Apple didn’t get its reputation for performance and accuracy from nowhere.
The industry’s most advanced multicam editing lets you automatically sync up to 64 angles of video with different formats, frame sizes, and frame rates. View up to 16 angles at once in the Angle Viewer. And open the Angle Editor timeline to move, sync, trim, add effects, or color grade individual clips.
Everything from phones to paper-thin notebooks are engineering to work efficiently, and this makes their MacBooks ideal for all levels of video editing.
- May 20, 2018 Complete video editing tutorial for non-editors on Mac! Learn video editing for beginners, and a ton of video editing tips to save time. (Check below for the.
- Jun 26, 2019 Apple still has an advantage with iMovie, the easiest video editing software to use. Some editors may still use it, and if you want to do so, you would need a Mac. Apple has an Edge on Colors and Fonts Video editors also rely on the key design elements of color, typography, and graphics.
Besides integrating extremely well with the Adobe Creative Cloud suite and many other third-party photo/video editing software, they offer a streamlined experience that will work well in any freelance or industry position.
In this guide, we’ll point out some key points for choosing the best MacBook Pro that will most effectively work for video editing at various levels, and showcase some of our own recommendations as well.
Quick Summary
For the casual creative, we recommend the 13-inch MacBook Pro with 256GB SSD, which offers quality performance without unnecessarily bulking up the specs. It doesn’t offer touch bar, but it is portable and sturdy.
If you certainly aren’t a hobbyist but not a pro either, 13-inch MacBook Pro with 512GB SSD is a better choice. The storage has been beefed up a bit, and the touch bar offers a new dimension of functionality.
Lastly, the professional creative looking to max out their performance power would be best served with a 15-inch MacBook Pro with i9 Processor and 512GB SSD. This model offers insane amounts of processing power, though you’ll likely still want an external monitor for the sake of screen space.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/4/0/134055499/230823401.jpg)
Is MacBook Pro Good for Video Editing?
In this case, it isn’t about whether or not a Mac will be effective for video editing, but a matter of how much power you really need.
If you just plan on doing minor work for youtube, you won’t be troubled by extensive renders or clamoring for screen restate, so it doesn’t make sense to pay for specs built for something ten times as processor-intensive.
However, if you plan on doing digital animation or working in 4K, it’s definitely time to look at higher end machines that will be able to handle what you’re throwing at them.
If you’re not planning on editing videos in some way, you should not treat this article as a collection of the most powerful MacBooks overall.
Intensive computer work demands different specs depending on what you plan on doing, so you can’t assume the best for editing will be the best for say, gaming.
Best MacBook Pro for Video Editing: What to Look For?
Graphics
The key to a fast render is a high quality dedicated graphics card, and while lower level work will likely be fine using an integrated card, you’ll want a dedicated one for anything beyond the casual home video or Youtube vlog. Dedicated graphics allow your computer to utilize RAM (Random Access Memory) specifically for the high-quality visuals you’ll be rendering as effectively as possible.
Processor
The processor is going to be handling every detail of your video as you build it, so you’re going to want to look towards the latest generations of the Intel i5 and i7 lines. Since video software can make use of multiple threads as well, these will benefit you while creating your project.
RAM
The final element that will make or break the performance of your MacBook while working on video editing is RAM. It’s used in every aspect of your computer’s execution of processes, and you’ll want a minimum of 8GB for amateur work, with a goal of 16GB if you’re editing professionally.
Best MacBook Pro for Video Editing in 2019: Our Picks
1. Casual Video Editing: 13-inch MacBook Pro (2.4GHz, Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB)
If you’re going to be editing home videos and content for Youtube, you probably won’t be doing intensive 3D renders or completely utilizing heavy programs even if they are installed. This version of the 13″ MacBook Pro comes with the processing power to reach your goal without unnecessarily overcompensating.
Pros:
- The 13″ model is extremely portable, so you’ll have editing power at your fingertips wherever you go.
- RAM is the perfect amount for this type of user and should last several years.
- SSD drive means that renders and saves will be completed faster than with a physical HDD disk.
Blu ray player software for mac. Cons:
- SSD is pricey, which is why this model only comes with 256 GB in disk space. You’ll definitely want to purchase an external drive to compensate for this when storing your videos.
