Tested: Final Cut Pro update's real-world speed boost to Mac Studio

Posted:
in macOS edited April 2022
Apple's update to Final Cut Pro on Tuesday included improvements to the app's performance on the Mac Studio that users will notice in the real world. Here's how much faster you can expect your exports to complete.

FCP X
FCP X


The update, version 10.6.2, brings optimized playback and graphical performance for M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips on the new Mac Studio. It was included in a batch of updates to Apple's video apps, including iMovie and Motion.

In AppleInsider testing, the optimizations do indeed have an effect on real world performance.

We tested a Final Cut Pro 4K video render on a Mac Studio equipped with an M1 Max, 32 GPU cores, and 64GB of Unified Memory before and after the update. The video itself was a nine-minute 4K 29.97 exported H.264 direct from Final Cut Pro.

Test results before and after update.
Test results before and after update.


Prior to the update, the render took 3:30, while the same exact render took 3:10 after installing version 10.6.2 of Final Cut Pro.

There were other improvements we spotted after installing Tuesday's update. Overall, editing is smoother and there are fewer graphical inconsistencies when editing audio waveforms.

In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update.

We are continuing to test the update. Additionally, while not specifically noted, we are also running tests on the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro, to see if the update had any impact.

The update itself is a free download from the App Store for Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Compressor users.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    hmlongcohmlongco Posts: 532member
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    fastasleepwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 11
    thttht Posts: 5,420member
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Yeah, WTF is it doing? Is it downloading a GB of license keys or something?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 11
    techridertechrider Posts: 101member
    Goes to show a processor needs software tailored to its feature set. For Intel-based Macs I found it hard to know if the apps benefit from an i7 vs i5, or from an external video card or GPU vs. onboard. Are there good sources to validate the expense of upgrades like these?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 11
    jasonfjjasonfj Posts: 567member
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Loading it off a cassette deck?
    rayboFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 11
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member
    jasonfj said:
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Loading it off a cassette deck?

    Lemme check... yup!



    Alex_VMacsWithPenguinscomcastsuckssphericrezwitswatto_cobra
    c64.gif 202.4K
  • Reply 6 of 11
    ciacia Posts: 247member
    jasonfj said:
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Loading it off a cassette deck?

    Lemme check... yup!



    Load compressor,8,1
    Alex_VbloggerblogMacsWithPenguinsspherichexclockwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 11
    jasonfj said:
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Loading it off a cassette deck?

    Lemme check... yup!



    That is awesome.
    sphericwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 11
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,243member
    cia said:
    jasonfj said:
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Loading it off a cassette deck?

    Lemme check... yup!



    Load compressor,8,1
    C64 4ever!  /,,/,
    bloggerblogwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 11
    tht said:
    hmlongco said:
    "In addition, Compressor also opened much faster on our Mac Studio compared to a three- to four-minute startup time prior to the update."

    Three to four MINUTES???
    Yeah, WTF is it doing? Is it downloading a GB of license keys or something?
    Time to upgrade from an acoustic MODEM to something a tad faster.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 11
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    Would be interesting to know the exact improvement in startup time. Very large changes in startup time, along the lines of what are being mentioned here, are usually due to either major changes being made in the initialization strategy used by the software or a previously undiscovered software anomaly or inefficiency being uncovered and corrected. 

    The rendering improvements noted above are okay but still rather modest. In my opinion, it would be very unusual to see modest gains in compute performance and massive improvements in load performance only due to tuning/tweaking the software to better take advantage of the newly available architecture. 
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 11
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    I, too, would like to know why it takes your Mac multiple minutes to open Compressor. 
    watto_cobra
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