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While Mac has my personal preference any day, i don't think you should run in too many trouble while trying to swap out Adobe project files between Windows and Mac. If you're only using software that runs on both Mac and PC (Like Premiere Pro, Photoshop and After Effects) then sure, lysiac46077766​ makes a very valid point. PC will be much cheaper for better specs!
Do keep in mind that many 3rd party plugins and effects are based on your operating system though, you might have to buy some of the plugins again to get them running on Windows versions of Adobe.
If you need a stationary work station your should definitely go for a desktop instead of a laptop. Again this should get you much more power for a lower price tag. If you also need to work outside of your office, laptop might be the way to go.
A third option, i don't know if we're allowed to say this here, is buying these "cheap" PC parts and install OSX on it. I won't go into too much detail, but it takes some tech and computer skills to pull it off. Google is your friend 
Hope this helps! All the best,
Bas
That would totally depend on your workflow. To edit and work with 4k footage real-time would take a more powerful machine in comparison to 1080
As for the Macbooks and RAM, 16GB should suffice in general. I would strongly recommend you look into RAM replacement, Apple even has tutorials on their site on this. You should buy the Macbook with the least amount of RAM available, and buy the higher RAM from a 3rd party seller. This could easily save you a few hundred of dollars if you want to max it out And on the newer models it's just opening the case and swapping the ram, a "no-risk"/"5-minute" job. This saved me nearly 400 bucks on my last iMac. Link to the official Apple thread.
For the processor i would recommend the i7 over i5. It costs a bit more but it will be worth your while.
For the storage you definitely want to go SSD or flash. Don't get the older HDD's of Fusion Drives, they will slow everything down. The disk should be large enough to hold your OS, your software and ideally your render files and cache. You could also move the last ones to an external USB3 or Thunderbolt drive (TB even better)
Another important spec is your graphics card, don't cheap out on this one.
If it fits your needs i would recommend you consider the iMac as well. A fully maxed out 27" 5k Retina iMac would set your back at roughly $4000 (Maxed processor, RAM, SSD disks, Graphic card.) while the brand new Macbook Pro would cost you $2800 without any upgrades.
You could also check out one of the resellers that deal out refurbished Apple products. I've bought several and i can;t complain about the machines. You're not getting a brand new product, but with the greatly reduced prices i could settle for that.
Hope this helps!
Bas
Sorry for the lagtime 
Had to put things on hold for a bit. So it's been decided that it'd be best for me to get a laptop for flexibility. I was just looking over the specs for the 2017 Macbook Pro and it looks like the improvements they made to the processor and graphics may be worthwhile (MacBook Pro 2017 vs MacBook Pro 2016: what’s changed? | TechRadar and The 15-inch MacBook Pro: What's changed?). I definitely want the 15" and within that there are 2 options with applicable differences being processor, graphics and price.
Storage doesn't much matter since this is my secondary computer so will only store active projects on it. Currently I'm mostly working with 1080p but I may be working with more 4K down the road so good to be prepared for that. I had to do lots of resizing, color editing, time remapping, etc on my last project (drone footage) and may have similar projects upcoming. Do you have an opinion on whether the slightly cheaper model would be sufficient for my needs? Would obviously love to save the $ if possible but not compromise being able to work efficiently...
Thanks again for all the input, it's REALLY appreciated!!! 
I am a Windows PC person but here is the workflow I am using very successful on my PC's (Laptop and Desktop). I have several Samsung T3 USB 3 portable SSD's. With all my project and media files on this drive I can move almost instantly from one computer to the other. Of course I do not have any way to test this out on Mac;s but I do not see any reason why this same procedure would not work Now remember not all USB 3 devices are high performance but I now have three Samsung T3's and here is the performance that is easily 3x a typical hard disk drive even internal drives. Just look at those sequential read and write speeds. I am editing 4K XAVC-S, 4K GoPro and have as many as 3 different cameras.
Of course you might do even better with the better SSD's with a Thunderbolt interface enclosure but at higher cost
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