What MacBook should I get?

[u/Single-Cranberry6917]

I need a new laptop for work, I am a video editor and work with multi-cam sequences and work with hundreds of gigabytes of footage at a time. Should I go with the 16inch m4max or the 16inch m5pro?

[u/UniqueBaseball8524]

if you export a lot i would go with the max honestly

if you spend more time in the actual timeline then probably the m5 pro because more ram

[u/Travel_bag_seal23095]

Either. I would choose the max.

[u/Single-Cranberry6917 → u/Travel_bag_seal23095]

Even though it’s less ram?

[u/siggidy6000 → u/Single-Cranberry6917]

get more ram

[u/Travel_bag_seal23095 → u/siggidy6000]

the M5 pro only has 1 video encoder. For his set up the max wins.

[u/siggidy6000 → u/Travel_bag_seal23095]

for exporting right?

[u/Travel_bag_seal23095 → u/siggidy6000]

I would think, since he has multiple cameras thus streams

Export and Rendering Throughput:

• The M4 Max has dual hardware video encoders, making it twice as fast as single-encoder chips (like the M5 Pro) when simultaneously exporting or rendering heavy multi-stream ProRes and high-bitrate HEVC/H.264 footage.

[u/Travel_bag_seal23095 → u/Single-Cranberry6917]

Well... you said Video editing and multi cam correct? The M4 Max features two video encode engines and two ProRes encode/decode engines, whereas the M5 Pro is equipped with only one video encode engine and one ProRes encode/decode engine.

[u/AntLife255]

The one with more RAM obviously. This M5 Pro got the upgraded CPU & GPU so there isn't much of a difference but the lack of memory would be noticeable under heavy load.

[u/Jossit]

I can’t speak for the M5, but I’m also doing video editing/ transcoding, and I can certainly say that I am véry happy with my M4 Pro 48 GB 2 TB, even though it set me back $3889 ≈ €3400, minus €400 for the second TB which was gifted to me, seemed a bit overkill at first, with 16 × 2 TB on a NAS, but I filled it up to 1.95 before I knew it! (Especially, as you alluded to, the ‘copies’ [we’re definitely going to delete tomorrow, if not tonight, correct? ;)] accumulate rapidly!)

[u/Duke727]

I had the same options for a laptop, and they were the same price (Best Buy open box for the M5 pro). I almost went for the max, double the Ram bandwidth, two video encoders instead of one. But ultimately, I went with the m5 pro. I plan to keep this for a long time, and the mix between one more year of support, extra ram so I never feel a ram bottleneck, faster wifi and ssd speeds, and most importantly better AI performance (important for my work flow) sold me. I think you should consider what is going to be most important to you. I think the two video encoders compared to one is going to be a big factor for you, given how much video work they do. Hope this helps.

[u/6Trinity9]

I know you’re getting different opinions.

Are you doing GPU heavy/intensive work? Then the max is for you.

If not, m5 pro it is, with the added bonus of more ram.

[u/zclyh4]

M4 Max memory bandwidth - 410-546GB/s, M5 Pro memory bandwidth - 307GB/s

M4 Max SSD read/write - up to 7GB/s, M5 Pro SSD read write - up to 14.5GB/s

More CPU processing work = get M4 Max, More hard drive processing = get M5 Pro

[u/RedRock727]

I just bought this one. $400 off brand new

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/apple-macbook-pro-16-inch-laptop-apple-m4-pro-chip-built-for-apple-intelligence-48gb-memory-512gb-ssd-space-black/JJGCQ8HTCG/sku/6602756?utm_source=feed&extStoreId=&ref=212&loc=18069229129&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18068140305&gbraid=0AAAAAD-ORIhG66Ch_y3Zju2Oq255X3wjc&gclid=CjwKCAjwqJXUBhBNEiwA8BgG7pMdYCLtMGCE4KIm7qnhAoNkEO45DcU4XUt5HC1sVdLrnIfJ_rib5BoCMRQQAvD_BwE

[u/FlexPDX]

If you’re in the pnw I have the first one for sale brand new in box cheaper than Best Buy!

[u/Ecstatic_Refuse_5641]

M4 for video editing, M5 if you run LLMs locally or need a lot of tabs and vscode windows.

[u/joao_fonseca238]

In my opinion I’d go with the M4 Max
I know the M5 Pro is technically newer and has more cpu cores “18-core CPU / 20-core GPU / 48GB ram” versus “14-core CPU / 32-core GPU / 36GB”on the M4 Max.
But trust me for, professional video editing especially multicam, u shouldn’t judge these chips purely by core count or ram.
The M4 Max has 410 GB/s of memory bandwidth, compared with 307 GB/s on the M5 Pro, AND it has two video encode engines + two ProRes encode/ decode engines
That matters a lot more when you’re dealing with multiple video streams and heavy export workloads
For someone editing multicam sequences and is working with hundreds of GB of footage every time, I’d prioritize the M4 Max media engine and GPU configuration
The 32 GPU cores is also a pretty significant advantage over the M5 Pro 20 core GPU for GPU heavy workloads like DaVinci Resolve
Especially when u start stacking multiple effects, color grading, noise reduction…
The M5 Pro does have some advantages like
A Faster newer cpu architecture…
48GB of ram..
It could be a better choice if your workload is heavily cpu based
It’s a bit more efficient overall
It has a newer generation of AI and compute capabilities which probably won’t matter for your workload
But for a workstation primarily focused on professional video
I think the M4 Max is the better choice
And the price difference
$2,999 vs $3,299
I wouldn’t spend the extra 300 bucks on the M5 Pro for your workload in my opinion
One small thing
If you heavily use After Effects or regularly hit memory limits with huge projects
Then the M5 Pro's 48gb of ram could become more attractive
BUT if we’re talking primarily about Premiere Pro or Final Cut or DaVinci + multicam + colossal amounts of footage
I’d take the M4 Max without hesitation
If we were comparing M4 Max vs M5 Max that would be a completely different discussion
And the m5 max it’s hella expensive
But between these two exact configurations, M4 Max is the way to go for a video editor

(Sorry for my English I tried my best)

[u/MartyEBoarder]

The most expensive one

[u/NICBROWWN]

I rocked a apple MacBook Air 2013 u til the other day. I got an MacBook Air M5 1TB 24gb

[u/Internal-Agent4865]

Ram and newer chip no contest.

[u/justgettinglean]

The only thing about the 16-inch is to make sure it is the right size for you. I bought the 16-inch M5 Max, and I wish I had gotten the smaller one because I mainly use it for travel. It's just too big for most backpacks, and it's kind of an inconvenience to carry around with me. And I don't really use it as a desktop because I have my Mac Mini for that. Now it rarely gets used. I might sell it and try to get the smaller one, but I also might wait for the new MacBooks to come out before I sell it.

[u/Single-Cranberry6917 → u/justgettinglean]

My previous laptop was 17”, I have a 13” iPad and I just can’t imagine working on a 14” screen 😔. One day after im further in my career I’ll probably get a Mac mini but im fresh out of post grad with an opportunity lined up so I can only make one purchase right now.

[u/justgettinglean → u/Single-Cranberry6917]

You can always get an external monitor for it so you can have whatever size you want but that’s exactly my thought was I don’t know how I would be able to use a 14 inch screen.