Apple M1 Macs are here

[Jeremy Garchow]

It’s amazing to me that they speak directly to imaging making pros with what have been, typically thought of, as more consumer facing machines. They show DaVinci Resolve and tout 6 or 8k performance. They show Logic, FCPX (6x render speed!), Lightroom, Photoshop, Cinema4D. The proof is always in the pudding, but who knows, this may be Apple’s fastest computer yet. The only (sort of) disappointing spec for me is that the mini is downgraded to 1Gb ethernet from 10Gb in the intel version. I guess I’ll be curious to see where it goes from here as I don’t know much about Apple Silicon. Can things get bigger and even more powerful? Can there be 2 or more chips? Maximum Ram and SSD configs are all reduced (by half) from the intel versions of the machines. Why is this? Are they not expected to last as long, not from a quality standpoint, but from a development lifecycle? Are these a few lower cost stop-gap machines to gather user experiences and determine design upgrades for future Macs with Apple Silicon? Will I finally be able to levitate on command when I buy the latest Apple product?

[Oliver Peters]

There’s no Ethernet downgrade in the mini. The 10GbE is an option. Same as before.

[Oliver Peters]

RAM reduction is because the RAM is integrated on the chip, like the GPU. So right now the max is 16GB.

[Jeremy Garchow]

There’s no Ethernet downgrade in the mini. The 10GbE is an option. Same as before.

It says pretty explicitly “Gigabit Ethernet” everywhere. You can only choose 8vs16Gb of RAM or 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB SSD. There isn’t an option for 10Gb ethernet.

[Oliver Peters]

Oops. My bad. You are right. I was looking at the BTO options and must have inadvertently been looking at the current Intel model.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

I’m very impressed with what Apple showed here. Still doubting between the Macbook Pro or the Air, more leaning towards the Air for my needs. If their claims are true, they are specifying 2-3-4x performance speeds, and almost 2x battery improvements. Those are huge figures to do in one jump.

Could it be we also saw a new version of FCPX? If you look at the screenshots they used, I didn’t see a button for the library on the left, but I could be wrong. Or is that a general re-skin because of Big Sur? We have the FCPX Summit next week, so it wouldn’t be out of character that Apple already used screenshots of a new FCPX.

With Resolve 17’s Magic Mask and their Smart Reframing (unlike FCPX’s, with reframing within the shot) and Apple making a big deal about the new 16core Neural Engine in these new Macs, I’m wondering if we will get similar-minded features in the new FCPX.

[Oliver Peters]

That appears to be 10.5. At least in the fine print on the website, it mentions testing with a prerelease copy of FCPX 10.5. Although that icon could simply be a refresh for Big Sur. You’ll know tomorrow when Big Sur is officially released.

[Michael Gissing]

I have a friend who was saying she was about to buy a new Mac laptop. I did say she should wait for the new arm processor versions as buying an Intel mac now seems like a bad idea. The performance will not match and the clock is ticking on how long it will be able to stay up to date with OS & software. Tricky times for Mac owners

[Jeremy Garchow]

Tricky times for Mac owners

Is it though? Not really. ARM Macs are pretty cheap and not a lot of specs. Intel Macs will last much longer than their billable usefulness. We’ve been through this before. We will do it again.

[Michael Gissing]

I went through it but by getting into an Intel MacPro I was better off. My friend is about to go Intel on a Mac laptop. I’m worried she will end up stranded on an old OS and old software before she gets the expected life out of her laptop which will then have zero resale value. I’m recommending she wait for the ARM laptops and get a machine that will last longer, have better performance and decent battery life. She can’t afford an expensive mistake and won’t go PC where she would get better value and not suffer the transition which I doubt will be trouble free.