With a $1,500-$1,800 budget, which Apple desktop should I get for editing?

[bud01234]

I've been putting it off but getting ready to retire next week so I'm ready to jump in and start photo editing. Some 4K but mostly 1080 for YouTube.
A few (15) years ago, I did some desktop publishing on a Mac, but never got into movie editing. Now, with lots of free time (hopefully), it's time to teach the old dog new tricks.

I stopped by Best Buy and looked at apple laptops, but the desktops look like I can get more bang with my budget. I know that the right chips, memory, and storage are all important but know little about the specifics. I don't want to leave out something that would make me really sorry I didn't include in the purchase, so any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks,
Bud

 

[dirkclod]

I am not real smart on these things and need some editing software but is what I got last year
to learn with being I have always been windows .As far as I am concerned it's as good as I am able to mess with . Big learning curve for me but was not brought up with this stuff .

 

[Shawn King]

I don't want to leave out something that would make me really sorry I didn't include in the purchase, so any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Get as much RAM as you can stuff into the machine. Get the biggest SSD drive you can afford. Get internal or external storage drives. Get the biggest monitor you can afford.

In that order.

At some point this year, Apple will announce the Mac Pro. They also have the iMac Pro but both will be well outside your budget.

 

[dirkclod]

That new one was 5K plan
I had to also get 2 5T externals when I got mine ,1 for the time machine and other just to store files . Have around 2K in it.

 

[floyd]

Get a MacBook Pro for portability then a 32" monitor with thunderbolt inputs. Best of both worlds! Desktop stays on the desktop.

 

[TrayBoz]

As you can see by the screenshot below, I have the exact same computer as @dirkclod . I just bought it a week ago and I love it. It is plenty powerful enough to do all the video editing and music recording that I do. I already have a MacBook, so I didn't need anything portable.

Just to make it even faster and more powerful, I plan to upgrade the RAM to 24GB for an extra $100 this week (buying it from Amazon and installing it myself - super easy!)

The Retina 5K display is amazing. You haven't watched a 4K Mavic video until you've seen it on this 27" display. I use iMovie and Apple Photos applications (both free) to do all my video editing and light color grading. It's very easy to use, and this is the first time I've done any editing like this, ever.

I found my computer at Best Buy as an Open Box product after Xmas. It was brand new with full warrantee (never been turned on) for $1511 + tax. The built-in 1TB Fusion drive is very fast, and I bought a 4TB Western Digital external drive for $99 for extra storage space for all the huge 4K video files.

I'm very pleased with this system and my total outlay (minus the cost of the Mavic 2 and accessories) will be just $1700 after I upgrade the RAM to 24GB. Much cheaper than buying a MacBook Pro and a 4K monitor separately.

Best of luck to you.

 

[FLPilotshark]

@bud01234- Final Cut Pro, Lightroom, Photoshop and some minor Color grading software is basically all i use unless you're a professional Photographer.
Let me ask you a question do you even know how to use Photoshop?

 

[DrDrew3]

If you already have a good monitor and a keyboard/mouse from your current setup then the Mac Mini is a good option. The line up was just refreshed few months ago.

External 4GB hard drives are now really inexpensive since external SSD becoming in better supply.

Don't forget to include your editing software on the budget. DaVinci Resolve is free and feature-rich but pretty steep learning curve

 

[tck444]

I agree with the RAM and storage space comments. But , seems like some research should be done on the video card ? This seems like the weakest link in any setup to me . Otherwise your 4k video may not play back well.

With the budget you have described, you should have no problem getting a great system. May I suggest your results will be determined more by your eventual skill level than by the absolute greatest computer ?

I have been getting good results with a 5 year old Windows desktop using Pinnacle Studio for editing.

 

[Anythingwilldo]

I've been putting it off but getting ready to retire next week so I'm ready to jump in and start photo editing. Some 4K but mostly 1080 for YouTube.
A few (15) years ago, I did some desktop publishing on a Mac, but never got into movie editing. Now, with lots of free time (hopefully), it's time to teach the old dog new tricks.

I stopped by Best Buy and looked at apple laptops, but the desktops look like I can get more bang with my budget. I know that the right chips, memory, and storage are all important but know little about the specifics. I don't want to leave out something that would make me really sorry I didn't include in the purchase, so any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks,
Bud

Hi, i would suggest getting a new iPad pro instead it's as powerful if not more than your latest MacBooks, it's in your budget, you can get a big memory on the iPad and go cellular as well, get the pencil as well and you can fill in all your PDFs(go paperless) Get a keyboard for it if you want and you can wire it up to a desktop monitor using usb-c (u can use keys on screen you don't need keyboard to use with an external display) it will edit stuff in 4K, there is a program called luma fusion which has been mention as one of the best apps at the moment for video editing on a mobile device colour correction using 3Dlutts also work with it apparently. You can get affinity designer and affinity photo, which is on par with photoshop for editing photos, without the cost to go with it. hope this helps i recommend going on youtube and checking them out. i have the iPad and a new mac and if it wasn't for burning cd i would be on the iPad all the time. whatever you decide you need the RAM and a good video card and the space on a hard drive but that can be achieved with an external device, you will also need an sd card reader for transferring info
cheers
Chris

 

[TrayBoz]

Let me ask you a question do you even know how to use Photoshop?

