Which one of these computers is better?

[warpigs666]

Hi. I do a lot of video editing and animation and I would like to be doing more special effects in motion graphics.

Would I be better off with the 16 inch model with the internal graphics card, or the 13 inch model and a cheap eGPU down the road?  There's a video on YouTube showing an external GPU not being very well utilized by Adobe so I'm wondering if it would be better to pay the money upfront and get one with an internal graphics card, but having the slower and older processor. 

13‑inch MacBook Pro

• 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 1TB SSD storage

16‑inch MacBook Pro

• 2.6GHz 6‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz
• AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory
• 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
• 512GB SSD storage

[Mylenium]

External graphics are irrelevant. AE will be unable to use them until Apple actually get their act together and fix their stuff. The rest is pretty much moot from my point of view. After all, we're talking about Mac and considering the zillion posts on performance and compatibility issues on this forum alone it probably realyl doesn't matter which one you get. The current state of OS X and AE seem to make for an unholy combination and there are no performance wonders to be expected...

Mylenium

[warpigs666]

Interesting. Are you talking in terms of speed or stability?

[warpigs666]

Also, are you saying the the internal gpu is more preferable to an external gpu then?

[warpigs666]

I guess the real question is how preferable is an internal gpu to an external GPU? 

[warpigs666]

I’m still wondering about this if anyone has any thoughts.

Here’s a video showing crazy slow speeds of Premiere on MacBooks, especially the 13 inch model

https://youtu.be/JGTi7Vh_x6c

But more worryingly here is a video showing that adding an Extertal GPU doesn’t seem to help with Adobe software. Why is that?

https://youtu.be/DuTPerwdr2c

And here’s an article talking about adobe improving our use of GPUs, will this help with the above issues?

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3544027/adobe-flips-on-gpu-accelerated-encoding-for-premiere-pro-and...

[Rick Gerard]

The screen on the 13 inch is going to be extremely crowded and the GPU is not as good. Don't compromise unless you are a student or an enthusiast with a tight budget. Any money you save on the 13" will be eaten up in the first week you use the better machine by the time you saved with the more capable machine unless you have very old school clients that still pay by the hour. I have not had a client in the last 10 years that would pay hourly. 

[warpigs666]

Thanks. I'll be using both models with an external monitor. I guess the real question is are the 10th generation chipsets that much better or is it better to go with the extra two cores. I'm mainly interested in how the 13 inch + EGPU would stack up against the 16 inch with the built-in GPU. I'd plan to get an external GPU down the line for the 13 inch if it's worth getting it for the newer processor. 

[Rick Gerard]

I would not even consider a 13" machine.

[warpigs666]

But why? Just because of the screen size? Like I said I would be using it with an external monitor.

[Rick Gerard]

You won't always be using it with an external monitor, there is not enough room in the box for a decent GPU and the onboard one will not accelerate anything in AE. Any possible rendering advantage will be lost because basic things like GPU acceleration of the UI and basic effects like blurs and color correction will be slower, and AE will not use all of the cores unless you use something like Render Garden to render in the background. Render Garden sill uses GPU accelerated effects so any processor speed increase is going to also be lost. You need the best GPU you can get that is compatible with AE, and the 13" computers from Mac and every other manufacturer I have ever seen use onboard graphics. Even the new $$$$ 14" top of the line Dell uses integrated graphics and integrated graphics processors just don't cut it for professional graphics workflows.

You would have to double or quadruple processor efficiency to make up for a decent GPU and the importance of the GPU is just going to increase with each new release of AE, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Davinci, C4D, 3Ds Max and everything else I can think of a professional would use.

Absolutely the only reason to go with a 13" laptop for professional work is that you are going to have to put it in a backpack and carry it a hundred miles into the bush or fly with it to the moon so every gram is important.

[warpigs666]

Thanks, and I appreciate you explaining. So would the 13 inch model with an external GPU still not be as good as the 16 inch model? Is there that much of a benefit to having the GPU inside the computer?

[Rick Gerard]

I cannot make that decision for you. My recommendation is get a good laptop with the best GPU you can afford.

[warpigs666]

Thanks for the advice. Here's another video from that YouTube channel, these guys are doing a great job with benchmark tests comparing this exact scenario. This is definitely interesting

https://youtu.be/WciRf8iRm8U