honestly i am so done with this Dell XPS 15. I bought it like a year and a half ago thinking it was the top of the line for creative work but lately it just feels like a paperweight. Every time I try to export a 4k timeline in Premiere Pro it just hits about 40% and then the whole system freezes up. Like completely dead. I have to hard reboot it and hope my autosave actually worked which it usually doesnt because luck is never on my side. I am literally losing money at this point because my clients are waiting on drafts and I am just sitting here staring at a blue screen or a frozen progress bar it is honestly exhausting and I am just ready to throw this thing out the window.
I need a real professional machine that can actually handle heavy 10-bit footage without sounding like a jet engine and then dying. I do a lot of color grading in Resolve too and this screen on the Dell is just not accurate enough anymore even after calibrating it. I have a budget of around $3,500 maybe $4k if it is really worth it but it has to be something that will actually last me more than two years because I cant keep doing this upgrade cycle every 18 months it is ridiculous.
Here is what I am looking for specifically:
I am located in Chicago so I can pretty much get anything shipped fast but I need to make a decision by Monday so I can get back to work. I have been looking at the new MacBooks but I have been a PC guy for so long I am worried about the learning curve or if my plugins will even work. Is it worth the switch? Or is there a Windows laptop that actually works for pros without all the bloatware and thermal issues? I just want something that works...
I'm catching this thread a bit late, but you might want to consider the transition risks before jumping to macOS. Be careful with your existing plugins. Make sure to check compatibility on sites like RoaringApps or the developer forums first. Some older tools don't play nice with Apple Silicon yet. If you stay on Windows for continuity, I would suggest the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED H7604 13th Gen Intel i9 64GB RAM. It handles thermal loads much better than the thin XPS chassis. It is basically built for what you are doing. For reliable data, check the Puget Systems benchmarks online. They have testing specific to 10-bit footage in Resolve and Premiere. Quick tip: internal storage is always overpriced. It might be safer to get a smaller internal drive and use a Samsung T9 Portable SSD 4TB for active projects. It keeps your budget in check while keeping the system fast.
I went through that exact same freezing nightmare with my old workstation last year. Swapping to the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max 16-core CPU 64GB RAM 1TB SSD finally fixed my workflow. It is around $3,999 but the thermal efficiency is just better for heavy 4k exports. The screen is actually reliable for grading right out of the box too. Honestly its been a solid investment.