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MP 7,1 MKBHD switching to Mac Studio from Mac Pro, but why…
- Thread starter rondocap
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I think you're off here. It's not about if he made or wasted money. It's about his slant and what motivates it, and how that affects his "reporting" on Studio vs Mac Pro merits. And I agree, it brings into question his motives and interests.
Who knows. This is a guy that finds tossing 20k in the trash to “work for him” so that kind of standard is exactly what is up for debate and suspicion.
I don't know. Unlike some here, I wont purport to be a mind reader. He may say so. But his reasoning is questionable at best.
You don’t know if it’s better for his workflow… but you know his reasoning is questionable. Lol.
If you work with ProRes, Mac Studio is faster than Mac Pro. Simple.
Yea, when someone throws out 20k, i question their reasoning skills. When some does a sarcastic "lol" and cannot analyze that far, I've ruled out theirs--and "simple" is one way to put it--aptly.
Not particularly the case here. We are discussing a reviewer. If there are other undisclosed benefits flowing from the OEM to the reviewer, the review should be considered biased. I think that is what the OP meant when starting this thread.
It's not even a review. It was just something he mentioned on his podcast. His personal decision to upgrade his gear and trade-in the old computer. So really no harm done!
And of course he is biased to some extend as he gets review units from Apple and uses their ecosystem exclusively as far as I know to run his business. That shouldn't surprise anyone and doesn't make his reviews any less good. It actually makes them better because he uses the hardware himself and knows what he ist talking about. So in this sense I think it's great he is switching to the Studio and then to the new Mac Pro whenever it comes out.
I'll say this - MKBHD has a very refined YouTube channel, I enjoy his presentation, attention to detail with his camera work, etc. And from watching him for a long time I know that he definitely likes Red cameras and their workflow aspects with various Macs over time, and has fun with that process.
I also think that he has good intentions with his his videos, I don't mean to insinuate there is any "backdoor" drama here - aside from indirect influence that having access to Apple executives or early products may make someone slightly more bias for that perceived benefit.
I like his production quality, but I don't consider his reviews very technical or the ultimate source by any means - it's more heavily opinion based and informational.
His workflow is R3D Raw, he has said it many times - so the Mac Pro is objectively faster here, and with the way his was setup, it's significantly faster than a Mac Studio. (I tested both in this exact workflow)
But anyway, that's neither here nor there, maybe he's OK with slower performance and likes the Mac Studio, doesn't have to make sense on pure performance terms.
It definitely isn't because he wanted to preserve some resale value in his current Mac Pro, because of what he did with it already brought it down to a crazy low.
Casually saying the Mac Pro was $42k and trading it in for $4700 is just really weird, and makes him seem out of touch or just not fully disclosing all of the facts - these numbers just make the casual viewer go "wow" without much thought after, but those with more knowledge will scratch their heads.
That's it, it just rubbed me the wrong way how he casually dismissed the Mac Pro and was nonchalant about its value. The story about Ebay account limits and issues also seemed like excuses, it's like selling your car because gas is too expensive - and a buying a new one just because it comes with a full tank of gas. Doesn't make sense.
I also think that he has good intentions with his his videos, I don't mean to insinuate there is any "backdoor" drama here - aside from indirect influence that having access to Apple executives or early products may make someone slightly more bias for that perceived benefit.
I like his production quality, but I don't consider his reviews very technical or the ultimate source by any means - it's more heavily opinion based and informational.
His workflow is R3D Raw, he has said it many times - so the Mac Pro is objectively faster here, and with the way his was setup, it's significantly faster than a Mac Studio. (I tested both in this exact workflow)
But anyway, that's neither here nor there, maybe he's OK with slower performance and likes the Mac Studio, doesn't have to make sense on pure performance terms.
It definitely isn't because he wanted to preserve some resale value in his current Mac Pro, because of what he did with it already brought it down to a crazy low.
Casually saying the Mac Pro was $42k and trading it in for $4700 is just really weird, and makes him seem out of touch or just not fully disclosing all of the facts - these numbers just make the casual viewer go "wow" without much thought after, but those with more knowledge will scratch their heads.
