What should I edit on?

Bobby2099 · October 11, 2021

I'm an editor who is trying to upgrade from editing on my laptop to a desktop. I've been debating on Mac or PC? I would be editing with Adobe products like After Effects and DaVinci and sometimes with 4K footage raw from a Black Magic. The timelines could be complicated and long perhaps 40 minutes depending on the project. However, my question is what should I go with? I would maybe get the the iMac M1 (hopefully the 16 Memory) or a custom PC. In the end, the PC would cost me more due to a lot of price hikes but would it be worth it? Mac or PC?

LogicalDrm · October 12, 2021

-> Moved to Photography and Videography

Brian McKee · October 12, 2021

In terms of pure cost efficiency right now to complete those tasks the M1 will be better. But obviously if you planned to do anything else on your computer like play games then it obviously swings in the opposite direction. If you're making money from this and need a system immediately I'd recommend the M1.

If you got the starting capital to pay some serious scalper prices then I'd suggest the PC.

Commodus · October 14, 2021

On 10/11/2021 at 7:07 PM, Bobby2099 said:

I'm an editor who is trying to upgrade from editing on my laptop to a desktop. I've been debating on Mac or PC? I would be editing with Adobe products like After Effects and DaVinci and sometimes with 4K footage raw from a Black Magic. The timelines could be complicated and long perhaps 40 minutes depending on the project. However, my question is what should I go with? I would maybe get the the iMac M1 (hopefully the 16 Memory) or a custom PC. In the end, the PC would cost me more due to a lot of price hikes but would it be worth it? Mac or PC?

I would go with an iMac now that Adobe's software is increasingly optimized for Apple Silicon. Definitely get 16GB of RAM and as much internal storage as you'll need for a few years. If I were editing video, I'd either get 1TB-plus internal or 512GB and a large-capacity external drive (preferably an SSD, but it doesn't have to be fast).

Windows PCs can make more sense in some cases, but I look at it this way: modern iMacs are secretly good value. You may end up paying considerably less than you would for a comparable 4K or 5K display and the computer to match. The M1 iMac also steps things up as it's very quiet. Besides, how often can you get a video editing machine in orange or purple? (You'll probably get silver for a colour-neutral backdrop, but it's the principle of the thing!)