Where is Apple Going with its Pro Hardware ?

The new apples look like HP laptops!

I'm pretty disppointed with the design.

I'm pretty disppointed in them in general lately, with those new quirky nano ipods with the shake function that no one uses.


I miss how apple used to be. Seems like they're limiting our professional options
 
cbln said:
I think my posts may not have been clear that I'm referring not to the newest Mbs and mbps released this week but the models before with the Nvidia 8600 gpu. These are the ones that Apple's now selling as refurb and clearance. Even though they have a page about the problem buried elsewhere and the problem is real, they do not warn you of this at the site of sale. People are misled to believe they are safe because they test all the refurbs. It doesn't matter if it tested fine today, this is a faulty card and has a very high chance it will fail in time according to the experts if you follow that link in my previous posts.

"Affected MacBook Pros and symptoms

Among the models affected are those that were manufactured between approximately May 2007 and September 2008. They include the MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz), MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz), and MacBook Pro (Early 2008).
.
Click to expand...


I notice the article doesn't mention the 15 inch 2.5Ghz machines, They share the Nvidia 8600 card. I assume these machines are questionable as well? I was really thinking about getting one over the next couple days.
 
cbln said:
Thanks, ogopogo, for that. I want Apple to succeed because I don't want to switch from fcp. Many have said it wasn't the issue of glare as much as the trueness of color in the matte. I know we can have an external monitor but what is your opinion about that aspect of the new screens?
Click to expand...

I think that it depends on where a filmmaker's priorities (and wallet) lies. Achieving color trueness with many commercial monitors today is somewhat difficult, and it depends on the application. Print design studios have to balance their monitors to a different type of color scale than a web design studio. For film, again, color on the screen is important, but when you throw your cut onto a DVD and watch it on your friend's TV, obviously the TV itself is going to display different colors. Even then, to the average eye, the color difference won't be that discernable. But, as filmmakers, we have a vision and a sharper eye towards how the final product should look.
That being said, I can't honestly comment on the new glass LCD displays. I've only used my old MB glossy display, and my brothers MBP Matte display. I find both to be fine to work with, but we're pretty small time, so what do we know :)
I think that if a person, a filmmaker, a graphic artist, etc. is that concerned about color, they would spend the time and money on a professional grade monitor, and external calibrator. It's quite costly, but you will get what you pay for. A high quality image, true color, and the ability to perfect your film to whatever degree you wish.
For indie filmmakers like a lot of us, I think that an external display from Apple, Dell, etc. would probably be more than enough. Buy an external calibrator, and get the best color you can. From there, I don't think the average viewer will notice the subtle changes that we works so hard to make! :) The old Cinema Displays from Apple are still expensive, and use the same panel as Dell, Sharp, etc. Apple differs from other companies due to hardware build quality. I'm am interested to see how the new 24" LCD monitor will hold up when using FCP, because it is the ideal size and would work great for when I upgrade to the new MBP.

So, I won't commit myself to saying the the new glass LCD displays are the hot new thing, but I can say that from what I've seen they are bright, vibrant and offer a very clean image. Only time will tell to see how they hold up to industry use.
 
Doesn't matter to me anyway. My next computer will probably be one of those 2.0 iMac G5s from Mac of All Trades. They're cheap, save space and have enough power to get the job done. I'll keep my old machine for Photoshop work and DVD burning. If I need a laptop to edit I'll get one, but I never have needed one to do editing yet. For the price it's the best deal right now outside of a G5 desktop from ebay. Then I could add secondary display and get rid of these two monstrosities, even though I love em to death, LOL.

-Nate
 
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how do you 15" MBP owners feel about FCP on 1440x900? Is the new MBP really that bad if you have it hooked up to a 24 or 30" ACD for studio work? I was thinking about getting an MBP, but the glossy screen really is a bummer.

The build quality on the MBP look fantastic, but then again I could get a 17" HP 8710w Mobile Workstation with 2.6 GHZ C2D, 4 GB Ram, NVidia FX1600, 1920x1200 Matte Screen AND A BUILT-IN PCMCIA Reader for under $1800. Maybe not such a bad idea with Adobe Premier CS4 coming out.
 
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Here is a cool thing about the new MacBook & Pro:

The new MacBook (and Pro) are the first notebooks from Apple to use a SATA optical drive. This opens the door to replacing the optical drive with a second SATA hard drive.

THAT my friends is very cool- previously you could replace the optical drive with an MCE solution that can contain a second hard drive, but it did not feature a fast SATA connection. Once MCE releases an optical drive replacement bay for these things you can have a fast second internal drive for scratch or storage.

One of these days a laptop with an internal superfast flash scratch drive will be coming along... that will be even cooler... meanwhile it's all about cables hanging off to external devices.

My solution to this has been 2.5" drives velcro'd to one of those plastic form fitted cases with a short FireWire 800 cable (available from WiebeTech), which works really well. The velcro adds a layer of thermal protection to the plastic case so there isn't any risk of overheating the screen. Keeps the drive out of the way and the whole setup can be picked up with one hand if necessary.

...better would be a second internal drive...
 
Steve Smull said:
Here is a cool thing about the new MacBook & Pro:

The new MacBook (and Pro) are the first notebooks from Apple to use a SATA optical drive. This opens the door to replacing the optical drive with a second SATA hard drive.

