I have not upgraded my Macbook Pro for 5 years. I was waiting for the Apple-Silicon based Macs to come out first. Then they did unexpectedly fast! I was planning to buy in the third or fourth quarter of 2021. However, as I increased my video editing activities lately, I have found it harder to work with a mid-2015 Macbook Pro.
Even though I had a maxed-out version of the 2015 Macbook Pro with 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD, the newer cameras use the H.265 (HEVC) format of video encoding the old Macbook Pro couldn't handle. I decided to buy an e-GPU and configured macOS to work with it. It was working fine until I upgraded to Big Sur. The updated macOS broke e-GPU support, and I was back to struggling with video editing again!
Finally, I gave in and asked my company to provide me with updated hardware!
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 work-from-home situation, our hardware refresh program became complicated and was put on freeze! This was when I had to take the purchase matter into my own hands.
I looked at a few options and decided that I should try to use my Apple Card to get the maximum benefits of buying Apple hardware. It turned out great.
I decided to buy the M1 Mac Mini with 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage.
I wish it was more like 32-64GB of RAM and 4-8 TB of storage but Apple didn't have anything beyond the 16 GB and 2 TB options.
I used my Apple Card to finance it with $0 interest for 12 months. The hardware + one year of Apple Care came to a $149/month payment. Also, Apple Card instantly gave me a 3% cashback. Taking the 3% cashback into account, the $99 Apple Care becomes 50% off!
I was pretty happy to shell out $149/month for a much better video editing experience, along with all the other bells and whistles that M1 brings to the desktop.
I am enjoying using Final Cut Pro, which is optimized for M1. Bear in mind that I am a beginning level video editor, so I don't mess with the plugins and color grading stuff that pros do. I have heard that even though Final Cut Pro is optimized for M1, the pros find the complex stuff still to be a struggle for the M1's built-in 8 core GPU.
I love the new M1's performance. I love how fast the browsers run--both Chrome and Safari. Here is my one-week review video of the M1 Mac Mini:
About the Creator
Kabir
Technologist for life
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