- Additionally, this model uses an integrated graphics card which will be fine for this level of editing but doesn’t offer room for growth.
2. For Amateur Movie Making: 13-inch MacBook Pro (2.4GHz, Intel Core i5 processor, 512GB)
Whether college student or budding short-film director, you need power and a modern flair without the expense of a professional setup. This model of MacBook is a great compromise, offering Apple’s latest touch bar and touch ID technology packed into a 13″ body powered by an integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655.
Pros:
- Offering both portability and power, this modern masterpiece has all the specs to get you where you want to go without any unnecessary bulk.
- The brand-new touch bar is also included and known to have great integrations when working in Final Cut Pro or the Adobe Suite.
Cons:
- While offering more space than the aforementioned 256GB model, it’s still a bit on the small side for storing large video files.
- It also has an integrated graphics card, which is slightly less than ideal.
3. For Professional Creatives: 15-inch MacBook Pro (2.3GHz, Intel Core i9 processor, 512GB)
Truly a top of the line machine, this MacBook Pro model was built for precision and nothing less. The 8-core i9 processor can stand up to just about anything you throw at it, it has a powerful graphics card UHD Graphics 630. The 15″ screen offers some more real estate than the smaller 13″ models.
Pros:
- It has nearly unbeatable power between the mix of RAM, dGPU, and processor.
- The beautiful screen will produce accurate colors and the touch bar will allow you to work even more effectively in your favorite editing programs.
- You have the option to choose more storage space if needed.
Cons:
- When editing professionally, you need all the screen space you can get, and no size laptop is going to be able to offer that. If you don’t have an external monitor, check out our recommendations.
Useful Video Editing Resources
Just getting started with editing your own videos? LifeWire offers a great tutorial on getting started, from which software will be the most useful to whether you’ll fare better with some peripherals. Also, check out this complete video editing tutorial for non-editors on Mac:
A fan of iMovie? MacWorld has made a fantastic list of best tips on how to get the most out of Apple’s video editing software for macOS.
You could also check out this list of free and paid Mac video editing apps (TechRadar), which will let you experiment before deciding exactly what you need in a paid program.
Final Words
Video editing is a prime example of technical work that eats RAM and CPU power like no other. Luckily, a MacBook Pro was made to stand up to these things and is sure to perform if you’ve picked an adequate model.
What set up do you currently use to edit videos? Let us know and share which specs you think are most important for productive work.
Work at a faster clip.
With its modern Metal engine, Final Cut Pro allows you to edit more complex projects and work with larger frame sizes, higher frame rates, and more effects — all at blazing speeds. And it’s built to harness the extreme power of the new Mac Pro for next-level performance.
Accelerated performance with Metal
Mac Mini For Video Editing
Metal dramatically accelerates graphics tasks like rendering, real-time effects, and exporting. Video editors on 15-inch MacBook Pro will benefit from render performance that is up to 20% faster while editors using iMac Pro will see gains of up to 35%.1 And when you’re working on a system with an eGPU attached, you can select which GPU to use — internal or external — for peak performance.
Optimized for the all-new Mac Pro
For the ultimate editing experience, run Final Cut Pro on the world’s fastest Mac, the new Mac Pro. Final Cut Pro takes advantage of all the GPUs in Mac Pro and uses multithreading to spread tasks across up to 28 cores. And when equipped with the optional Afterburner card, Mac Pro delivers the fastest ProRes performance ever. So you can do things like edit video, create motion graphics, and color grade in groundbreaking 8K resolution. All at maximum velocity.
The tools you need. From start to finishing.
With innovative features and an intuitive design, Final Cut Pro accelerates post-production. So editors can create and deliver at the speed of thought.
The Magnetic Timeline allows you to easily experiment with story ideas by moving and trimming clips without collisions or sync problems. Use Compound Clips to bundle separate video and audio clips into a single movable package, create Auditions to try out multiple takes in the timeline, and use Synchronized Clips to align video with second-source audio automatically. Color coding makes it easy to identify different types of content, with the ability to customize the look of your timeline while you edit.
