 Mac Pro 5,1s. One in particular with dual 3.46 six core processors (12 cores) and 24 MB of RAM. I really like the older Mac pros. So much upgrade potential. I think it should do the trick.

I’d advise you to Crucial and get more RAM. Way less than Apple. Been using them for decades.

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

24 GB lol! I planned to at least I have 64GB. That’s just what is currently in the machine that I’m looking at

sar104 · Mar 17, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
I have been looking at the 2012 Mac Pro 5,1s. One in particular with dual 3.46 six core processors (12 cores) and 24 MB of RAM. I really like the older Mac pros. So much upgrade potential. I think it should do the trick.

It may be a good MP, but it certainly won't play H265 video.

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

sar104 said:
It may be a good MBP, but it certainly won't play H265 video.

Why is that?

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
Why is that?

It’s a Mac Pro, not a MacBook Pro

sar104 · Mar 17, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
Why is that?

Brizzel81 said:
It’s a Mac Pro, not a MacBook Pro

Yes - typo - I fixed it. It doesn't matter how many cores it has - it doesn't have hardware decoding for H265.

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

sar104 said:
Yes - typo - I fixed it. It doesn't matter how many cores it has - it doesn't have hardware decoding for H265.

Well do you have a suggestion? Year range and type. I have a mid-2014 MBP with a 2.6 gHz I5 dual core processor. Still a very nice machine, but it just doesn’t have the processing power I need. I don’t needed the newest, just something that will easily do the work. Mac only... I hate PCs!

sar104 · Mar 17, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
Well do you have a suggestion? Year range and type. I have a mid-2014 MBP with a 2.6 gHz I5 dual core processor. Still a very nice machine, but it just doesn’t have the processing power I need. I don’t needed the newest, just something that will easily do the work. Mac only... I hate PCs!

See post #4. You need a Mac with a Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake processor. That means a 2017 or later MBP or a 2017 iMac.

Brizzel81 · Mar 17, 2019

sar104 said:
See post #4. You need a Mac with a Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake processor. That means a 2017 or later MBP or a 2017 iMac.

Thank you! I almost had one the other day, but dude sold it before checking back with me. It was a super nice machine. I should have just paid the asking price. It was worth it lol. Oh well. Again thanks for keeping me from making a big mistake!

sar104 · Mar 18, 2019

Brizzel81 said:
Thank you! I almost had one the other day, but dude sold it before checking back with me. It was a super nice machine. I should have just paid the asking price. It was worth it lol. Oh well. Again thanks for keeping me from making a big mistake!

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