Best Laptop for 4K Video Editing? XPS vs MBP

In my first tech review, I compare the 15" MacBook Pro with the Dell XPS 7590 to find out which is the best laptop for video editing. Specifically, this video is targeted at travel vloggers and video editors who need to edit HD and 4K videos on the road in 2020.
As a travel vlogger myself, I need a fast reliable laptop to edit video while on-the-go. While both these laptops have similar specs (32GB RAM, 6 and 8 core i9 CPUs, and SSDs with 512GB to 1TB), one of them renders videos over 4x faster than the other.
MacBook Pro: www.amazon.com/s?k=macbook+pr...
Dell XPS: www.amazon.com/s?k=dell+xps&i...
To edit my videos, I use DaVinci Resolve which is free and can be downloaded here: www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...
This is the gear I use to vlog: kit.co/tonyflorida/vlogging-gear
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Instagram: / tnflo
Facebook: / tnflorida
Website: tonyflorida.com
Podcast: the4501podcast.com
#techreview #videoediting #laptop

[@mariyamkhanbaloch7244]

Thanks for this video! I'm currently looking for laptop options for Photo and video editing and this was really helpful.

[@TonyFlorida]

So happy to hear that this helped you!

[@AkshatSingh-os9ug]

I was looking exactly for this video , thanks man 🙏👍

[@TonyFlorida]

Glad I could help

[@RKTravelandSports]

Thank you Bro you're so sweet and helpful information

[@TonyFlorida]

Glad it was helpful!

[@agydeutsch3540]

Thank you for sharing, i will definitely check the Macbook pro

[@TonyFlorida]

You're welcome

[@Liberatization]

You should change Native encoder on Windows to Nvidia, it is hardware accelerated option like that you enabled on Mac

[@TonyFlorida]

I did not see an option in Davinci to change the native encoder, even within the hardware configuration section of Resolve's settings

[@alexherring4410]

@@TonyFlorida It's called "encoder" in the delivery tab. You'll have the option for either or both "Intel Quick Sync" or "Nvidia". This could be the reason why the MacBook outperformed Dell. You mention that you're going to leave the setting as "Native" at 3:25.

[@Liberatization]

Tony Florida Yes, 3:25 you left it native, this setting will change everything.

[@PawneeIN]

@@alexherring4410 is this setting still there? My XPS 17 doesn't seem to show it with the latest D R 16 version.

[@alexherring4410]

Pedro it should still be there. It’s there on my desktop.

[@PawneeIN]

Tony, can you tell us about your NVIDIA and Resolve settings for this test?

[@TonyFlorida]

I used the default settings for both other than what I pointed out in the video

[@PetersonBlanc]

good video, but you would also be best to point out (if not made aware) that some software programs are better optimized for use on one OS over the other. If not for a preference you may have in using the software you do for your video editing, other programs may very well perform better if you decided to use others instead.

[@TonyFlorida]

Good point, lots of other video editing software out there besides DaVinci Resolve

[@sonicgirl3582]

I have my eyes on the new 13” mbp for video editing i’m gonna get the base model since it’s not for work. Do you think its worth it to upgrade the ram to 16gb?

[@TonyFlorida]

If you're gonna be editing videos, more RAM is always a good idea

[@stressfree9780]

Yes buy it

[@AlbiDoo]

Is that with DaVinci Resolve Studio or the Free Beta version?

[@TonyFlorida]

I believe I was using the paid version

[@maccortez8153]

Thoughts on why there’s such a significant difference? Is it the clock speeds? Software optimization? Thermal throttling due to the 2 extra cores? You should of monitored the CPU activity with activity monitor to see if all cores were pegged at 100% or just a single core. That would explain why there’s such a difference.

[@maccortez8153]

Tony Florida thanks for the reply! I certainly agree it’s the software optimization which renders it faster. That being said, GPUs don’t mean anything for encoding really unless you’re streaming. They’re generally used for timeline smoothness in the editor. Also comparing a dGPU with an iGPU, no comparison there. I think you should take a look at adobe premier. It looks like you have the paid version and premier is a better software.

[@davidgarrison1988]

Now the question is , WHY , if the specs are almost the same , how and why is it that much faster , i need to know cuz I'm in the market for a video editing laptop for 4k video .

[@TonyFlorida]

Davinci Resolve is better optimized out-of-the-box for the CPU and GPU in this type of MacBook versus the hardware inside the XPS

[@nolifuncion]

Try to use the paid version of Davinci Resolve to fully utilize XPS's hardware..

