Recommended M4 Chip MacBook Pro

Hi Everyone. First time to post.

I would like advice on which MacBook Pro with M4 chip to buy to use Davinci Resolve for video editing for YouTube channels. I don't plan on buying a lower M chip because they seem to be difficult to get in my end of the woods.

I contacted support and this was response I received: "Unfortunately, we are unable to provide specific hardware guidance, such as advising you which computer or graphics card to purchase. Resolve is very GPU intensive, meaning the graphics chipset and memory are the most important factors. For more specific advise, I recommend posting on our user forums for guidance from the Blackmagic community."

I'm debating on these specs:
1. Base Model M4 MacBook Pro with 32 GB RAM, 10 Core GPU, 10 Core GPU
2. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 24 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU
3. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 48 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU

Storage wise, I'm thinking 512GB so I can save my files to an external SSD.

I prefer to save money, but also understand that Davinci Resolve needs the power to run the app. I want to output 4k at 30 FPS. I don't plan on buying a Windows PC and would like to stick to Mac OS. Thank you for any help in advance. I think Number 2 might be the way to go?

Even the base model will work and give you all the hardware for demanding codecs. But it'll be slower for complex jobs, like NR, Speed Warp, SuperScale and such. And, from prior models experience, its base SSD may be slower than in the M1 Pro version. So, you may want to decide if you get a base model with 1 TB or the M1 Pro with the smaller SSD, but more RAM.
Speaking of RAM, go for the maximum of GPU cores you can afford, but care for enough RAM. The rule of thumb from our tests is 2 GB of RAM per GPU core. So, 24 GB for a 14 core GPU is a bit tight, but fine for the base model with only 10 cores.
If you don't want to spend more, a 10 core base model with 24 GB would be the better option, it'll be slower, but very stable.
Unfortunately, for the M1 Pro with 16 cores, there is no option for 32 GB, so you need to take 36.

Of course you can save on the internal SSD to get the M1 Pro, I've been living with 512 for the last three years. I have dozens of programs on that, plus the DR Library. External drives, TB in particular, are plenty fast for all the rest. You just need some discipline to keep your internal drive clean from unnecessary clutter.

I agree with this MaxTech guy in most points, but neither of us has yet tested one (he will for sure). But he doesn't mention the RAM needs for DR, and while I agree on getting external SSDs, I don't agree about his recommendation of the Sabrent. I like the Acasis better for several reasons. But you don't necessarily need a TB SSD, USB-C will be enough for most of us.

Where I agree with him is that the middle ground is the most attractive for those with higher needs, in particular if this is your only machine. The base model will not stop you from editing video, though.

But see for yourself, he may just have gotten his mind blown a few times too often

Thanks for the breakdown. If I need to spring for more, I will. It’s just some thinking that I need to do

Can anyone else please give their input?

Since nobody has one yet (I suppose), you may need to narrow down your question to something one can derive from prior experience.
Edit: Seen first teardown today, and it looks like the SSD is user-replaceable! Maybe not 3rd party, but at least from Apple (thank you, EU?). And even the base model is RAIDed. So, if you ruin yours by swapping, there's hope. I have to revise my advice about RAM: 24 GB for 16 GPU cores should be fine for the average user.

Got it. So maybe Option number 2 isn’t so bad. It seems to have enough power without breaking the bank. I considered the 48GB, but $400 is a lot for 24GB more.

Yeah, I'd think so too.

I have a similar question I was hoping to get advice on. I've read a few other posts here but wanted to know about my specific use-case, and was wondering if opinions have changed at all now that the new chips have been out for a few weeks.

I'll be using Davinci Resolve for color-grading underwater GoPro 10 footage. I shoot 4k at both 60 and 120 FPS, using a flat color profile, native white balance, and the high bitrate setting. This uses HEVC. I expect to be editing less than 10 minutes of footage at a time, and this is just for personal use.

I wanted to know if the base 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 24 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU, and 512 GB SSD will be sufficient for this? As I said, I expect to primarily be using this for color-grading, and maybe the occasional noise reduction. Thanks!

But you want a laptop, for sure? A Mac mini might be a viable alternative if you just need to work in two different locations. The screen of a 14" is damn small for DR, and hard to read in DR. The sound of a 16" is better too.
Regarding the model you're looking at, computing power should be fine.
I don't have such a GoPro, but if you want to make sure, post a sample in 120 fps to a cloud service. If that's running smoothly on my stone-age M1, it'll definitely be fine on the M4.