Final Cut Pro offers the most advanced organizing tools of any professional video editing application. Easily tag entire clips or clip ranges with metadata for searching, and create Smart Collections that automatically collect content according to a set of custom criteria. Skimming lets you efficiently browse hours of material in a more visual way, so you can identify what you want in seconds.
Create 2D and 3D titles right in Final Cut Pro, apply and modify filters, and use the built-in chroma key for high-quality green- and blue-screen effects. Expand on the built-in effects with thousands of third-party tools and templates. And for even more control, use Motion to create stunning titles, transitions, generators, and effects you can access from Final Cut Pro.
Final Cut Pro lets you edit multichannel audio using built-in tools for removing background noise and optimizing levels. Adjust multichannel audio files in the timeline or open the inspector for more information and options. Choose from dozens of bundled plug-ins for audio compression, EQ, and more — or send to a professional audio application like Logic Pro X for advanced audio mixing.
Quickly encode video using the power of multicore CPUs and high-performance GPUs. Take advantage of presets to deliver ultra-high-quality masters or files optimized for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and websites like YouTube and Vimeo. And batch exporting makes it fast to deliver multiple files or projects in multiple formats. 3utools for mac. You can also use Compressor to create custom export settings that appear right in Final Cut Pro.
Multicam
The industry’s most advanced multicam editing lets you automatically sync up to 64 angles of video with different formats, frame sizes, and frame rates. View up to 16 angles at once in the Angle Viewer. And open the Angle Editor timeline to move, sync, trim, add effects, or color grade individual clips.
Video noise reduction
Improve the look of archival and low-light images with powerful noise reduction tools that reduce or eliminate grain and video noise. Simple controls let you quickly adjust intensity, and it’s easy to change processing order by dragging the effect in the inspector.
Motion and Compressor
Create stunning effects and sweeping graphics with Motion, including studio-quality 2D and 3D titles you can open and adjust in Final Cut Pro. Use Compressor to create custom export settings and streamline delivery of your movie to the iTunes Store. And because Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Compressor all share the same Metal architecture, you’ll experience blazing performance and consistent rendering across applications.
Compressor
Advanced color grading.
Every pixel closer to perfection.
Professional color grading tools are built into Final Cut Pro, including a dedicated color inspector with color wheels, color curves, hue/saturation curves, and keyframes to adjust corrections over time. You can work with High Dynamic Range footage on recent Mac systems that display an extended range of brightness. Or connect the all-new Pro Display XDR for the ultimate HDR experience.
Unique color wheels improve on traditional controls by combining hue, saturation, and brightness into a single, simple interface.
Color and luminance curves allow ultrafine level adjustments with multiple control points to target specific color and brightness ranges.
Sample a color with an eyedropper and change just the hue, saturation, or luminance of a specific color within the image.
Work closer to reality than ever before with HDR video. Import, edit, grade, and deliver incredibly lifelike images with Final Cut Pro. High-resolution scopes reflect HDR brightness levels as you edit, and tone mapping lets you easily convert HDR to Standard Dynamic Range output for broadcast. You can view beautiful HDR content on a wide range of Mac computers that use the reserve brightness of the display to show an extended range of light levels.
HDR on Pro Display XDR
View High Dynamic Range video the way it was meant to be seen. The gorgeous new Pro Display XDR delivers 6K resolution and 1000 nits of sustained brightness for HDR editing, grading, and delivery with Final Cut Pro. And setup couldn’t be simpler — just connect a single Thunderbolt cable from your Mac to Pro Display XDR to use it as an additional display or video monitor.
ProRes RAW. The flexibility of RAW with the performance of ProRes.
Import, edit, and grade pristine video with RAW data straight from your camera sensor. Work with ProRes RAW files and experience all the creative advantages of RAW with the seamless performance of ProRes. And with Mac Pro and the Afterburner card, you can edit in ProRes RAW faster than ever before.
ProRes performance
Remarkably smooth playback and real-time, multistream editing are part of the ProRes RAW package. The format is optimized for macOS and the latest Mac computers, allowing you to render and export faster than with other RAW formats. And if you’re working on Mac Pro, the optional Afterburner card accelerates ProRes RAW performance so you can edit at 8K resolution in real time. Since ProRes RAW files are smaller than standard formats, you can fit more footage on every card.
