Thomas Grove Carter, video editor at Trim Editing in London:
On the 27th October Apple unveiled their new line of MacBook Pros. Since then half of what I read online seems to be “Professionals” (those guys), telling me it’s not Pro at all, not Pro enough or not the right kind of Pro. How many of these people have even touched the new devices?
Very few.
I’ve been using the new 15” MacBook Pro (with Touch Bar) for the last week or so for actual work, so here’s my “Professional” opinion.
And:
First off, It’s really fast. I’ve been using the MacBook Pro with the new version of FCP X and cutting 5k ProRes material all week, it’s buttery smooth. No matter what you think the specs say, the fact is the software and hardware are so well integrated it tears strips off “superior spec’d” Windows counterparts in the real world.
And:
The version I’ve been using is powerful enough on the graphics front to power two 5K displays, which is an insane number of pixels.
And:
I was very skeptical about the addition of the Touch Bar. It looked like the result of an incestuous fling between a keyboard and an iPad mini (with Retina display). But I also felt skeptical about insert tech you use all the time now originally too. Once you begin to use it, you’ll see. Your cold heart will soften.
The first revelation for me was the potential of sliders. Gradual, precise and fast inputs.
Clearly, Carter loves his new MacBook Pro, appreciates the Touch Bar functionality and, most importantly, sees the new MacBook Pro as a technological step forward.
I’m looking forward to the coming wave of videos showing the Touch Bar in action.
Thomas Grove Carter puts food on the table using this equipment.
The tech press is driven by wildly different incentives.
Real reviews, by actual users of the new gear.
Got mine on the way. I’m very excited to see how it does with ZBrush, modo, and Maya. Fingers crossed.
That’ll be interesting. Let us know.
How is the mechanical keyboard with Touch Bar better for Final Cut Pro than just a full touchscreen replacing the keyboard? Touch Bar is a $500 option. A 10-inch iPad is $599, right? Why are you working on such a tiny screen?
Almost all creative apps just use the keyboard as a set of mislabeled touch screen buttons. In Photoshop for example, almost every keyboard key has an actual onscreen button. If you show me a novelist or software developer using MacBook Pro it might make some sense.
We already have the Apple Final Cut Pro controller on iPad. Why not just put these features in that app, and beef up the way that iPad apps talk to Mac apps? Millions of Final Cut Pro workstations out there right now with iPads hooked up and they can’t access these features.
Many times my MacBook has an iPad sitting on top of the keyboard. I don’t see how the Touch Bar is solving anyone’s actual problems. The users who are targeted for Touch Bar are the ones who would immediately buy a MacPad if it were available. We are the least keyboard-using Mac users. We already have workarounds for the lack of touchscreen on the Mac such as graphics tablets and mixer controllers and video editing surfaces and thousands of iPad apps that control Mac apps. Touch Bar is just a whole new type of workaround. I would rather see Apple ship a MacBook Pro without Touch Bar for keyboard users and and a MacPad for everyone else.
The note on performance is important. Too many tech people (bloggers and “pros”) still obsess over raw specs. 32G is needed, you can’t do X in 16g… for the VAST majority of real pro uses this is what’s know as BS. As usual, once the devices are actually in people’s hands most of the whiny people will be silent about how they were, in fact, panicked over nothing.
Will some still be disappointed? Sure. Some people really DO need (not want, NEED) more RAM. I get that these MBPs are a disappointment to those people. But many more people are throwing tantrums for no real reason.
You’re making the mistake assuming you = everyone. YOU have an iPad there. Most perhaps do not.
And what you want is an entirely new product. This is an UPDATE. To an existing product.
Seconded. Looking forward to hearing more real-world use-cases.
touchscreen computers are the suxs.
Problems solved include do not touch MY fawking screen, OK?
32GB RAM is needed, if not today, then tomorrow. Would it kill Apple to put back some user upgradable options? Would it kill Apple to make an actual computer, you know, old school, back from 2011…
you’re woefully ignorant on the differences between mobile and desktop processors and busses.