I like having the portability of a 14" laptop, as I will use it for other things besides DR, that is just my most intensive workflow. I was planning to get a nice 4k monitor to use when I'm at home. If I'm using that while working in DR, then the 14" shouldn't be a concern right?

Glad to hear the computing power on that model should be sufficient. I don't have any clips with those settings because I haven't been shooting with color grading in mind in the past, but will be going forward. I appreciate the help and advice!

If I'm using that while working in DR, then the 14" shouldn't be a concern right?

Not for the M4 Pro. The Max might get thermally throttled in 14".

I ended up getting the 12/16 M4 Pro chip with 48GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD. Thank you for your advice.

Might be helpful for others if you report your experiences.

Hi everyone, and thanks for this interesting post — it's exactly what I was looking for.
It's time for me to switch from Windows to Mac, and I have a budget of around €4,000 to do so.

Let me start by saying that I use DaVinci Resolve Studio in a semi-professional way, meaning I never do heavy color correction & grading. I rarely use Fusion and only for simple effects, and I never go beyond 4K. In addition to DaVinci, I also use Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign.

My current Windows desktop configuration is as follows:

Windows 11 Home
Mainboard: ASUS PRIME X570-P
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core 3.40 GHz
RAM: 64GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 12 GB GDDR6
System disk: Samsung SSD EVO 980 PRO 1TB

With a budget of €4,000, the options are:

OPTION 1
Apple M4 Pro 14"
14-core CPU
20-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
48GB RAM
2TB SSD

OPTION 2
Apple M4 Max 14"
14-core CPU
32-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
36GB RAM
1TB SSD

Following Uli Plank's advice, Option 2 doesn't adhere to the 2GB RAM per GPU core rule.
A few months have passed since that post, and I was wondering if that rule is still recommended or if, in my case — where the use of DaVinci isn’t very intensive — it’s something that can be overlooked.

Overall, since I’ve never owned a Mac before, I’m wondering: is it generally better to have more GPU and less RAM, or the other way around?

I'm debating on these specs:
1. Base Model M4 MacBook Pro with 32 GB RAM, 10 Core GPU, 10 Core GPU
2. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 24 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU
3. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 48 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU

You can see the Pugetbench scores for the various hardware you're debating:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/pugetbench/results/compare/PugetBench%20for%20DaVinci%20Resolve/17/GPU/Apple%20M4%20Pro/NVIDIA%20GeForce%20RTX%204070/

I'm debating on these specs:
1. Base Model M4 MacBook Pro with 32 GB RAM, 10 Core GPU, 10 Core GPU
2. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 24 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU
3. M4 Pro Chip MacBook Pro with 48 GB RAM, 16 Core GPU, 12 Core CPU

You can see the Pugetbench scores for the various hardware you're debating:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/pugetbench/results/compare/PugetBench%20for%20DaVinci%20Resolve/17/GPU/Apple%20M4%20Pro/NVIDIA%20GeForce%20RTX%204070/

Very helpful, thank you!

Following Uli Plank's advice, Option 2 doesn't adhere to the 2GB RAM per GPU core rule.
A few months have passed since that post, and I was wondering if that rule is still recommended or if, in my case — where the use of DaVinci isn’t very intensive — it’s something that can be overlooked.

Overall, since I’ve never owned a Mac before, I’m wondering: is it generally better to have more GPU and less RAM, or the other way around?

That 'rule' is not chiseled in stone, but I wouldn't go below 1.5 GB per GPU core.
If your machine has to do much swapping to the SSD, it will not only become slow, but the SSD can be ruined in the long run. Occasional swapping is no problem.
A good balance between RAM and GPU cores will make any Mx Mac more efficient.

Following Uli Plank's advice, Option 2 doesn't adhere to the 2GB RAM per GPU core rule.
A few months have passed since that post, and I was wondering if that rule is still recommended or if, in my case — where the use of DaVinci isn’t very intensive — it’s something that can be overlooked.

Overall, since I’ve never owned a Mac before, I’m wondering: is it generally better to have more GPU and less RAM, or the other way around?

That 'rule' is not chiseled in stone, but I wouldn't go below 1.5 GB per GPU core.
If your machine has to do much swapping to the SSD, it will not only become slow, but the SSD can be ruined in the long run. Occasional swapping is no problem.
A good balance between RAM and GPU cores will make any Mx Mac more efficient.

All clear, thank you!