[@TonyFlorida]

This demonstration was using the paid version of Davinci Resolve

[@usman235]

Whats the graphics card in Dell XPS?

[@mikeyxiong7388]

Gtx 1650

[@TonyFlorida]

Yes, in this case it was the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5

[@Harlock2day]

What if you don’t just use your Laptop for rendering videos ?

[@TonyFlorida]

That's a topic for another day. This video was about editing 4K videos.

[@KingCease]

Exactly !!!!

[@TonyFlorida]

😁

[@neilmaddy9961]

Some professionals are saying if you under clock the Dell i9 CPU it will perform much better!

[@TonyFlorida]

😂

[@Forget8About8It]

First thing to mention, DaVinci Resolve free version does not have hardware acceleration enabled for windows version but for the mac version it does. To get hardware acceleration on windows you need to have the paid DaVinci Resolve Studio Version. Additionally on windows you need a dedicated graphics card with CUDA or OpenGL support and the one in XPS 15 is certainly compatible. And even then, in some hardware configurations you certainly need to select the dedicated GPU manually in global system settings of DaVinci Resolve Studio insted of relying on AUTO. Only meeting all these requirements, you will be able to select NVIDIA as renderer (instead of "native") and experience the full hardware acceleration glory giving you probably 5x faster render times on a laptop. A little bit of research would have helped, quick to find for somebody who cares. At the end of the day XPS 15 is a great video editing hardware for basic needs, just not for DaVinci Resolve, because of its only 4GB nvidia card, but that is another story not related to rendering performance. I am actually surprised, you could get to the redering stage in a 4K project without a GPU memory related crash :-)

[@TonyFlorida]

Great tips from an experienced Windows user. Thanks!

[@ramakrishnamishra8179]

You need to format and reinstall new os on that dell machine!! Then only it will work fast!

[@TonyFlorida]

This was a brand new laptop. Only install was Davinci

[@ramakrishnamishra8179]

@@TonyFlorida yes.. i think its because of the GPU.. I am also thinking of switching to the new mbp16 with 10th gen 10980hk.. but I have been an avid windows user all my life.. dunno how it will pan out for me

[@TonyFlorida]

@@ramakrishnamishra8179 I was in your shoes 5 years ago and i was very happy that I made the switch

[@ramakrishnamishra8179]

@@TonyFlorida heyy ! Thank you so much for this talk! It feels better to know you have been there! ... :) I am 80% sure that I will switch now... But then I will need to unlearn and relearn stuff.. lol

[@ramakrishnamishra8179]

Heyy Tony! I wanted to ask you! How does the laptop hold up after years of video editing use?! I mean I want to be able to use the machine for atleast for 4-5 years as I am spending so much money... :( Is it possible?

[@Harlock2day]

I thought this was a Windows laptop comparison. You might find Windows users don’t want to switch , just like Apple users. Do Windows users use Da Vinci Resolve ? Any recommendation for Windows users ? Is the Dell the best one can get ? Which Windows Laptop renders the fastest ? Isn’t Da Vinci Resolve written for Apple ? What about Premiere ?

[@TonyFlorida]

That's a lot of questions. I'll do my best to answer them. Yes, lots of Windows use DaVinci Resolve. DaVinci Resolve is cross platform and can run on Mac, Windows and Linux. FCP can only run on Mac. In most cases DaVinci Resolve, Premier, and FCP can accomplish the same thing. I think it's just a matter of preference for most people.

[@wilsondiver]

@ Tony, If you're working with the paid Studio version of DaVinci Resolve, open a Project and go to Preferences → Hardware Configuration → and change GPU Processing Mode to OpenCL / Cuda if Nvidia and the GPU supports it. Under GPU Selection Mode, choose the Manual option, and this will allow you to select specific GPUs for processing!! Do this on the Dell and test again... Please let us know...

[@TonyFlorida]

Hey! Unfortunately I have since returned the XPS to Dell. But believe me that I spent hours in the DaVinci Resolve Studio settings and preferences trying different CPU/GPU settings and additional research online, but was unable to get the XPS to render at a reasonable rate given its specs.

[@wilsondiver]

@@TonyFlorida Tony, Don't blame ya at all... I have a wicked HP Zbook but am shopping for a new macbook pro, my old imac lost it's power supply... Mac just utilizes their resources much more efficiently...

[@naskutak]

This video is so missleading ... Dud , your settings are wrong . I honestly think you should do research before clames like this 😁👍 buck for money .. dell any time a day . That douse NOT mean you should not use MC

[@TonyFlorida]

What settings are wrong?

