ProPresenter Tutorial: Which M4 Mac is the right one for ProPresenter?

[@susieteeters3312]

We currently have an iMac and have to audience displays and one stage monitor (besides the monitor that the tech is running from the iMac). My question is can we get the same setup with just purchasing an iMac 4 in order to keep same setup? Our plans were to move the current setup upstairs to the youth room. We are never going to be using this new setup for anything except in our sanctuary so being portable is not an issue. My budget is $2,000 If a macMini4 is a better setup for us to runout monitors, then I would just purchase another external monitor?

[@PaulClifford]

I think either the iMac (m4 with 10 cores or more, not the base model) or Mini would work fine for you. If it was me, I'd get the mini and a nice monitor b/c the display (which should outlast the computer itself) could stay for future upgrades. With that said, if you prefer the iMac, you could get the 10-core with 24gb of RAM and a 512gb SSD for just under your budget. If you go with a mini, you could get the one I got (with 24 gb of RAM and 1 TB of storage) for $1199 and still have plenty left over for a nice monitor. For example, this one is a 5k display and costs about $800, hitting your budget exactly and having the additional benefit that future computers could also use it. So, you'd get more storage and a separate display: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1850479-REG/asus_pa27jcv_27_proart_5k_usb_c.html

[@bashulto]

What kind of external monitor are you using?

[@PaulClifford]

Cheap ones. I've got an old Element TV, an HP, and a Dynex TV. I think I bought the latter at a pawnshop. I'm looking in to upgrading the primary monitor, the HP, because it's only 1600x900. My previous one was the Built-in one on the MacBook pro, so this is MUCH worse.

[@mattgorey]

Hello! We use an m1 mini with a decklink card for 5-6 1080p outputs and looking to upgrade. Does the decklink card take any of the processing load off the computer? Looking to upgrade to the m4 mini, and curious what's more important for Pro7 video playback: CPU cores, GPU cores or ram? Thanks!

[@PaulClifford]

I don't think it does any processing (except for splitting key and fill if you're doing alpha), BUT the M4 mini does support "Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt". So, a single 4k display is roughly equivalent to four 1080p displays (actually it's a few more pixels left and right), so three 4k displays would be like 12 1080p displays. A single 6k display is 6144x3160. 9 1080p displays is 5760x3240. So, they're close. 19,415,040 pixels for the 6k display and 18,662,400 pixels for the 9 1080p diplsays. So, according to Apple, an M4 mini can push over 19 million pixels for two displays and 14,745,600 for the one 5k display. So, it should be able to push, if my math is right, 24 1080p displays worth of pixels. I say all that to say that 5-6 displays at 1080p should be a big deal.

[@mattgorey]

@@PaulClifford That's a beast of a machine. Thanks for the knight and math. I assume your quoting the lower model too, with default specs?

[@PaulClifford]

@ that’s what Apple said on their site. I think the m4 pro is three 6k displays, but I could be wrong.

[@jeremybuckelew7755]

If the budget allows, would you recommend upgrading to the M4 Pro chip or is the M4 sufficient? We would just use this computer to run ProPresenter for our Sunday morning worship service. Thanks!

[@PaulClifford]

Any extra money you spend now will save you later (giving your computer a longer life), so if you can, it's fine to do. No downside, except the extra money, but plenty of upside in longevity.