TCO = total cost of ownership.
When fans argue PCs versus Macs, the argument tends to only focus on the purchase price of the hardware. But owning a computer is also about the total operating cost or TCO over its lifespan. In the corporate world, IBM has already concluded Mac deployment has been cheaper for the IT Department. For video editors, a significant part of the equation is the software we run. Here, all things are not equal, since there are options for the Mac that aren’t available to PC users. Yes, I know that Avid, Adobe, and Blackmagic Design offer cross-platform tools, but this post is a thought exercise, so bear with me.
If you are a PC user, odds are that you will be using Adobe Creative Cloud software, which is only available in the form of a subscription. Sure, you could be using Media Composer or Edius, but likely it will be Premiere Pro and the rest of the Creative Cloud tools, such as Photoshop and After Effects. Avid offers both perpetual and subscription plans, but the perpetual licenses require an annual support renewal to stay current with the software. The operating cost between Avid and Adobe end up in a very similar place over time.
Mac users could use the same tools, of course, but they do have significant alternatives in non-subscription software, like Apple’s own Pro Applications. In addition, macOS includes additional productivity software that PC users would have to purchase at additional cost. The bottom line is that you have to factor in the cost of the subscription over the lifespan of the PC, which adds to its TCO*.
For this exercise, I selected two 15″ laptops – a Dell and a MacBook Pro. I configured each as close to the other as possible, with the exception that Dell only offers a 6-core CPU, whereas new MacBook Pros use 8-core chips. That comes to $2395 for the Dell and $3950 for the Apple – a pretty big difference. But now let’s add software tools.
For the PC’s suite of tools, I have included the full Adobe Creative Cloud bundle, along with a copy of Microsoft Office. Adobe’s current subscription rate for individuals comes to $636/year (when paid annually, up front). You would also have to add Microsoft Office to get Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Even though Microsoft is moving to subscriptions, you can still buy Office outright. A home/small business license is $250.
You could, of course, make the same choices for the Mac, but that’s not the point of this exercise. I’m also not trying to make the argument that one set of tools is superior to the other. This post is strictly about comparing cost. If you decide to add alternative software to the Mac in order to parallel the Adobe Creative Cloud bundle, you would have to purchase Final Cut Pro X, Motion, Compressor, and Logic Pro X. To cover Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign tasks, add Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher. You can decide for yourself whether or not macOS Photos is a viable substitute for Lightroom; but, for sake of argument, let’s add ON1 Photo RAW to our alternative software package. Some Adobe tools, like Character Animator, won’t have an equal, but that’s an application that most editors have probably never touched anyway. Of course, macOS comes with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, so no requirement to add Microsoft Office for the MacBook Pro. Total all of this together and the ballpark sum comes to $820. But you have purchased perpetual licenses and do not require annual subscription payments.
In the first year of ownership, PC users clearly have the edge. In fact, up until year three, the TCO is cheaper for PC owners. Odds are you’ll own your laptop longer than three years. I’m typing this on a mid-2014 15″ MacBook Pro, which is also my primary editing machine for any work I do at home. Once you cross into the fourth year and longer, the Mac is cheaper to own and operate, purely because of the differences in software license models.
Remember this is a simple thought exercise and you can mix and match software combinations any way you would like. These are worthwhile considerations when comparing products. It’s just not as simple as saying one hardware product is cheaper than the other, which is why a TCO analysis can be very important.
*Totals shown have been rounded for simplicity.
©2019 Oliver Peters
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