brian green

GeorgeBMac said:

brian green said:

This comparison reminds me of the days when Phil would do a speed test on stage with the latest and greatest PC versus the Mac, and the Mac would always win.  It was a smack down.  

I think the best thing we can do as a computer community is show Apple that they persistently come up short, and that engineers ought to actually focus on the best specs possible, rather than settling for average or bare minimum for a premium price point.  

I'd love to see Phil out there again with a MacBook Pro trouncing the competition like they did in the old days.  Sadly, when all of the components are off the shelf compatible to every other manufacturer, Apple would have to make the conscious decision to spec out a laptop with that specifically in mind, and it's my opinion that Apple engineers have no plans to be the best in regard to performance.  

I am aware that a critical component to functionality is the OS itself and Windows 10 has made significant improvements in stability from what I've read.  MacOS is stable, and functional, while I believe we're well past the days of seeing significant improvements and speed increases from one version of the OS to another.  Most of us run the latest version and it "just works", much to our daily contentment.  I feel the significant disparity is revealed in speed of workflow throughput.  We've seen 4k become the standard for video, and HEVC has proved a significant space saver while remaining visibly lossless to the average user, yet creating more work to be done by the CPU and GPU.  I have not seen a noticeable speed improvement with the change of filesystem to APFS either.   When we're seeing other laptops outperforming the MacBook Pro, it's not only a loss of pride in the brand we choose to spend our hard earned money on, it's also taking more time because the laptops we're offered by Apple Engineers are less capable than those by other manufacturers.  

It has been my opinion, for several generations of Mac products, that Apple Engineers have cared significantly less about performance, and more about esthetics.  While Apple laptops look nice, they fall short in providing the best performance for their Prosumer users, which is truly unfortunate for those of us who refuse to leave the Mac ecosystem.  When the components of laptops are largely from the same vendors and assembled by other manufacturers, it's harder to differentiate them.  While I hope Apple persists in incorporating more of their own chips into their products, I am finding it difficult to imagine the day when Phil will be back out on that stage showing us the Mac trouncing the PC once again.  At least the Mac will look nice though.

Not that I disagree with anything you said, but comparing MacOS to Windows only on the basis of stability, is only part of the equation:   MacOS is generally more user friendly and world's more secure.  For me, security is a major selling point.   (On the other hand, Windows has more "apps" available).

And too:  Don't forget the entire Apple Ecosystem that simply doesn't exist in the world of Windows.   I love how my Apple Watch unlocks my MacBook and how my messages flow between my Watch, my phone and my MacBook - etc, etc, etc,....

And, even on the strictly hardware basis:   Apple tends to provide products that go beyond simple glitzy technical features and instead fit the needs of the user.  It's what set Steve apart:   The blend of technical guru and artsy/humanities genius where he could blend the two to come up a product that was greater than the sum of its parts.  Apple continues to do it on their other products but has been falling off lately on their Mac line.  I have confidence that they'll get the mojo back (even if they stick to off the shelf components).

I agree completely with what you've said, and I'm fully immersed in the Mac ecosystem.  My first Mac ran System 7.  My primary concern is, and this is purely my opinion, that Apple Engineers have chosen to choose less than the best components while choosing to embrace the esthetics of the form factor, be it desktop or laptop.  I have both.  

I remain cautiously optimistic that Apple will somehow create a chip of its own specifically for those with video work.  If you would like to experience true pain, work with RED video sometime.  As it is, I find 4k video shot on an iPhone using HEVC to be taxing in FCP when, again in my opinion, the MBP ought to chew it up and spit it out without so much as breaking a sweat.  This has not been my experience.  Perhaps Apple ought to create a MBP with a different form factor specifically for those who do video work that will stress the system significantly more than the "typical" user in their day to day workflows.  As I see it, Apple Engineers are not interested in breaking from their absolutely-thin-is-best policy, and that, in my opinion, is truly unfortunate for all those who use their laptops for more than classroom work or boardroom presentations.  

At this point, I'd be more than happy with Apple re-releasing the old G3 "Wallstreet" Powerbook form factor (mine still works), with all of the heat management to keep it cool for video editing.  I don't mind a thick laptop, and I don't mind a heavy laptop, especially if it's a beast using MacOS and kicking ass and taking names.  

This comparison reminds me of the days when Phil would do a speed test on stage with the latest and greatest PC versus the Mac, and the Mac would always win.  It was a smack down.  

I think the best thing we can do as a computer community is show Apple that they persistently come up short, and that engineers ought to actually focus on the best specs possible, rather than settling for average or bare minimum for a premium price point.  

I'd love to see Phil out there again with a MacBook Pro trouncing the competition like they did in the old days.  Sadly, when all of the components are off the shelf compatible to every other manufacturer, Apple would have to make the conscious decision to spec out a laptop with that specifically in mind, and it's my opinion that Apple engineers have no plans to be the best in regard to performance.  

I am aware that a critical component to functionality is the OS itself and Windows 10 has made significant improvements in stability from what I've read.  MacOS is stable, and functional, while I believe we're well past the days of seeing significant improvements and speed increases from one version of the OS to another.  Most of us run the latest version and it "just works", much to our daily contentment.  I feel the significant disparity is revealed in speed of workflow throughput.  We've seen 4k become the standard for video, and HEVC has proved a significant space saver while remaining visibly lossless to the average user, yet creating more work to be done by the CPU and GPU.  I have not seen a noticeable speed improvement with the change of filesystem to APFS either.   When we're seeing other laptops outperforming the MacBook Pro, it's not only a loss of pride in the brand we choose to spend our hard earned money on, it's also taking more time because the laptops we're offered by Apple Engineers are less capable than those by other manufacturers.  

It has been my opinion, for several generations of Mac products, that Apple Engineers have cared significantly less about performance, and more about esthetics.  While Apple laptops look nice, they fall short in providing the best performance for their Prosumer users, which is truly unfortunate for those of us who refuse to leave the Mac ecosystem.  When the components of laptops are largely from the same vendors and assembled by other manufacturers, it's harder to differentiate them.  While I hope Apple persists in incorporating more of their own chips into their products, I am finding it difficult to imagine the day when Phil will be back out on that stage showing us the Mac trouncing the PC once again.  At least the Mac will look nice though.

We think it's a non-issue.  I have yet to purchase my replacement MBP, but I'm still going to wait for people to test this software update in the wild and see what is found.  

nunzy said:

This is a non-issue. It has already been fixed with a simple software update. And very importantly, the software update was free.

Sadly, here in Seattle they are doing the same thing.  Amazing & Starbucks are livid.