New Macbook Pro "Thunderbolt" - Savior for pro-video on laptops?

No, you get can them with at 500GB 7200RPM drive instead for same cost. Go configure one in the Apple Store, I did :)

That's what I have in my machine now at the 7200RPM does make a difference!
 
I did earlier, but somehow overlooked the 7200RPM option. Probably because I had SSD on the brain. :)

I've been the victim of several HDD crashes over the years and really want an SSD. I'd still like to know if I could order a MBP with an HDD (to save a few $$$), then switch it out at a later date with an SSD?
 
Terry_Lasater said:
I did earlier, but somehow overlooked the 7200RPM option. Probably because I had SSD on the brain. :)

I've been the victim of several HDD crashes over the years and really want an SSD. I'd still like to know if I could order a MBP with an HDD (to save a few $$$), then switch it out at a later date with an SSD?
Click to expand...

Yep, it's not too complicated. I put in an 80gig Intel SSD for my Boot and Apps drive. I also took out the optical drive and put in a standard 500gig drive in there. My Optical drive is now USB for the few times I might need it.
 
Okay, WTF... The new Intel graphics card in the 13" doesn't seem to support Final Cut Pro while the previous model and every other Mac does. Really Apple? I think I'll have to cancel my order or do you think FCP will be updted to support the new card?
From the FCP requirements:

ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
 
I've been waiting for these. But no CUDA, no RAM (8gb max wtf?) and weak display resolution. Gahhh. The PC options are so much better.
 
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Oetam said:
Okay, WTF... The new Intel graphics card in the 13" doesn't seem to support Final Cut Pro while the previous model and every other Mac does. Really Apple? I think I'll have to cancel my order or do you think FCP will be updted to support the new card?
From the FCP requirements:

ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
Click to expand...
That has been the disclaimer for about four years, IIRC, and the system specs are for the whole suite, not just FCP. FCP has very low GPU overhead while Motion and Color rely extensively on the GPU which skews the specs in that regard. It was nicer when Apple listed all the specs for the apps in the suite individually.


-Andrew
 
Thanks for your response. I was really freaking out.

But... There are specific requirements for Color http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/
I wonder why they would't be more clear about it.

I would like to do some Color work though do you think this would be impossible?
I've used Color on my four year old iMac and I don't think the new graphics performance can be a lot worse than that.
 
Back to thunderbolt speculation, I've been thinking that it would allow for the development of expansion towers, drive raids and video cards in the same box, or daisy chained for full workstation performance without a dedicated MacPro. Keep proxy files on your system drive for on the go, at your home desk plug in one cable and there you go. No reason why there shouldn't be reasonably affordable boxes with PCI-e slots and drive controllers. Basically a workstation with no processor or OS in it, should even be able to be third party generic stuff as it is an open source developed with intel that will be on windows machines as well.
 
I really hope this can become a standard and not Intel and Apple's next failed experiment.
 
What i'd like to know is if new imacs will be thunderbolt(ed)?
My bet is 'yes', but we'll see.
 
Maybe this is how DSLR's will get to a raw format, by tethering to something like thunderbolt.

Massive speculation there.
 
I think the beauty of TB is the potential use of hubs and docks in the near future. With the right hub you could use a USB 3.0 or ESATA raid plus have bandwidth left over for other devices. I could very well see TB totally replacing all external ports in the future and users would then just buy hubs or docks to add the ports they need. Sort of like Apple using mini diaplay port in the past instead of trying to cram a DVI, VGA and DVI port on the side of a laptop. Now they can get rid of the audio, FW800, USB and even ethernet and add those to an external hub. Think of the potential market to build hubs and devices.
 
Thomas Smet...

If the space doesn't permit on a really small device, then use just a TB port. If the space permits, I want as many ports as possible. I don't want carry around a hub just to plug in headphones, or a USB wireless mouse.

I would prefer to have at least two FW800 ports on a MBP like it used to be. I know FW daisy chain-able, but if I don't have to put things in a chain, then it is easier to connection & disconnect as needed.

Removing all other ports on the mac, so I can get a hub to get those ports back seems like one step forward, two steps back.
 
I put a Crucial 128 GB SSD in an 2010 MBP 13" and regularly got 180 MB/s write and read. Booted in about 10 seconds.

Apple tends to sell SSDs with poor write performance, but if you are careful, you can locate a 3rd party one that has a good write speed.
 
I just picked up a 2.3ghz 13". The old minidisplayport adapter is the same one from the last gen MBPro and current iMacs. But, it uses the TB port. Hooked it up, and sho nuf it works just fine. Apparently, with the new drives that are coming out, the TB port is daisy chainable, so I can still tap off of the back of a TB drive and get my 2nd monitor out of there. Weird, but they say that's how it's gonna be.

In all, the 13" is solid, heavy, and quick. With base RAM, it's on par with my i5 imac.
 
zijital said:
Keep in mind that if you're hooked up to a monitor through this, you'll be losing some of the bandwith.
Click to expand...

Not true, TB is dual channel, there's a dedicated displayport channel and a PCI-E channel, so the monitor will not affect the bandwidth of the data. The real limitation is the 6 daisy chained devices, I hope the next revisions have more than one TB port.
 
Kholi said:
Maybe this is how DSLR's will get to a raw format, by tethering to something like thunderbolt.

Massive speculation there.
Click to expand...

Bingo! We have a winner!
This is the sort of thinking that we were talking in 1991 prior to the release of Firewire. I just sat on my hands for 10 years for DV+Firewire to happen.... and it did!
So your logic is sound. Apple has always been smart enough to center the turnkey solutions around core connectivity solutions. Examples:
- ASB versus Serial
- Firewire 400 versus USB1
- Firewire 800 versus USB 1 & USB2
- Thunderbolt versus USB3
There's a lot more to being the slickest personal computer co. than just pretty cases ;)
 
Oetam said:
Okay, WTF... The new Intel graphics card in the 13" doesn't seem to support Final Cut Pro while the previous model and every other Mac does. Really Apple? I think I'll have to cancel my order or do you think FCP will be updted to support the new card?
From the FCP requirements:

ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
Click to expand...


adkimery said:
That has been the disclaimer for about four years, IIRC, and the system specs are for the whole suite, not just FCP. FCP has very low GPU overhead while Motion and Color rely extensively on the GPU which skews the specs in that regard. It was nicer when Apple listed all the specs for the apps in the suite individually.


-Andrew
Click to expand...

A few years back I had to do a quick grade and title in 1080p on the fly and all that was available was an iBook with integrated graphics card.
Motion worked if you avoided z-space. The same with color just avoid pan and scan or setting motion trackers.
Color's Primary in, secondaries, primary out and even most of the node tree went ok without a crash and of course FCP, STP, Compressor were fine too.
 
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