Macbook vs Macbook Pro for music production and video editing?

[Linda longer]

Hey everyone,
finally after years,i will buy a macbook. Too many good reviews. i just need to figure out which one. The latest news says there is a great macbook that just came out and a macbook pro that is similar, but with firewire and a possible 8 GB ram (plus better grafics).

I will be doing ONLY video editing (lots of hours to edit), and id like to start making music. Im no musician, but i can learn quick and dont want to get a computer that i'll master and need an upgrade in 1 years time.
The thing that makes me undecided is that the MacbookPro can hold up to 8gb ram!! doing video editing ill need all the speed i can get.
MY BUDGET IS LOW! Being in italy and paying in euro is a bummer but by budget is around 1200 euro. in this id like to get decent speakers and if possible a headset.

Id go for the macbook, cause sooo many people say its great and it can hold anything. How useful could the 8gb of RAM and the extra stuff on the macbook pro be to my needs?? Id obviously stack up on RAM either way..
Thanks guys for all your help..

P.s. on a mac-rumors site, they said to be careful for the macbook pro cause its getting to the end of its cycle..

 

[Peter Stelzhammer]

Not unimportant to know; Which Software are you planning to use; Adobe or FinalCut X (or even something different)?
This can make a difference especially in the field of supported/recommended graphics-cards and so on...

With a budget of around 1200 Euro you won't come in the region of Retina MBP's...
As of MBP vs. MacBook -> definitely MBP!

With your kind of budget I'd highly recommend checking the after-market (used products) and the Apple Refurbished store!
Also I'd choose a SSD as boot-drive over 'double-the-RAM' any day as it has a much higher speed-impact you actually feel (which ist not so 'instant' with just a RAM-upgrade). E.g. 8 Gig RAM plus SSD fells (and actually is) much faster and snappier then 16 Gig RAM but spinning hard-drive as boot-drive... Just to have it mentioned.

And Yes; The MBP should get at least a little Speed-Bump soon - this is overdue already...
But if you need a machine now I wouldn't wait for that to be honest.

As of speakers I'd recommend M-Audio BX8 if you need full-size studio speakers; http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBX8D2.html
If you need a smaller, more mobile/travel-friendly version - M-Audio BX5 (better price-point since they are smaller); http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBX5D2.html

 

[Brian Merlen]

yes we need to know what applications you will be running to give you a good answer... and i agree with getting a refurbished, maybe even second hand and used mac is the way to go with a budget like that. also keep in mind apple will LIEKLY release a new retina macbook pro within immmm lets say 3 weeks... a look at the macrumors webpage shows this to be the trend at least...

are you dead set against a mac mini? might be a good compromise to save some cash....the new macbook air just came out, the current retina is dated somewhat and due for a refresh, if that matters at all to you.


obviously the retina is the way to go GPU wise and ram upgrade wise...but ram is soldered in with both these models, you will not be able to upgrade either of their ram unless done at applestore upon purchase... i think if you want a more powerful machine refurbished or second hand is the way to go... both the mac air and mac mini have terrible GPUs compared to a decent macbook pro...if you can't afford the latest generation you would still do better with a 2 year old macbook pro processing power wise, hell even 3 year old generation would still destroy them i bet processing power wise...better yet a used xeon tower...

give us more info and i can try and help...

 

[Marc Wielage]

Note you could always buy last year's model on eBay, possibly from a local source you could inspect prior to purchasing. That will be much more affordable than buying a brand new Mac.