View the Apple ProRes RAW White PaperRAW flexibility
Work with untouched image data directly from your camera sensor. RAW files provide maximum flexibility for adjusting the look of your video while extending brightness and shadows — an ideal combination for HDR workflows. And ProRes RAW preserves more of the original image data, making it a great format for archiving.
Workflow extensions. Extend the power of Final Cut Pro.
Mac Desktop For Video Editing
Work directly with powerful third-party applications — without leaving Final Cut Pro.
Use the Frame.io extension to simplify review and approval. Gimp for mac os. Drag and drop clips and timelines, jump between markers, and review comments and annotations in real time from your Frame.io collaborators.
Best Mac For Video Editing
The Shutterstock extension lets you browse stock photos, videos, and music while you edit. Drag and drop watermarked files into the timeline and easily replace them later with licensed, high-resolution versions.
Connect directly to CatDV and KeyFlow Pro media asset management systems so you can browse, mark, and transfer files from within the Final Cut Pro interface.
Transcribe audio and translate the text to over 50 languages for use in subtitles and captions.
360° video. Take your work further. In every direction.
Final Cut Pro includes a complete toolset for importing, editing, and delivering both monoscopic and stereoscopic 360° video.
360° editing
Import and edit 360° equirectangular footage in Final Cut Pro. Open the 360° viewer to see a headset view of your footage, and take advantage of simple tools for changing orientation, straightening the horizon, removing camera rigs, and more.
360° graphics and effects
Easily add 2D and 3D titles to your 360° video and apply blurs, glows, and other 360° effects. Or create more advanced 360° motion graphics in Motion, then add them directly to your Final Cut Pro project. You can even add 360° video to non-360° projects, using the Tiny Planet effect to create interesting spherical looks and animations.
VR headset playback
Watch your 360° video in real time with a VR headset like the HTC Vive Pro. Choose to mirror the headset view in Final Cut Pro, or turn off mirroring to watch video in the headset while independently controlling a separate view on your monitor.
Closed captions. Open to all.
Final Cut Pro includes an intuitive, comprehensive set of tools for closed captioning in a variety of formats, without the need for expensive third-party software or services. You can create, view, and edit captions within Final Cut Pro, and deliver them as part of your video or as a separate file.
Add an existing caption file to your project and Final Cut Pro automatically connects each caption to the corresponding video or audio clip in your timeline.
Type captions from scratch — in multiple languages and formats — and watch the text play back in real time right in the viewer.
Attach captions to connected audio or video clips in the timeline so they move in sync with your edit. It’s easy to adjust text, color, location, and timing in the captions inspector. And the enhanced Timeline Index lets you quickly search and select captions, or use captions roles to instantly switch between different versions.
Export captions in the industry-standard CEA-608, iTT, or SRT formats. Or burn them directly into your video. When delivering, you can choose to embed caption metadata in your video file or create a separate sidecar file. Captioned videos can be shared directly to YouTube and Vimeo. And you can send your project to Compressor to include captions in a batch or an iTunes Store package.
Best Video Editing For Macbook
Step up from iMovie to Final Cut Pro.
iMovie is the easiest way to start making movies. And when you’re ready to ramp up production, it’s effortless to switch to Final Cut Pro from iMovie for iOS or iMovie for Mac. You’ll cut faster and more precisely with advanced editing tools, improve the look of your projects with third-party plug-ins, and easily integrate video recorded with professional cameras from RED, Sony, Canon, and more. You can import your iMovie projects right into Final Cut Pro, so you won’t miss a beat — or a cut — when you upgrade.
Third-party tools to make your workflow flow.
Choose from thousands of custom transitions, titles, and motion graphics. Work directly with powerful applications through workflow extensions in Final Cut Pro. And take advantage of other third-party tools for advanced tracking, EDL and AAF interchange, and more.
Five amazing apps.
One powerful collection.
Mac Computer For Video Editing
Unleash your creative potential with the Pro Apps Bundle for qualifying college students, teachers, and education institutions. Get all five professional applications for video and music creation at a special price — including Final Cut Pro X, Motion, and Compressor, along with Logic Pro X and MainStage.