2019 Mac Pro – show of hands

[Merlin Vandenbossche]

For my case: highly unlikely. Since I am an Adobe user it’s not very likely this machine will scale well with the software (yet). I’ve never found Xeon architectures to be better than say Core i7 or i9 systems for Premiere Pro. I also have too much H.264 in my workload for now and Xeon does not handle it well. So it’s still quite possible that say a maxed out 9900k 2019 iMac is ‘better value’ for a lot of people like me. Or buying a Windows workstation and Nvidia GPUs of course.

I also find the value of the starting spec abysmally bad (256 GB SSD, 32 GB memory and an RX580 for 6000 dollars?), so I expect for the machine to improve your current setup you’ll need to invest at least 10k or more. I am very curious though about performance (I hope to be surprised), about the actual upgrade prices and about the afterburner card. The latter is a mystery box right now.

[David Roth weiss]

I just acquired a brand new MacBook Pro with an i7 proc and 16gb RAM – it’s remarkably powerful right out of the box, and so far I’m quite pleased with its ability to easily handle my editing of both RAW stills and 4K video.

It appears to me that Apple may have finally figured out how to get their hardware to work as needed and expected for its power users, and I’d expect the new MacPro will be a real beast.

FYI, I’m working under OS X Catalina now, and I’m really pleased with Apple’s newest additions to its built-in apps, especially Photos, which now makes it fast and easy to edit and curate huge numbers of stills.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist & Workflow Consultant
David Weiss Productions
Los Angeles

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy forum.

[Andy Field]

More interested in an improved Macbook Pro — we hardly ever edit in an office any more – most of it is shoot, travel, edit on the fly (literally)

I’m still working on a 2015 model with all the ports and a keyboard that doesn’t feel like you are typing on cement (the current keyboards on late models are dreadful and apparently break. A lot.

Mr. Tim Apple – please give us the old keyboard back…. decent industry standard ports..and lose the touch bar…a solution in search of a problem

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Bob Zelin]

I feel compelled to respond – even though Creative Cow audience participation is down from the past.

I hate Apple. I think that Tim Cook should be burned at the stake. But I am one of the few that feels that way, since the Apple shareholders are making a fortune of money through his guidance of what sells (so what the heck do I know). Apple watches, Apple iPads, Apple iPhones, low end Apple computers – THAT is what is making money – even though all of these are expensive.

And before I go on my rant – I am the (proud – or embarassed) new owner of a 2018 Mac Mini, a 2017 MacBook Pro, and a brand new 2019 iPhone 11 – so tell me when to just shut up !

All that really matters to any reader of Creative Cow (except Robin Kurz and Bill Davis) is what is going on with the new Mac Pro. The iMac Pro – a completely non upgradeable computer, that features the now obsolete AMD Vega 64, will be replaced with the incredible (both performance wise and expense wise) new 2020 Mac Pro, at an entry level price of $5999. And will be in real life (if you want it to outperform any Win 10 PC) to be about $10,000 – $15,000 dollars.

Now – if we make the money that we make, and a new AMAZING Mac Pro is $15,000 – does it really matter in the “big picture” – not really. But you can’t ignore the fact that a Puget System $6000 computer with NVidia RTX-2080ti running Davinici Resolve or Adobe Premiere can do the same thing. So, in the end – if Apple winds up with an additional $9000 in profit – does it really matter ?

I mean – we used to spend $80,000 for an AVID Media Composer, and when the AVID Adrenaline came out, it was $25,000. And then FCP REALLY happened (with the AJA I/O box which was $2000 and did the same damn thing) and AVID fans said “oh that is a bunch of crap”.
But my world changed -and FCP and AJA I/O was THE NEW WORLD, and EVERYONE switched to Apple FCP. (and the AVID fanboys said (and still say) that FCP is a bunch of crap).

So it’s the same story – history repeats itself. Apple is about to release an amazing new product. I am sure it will “kick ass” and be amazing (and certainly compete with HP Z8 and Puget Systems with RTX-2080ti). But what does this mean – at it’s price ? Is Apple the new AVID (from years ago) ?

Bob Zelin

Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com

[Eric Santiago]

Were budgeted (day job) for two but without knowing specs and cost, I don’t think we will get it till the end of fiscal (March for us) ☹
I can’t justify holding off a chunk of company money for months hoping that it lands tomorrow.
We did that with the last batch.
Since our D700s are holding up, we don’t mind.
Now for home….my wife wants the renos done first 😛
LOL!

[Bill Davis]

[Bob Zelin] “All that really matters to any reader of Creative Cow (except Robin Kurz and Bill Davis) is what is going on with the new Mac Pro.”

