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Cringely article "Is the Mac Pro Dead?"
- Thread starter ActionableMango
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Pffff.... You don't need a Mac Pro for pro audio. Logic can't even use more than two cores. Right? Right!?!?!
Um...
No.
Also, Logic is behind the times (and for that matter, so is everybody else) - that brings me to ANOTHER point, which is that Apple needs to get Logic up to date, and more notably, more STABLE. I use Logic - mainly because I always have, and because I find Pro Tools to be very hard to work with when composing - but it has a lot of faults. AU's are inherently less processor intensive than their RTAS equivalents - I don't want to get into the technical issues, just trust me on it - which works in Logic's favor, but it hiccups way too often for my tastes - it needs more background processing, and it needs better multithreading, and it needs A LOT better memory management...
All of which, of course, lead me to want a new Mac Pro - as all those complaints become much less of an issue when working with a computer that is actually MORE powerful than I need. There's a concept in audio, "headroom", that is a very apt analogy - it is possible to record audio right to the limit of what a medium can support, but what is the point? Having the ability to work with anything, without thought or worry as to overuse of resources, or having to come up with workarounds, is essential to good workflow. Can I do pro level work on my MBP? Yes, but it is A LOT HARDER, since there is so much more to think about - should I create this Aux track for 'verb, or will it crash the system? Should I start freezing tracks? Should I bounce down this comp? Do I use the better sounding delay, or the one that won't eat up so many resources? Can I use Melodyne in Plugin mode, or do I have to launch the external editor? Etc...
As much as I like my new Mac Pro, if not for the business paying for this maxed out extremely expensive model, a Win 7 machine would be very tempting. It's the first version of Windows I truly enjoy.
Yes my first preference is Mac, but I'd be remiss if I didn't say all the "Post PC" crap I'm hearing from Apple is disconcerting. Then to fuel the fire is all the iOS features in Lion. There's no roar in this neutered cat.
Understandable.Well, my thinking is I would like this for a Macbook Air. I've been thinking about switching from my Macbook Pro to an Air, but the lack of GPU power is making me second guess that. A display with a higher end GPU would solve that problem when I'm tethered to it (which is probably when I'd be doing my most intense work anyway.)
My Mac Pro does a great job now, but it would still be nice to have a display I could plug into in my bedroom in case I have company over or something and can't use my home office. Or, if I'm at work, and I need a machine that's light enough to haul around for meetings/notetaking, but takes a jump in performance when I sit back down at my desk for coding.
Think Duo Dock.
But a separate external GPU (think of what Sony's producing for the Vaio Z, or the Thunderbolt External Enclosure for a GPU by Village Instruments).
Perhaps not all that pretty (external solutions and the cables needed to hook it up; though 3 shouldn't be that bad), but it would work and allow users to upgrade their external GPU's without needing to buy a new monitor as well (also cheaper).
Hi
The Apple of the last decade (ending 2010) is a thing of the past, and the Apple going forward from now doesn't feel it needs to concern itself with the workstation-using professional workflows of the past.
As of 21st June many tens of thousands of Final Cut Studio using businesses were just abandoned in an instant
Apple in the future feels it can redefine its own 21st century professional workflows - ones appropriate to its new "the truth is in the cloud" mobile-device user-empowering identity - and as the world's biggest company (give or take) who's to say their business planning isn't right? For them...
With Steve Jobs stepping back from the helm, I guess he's decided that the forward planning for his company in the future is now set in place.
Don't expect your legacy high-end resource-hungry audio production workflows to be in any way a part of that future.
You may think its good business to support such high-end big-spending professional users, but Apple have demonstrated their changing focus and their complete happiness to leave such business to other parts of the industry.
FCP X is definitely focussed on future professional workflows - but ONLY in as much as it fits in with Apple's future iPad/iCloud/iTunes Store ecosystem. I can't see any way in which professional music production won't similarly get a complete Apple ecosystem workover...
Here's a Steve Jobs quote:
"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. ...someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
Hi
The Apple of the last decade (ending 2010) is a thing of the past, and the Apple going forward from now doesn't feel it needs to concern itself with the workstation-using professional workflows of the past.
As of 21st June many tens of thousands of Final Cut Studio using businesses were just abandoned in an instant
Apple in the future feels it can redefine its own 21st century professional workflows - ones appropriate to its new "the truth is in the cloud" mobile-device user-empowering identity - and as the world's biggest company (give or take) who's to say their business planning isn't right? For them...
With Steve Jobs stepping back from the helm, I guess he's decided that the forward planning for his company in the future is now set in place.
Don't expect your legacy high-end resource-hungry audio production workflows to be in any way a part of that future.
You may think its good business to support such high-end big-spending professional users, but Apple have demonstrated their changing focus and their complete happiness to leave such business to other parts of the industry.
FCP X is definitely focussed on future professional workflows - but ONLY in as much as it fits in with Apple's future iPad/iCloud/iTunes Store ecosystem. I can't see any way in which professional music production won't similarly get a complete Apple ecosystem workover...
Here's a Steve Jobs quote:
"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. ...someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
Pros only abandoned because they couldn't stand not having the latest and greatest. Most of my video houses are still using FCP 7 and are waiting it out.
Usually they use a few OS versions behind anyway for stability. Latest and greatest is for amateur or self professed "pros". Some have started using Premier but only for job security (just in case and they had it in their Master Collections anyway). Workflow has not changed. Needs for Mac Pro have not changed. Most despise 10.7 AND FCP X right now. Maybe go PC if Apple doesn't pull their head out of their arse.
Sigh.
FCPX got gutted because none of the existing code or UI could technically be ported to 64 bit. It just couldn't. This idea of a 64 bit version of FCP7 is just a dream. It never could actually be done.
Logic, on the other hand, was in a different situation. It had a very good technical foundation, and everything in it was already 64 bit compatible.
Stop making these comparisons to other pro apps. FCP was a unique technical problem, not a company wide marketing decision.
Also, why would you ever assume Apple's future is set in place? That's extremely short cited. Apple will continue making new innovations and using their smart engineers to decide what is best for the company, just like they have. With or without Steve. It's not like when Steve left he left exact directions for what to do with each product for the next 5 years, and now the whole company is running on autopilot.
Until video encoding becomes instant, then there will always be a need for faster anything. The most valuable thing on this planet to me is time. If my workstation is the most powerful I can get to save me 15 minutes on this encode while not slowing down while I do multiple other items, then that's what I want.
So, I am all for new MacPros. If they don't come around, then I will need to build a PC with the power I want.
So, I am all for new MacPros. If they don't come around, then I will need to build a PC with the power I want.
How would they cater to engineers?
Those are all 3rd party programs. Apple doesn't control those. Bootcamp isn't a solution, but it's certainly a damn good stop gap.
While I'm not an engineer, I'm in a similar circumstance (SAS is the default platform for analysis in my field).
The answer, simply put, is yes. It is *mildly* inconvenient to deal with a virtual machine or dual-booting, but the Mac is an incredibly popular platform despite a dependence on a piece of Windows software.