September could be interesting

[Andrew Kimery]

Unfortunately they’ll make it thinner than the 15″ so even though it’s bigger, the total volume inside the laptop will be smaller thus necessitating even greater thermal throttling. ????

On a more serious note, I know a lot of people miss the 17″s. I personally never had one because I didn’t want to lug something around that big.

[Dennis Radeke]

I used to miss the 17″ but now I don’t think it is as necessary.

And you may be joking about the thinness and thermal throttling, but you might be spot on.

[Oliver Peters]

Depending on screen resolution and bezel thinness, the 16″ model could easily be a match for – or better than – the older 17″ (in terms of screen real estate).

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Bob Zelin]

Andrew writes –
I personally never had one because I didn’t want to lug something around that big.

I never understood this mindset. When you are in the video business, and you do a shoot, you have a TON of gear that has to be moved around – your camera, lenses, tripod, batteries, chargers, cables, outboard recorder, outboard monitor, etc, etc.

If you are in post production, you have your computer, but you also have your monitors, speakers, dock, AJA or Blackmagic or AVID IO boxes, scopes, drives, etc, etc.

If you are a DIT on set, you have your cart with all your crap on it, your card readers, dock, drives, etc. etc. plus outboard gear for the client to see the shots on a monitor.

And if you are an editor – you not only bring your laptop, but ALL THE OTHER STUFF – which certainly means at least lugging your drives around, headphones (if you are not using real speakers), and other stuff, like monitors, I/O boxes, etc that is necessary to do your job.

So please explain the mindset of “I just want my 15″ laptop in a light case, and that’s it”. Exactly where do you edit with this equipment ? At Starbucks ?

The definition of all these trade shows, and being a pro is OUR GEAR – all the hardware, all the software, knowing all the tricks, and owning all the toys, that a “YouTuber” with their iPhone and Mac Book (and a free WiFi connection). cannot compete against. So adding the extra “inch” – exactly how does that make your life more miserable.

Bob Zelin

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

[Andrew Kimery]

[Bob Zelin] “If you are in post production, you have your computer, but you also have your monitors, speakers, dock, AJA or Blackmagic or AVID IO boxes, scopes, drives, etc, etc. “

Yeah, I don’t lug those around either. I keep them on a desk. Or the company I work for keeps them on one of their desks. Weird, I know. ????

Laptops for me are primarily personal/secondary computers, not editing computers.

[Oliver Peters]

[Andrew Kimery] “Laptops for me are primarily personal/secondary computers, not editing computers.”

Yes, but for many others, they are the primary editing tool. For example, most of the videos people cut at press events and conference videos on-site are cut using laptops. So it becomes an issue of screen real estate. How can you best manage the UI on the small screen? But it certainly is a preference thing, as some editors also use the 13″ models in the field. OTOH, I’ve also seen some who are willing to lug around an iMac Pro in a bag as sort of a “transportable” ☺

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Andrew Kimery]

[Oliver Peters] “Yes, but for many others, they are the primary editing tool. “

Exactly, which is why I said I know many people missed the 17″ after Apple EOL’d them, just not me personally. 😉

[Eric Santiago]

[Bob Zelin] “I never understood this mindset. When you are in the video business, and you do a shoot, you have a TON of gear that has to be moved around – your camera, lenses, tripod, batteries, chargers, cables, outboard recorder, outboard monitor, etc, etc.

If you are in post production, you have your computer, but you also have your monitors, speakers, dock, AJA or Blackmagic or AVID IO boxes, scopes, drives, etc, etc.

If you are a DIT on set, you have your cart with all your crap on it, your card readers, dock, drives, etc. etc. plus outboard gear for the client to see the shots on a monitor.

And if you are an editor – you not only bring your laptop, but ALL THE OTHER STUFF – which certainly means at least lugging your drives around, headphones (if you are not using real speakers), and other stuff, like monitors, I/O boxes, etc that is necessary to do your job.
“

Haha, I tell ya, a few gigs I had to do all of the above.
I own a RED kit, lighting, DIT and of course VFX to boot.
My little Ford Ranger couldn’t handle it anymore so I had given up doing it all.
Thank goodness for Pelican cases 🙂

[Brett Sherman]

[Bob Zelin] “I never understood this mindset. When you are in the video business, and you do a shoot, you have a TON of gear that has to be moved around – your camera, lenses, tripod, batteries, chargers, cables, outboard recorder, outboard monitor, etc, etc.”

Definitely true for some uses. But I find it is just barely possible to edit on an airline even with a 15″ laptop. It won’t lay flat and you have to tip it up towards yourself on most seats. I think the 16″ will be fine if they reduce the bezel. And I’ll likely get one when it is time to upgrade. But there’s almost no way to use the classic 17″ with modern aircraft seating space.

And yes, I have been known to edit at Starbucks when I’m on the road and don’t have anywhere else to go.

Of course my preference is always to edit with two 4K monitors in the office. But there are times it’s not possible. Besides the fact if space is no issue, I’d take a 15″ laptop with my iPad as a second monitor over a single 17″ any day.

[Bill Davis]

Maybe for a “final edit” — maybe not.
I get a ton of work done while traveling with a simple laptop/iPad/USB hard drive rig like this.
Footage review and keywording.
Audio sweetening.
Even base grading and limited color correction that I can proof and perfect back in the studio.
I’m about to get on a train to LA in 45 minutes.
On the trip there and back tomorrow, I need to master two radio spots (Hooray for Auditions for helping me manage hundreds of line reading alternates!) – and organize and tag a 4K ProRes RAW video shoot for a financial institution from last week.

And I expect no issues with my MacBook Pro, as usual.

It’s just a different mindset today.

YMMV.

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