Recently, my 2010 MacBook Pro decided it was time to switch off and die while I was in the middle of writing this post. After visiting the genius bar, I was assured that the old girl was a lost cause and needed to be put to sleep.
So off I went in search of a new laptop. One that would be able to run my creative trinity without crashing or taking forever to load. The trinity is Photoshop, Lightroom and Final Cut Pro X, by the way.
As you can tell from the title, I went with Apple. Because I work with Final Cut Pro X, which is an Apple only program, it was the right choice.
I scoured the internet trying to figure out which features were necessary and which were just great extras. I seriously could not find one place that actually broke down which features were best for content creators and creatives.
That’s where this post comes in.
Here is the exact machine I bought, with a couple of suggestions on what you can change based on budget.
Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2018, Space Gray)
- 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 Six-Core
- 32GB of 2400 MHz RAM | 512GB SSD
- 15.4″ 2880 x 1800 Retina Display
- AMD Radeon Pro 560X GPU (4GB GGDR5)
- True Tone Technology
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi | Bluetooth 5.0
- Touch Bar | Touch ID Sensor
- 4 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) Ports
- Force Touch Trackpad
- macOS High Sierra
This model cost me $3,199 and I received a free $100 gift card, so technically it was $3099. Because I bought it here, I didn’t have to pay any tax! woo!
It’s currently being sold for $3049 + no tax if you live outside of the NY & NJ area!
After reading for a good couple of weeks, the specifications above made the most sense to me both financially and practically.
- If your budget is tighter, I’d downgrade the ram to 16GB, like in this model, which (currently) costs $2649.
- If it’s even tighter than that, I’d get this model which is currently $2249.
- With a bigger budget, I’d keep the same specs but upgrade the SSD relative to the amount you’d like to spend. I honestly don’t see a good enough reason to upgrade to the Core i9 right now, especially with the heating issues.
Although it was a pricey laptop, as a blogger, photographer, and video creator, I couldn’t be more pleased.
If you’d like to know what accessories I use to make the most of my laptop, check out this post!
If you want specific advice or answers on what you think might work best for you, feel free to leave me a comment below. I’ll get back to you asap!
I hope this helped, lovies.
Zuzu
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