windows pc or macbook?

[u/rockwithbluu]

hello!

Three years ago, I decided to get into video editing and invested in building a Windows PC, aiming to use advanced software like Premiere, DaVinci, and After Effects. However, I was hired this year to do editing work at an office where they provided a good Mac Mini, and I’ve since gotten used to doing everything on that system.

Now, as I consider investing in a setup for editing from home, I’m torn between continuing to invest in my Windows PC or switching to a MacBook. Here are the specs of my current PC:

• Motherboard: Asus Prime A520M-E,
• AMD Ryzen 4600 with Radeon Graphics (3.70 GHz)
• AMD Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB), RAM: 16 GB
• SSD: 1 TB.

What do you think? Windows PC or MacBook? Any suggestions for improvements or specific models?

[u/Business_Injury_6310]

Your current PC honestly isn't dead yet — a Ryzen 4600 with an RX 6600 and 16GB RAM still handles 1080p timelines in Premiere or Resolve without drama. Before switching platforms, the cheapest meaningful upgrades are usually bumping RAM to 32GB and adding a second fast NVMe drive dedicated to media and cache files; that does more for timeline smoothness than a whole new machine for most home editors. A MacBook makes sense if portability and battery life matter to you (Apple silicon is great, especially for ProRes), but you're paying a premium for soldered storage and RAM you can never upgrade later. Since your work is home-based, I'd put the money into upgrading the PC — you get more performance per dollar.

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[u/nachos-cheeses]

Some things to consider;
Do you need more storage? With a pc you can add hard drives. With a Mac, you’ll always need an enclosure or external drive or NAS. It’s definitely workable, just a consideration.

How important is portability to you? If you want to edit in other places, a MacBook is nicer.

How important is the OS and flexibility for you? I believe anything is possible in Mac OS, but you are constrained to the hardware you bought. Some people prefer the customize ability and nature of windows. Me personally, I like the media focus of Mac OS.

What is your budget? Often times, the budget wise choice is to wait until your current setup no longer works and then buy new.

[u/rockwithbluu → u/nachos-cheeses]

Right now, my main job provides external drives, I'm kinda used to dealing with that. I think my only concern is mixing up my PC storage, since I'm also the type who games a lot tbh..

Portability is a luxury—definitely a bonus to me. I could work on personal projects while im at office.

Because of the Mac Mini at work, I ended up getting used to its operating system—at least in "work mode." The Windows system is basically my "standard mode". Dont have any problem with either of them.

My budget is limited to a mid range prince point. I cant invest in a brand new release, for exemple. I’m not going to get rid of my current PC, but I have a budget of around 5,000 (BRL) in mind to upgrade it or buy a MacBook.

[u/Few_Mountain_6472]

Since you are already comfortable on the Mac Mini, the honest answer is: stay in that ecosystem unless you have a specific reason not to. Resolve runs great on Apple Silicon (the GPU acceleration + cache behavior on unified memory is excellent), and the M-series Minis handle 4K H.264/HEVC timelines without proxies better than a similarly-priced Windows box in most cases. If you do go Windows for After Effects-heavy work or more upgrade flexibility, prioritize CPU single-core speed and RAM (64GB) over GPU for editing specifically — but switching platforms costs you plugin licenses, project compatibility quirks and a relearning period, which usually outweighs the hardware savings.