Hardware advice

Hi all,
I've been doing a lot of fcp editing on a 2021 iMac base model (256gb, 8 core, m1, 8gb). The type of videos I make have a lot of animated images moving about, lots of key frames at any one time, sound effects, 2 different video clips playing in background. Recently , as the videos get more complicated, the iMac has been struggling which culminated in a system memory application error message which will not go away despite trying everything and has brought work to a halt.
I suspect therefore, for the level of work being asked of it  , the iMac has become out of its depth.
I have the option of upgrading to a 2019 MacBook : 2.6ghz 6 core intel core i7, 16 gb with intel PhD graphic card.

All the research I have done has pointed to the MacBook being a superior machine for the editing that I need to do due to the increased memory and the separate dedicated graphics card. Some people with technical backgrounds have said that they would not consider it an upgrade but rather a retrograde step to take due to the power of the M1 processor vs the Intel one.

My question therefore is to forum members who are familiar with both machines and purely from a FCP point of view, I am not interested in any other area of their respective performance just fcp, can anyone here speak with a degree of certainty to explain which machine would be superior for more demanding editing ?

I appreciate people may suggest other options but I am not in a position to change in only other direction at the moment , its either the Imac or the macbok , so please only address that comparison.
Thanks in advance for any input given !
I((( fff

That error may be due to a full SSD. Have you checked the available free space on the internal SSD? There needs to be at least 15% free on the internal SSD for the machine to run smoothly. Have you tried running the library to an external SSD?

Hi there, yes that was all done. The libraries were stored on an external and there was loads of room left on the iMac. I posted about it here before and no solution was found and brought it into some computer shops to see if they could help but no-one could apart from suggest that it just wasn't powerful enough to handle what I was asking it to do.

Personally, I think anyone suggesting an intel MBP with only 16GB doesn't have an understanding of how Apple Silicon works. If your iMac is inadequate the only way forward is a 16GB (or more) Apple Silicon computer with a larger SSD (which now impacts memory access). Sell your iMac to cover part of the cost. If that's not possible you're kinda stuck.

You do need to learn about the technology if you're going to solve problems like this yourself. Personally, I think your research or the sources may be flawed or misunderstood.

Look at Activity Monitor and it will tell you a lot of what you need to know.
CPU%, GPU%, Memory use including Swap Memory used. You can identify the issue if it's related to any of the above.


Otherwise, you may need to consider if the issue is related to plugins, and codecs of imported files that use system resources.

Also personally I would NEVER say that you tried EVERYTHING because that sounds like any suggestions we make are going to be ignored. List what you've tried and the steps taken because more experienced folks may find steps missed or things you haven't tried. Heck, I have a slew of suggestions but why should I make them since you've already tried them?

Sorry to sound so harsh but when asking for help allow for the possibility that you may have overlooked something or perhaps made a mistake in your evaluation of the problem.

Thanks for the advice about the preferable upgrade, I'll try and see if I can manoeuvre in the that direction! In your opinion would the MacBook be better placed to handle more complicated tasks for now ?
I did my best to learn about the issue and I went through all the help that was suggested on this forum and others I posted it on. The activity monitor was shown that Final Cut was using an awful lot of the available memory whilst running. It is true that there are a number of plugins , I tried deleting the ones I didn't use but the result was the same, beach balling til failure.
I was advised to run a scanning program and publish the results to the forum, which I did, and no issues could be found from that. I cleared everything I could from my Imac including plugins I wasn't really using much.
the shop I brought it to tested the external hardrive for issues and couldn't find any. They moved the library to a external SSD and still the same problem occurred.
I think that's all I did along with the tips online like turning it on and off and clearing the system preferences and creating more room on the hard drive.

I think it would be rare that a 2019 MPB with 6-core i7, integrated GPU, 16GB Ram would outperform a 2021 8-core M1 with 7 or 8 GPU cores (depending on model) and 8GB of Ram on a much faster GPU bus (direct access on chip). That's not even a top-of-the-line 2019 MBP. Not impossible but rare. I wouldn't even consider going there. You'd be better off with a new Mac Mini with 512GB or greater SSD, 16GB Ram, and an inexpensive third-party monitor. Cost about $1000. Less if you go refurbished or used with similar specs. And lower still with iMac trade-in.