[@BuddyQuaid]

Nas, what settings are wrong?

[@greatgreatgolf3376]

@@TonyFlorida also there is a power mode setting that you have to turn on otherwise it will only run at half compacity on the XPS. Its under the dell settings.

[@ramakrishnamishra8179]

There are a lot of things involved with PCs

[@TonyFlorida]

Yes, agree

[@xxcusme]

so many PC fans throwing salty comments here. i'm a PC fan myself. perhaps davinci resolve being optimized towards macbook lineups. you just have to find other editing software that is optimized for PC. problem solved. also is the dell XPS using HDD? can't believe a $2,500 machine still using HDD. if it is the case, just upgrade to SSD. great video though

[@TonyFlorida]

I think you misunderstood... the XPS had a SSD, but I agree about DaVinci being better optimized for the MBP

[@xxcusme]

@@TonyFlorida yes, i misunderstood. when you said hard drive i assume it was a HDD not SSD

[@TonyFlorida]

@@xxcusme ohhh whoops, my bad in that case. Sometimes I use them interchangeably

[@xxcusme]

@@TonyFlorida no worries. keep posting great videos

[@Scratch2C]

Other tests show the renders being within a minute of each other. You went into your test misinformed. For example you didn't enable hardware acceleration on the Dell. Not a good video at all.

[@TonyFlorida]

As you saw, there was no option for hardware acceleration by default with Davinci Resolve Studio

[@Scratch2C]

@@TonyFlorida why are you comparing default vs hardware accelerated then? .... Misleading info is all I'm saying.. and you are aware that it can be enabled as others have already mentioned before me.

[@TonyFlorida]

I understand that, but as someone who is well versed in technology, I tried to figure out how to enable hardware acceleration on the XPS with Davinci Resolve Studio, but couldn't figure it out. As I said in the video, this is an out of the box video geared towards the average on-the-go video creator. If this option is not intuitive to enable (by the clicking a check box in the UI for example) most people aren't going to know how to enable it. I definitely understand where you're coming from, but going beyond what's available in the UI and documentation for Resolve wasn't part of the scope of this video.

[@levantateyora9317]

You bought a xps with no graphics card of course is not going to be good for editing.. resolve is gpc hungry. I have and msi rtx 2060 for $1,500 and it will win any apple on anything

[@TonyFlorida]

My XPS has the Geforce GTX 1650 graphics card www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/gtx-1650/

[@BuddyQuaid]

Is that grandma's house?

[@TonyFlorida]

No Buddy

[@MESSY-AF]

Try now with m1 macbook

[@TonyFlorida]

Would love to. My friend just bought one

[@erreier]

The comparison is false because you used the "hardware acceleration" function. You would have to repeat the test without this option.

[@TonyFlorida]

Yes, hardware acceleration was definitely the differentiating factor; however, I would argue the fact that the MBP has this option makes it better for video editing

[@livingalone5737]

@scripteaze haha yeah exactly this video is useless 🤣🤣

[@youknowitsmetheone]

Unfortunately there are gonna be people that use these results against the Dell when it all comes down to user error. The user basically tossed aside the GPU in the Dell and compared it to a GPU enhanced MacBook. Of freaking course the GPU enhanced machine is gonna win. And not necessarily blaming the guy cause he's new to the Dell but he definitely should have looked into why his results were so different before posting this. And for future reference when two devices have basically identical specs and you get such a discrepancy in results you really should know better that something isn't adding up and do some research. There is no amount of optimization that will cause that big of a gap lol. He really should remove this video for false information at this point lol.

[@TonyFlorida]

That's exactly the point of the video... demonstrating how the MacBook is optimized to render videos quicker than the XPS without any modification

[@youknowitsmetheone]

@@TonyFlorida the point of the video is you're an idiot and you refuse to accept that you are wrong. The fact that a setting is turned on by default on the MacBook and it's not turned on by default on the Dell is not optimization 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TonyFlorida]

@@youknowitsmetheone I think you might have misunderstood... the "Use hardware acceleration if available" option is not available on XPS 3:22

[@youknowitsmetheone]

@@TonyFlorida IT IS and a bunch of people before me have already told you that and they even gave you time stamps of when you even mentioned it in the video @3:25 you left the setting on native and you should not have. If you would have done some research before you gave up on the XPS you would have figured that out lol.

[@MushtaqHussainofficial]

I'm also disappointed with Dell xps

[@TonyFlorida]

Not my fav either