New Mac Pro AND a FCP-X shout out. Happy now?

[Shane Ross]

Yup, that’s the only mention. “Hey, look, Dean Devlin is using the new FCX with the new MacPros.”

That’s it.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Gary Huff]

[Darren Roark] “Apple are really good at squeezing as much performance out of their hardware. Me, not so much.”

I’m not sure you realize that you’re comparing Apples to Oranges. First of all, benchmarking software is really not a good indicator of performance, given it’s limited ability to test things. It’s a Quad Core CPU in that MBP, and a Quad-Core CPU in your Hackintosh (you haven’t given specs, but I bet it’s just a Core i7 desktop variety).

Geekbench isn’t really going to show an improvement of 32GB over 16GB for instance. But it will be there when you go to work on stuff.

[Gary Huff]

[Rick Lang] “That’s 3GB on each of the two GPUs so 6GB VRAM in total.”

Are you sure it’s not 1.5GB on each for a total of 3GB?

[Gary Huff]

[Shane Ross] “”Hey, look, Dean Devlin is using the new FCX with the new MacPros.””

Dean Devlin was a big name back in the 90s…

[Darren Roark]

Yes, it’s 6gb total. I have the 7950 which is similar to the ones in the mac pro and it’s 3gb.

[Bill Davis]

[Rick Lang] “The existing Mac Pro remains a value competitor given the price differences.”

Considering the power efficiency and HVAC load differential, I suspect maybe not.

Schiller noted that the power consumption was cut from around 167 down to 40 or so watts at idle – and the unit needs only a single fan to cool, due primarily if I understand it correctly, to the flow through tube heat sink design.

So at least here in AZ where power for AC is a huge deal, having a smaller, energy efficient computer that generates a lot less heat is a pretty significant cost saving over years of service. Also it being that QUIET means some of us won’t have to pay extra any longer for sound deadening enclosures.- particular for a media production machine where the chance of needing to open a mic to do VO or narration near the unit is a significant possibility.

Smaller, lighter, faster & way more power efficient – all around the same price points where a robustly configured MacPro from the last generation sat.

Seems like quite a LOT of technological progress happening with this.

And sorry, but the dual GPU deal alone has got to leverage it WAY past any iMac or MacBook Pro – both units that aren’t really all that far behind in terms of cost.

$500 bucks is $500 bucks for sure, but for a professional tool, I’m not sure that’s anywhere in the ballpark of a number that would cause a working artist to feel forced to go with a less capable unit then they would prefer.

The wildcard, of course, is monitors. You get those included with iMacs and Laptops. Be interesting to see what Apple comes up with when it comes to displays. That’s where the cost bump will likely show up I suspect.

Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.

[Rick Lang]

[Gary Huff] “Are you sure it’s not 1.5GB on each for a total of 3GB?
“

The D300 has 2GB on each card, the D500 has 3GB per card, and the D700 has 6GB on each card. Surely having 6GB will be enough… until the next great thing we can’t imagine being without arrives at least.

Rick Lang

iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB

[Rick Lang]

[Bill Davis] “Considering the power efficiency and HVAC load differential, I suspect maybe not.

Schiller noted that the power consumption was cut from around 167 down to 40 or so watts at idle – and the unit needs only a single fan to cool, due primarily if I understand it correctly, to the flow through tube heat sink design.

So at least here in AZ where power for AC is a huge deal, having a smaller, energy efficient computer that generates a lot less heat is a pretty significant cost saving over years of service. Also it being that QUIET means some of us won’t have to pay extra any longer for sound deadening enclosures.- particular for a media production machine where the chance of needing to open a mic to do VO or narration near the unit is a significant possibility.

Smaller, lighter, faster & way more power efficient – all around the same price points where a robustly configured MacPro from the last generation sat.

Seems like quite a LOT of technological progress happening with this.

And sorry, but the dual GPU deal alone has got to leverage it WAY past any iMac or MacBook Pro – both units that aren’t really all that far behind in terms of cost.

$500 bucks is $500 bucks for sure, but for a professional tool, I’m not sure that’s anywhere in the ballpark of a number that would cause a working artist to feel forced to go with a less capable unit then they would prefer.

The wildcard, of course, is monitors. You get those included with iMacs and Laptops. Be interesting to see what Apple comes up with when it comes to displays. That’s where the cost bump will likely show up I suspect.”

Looking at the total lifetime cost of ownership, those things you mentioned are appealing. I was taking a short-term view and ignoring the fact that you are going to supply external storage (which can apply to the existing Mac Pro and 3TB iMac too). I agree the cost over my initial estimate was perhaps too low, but I was betting Apple wanted to turn some heads with the price as well as the design. I think the new price is reasonable but it was eerie that you could hear a pin drop when the price was announced. The guy who holds up the applause sign must have been on sick leave today.

I think someone needs to produce a 4K calibrated monitor with true 10bit colour (and 12bit inputs) that doesn’t cost more than the entry-level Mac Pro. Will Apple do it?

I think this new Mac Pro will do well and will be interesting to see how people are configuring their machines and putting them to work.

Rick Lang

iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB

[Mitch Ives]

[Bill Davis] “So at least here in AZ where power for AC is a huge deal, having a smaller, energy efficient computer that generates a lot less heat is a pretty significant cost saving over years of service. Also it being that QUIET means some of us won’t have to pay extra any longer for sound deadening enclosures.- particular for a media production machine where the chance of needing to open a mic to do VO or narration near the unit is a significant possibility.”

+1 on that. The noise thing is an issue these days, given the changes in how we do things…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill

[David Roth weiss]

[Herb Sevush] “I wouldn’t want the base model, but it leads me to believe that at around 4K there might be something I would want.”

Hey Herb,

Call me first… I have some “additional” info to share with you that you might wish to consider.

DRW

David Roth Weiss
ProMax Systems
Burbank
DRW@ProMax.com

Sales | Integration | Support

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