What iMac/MacBook Pro to complement my Mavic 2Pro

[Desertjock]

Hi everyone, this is my first post as I’ve treated myself to a Mavic 2 Pro for the first time. The problem is my iMac is 11 years old and therefore the footage I take is very sporadic when played back on my Mac. I guess I need to buy a new computer too!! Can anyone advise me on the specs required to run and edit video I take with my new toy please. I retire in two years so I would like it to be kind of future proof for the next ten years or so.
Thanks

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Welcome to the forum! Hope you enjoy flying your new Mavic 2 Pro. As for editing the video it shoots, the Mavic 2 Pro records h.264 and h.265 video depending on your settings. Your 11 year old Mac may be able to handle some minimal h.264 work but it will definitely struggle and h.265s are probably a no go.

Sounds like you’re interested in a newer iMac or MacBook. I personally edit on a 2019 iMac with an 8th gen Core i5, 32 gigs of RAM and a discrete graphics card. I forget the exact graphics specs but it’s handled everything my Mavic 2 Pro has thrown at it with no problem. If you’re looking to future proof it a bit more, grab a higher end processor, graphics and storage. The 27” iMacs still allow you to add more ram after purchase. So you could always do that later. But watch out, the RAM in the 21” is soldered on, so you’d need to get more when you order it. If you go MacBook, anything that’s a 15” or 16” Pro will have discreet graphics and a good current processor. Hope that helps a bit. Happy flying!

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

Here's what I use...
I use FCPX for making videos. My advice... get as much drive space as you can afford. I have a total of 6 terabytes of SSD.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Here's what I use...
View attachment 90315

Nice rig! I’d edit with that too if I could afford it. ?

 

[Maviac]

I’ve got a mid-2019 15” MacBook Pro i9 and absolutely love it. It flies through 4K rendering in Premiere Pro and Resolve, and the screen is big enough to not be an eye strain. And it’s powerful enough that it shouldn’t be obsolete for 7 years at least, probably longer. They just replaced it with a 16” version with the same hardware specs, so you could probably find a good deal on a lightly used 15” If you don’t want to pay full price (the 15” is actually 15.5 so the new one is only about half an inch bigger).

 

[Desertjock]

Welcome to the forum! Hope you enjoy flying your new Mavic 2 Pro. As for editing the video it shoots, the Mavic 2 Pro records h.264 and h.265 video depending on your settings. Your 11 year old Mac may be able to handle some minimal h.264 work but it will definitely struggle and h.265s are probably a no go.

Sounds like you’re interested in a newer iMac or MacBook. I personally edit on a 2019 iMac with an 8th gen Core i5, 32 gigs of RAM and a discrete graphics card. I forget the exact graphics specs but it’s handled everything my Mavic 2 Pro has thrown at it with no problem. If you’re looking to future proof it a bit more, grab a higher end processor, graphics and storage. The 27” iMacs still allow you to add more ram after purchase. So you could always do that later. But watch out, the RAM in the 21” is soldered on, so you’d need to get more when you order it. If you go MacBook, anything that’s a 15” or 16” Pro will have discreet graphics and a good current processor. Hope that helps a bit. Happy flying!

Welcome to the forum! Hope you enjoy flying your new Mavic 2 Pro. As for editing the video it shoots, the Mavic 2 Pro records h.264 and h.265 video depending on your settings. Your 11 year old Mac may be able to handle some minimal h.264 work but it will definitely struggle and h.265s are probably a no go.

Sounds like you’re interested in a newer iMac or MacBook. I personally edit on a 2019 iMac with an 8th gen Core i5, 32 gigs of RAM and a discrete graphics card. I forget the exact graphics specs but it’s handled everything my Mavic 2 Pro has thrown at it with no problem. If you’re looking to future proof it a bit more, grab a higher end processor, graphics and storage. The 27” iMacs still allow you to add more ram after purchase. So you could always do that later. But watch out, the RAM in the 21” is soldered on, so you’d need to get more when you order it. If you go MacBook, anything that’s a 15” or 16” Pro will have discreet graphics and a good current processor. Hope that helps a bit. Happy flying!

Thanks very much for the advice, Yes, I’ve been looking hard at the new 16” MacBook Pro but that 27” iMac just blows me away! Decision, Decisions!!!

