The Best (Mac) Computer for Young Video Editors
- Cameron Kinsey
- Apr 21, 2021
- 2 min read
The Mac Mini (late 2020) with Apple's new M1 chip, in my opinion, is awesome.
I went into 2020 using a MacBook Pro from mid 2014. Yeah, I got that laptop while I was a sophomore in HIGH SCHOOL! Used it through high school (yes, I was editing videos then too) up until after my junior year of college. That thing was great and it lasted me awhile. I learned premiere pro, photoshop, cinema 4d, and more on that thing. It couldn't handle some advanced graphics and animations, but it did what I needed it to do. Finally, in the summer of 2020 it was time for an upgrade.
I mistakenly bought a 2019 iMac, which would've been great, but I didn't pay much attention to the processor.
Here's what you need to know
Most macs have an intel processor, such as an intel core i3 or an intel core i7. The higher that number (i3, i5, etc...) the more power it has. An i3 is nice for surfing the web and checking emails, but nothing too advanced. When I bought my mac, I thought that because it was a newer processor, it would make up for the fact that it was only an i3 and would outperform my old mac. I was wrong and that 2019 iMac was often times slower than my 2014 MacBook Pro.
Here's a chart to provide extra insight:
That being said I've learned the hard way that as an editor/videographer you should have at least an i5 CPU, but sometimes that may not even be enough. An i7 or an i9 would be ideal.
The newest Mac Mini has an Apple M1 chip. This is the most powerful chip apple has made yet and it combines the CPU and GPU into one. It's still very new and a lot of apps/softwares are not yet optimized to fully utilize its power. However, don't let that fact deter you. I recently purchased a 2020 Mac Mini and it's been running great. There are a few different Mac Mini options, so which one should you get? You're going to need more than 8GB of RAM, especially if you like multitasking like I do, so I got the 16GB option. I also use up a ton of storage so I wanted more than the base 256GB, but I didn't feel the 1TB option was worth the extra money, therefore I went with 512GB of storage. I definitely have enough footage and files to easily go over that, but that's what external drives are for!
Here's where I bought mine: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1604804-REG/apple_z12n_mgnr_06_bh_mac_mini.html
Here's a couple videos I found to give you more insight:
Starting at $700, in my opinion, this is the best "bang for your buck" computer. I recommend spending a little more to get 16GB of RAM, but overall a great computer for young filmmakers like myself. 🤙
Great advice, Cameron! I use a Mac Mini for work with two monitors and I love it! don’t forget to get a pair of good speakers, an external microphone and a web cam for video conferencing! I also prefer a bit more memory, so went for 32 gigs.