Hey Ferrarr
I did look but it was still a little Greek to me. Perhaps you can help me out than.
1. When it says a "4th generation processor" is that what the "i" stands for. For example in my current computer specs above I have a "i3" does that mean mine is 3rd generation. I see Apple is offering most of their Macs with i5(or greater) so would that be 5th generation?
2. Does the Ghz Matter? I realize more is better, but is there no amount showing on the GOPRO recommendation. So would the 2.9 Apple is offering be fine?
3. Graphics confuse me. I have an ATI Radeon. All that Apple is offering these days are AMD Radeon. I assume that is the newer version. I also see Go Pro reference AMD Radeon. SO I think we are on the same page as far as that is concerned. Where I get super confused is the numbers. Apple seems to be offering a RADEON R9 (M390, M390, M395). Go Pro suggest you need HD AD-7800. I am not sure how those would compare.
Or if I went with the 21.5 Version
Go Pro recommends Iris Pro Graphics 5200. So when I see Apple offering Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 I can obviously assume that is better?
As sorta a general theme. I get that $2.99 worth of French Fries gets me more French Fries than .99. But I also feel $49.99 gets me more French Fries, than either 2.99 or .99 but at some point I'm just paying for more fries that I don't really need. I'm sure Lucasfilms will have a better computer than I do to edit Star Wars, but I don't really need to edit Star Wars. I likely buy more than the basic model, but how far up is hard for me to tell. I'm sure its hard for someone to recommend to me either, which is why I'm sorta looking to just understand the whole process more because ultimately I know I'll need to decide for myself.
Cheers
Your question isn't naive or silly, the computer industry and marketing is the real problem here. They purposely name these things in a stupid fashion. And unless you do some heavy reading and researching you can't understand what exactly you are getting for your money. Your french fry analogy is correct and I also asked the same question on a different forum with no answers. It is frustrating as ****, if I was shopping for a car I can just look at simple measurements that are easy to understand. This car gets 35mpg, this car has 300hp. If a car salesman refused to tell me the mileage but instead kept repeating "this is a 7th generation engine" I would walk out.
Intel came out with the "i3, i5, i7" processors a decade ago. They upgrade them every few years with a new generation, but they are still called i3,i5,i7. Unless you are tech savvy you don't know what generation your CPU is or what that really means. So my 2009 iMac was an i5 maybe like a 2nd generation, a new iMac has an i5 6th or 7th generation.
The main thing you need to know is that if you are editing with iMovie or final cut pro, these programs are very efficient compared to adobe premier. So you will need a lot less computing power than an equivalent PC (which seems to be what that go pro site is referencing in their specs). More confusing stuff, 4k is not all the same. 4k from a gopro or iPhone is a lot smaller in size than a DSLR or camcorder, and they use compressed files making it easier for your machine to handle. You need to decide if 4k is really necessary, or if you are happy just converting all your 4k footage into 1080p and then editing those files. The quality is still very high and not many people watch 4k yet anyway.
A couple ways to test out your iMac if you already have final cut pro. Import some footage into a new project, scroll through the video and see if your computer can "scrub" through smoothly, play it back as well. How much faster is a new mac going to be? Two apps will let you test that. #1 is called geek bench 4, get it and run it with all other apps closed, it will give you a score. On their website they list user submitted scores from just about every single computer out there. So you will know exactly how fast your computer is. People would tell me to upgrade to a new computer but my 2009 iMac is as fast as a 2016 MacBook. #2 is called Brucex and this is a more specific test of video editing capability. It's a small project you download and open in final cut, then measure the amount of time in seconds it takes to render. Same idea.
The best thing I did for my 2009 iMac was upgrade from 4gb of ram to 12gb. It cost $50 at best buy and plugged in in a few minutes. My computer felt like new after that. I would try that before buying a new unit. Other things include installing the latest version of sierra, and making sure you have lots of space available on your hard drive. Your graphics card looks a bit weak but my ATI radeon with 512mb is editing 1080p fine, i just have to wait a little longer for certain tasks like stabilization. Remember, most people don't even have 4k monitors, so if you are just putting videos on youtube, stick to 1080p, it still looks great.