As our beloved 2009 MacPro slowly fades into a better life… a curiosity grew about how the current Mac lineup compares when rendering in After Effects. Now that we’ve gathered the data, we’re excited to share the results from this simple benchmark render test. First, I should let you know that this was not a controlled experiment. Some of the numbers were provided from Reddit and other colleagues, so take them with a grain of salt. Carry on!

What was the After Effects benchmark?

We had each Mac run this project file, which is a 20 second composition that contains a duplicated layer with several applied effects, a spinning camera and single light.

Benchmark results and technical specifications.

Below is a graph that displays how long it took each Mac to render the benchmark project file, from start to finish, into a lossless Quicktime video file. After that, are the technical specifications for each Mac used in the benchmark test.

What did we find out?

The main thing we were looking for: the difference between the performance of a new MacPro and fully upgraded 27″ iMac. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the Late 2013 iMac 27″ (A) wasn’t far behind in the results. The new MacPro seems like a fantastic machine, but for us it’s looking like iMac’s will be the best, and most cost effecient, option for the type of motion graphics work we’re doing.

If you run the benchmark, share your results in the comments. We’d love to see them!