THAT my friends is very cool- previously you could replace the optical drive with an MCE solution that can contain a second hard drive, but it did not feature a fast SATA connection. Once MCE releases an optical drive replacement bay for these things you can have a fast second internal drive for scratch or storage.

One of these days a laptop with an internal superfast flash scratch drive will be coming along... that will be even cooler... meanwhile it's all about cables hanging off to external devices.

My solution to this has been 2.5" drives velcro'd to one of those plastic form fitted cases with a short FireWire 800 cable (available from WiebeTech), which works really well. The velcro adds a layer of thermal protection to the plastic case so there isn't any risk of overheating the screen. Keeps the drive out of the way and the whole setup can be picked up with one hand if necessary.

...better would be a second internal drive...
Click to expand...

What's even better is that both the new MB and MBP support Solid State Drives, which really opens up the door for a lot of good things. Once SSDs grow in size and drop in price, you can just pop one in and have a super fast harddrive that doesn't have any moving parts. You can get a BTO MBP with a 128GB SSD, which is rad, but spendy. Give it 6 months - 1 year and I imagine we'll see 250GB or 300GB SSD drives at reasonable prices.
 
ecking said:
It shouldn't cost that much. My magsafe port burned out and when I brought it in (out of warranty) It cost me 80 bucks. It turns out the whole left side of the old mbp has the ports all connected, so when they replaced the magsafe, my firewire and usb were replaced too.

Take it to the apple store and get it looked about before you decide it's too expensive.
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what? thats impossible. the firewire are on the right side...

on another note.
whats with the hype about the "unibody" BS. does no one know this is not new? The Air has this, helloooo.

Picture+3.png


Also the standard MacBooks don't come with an illuminated keyboard unless you get the 2.4GHz version.

Picture+2.png


ogopogo said:
What's even better is that both the new MB and MBP support Solid State Drives, which really opens up the door for a lot of good things. Once SSDs grow in size and drop in price, you can just pop one in and have a super fast harddrive that doesn't have any moving parts. You can get a BTO MBP with a 128GB SSD, which is rad, but spendy. Give it 6 months - 1 year and I imagine we'll see 250GB or 300GB SSD drives at reasonable prices.
Click to expand...

yeah that'll be nice.
but dont the SSD HDDs like slowly permanetly lose memory or something?
 
etathed said:
I notice the article doesn't mention the 15 inch 2.5Ghz machines, They share the Nvidia 8600 card. I assume these machines are questionable as well? I was really thinking about getting one over the next couple days.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we think that sentence wasn't clearly written. The last part covers all Mbps up to "early" 08 but elsewhere (like below) they said the 8600 was in all mbps manufactured up to Sept.

"Monday, 13 October 2008 Apple warns of faulty graphics processors in MacBook Pros
Apple confirms Nvidia fault makes MacBook Pro not so pro
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Apple has confirmed that MacBook Pro laptops manufactured through last month may contain faulty Nvidia Corp. graphics processors."

http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=23121

I went into Apple and saw the new mbps. That glossy screen should be called "glassy." It is the shiniest thing I've seen outside of a mirror. It's way beyond any other PC laptop screen that I've seen in terms of shine and reflection.

But I'm kind of stuck. My Macs are too old to edit my hvx footage, I need a new Mac and updated fcp. I like using a laptop because it takes up less space and can also be used on trips. Thx, ogopogo, for your thoughts.
 
cbln said:
Yeah, we think that sentence wasn't clearly written. The last part covers all Mbps up to "early" 08 but elsewhere (like below) they said the 8600 was in all mbps manufactured up to Sept.

"Monday, 13 October 2008 Apple warns of faulty graphics processors in MacBook Pros
Apple confirms Nvidia fault makes MacBook Pro not so pro
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Apple has confirmed that MacBook Pro laptops manufactured through last month may contain faulty Nvidia Corp. graphics processors."

http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=23121

I went into Apple and saw the new mbps. That glossy screen should be called "glassy." It is the shiniest thing I've seen outside of a mirror. It's way beyond any other PC laptop screen that I've seen in terms of shine and reflection.

But I'm kind of stuck. My Macs are too old to edit my hvx footage, I need a new Mac and updated fcp. I like using a laptop because it takes up less space and can also be used on trips. Thx, ogopogo, for your thoughts.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. I think i am going to cross my fingers and roll the dice on a closeout mbp.
 
Well, not concerned with the Pro's ( I commented on that there anyway), but here's a petition for Firewire to be back on the Macbooks. Does anyone knows if there's another one for an extra FW port on the Macbook Pro?

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MB1394/petition.html

If this gets big enough, it becomes news worthy, making Apple take notice. (yes, sounds unlikely, but still, its something one could do to try to change things...)
 
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Well maybe with the new 17", but why should they update the just released MBP that soon?

Besides that I´m still waiting for people to report how they like the new screen, most of the MBP packshots show FCP running and apparently FCP users like their screens matte...
 
Agree with you they won't update the new MBP so soon.

Those of us who have seen the new screen call it "glassy." It is ridiculously hi-gloss, much more so than previous MB glossy screens. There are polls and petitions on the internet to bring back the matte option on the MBP.

Reviews are just coming in and they all point out this screen. Engadget is one. http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/21/macbook-and-macbook-pro-review/2
 
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