Pro video editor with hands-on time praises new MacBook Pro for Touch Bar & speed
A video editor who obtained early access to Apple's new Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro has posted a blog entry claiming the laptop is well-suited to video editing, while dismissing complaints about its ports forcing people to use adapters.
The new 15-inch model is "buttery smooth" when cutting 5K ProRes footage in Apple's Final Cut Pro X, Trim Editing's Thomas Grove Carter said in a Huffington Post article retweeted by Apple marketing head Phil Schiller. Carter commented that he's been using his system at work for the past week, though it's not clear how he obtained the machine, since the first online orders are only now preparing to ship.
The Pro is said to run faster than Windows laptops with superior components, and in fact be powerful enough to support twin 5K displays, possibly making it good enough to use as a full-time editing tool -- not just away from a desk.
On the Touch Bar, Carter suggested that "your cold heart will soften," since it provides direct access to contextual commands that can make keyboard shortcuts redundant. "It works, it's faster and it's more productive," he said.
He adopted a more defensive tone with the computer's ports, suggesting that for him the need for USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 adapters "might be an annoyance for six months" before he's "in the future again." The editor mentioned that he's already been using USB-C-based Samsung T3 SSDs as external drives, and that the Pro actually let him stop using USB-A adapters.
Many professionals are still using USB-A and Thunderbolt 2 peripherals, leaving them no choice but to buy adapters if they also want the new Pro. The computer is also missing an SD card slot, and even a native HDMI port, potentially demanding even more adapters.
The new 15-inch model is "buttery smooth" when cutting 5K ProRes footage in Apple's Final Cut Pro X, Trim Editing's Thomas Grove Carter said in a Huffington Post article retweeted by Apple marketing head Phil Schiller. Carter commented that he's been using his system at work for the past week, though it's not clear how he obtained the machine, since the first online orders are only now preparing to ship.
The Pro is said to run faster than Windows laptops with superior components, and in fact be powerful enough to support twin 5K displays, possibly making it good enough to use as a full-time editing tool -- not just away from a desk.
On the Touch Bar, Carter suggested that "your cold heart will soften," since it provides direct access to contextual commands that can make keyboard shortcuts redundant. "It works, it's faster and it's more productive," he said.
He adopted a more defensive tone with the computer's ports, suggesting that for him the need for USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 adapters "might be an annoyance for six months" before he's "in the future again." The editor mentioned that he's already been using USB-C-based Samsung T3 SSDs as external drives, and that the Pro actually let him stop using USB-A adapters.
Many professionals are still using USB-A and Thunderbolt 2 peripherals, leaving them no choice but to buy adapters if they also want the new Pro. The computer is also missing an SD card slot, and even a native HDMI port, potentially demanding even more adapters.
Comments
However... I can imagine that this could turn out to be legit, especially for the 15" model. To the extent that SSD speed is an important bottleneck, these new MBPs are extremely powerful. To the extent that the CPU is a bottleneck, they're meh. The GPU is more complicated -- overall, there are better GPUs out there from Nvidia, but if Apple is able to really exploit these AMD GPUs with OpenCL or Metal, then Apple's software advantages might offset the hardware disadvantages of using AMD.
So I think this review could potentially hold up for others. we will just have to wait and see.
I wish Apple had aligned their ports ahead of time. I'm not sure wether to buy or hold out. Will the new iPhone 8 sport a USB C or will the next MacBook Pro sport a Lightening?
as for port b!tching.. well, when you buy premium, expect NEW technology.. not old tech..
Funny really. They don't update the Mac Pro; people b!tch.. they update the MacBook Pro with latest.. people b!tch.. I'll bring some cheese for that whine..
I think people whine just for attention these days.. Me, I'm all in on USB-C and not looking back. I'm updating most of my cabling now. Fact is, many external USB devices, you can get replacement USB-C cables so you don't need dongles.. This is especially true of USB storage and display cables.
for those saying they want to stay in the past.. fine.. stay there.. no one is saying you have to buy it.. /talk to the hand
I think we're starting to see the same things on the Mac as we see in the iOS-Andoid model; That higher specs don't equal better performance. That it's the seamless software/hardware optimized environment that trumps off the shelf devices created in separate bubbles and strung together instead of designed as one.
Whatever.
"A ‘Professional’ should be defined by the work they deliver and the value they bring, not their gear. Use the new MacBook Pro, don’t use the new MacBook Pro. Your audience don’t care. You just have to keep making great work however you can. For me, I love it and I think most people will do too... once they actually touch it." reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/thomas-grove-carter/one-professionals-look-at_b_12894856.html?1478795028& ;
So if we want to really talk about 5K editing processing raw (which is where you'll see all of the benefit of / where you'll have to go to master anyway, so why not cut it in 2K and save the storage space?) you'll need a TB3 box (+$500) and something like a red rocket to work with the raw footage ($1,000) and external drives and or another drive chassis to handle the TB's of footage you'll have ($500-$1,500). The super fast internal drive at 1TB will be more
or less useless for editing since your sysytem, formatting and apps will have already taken up 1/4 of the drive. Scratch disk space will take up another 1/4 to 1/2. That doesn't leave room for much room for actual footage especially at 5K.
That begs the question of where where does the workstation fit in.
I would definitely take this with a grain of salt. I'm sure the MBP is a decent rig but I hate it when "pro's" exaggerate or don't fill in all of the details of what they actual workflow is like. It only demonstrates a misunderstanding about the profession in general.
I would have prefered to hear "it does this well and this well, but I found short comings here and there" and then it might be more believable and it would have opened up an honest discussion about how future Mac updates could be better tuned to heavier duty needs.
You should also carry a VGA adapter as I've been to conferences without HDMI. So an extra HDMI adapter is not a big deal.
Neither. A usb-c to lighting cable is all you need. They already exist because of the MacBook.
https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=6355