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Ultimate Comparison: Every 2018 15-Inch MacBook Pro for Video Editing

Whether you use Final Cut Pro, Premiere, or Resolve, video editing is most likely the most intensive use of your machine's graphics card, CPU, and RAM. This video gives a comparison between the machines when benchmarked and tested in various situations. 

Max Yuryev is known for publishing videos where he tests the latest gear, whether it's cameras or Macs. The 2018 MacBook Pros were released recently, and there were several issues with regards to over-heating and the machines using less of the GPU and CPU to reduce the thermal build up inside the casing.

Apple fixed it by releasing a patch update, but it's quite strange to think the largest tech company in the world, with a trillion dollar market cap, didn't do sufficient testing. When it comes to pro gear, testing is one of the most important parts of the development, and they should be doing more than what's needed before releasing it to its massive user base. It's for professionals. It should just work, or that's what Apple used to say. There has been a backlash on most social networks, but it seems as if the patch they released with an update fixed the thermal issues. 

Results

Final Cut Pro renders quicker in most instances, but there is almost no difference in time when comparing the three different Macs Yuryev tested. It's an Apple-developed application and workflow, so it's understandable for them to optimize the application to run as smoothly as possible. 

Adobe Premiere Pro is the laggard here, and there is no comparison when it comes to render times. It's a known fact that Adobe's video editing software takes longer, with all three the machines, which again, render at roughly the same speeds. 

Resolve is almost rendering at the same speeds as Final Cut across the board, which is quite impressive.

My Recommendation

I usually go for the top spec machine. But in this instance, I tend to agree with Yuryev on what machine is best for video editing, especially if you're doing so on Premiere Pro like I do. The 2.2 GHz clock speed with the i7 six-core processor, 32 GBs of RAM, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560X GPU will do nicely.


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