That's it, it just rubbed me the wrong way how he casually dismissed the Mac Pro and was nonchalant about its value. The story about Ebay account limits and issues also seemed like excuses, it's like selling your car because gas is too expensive - and a buying a new one just because it comes with a full tank of gas. Doesn't make sense.
Plus, the easiest thing that he could have done was to sell it to someone of his employees. Something alongside the line:
"Hey, I am trading-in this Mac Pro. If someone is willing to give me 5k or more, I will be happy. My loss is your gain."
I am pretty sure even in the limited market he would have gotten more than 6k for it, plus he would have made one of his employees happy. Hell, I would have given him 6k, wouldn't anyone?
But that transaction would not have raised eyebrows like the trade-in did.
He is first and foremost a tech reviewer. There is no benefit for him to create content about or create content on a 2 year old computer that has one foot in the grave no matter how powerful it is.
He has probably made more money just talking about ditching the Mac Pro than whatever he may have lost trading it in.
He has probably made more money just talking about ditching the Mac Pro than whatever he may have lost trading it in.
He uses R3D Raw, Mac Pro is considerably faster than the Mac Studio for this GPU heavy workflow. I think he even said as much.
For really heavy R3D raw edits, even a 128GB, 64 Core GPU Mac Studio starts to hit a bit of a wall and is not as smooth or as fast as the Mac Pro with a w6800x duo.
Prores is of course in the favor of the Mac Studio, but he's said multiple times that he does r3d raw.
I like this topic because it touches up on a lot of things. I think that many 7,1 Mac Pro users are considering selling their current Mac Pro to salvage whatever value they can before they go down further when the 8,1 is announced and then released.
Right now, the Studio is essentially trading blows with the Mac Pro, if not handily beating it in simple tasks and some video editing. The reality is that the new Mac Pro will be faster in several ways and it's likely a matter of time before we all transition to Apple Silicon. I remember keeping my PowerPC 12" MacBook because everyone was saying the PowerPC is more stable, however Intel quickly began dominating PowerPC performances and Apple Silicon will likely do the same.
Right now, I'm really trying to find reasons to keep my Mac Pro, such as Bootcamp and more software supporting x86, however if the new Mac Pro has PCIE upgradability, then the main reason for me to keep it is having Bootcamp.
As for MKBHD, he was notorious among youtubers to lug around a full desktop (iMac) when he traveled so he could have utmost performance when editing while traveling. For him, performance is king so if the Studio is doing a job better than his MacBook Pro while traveling, then transitioning now to Apple Silicon allows him to provide useful information for his viewers, as he will then transition to 8,1 Mac Pro. I agree with Rondocap that MKBHD seems to do a good job with his videos. His statements with the Studio Display seem pretty fair. He doesn't seem to speak in hyperbole or change his views often (like MaxTech, who I like as well).
Right now, the Studio is essentially trading blows with the Mac Pro, if not handily beating it in simple tasks and some video editing. The reality is that the new Mac Pro will be faster in several ways and it's likely a matter of time before we all transition to Apple Silicon. I remember keeping my PowerPC 12" MacBook because everyone was saying the PowerPC is more stable, however Intel quickly began dominating PowerPC performances and Apple Silicon will likely do the same.
Right now, I'm really trying to find reasons to keep my Mac Pro, such as Bootcamp and more software supporting x86, however if the new Mac Pro has PCIE upgradability, then the main reason for me to keep it is having Bootcamp.
As for MKBHD, he was notorious among youtubers to lug around a full desktop (iMac) when he traveled so he could have utmost performance when editing while traveling. For him, performance is king so if the Studio is doing a job better than his MacBook Pro while traveling, then transitioning now to Apple Silicon allows him to provide useful information for his viewers, as he will then transition to 8,1 Mac Pro. I agree with Rondocap that MKBHD seems to do a good job with his videos. His statements with the Studio Display seem pretty fair. He doesn't seem to speak in hyperbole or change his views often (like MaxTech, who I like as well).