Who are you asking?

 

[Inspirephil]

As you can see by the screenshot below, I have the exact same computer as @dirkclod . I just bought it a week ago and I love it. It is plenty powerful enough to do all the video editing and music recording that I do. I already have a MacBook, so I didn't need anything portable.

Just to make it even faster and more powerful, I plan to upgrade the RAM to 24GB for an extra $100 this week (buying it from Amazon and installing it myself - super easy!)

The Retina 5K display is amazing. You haven't watched a 4K Mavic video until you've seen it on this 27" display. I use iMovie and Apple Photos applications (both free) to do all my video editing and light color grading. It's very easy to use, and this is the first time I've done any editing like this, ever.

I found my computer at Best Buy as an Open Box product after Xmas. It was brand new with full warrantee (never been turned on) for $1511 + tax. The built-in 1TB Fusion drive is very fast, and I bought a 4TB Western Digital external drive for $99 for extra storage space for all the huge 4K video files.

I'm very pleased with this system and my total outlay (minus the cost of the Mavic 2 and accessories) will be just $1700 after I upgrade the RAM to 24GB. Much cheaper than buying a MacBook Pro and a 4K monitor separately.

Best of luck to you.


View attachment 58167

I have the exact same system with the exception of the 4TB WD external hd. I only got the 2TB one. Editing software is DaVinci Resolve (free version) which I am just beginning to learn how to use. I bought an extra 16GB’s of RAM which brought it up to 24GB’s total.
I too am using a 128GB iPad for the majority of my editing with LumaFusion which I bought a lifetime subscription for $19.99. The more I use it for editing the better I like it.
Although I Love the 27” monitor on my iMac and the graphics are amazing.

 

[CarlStarke]

I have the exact same system with the exception of the 4TB WD external hd. I only got the 2TB one. Editing software is DaVinci Resolve (free version) which I am just beginning to learn how to use. I bought an extra 16GB’s of RAM which brought it up to 24GB’s total.
I too am using a 128GB iPad for the majority of my editing with LumaFusion which I bought a lifetime subscription for $19.99. The more I use it for editing the better I like it.
Although I Love the 27” monitor on my iMac and the graphics are amazing.

Hi, I have an older model 27” iMac, did adding RAM make a noticeable difference?

I have 12GB ram and have been thinking about adding.

 

[13ringinheat]

If you want bang for the buck go with a PC........

Get the fastest processor in your budget (this is the biggest factor in determining editing capability)

16 gigs of RAM should be enough for MOST EDITS.....not sure what everyone is doing with 24 or 32 gigs of ram....don't think people actually check what their system is utilizing, just buy ram to say they have it.........

Get a fast SSD drive to store your work projects......and get a large mechanical drive for storage.

Depending on what editing software you are utilizing, you may or may not have some of the work offloaded to your GPU.

Get a decent monitor..........

LOL on all the crap Apple marketing BS.....FUSION drive, RETINA display, THUNDERBOLT cables, EPICAWESOMENESS keyboard, Chucknorris RAM......so lame......

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Who are you asking?

I'll answer. Lol
I'm learning. I bought lightroom cc first then learned (very basically) photoshop and now finally learning premiere pro... I'm definitely way over my head but I'm figuring it out..
And I'm able to do everything so far on my Surface pro 2017... Takes a little longer working with videos I guess but I haven't noticed an issue. Yet.
Obviously, a nice rig like these guys are talking about will only expedite the finished product worlds quicker... I guess...

 

[Inspirephil]

Hi, I have an older model 27” iMac, did adding RAM make a noticeable difference?

I have 12GB ram and have been thinking about adding.

For running multiple applications at once, yes it made a significant difference and I only paid $59.99 for the extra 16GB’s from OWC.com. They’ve got great deals on the SIMM cards all the time.
And it’s quite easy to install them. There’s a YouTube video on how to do it and it only took me about 5 minutes.

 

[Shawn King]

If you want bang for the buck go with a PC........

LOL Except...he said he wanted a Mac...

 

[dirkclod]

LOL on all the crap Apple marketing BS.....FUSION drive, RETINA display, THUNDERBOLT cables, EPICAWESOMENESS keyboard, Chucknorris RAM......so lame......

 

[13ringinheat]

LOL Except...he said he wanted a Mac...

I get it....just an option I threw..................my entire post would still apply whether he went PC or MAC.......including the bs marketing mumbo jumbo........

 

[Mossiback]

I suggest you first pick out what video editing software you plan to use. There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube that will help you decide. The software will list what hardware is needed. RAM is relatively cheap so don't scrimp on it. Also remember you need a backup plan. You don't want all your recordings on one drive when (not if) that drive fails.