 

[Desertjock]

Here's what I use...
I use FCPX for making videos. My advice... get as much drive space as you can afford. I have a total of 6 terabytes of SSD.
View attachment 90315

I would certainly love the specs that you have but I have never been lucky at winning the lottery!! You must be a pro video editor!! Thanks for the advice though.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

I’ve been looking hard at the new 16” MacBook Pro but that 27” iMac just blows me away! Decision, Decisions!!!

I hear you on the decisions. Over the past two years I went from a 15” MacBook Pro standalone user. To using it with an older 27” Cinema Display. To selling all that and getting the 27” inch iMac. As sweet as those laptops are, I found I was always editing at my desk at home. And the iMac is just a bit more upgrade-able. I’m hoping it’ll be more future proof. Be sure to post once you decide. No matter what you pick, you’ll really enjoy editing the video your Mavic 2 shoots.

 

[Desertjock]

I hear you on the decisions. Over the past two years I went from a 15” MacBook Pro standalone user. To using it with an older 27” Cinema Display. To selling all that and getting the 27” inch iMac. As sweet as those laptops are, I found I was always editing at my desk at home. And the iMac is just a bit more upgrade-able. I’m hoping it’ll be more future proof. Be sure to post once you decide. Not matter what you pick, you’ll really enjoy editing the video your Mavic 2 shoots.

Thanks, I’ll let you know what I finally went for. No doubt I will have wished I went for the other but as you say, I’m really looking forward to playing around with video.

 

[Gadriller]

iPad Pro works excellent newest one of course. Plus touch screen and gen 2 pencil makes editing much easier in my opinion. Running lumafusion and affinity photo. Hope this helps.

 

[John Gowland]

I wish I had access to this guy before I bought my 2017 13 Macbook Pro
Max Tech

The 13 MBP is great for travel I find the 15 and 16 just awkwardly big.
I can make videos on a P4P 2 4K 60fps but I can't watch them! Very jerky, waste of time. I now find myself needing to buy and external graphics processing unit. (egpu) to watch what I make! I know the Mavic 2 can't do 4k 60fps.
It's always a huge dilemma especially like you Desertjock when I was near to retirement and you have to be careful with your assets.
I now need to get a egpu the Sonnet looks good but just as dated as my MBP. But it suits my budget at the moment.
Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck Radeon RX 570-S
Let us know how you go.

 

[Desertjock]

I wish I had access to this guy before I bought my 2017 13 Macbook Pro
Max Tech

The 13 MBP is great for travel I find the 15 and 16 just awkwardly big.
I can make videos on a P4P 2 4K 60fps but I can't watch them! Very jerky, waste of time. I now find myself needing to buy and external graphics processing unit. (egpu) to watch what I make! I know the Mavic 2 can't do 4k 60fps.
It's always a huge dilemma especially like you Desertjock when I was near to retirement and you have to be careful with your assets.
I now need to get a egpu the Sonnet looks good but just as dated as my MBP. But it suits my budget at the moment.
Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck Radeon RX 570-S
Let us know how you go.

 

[Desertjock]

Thanks John, yes, retirement is a bit of a dilemma but hopefully an enjoyable one flying and taking video!! Will let you know what I ended up with.

 

[WithTheBirds]

If you want good value for future upgrades the 27” iMac is the way to go. You don’t need to drop your pants at the Apple store for silly priced ram- go with the standard 8GB and you can go up to 128GB with very simple user installation.

If you get the 3.1 GHz i5 you can go all the way to i9 9900K. Not as simple as the ram upgrade but easy enough if you are patient.

Thunderbolt 3 will give you 40G/s with good external SSD. You can upgrade the internal drive also.

The 5K screen is beautiful.

 

[Desertjock]

If you want good value for future upgrades the 27” iMac is the way to go. You don’t need to drop your pants at the Apple store for silly priced ram- go with the standard 8GB and you can go up to 128GB with very simple user installation.

If you get the 3.1 GHz i5 you can go all the way to i9 9900K. Not as simple as the ram upgrade but easy enough if you are patient.

Thunderbolt 3 will give you 40G/s with good external SSD. You can upgrade the internal drive also.

The 5K screen is beautiful.

Thanks “with the birds”, sounds like the way to go. Thanks for the advice. Ken

 

[Alan_M]

The current Mac Minis have user upgradable RAM, and 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports so you can plug in pretty much anything, including graphics cards, if you want to. The advantage of the Mini is you can choose which monitor you use, or use an existing one.

 

[John Gowland]

With a good egpu they can sizzle. I wanted a machine I can travel with and use at home. If you know you are going somewhere with a large screen like almost all hotels you only need a mouse and keyboard and the minis are portable.