Agreed. As someone who spent a 3k+ on a PowerBook G4 only to watch Apple release an intel MacBook run circles around it at less than 1/2 the price 9 months later, I feel for those that were hosed again.
Imagine being a professional that bought into the 'backed into the thermal corner' 2013 Mac Pro, then believed Apple's apology and bought the 'uber expandable' Mac Pro in 2019, only to watch the M1 be released a year later knowing that Apple knew exactly where they were in the Apple Silicon timeline when they sold you a 40k computer.
I would bet Apple has put exactly 0 dollars into any R&D to provide upgrade paths for the 2019 Mac Pro since it was released. Marques' reasoning at the 13 minute mark makes perfect sense - he sees where this is heading and bailed before it was a flower pot like his 2013.
Plus, this is a guy that tests apple products for weeks before they are announced at the keynote - for all we know he has some inside knowledge about the upcoming Mac Pro - for instance M2 Ultra support for additional hardware encoding/decoding for other formats like the RED raw formats.
To the points of @Fastball32 and @brucewayne
Apple just can't seem to break the habit of screwing their most high end customers.
Intensely frustrating
Apple just can't seem to break the habit of screwing their most high end customers.
Intensely frustrating
1. Mac Pro 7.1 was only really available at the beginning of 2020. Back then rumours about the M1-transition already started to show up. When I bought mine, I knew that new processors would come and I still did buy my Mac Pro as many other buyers I guess. Why? These transitions take time and there is still nothing comparable in the M1-famly of computers once you need more than 128 GB of Ram for example.
2. Apple is not screwing their professional customers by developing faster hardware. It's the opposite really. The power of the new Mac Pro will enable so many professionals to do more things quicker and I'm really excited for it.
3. If you bought your Mac Pro as a lifetime investment, did not earn any money from it and are now frustrated that it's decrowned soon: Rest assured that it will continue to work for many years and will even continue to get software support from Apple for some years to come.
2. Apple is not screwing their professional customers by developing faster hardware. It's the opposite really. The power of the new Mac Pro will enable so many professionals to do more things quicker and I'm really excited for it.
3. If you bought your Mac Pro as a lifetime investment, did not earn any money from it and are now frustrated that it's decrowned soon: Rest assured that it will continue to work for many years and will even continue to get software support from Apple for some years to come.
He made 200 videos with the machine that probably paid for the machine at least twice. Seems like that’s how the production business works. You constantly update.
That in no way is mutually exclusive. That he makes money is great. Throwing money away not so much. Again, he could have disposed of the machine in dozens of ways that didnt involve wastefully throwing 15-20k out the window, wholesale. Many of them would have required no real effort on his part.
He's in a business, where time is money if the Mac Studio is improving his workflow by even as little as 10% it's already way way worth replacing. Even if he would have thrown away the 20k computer and bought the new one for 5K (which he didn't he traded it in) it would have been worth it if it's faster for his business. Because time = money when you work.
And then I'm not even talking about tax implications which makes the switch not just free, but profitable even if it's just as fast for him as his old Mac Pro.
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But this is how every production company works they always need more power to make better stuff. Just cause you guys think he “threw it away” doesn’t mean he did.
ummm not true. They don’t just throw away equipment. And I never said he threw the equipment away, he threw 15-20k/money away, to which he admitted. And also questionable that the Mac pro is more power.
We've done the calcuations in this thread, he had at least 19k more of write downs. So again, he threw 15-20k out even including the tax considerations. With regard to time=money, we have ALSO IN THIS THREAD established multiple low effort ways to have better disposed of the equipment.
It takes TIME and administrative effort by the way, to return the mac pro to apple for exchange. It is not a zero time effort. So he basically had to work to get that low a return.
He could have spent less time giving it to one of his employees to put it on ebay and split the take and made more money, and made more people happy, all while spending less time on it. He could have given it to any number of charities with less effort and gotten additional tax benefits as well, also spending less time.
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