MP 7,1 The Next and Final Intel Mac Pro

[singhs.apps]

That’s what I’m saying, those systems met the goals of both what Apple wanted to sell and what those users wanted. When those wants (Apple’s and the users) changed, Apple had no problem dropping and replacing it with something new instead of iterating the old thing.

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The reality distortion field is strong in this one.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

…



The reality distortion field is strong in this one.

I distort reality SO well that it IS reality in that, with the next Mac Pro, Apple will have killed 3 desktop pro machines after just one generation! And, they’ll STILL be fine

 

[AlexMaximus]

So why make the 2019 Mac Pro or even the iMac Pro if the cylinder met the company’s goals ?

Are you suggesting Apple wanted/wants out of the Mac Pro segment ? Then why not do it now (or when they dragged their feet with the cylinder) ?

I think, one important factor is missing from this interesting discussion of yours. That is internal Apple politics and individual power Silos that fight against each other internally. Sometimes you make a right decision, and sometimes you make the decision right.

 

[singhs.apps]

I think, one important factor is missing from this interesting discussion of yours. That is internal Apple politics and individual power Silos that fight against each other internally. Sometimes you make a right decision, and sometimes you make the decision right.

Yeah. Makes sense.
Some choices were just… bizarre.

‘Can’t innovate anymore my rear’ certainly was a response to some challenge or trash talk. Internal or external I can’t say.

 

[fuchsdh]

Yeah. Makes sense.
Some choices were just… bizarre.

‘Can’t innovate anymore my rear’ certainly was a response to some challenge or trash talk. Internal or external I can’t say.

I think that really was much more just Apple wanting to prove they could do amazing products without Steve Jobs. And so they created, ironically, a very Jobsian product—beautiful, powerful, and weirdly functionally limited with no clear niche in their product line. Guess it wasn't as big a failure as the Cube, though it might have done far more damage to Apple.

But yeah, it seems weird to me that Apple in 2017 would decide to go through this giant R&D process to create a super-extendable platform in 2019, with the full knowledge that in two years they'd chuck it in a bin and not use discrete GPUs. But I guess we'll see.

 

[The Other One]

Definitely interested in your results

I was able to spend a bit more time today running comparison tests using a few real-world projects from my recent work, in both Premiere and After Effects. The TL;DR version is: I'm probably going to keep the 16" MacBook Pro (M1 Max) and sell the 2019 Mac Pro.

The most comprehensive test I ran was in Premiere Pro. It was a multi-cam edit of a concert we shot just before the pandemic. Six cameras (with some mixed formats/codecs) and some color grading. Exported in H.264 1080p. The Mac Pro took 21.5 minutes. The MacBook Pro (M1 Max) took 18 minutes. Not a huge difference, but considering the Mac Pro had edged out the MBP in the shorter, social media video export I tried the other day, it wasn't the result I'd expected.

A second test with another multi-cam edit (just four cameras) bore similar results. One thing in the Mac Pro's favor, when viewing all of the cameras side by side in preview, all streams were consistently smooth. There was one moment when the previews on the MBP stuttered for a few seconds before smoothing out — but it wasn't significant enough that it would be problematic while editing.

I then tried some tests with After Effects, where my results were also a bit different than the quick and dirty comparison test I ran the other day. This time, I decided to completely ignore export time, since it represents only a tiny fraction of the time I spend using AE. I focused instead of timeline playback/rendering. On a few different AE projects (using Video Copilot's Element 3D and some of the plugins from Red Giant VFX Suite), timeline playback was pretty much the same on both machines (i.e. pretty painful). I did note that turning ON motion blur would hammer the MBP, and the Mac Pro would pull ahead significantly... but it's easy enough to toggle that setting while working. In several different compositions I tested, neither machine could do realtime playback, but with motion blur turned off, the MBP would get through the timeline consistently ahead of the Mac Pro and loop playback smoothly via RAM preview. I guess the (wholly unsurprising) story here is... the plugins/effects you're using will make a difference in one direction or the other. For my purposes, I guess I would call this a wash.

BUT... though I downloaded the beta version of After Effects for Apple silicon, there are a significant number of built-in effects that just don't work yet. And none of the third-party plugins seem to work at all. Which meant that I couldn't test any of my projects in the beta. The fact that AE is running on the MBP (via Rosetta 2) pretty much on par with the Mac Pro, though, leaves me hopeful for a fully-baked version of After Effects for Apple silicon.

Anyway. Take this all with a grain of salt — I'm only considering my own use cases. I wanted to make some observations comparing the two computers using files and scenarios that I personally encounter all the time in my day-to-day. For me, at least, the two perform very similarly, so I'm giving the nod to the MBP, just for the portability and lower power consumption, since the Mac Pro's expandability isn't critical for my needs. ymmv

 

[chouki]

Interesting, thx for the report!
I couldn't even use AE on the Mac Pro, being so sluggish, not sure exactly why. I hope the experience will be better on the MBP Max. And yes when M1 native version of AE will properly run, with updated plugins, we can expect better performance