Yep.

You nailed it, Bob.

Just like everybody else left here – I’m only concerned with what works for ME.
Which is something everyone here should echo, gleefully.

And my fingers are crossed for the (at this point merely mythical) widely speculated 16″ MacBook Pro revision.
I’ve gotten 4 YEARS out of my current laptop as my day to day editing machine – and it’s been an astonishing success, thus far.

Seriously, when I left my big-assed maxed out MacPro Cheesegrater behind I could not IMAGINE being able to work on ONLY a laptop. But my first MacBook Pro shocked me with its capability. And when I refreshed it in 2015 – I maxed THAT one out – and never looked back.

That little slab of aluminum is still kicking butt having over the past 6 weeks seen me through the single biggest flood of production work that’s crossed my desk since I moved to California more than a year ago. I’m typing this on it right now under a suspended 40″ client monitor.

It’s been amazing.

Can’t wait to see what Apple has in store next. And I really don’t care (within reason) what it costs. Heck, I used to regularly spend more on CRAFT SERVICES for ONE of our corporate video shoots than this laptop cost.. So hardware isn’t really as much a big deal as it used to be.

Times have changed. And I suspect will continue to, faster and faster.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Tim Wilson]

[Bob Zelin] “Now – if we make the money that we make, and a new AMAZING Mac Pro is $15,000 – does it really matter in the “big picture” – not really. “

That’s kind of my question. I’ve certainly ranted plenty about Apple, and much of it has been, “What ever happened to the interest in making the BEST computers?” I certainly don’t blame TC for that. Steve was the one pulling the plug on the idea that Apple makes the most powerful beasts.

I know that you remember the Super Computer campaign from 2007 — Apple claiming that their computers were so powerful that the government wasn’t willing to let them fall into the hands of America’s enemies….which was nonsense from top to bottom. Not only was that not any kind of policy, but the G4 was nowhere close to the most powerful personal computer out there, the best bang for the buck, etc…but Apple at least cared about keeping up the myth that they wanted to be perceived as heavyweights.

Since then, it’s been all about being anything BUT heavyweights….until now.

So I’m curious — what exactly is the problem you have with Apple’s plan? That they’re charging more than you’d like? Because I think Apple’s thinking is, if we have a customer who’s even thinking about Puget or HP or anyone else then, then we’ve already lost them. No point in chasing them.

At the same time, people are also finding that iMacs and laptops and Mac Pros from 2011 are doing just fine. No money to be made from old computers, not much margin on iMacs and laptops, so a disproportionate amount of profit HAS to come from the top of the line….where few people are feeling much pain from the price.

[Bob Zelin] ” But you can’t ignore the fact that a Puget System $6000 computer with NVidia RTX-2080ti running Davinici Resolve or Adobe Premiere can do the same thing. “

Not if “the same thing” includes running the Mac OS and/or FCPX, in which case the score for Apple is 100, and the score for any PC vendor is Zero.

Stepping aside from your role as an industry observer, let me pose the question to you as somebody who has put in more systems for more NLEs than anybody in the Eastern timezone, and very possibly more than any individual in the country.

Are your customers asking you to spec out systems from Puget, HP, Boxx, whoever, running Creative Cloud and Resolve, so that they can drop Macs and FCPX?

If not now, do you foresee something changing, say in an NAB-ish timeframe?

Where do you see your customers spending their money?

[Tony West]

i’m getting one.

It’s more computer than I need right now but it might not be 10 years from now.

I have gotten 10 years out of my current Mac Pro so if I can get 10 or more out of this one great.

I heard about a possible 32TB internal raid for storage that would slide into it. I would love getting all my attached storage inside it.

[Tom Sefton]

Yes, getting one with an XDR display. Workflow issues with iMac Pro are screaming out for one .

Co-owner at Pollen Studio
http://www.pollenstudio.co.uk

[Herb Sevush]

Since I am still locked into OSX/ProRes/Premiere by my main client’s workflow I will be sorely tempted by the MPro20.

As often stated, I am no fan of the 2013 and the lack of Tbolt 3 is slowing performance down with peripherals. I am still networked to my 2010 MPro for access to PCI express cards (older raids and LTO tape drive) and the possibility of upgrading to the 2020 and transferring the cards and then getting rid of (selling??) both the 2010 and 2013 is intriguing. Also interested in seeing what the “afterburner” card can do, as well as the new GFX card setup.

While cost is a big consideration, if I’m working it’s a business expense, if I’mot working I expect re-sale value to be pretty high.

Anxiously waiting for the release so I can make plans.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin\’ attached to nothin\’
\”Deciding the spine is the process of editing\” F. Bieberkopf