Mac Video Editing Performance
Previously I shared a video of Jonathan Morrison editing 4K video on a 12” MacBook, after Linus Sebastian had failed to do so on an ultrabook running Windows. In explaining the difference there, I wrote:
The differentiating factor is that Jonathan uses Final Cut Pro, whereas Linus uses Adobe Premiere Pro. Final Cut Pro uses background rendering and Intel Quick Sync Video to stay responsive with less resources.
But now there’s a new video from Matthew Moniz comparing video rendering and playback on a MacBook Pro to PC laptops, but this time running Adobe Premiere Pro. This should eliminate some of Final Cut Pro’s optimization advantages since Premiere is cross-platform. But in the results the MacBook Pro again comes out on top, beating the PC laptops in both rendering and playback performance. In the summary for the Jonathan Morrison video I wrote:
This is a great example of the difference between specs and real world usage, the ultrabook comes out ahead in specs, but the MacBook performs better in real world usage.
The same sentiment is apt here: Specs and benchmarks are unreliable indicators of real-world performance.
Moniz has a follow-up video comparing an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iMac Pro, and a PC desktop. In these tests, the PC fairs better. Moniz’s overall recommendation is the 2019 iMac, but with the caveat that 3D rendering (using Cinema 4D and Blender as examples) and games performed significantly better on the PC.
3D rendering is a weak point for Apple right now, macOS doesn’t support the industry standard Nvidia cards, and there’s no platform-exclusive equivalent to Final Cut Pro. But I’m hopeful the 3D situation will improve with the release of the new Mac Pro, and there’s already some indications that it’s happening: Redshift, Octane, and Cinema 4D are all being developed for Metal, and Apple released Reality Composer, a new 3D app for developers.