Posted on by Terry White

The New MacBook Pros are Here!

 

As rumored, Apple introduced their NEW MacBook Pro lineup today and while they didn't introduce the MacBook PrAir that I'd hoped for, these new machines are noteworthy in terms of performance features. The most notable enhancement is the new "Thunderbolt" (aka Light Peak) multipurpose port offering up to 10Gbps data throughput. This makes it the fastest I/O port that Apple has ever used on a notebook offering speeds that are 12 times faster than Firewire 800. The next notable update is the move to the Intel Quad Core "Sandy Bridge" processors. Lastly in the notable update area is the upgraded "FaceTime HD" camera offering a much higher resolution image over the previous iSight camera. Apple also moved to AMD graphics cards. I had hoped for faster Nvidia cards with 1GB of RAM or more for Mercury (effects) Playback in Premiere Pro CS5, but the good news is that Premiere Pro rocks with real-time GPU playback on AMD too.

Get all the specs here.

 

So what will I do?

Although I had hoped for a New MacBook Pro that was closer to the MacBook Air in terms of weight, I can't argue the potential of these new notebooks for making my work and demos go even faster. I look forward to a NEW 15" "work" MacBook Pro (is the store back up yet? 🙂 ) However, I had a backup plan in case these weren't the new lighter weight models that I dreamed of and that plan is to buy a 13" MacBook Air to be my "personal" notebook. Granted I do personal stuff on my work notebook and I'd probably do work on my personal notebook, but having the choice of either one depending on my needs for a particular trip would be great. This way if I'm NOT traveling to do a demo/teach a class where I need all the horse power I can get, then I'd bring the Air. I'd probably also use the Air around the house along with the iPad. With services like Dropbox.com keeping files in sync between multiple computers is not a problem these days. So that's my plan.

 

UPDATE – To answer the questions I'm getting regarding Premiere Pro playback on the new AMD graphics cards

Here's a video by my buddy Dave

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUyxSJUVQb0

 

19 Replies to “The New MacBook Pros are Here!”

  1. I’m intrigued to see how the new Thunderbolt works. Right now, I have a 24″ iMac and a 15″ Macbook Pro, but both need an upgrade. I’m thinking that the new MBP with a lot of RAM, a large monitor and a fast connection to my RAID 5 array will suffice to have everything in one place – for less than the price of buying two new machines again.

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  3. Great intro article to the new MacBook Pro. Thunderbolt really gives it an edge, especially with image transfer. The Dropbox.com solution is one that I use. An excellent way to share files between stations, and especially as a secondary backup solution. What does the ‘Sandy Bridge’ processor upgrade offer?

  4. So the larger 15” got AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5. I’m using Adobe Premiere CS5 and After Effects CS5. I simple want to use Adobe Mercury Playback Engine with full speed. But that is only possible with some NVIDIA aGB stuff, right? So no NVIDIA no GPU accelerated rendering?

    If this is true, I’m looking forward to new Final Cut coming this spring. Maybe they will take advantage of AMD Radeon 1GB

  6. Hi Terry,

    Would you recommend a laptop with a flash memory (like Air) for someone who uses Ps/Dw/Fl a lot?

    I’ve heard from some Apple users that they don’t last long because of the reading/writing into the memory all the time?

    What’s your opinion on that?

    Regards,

    Marek

      1. Hi Terry,

        Thanks for your reply. One more question for you:

        I’m considering a replacement for my laptop (I’m using Dell Studio 15). What would you recommend as the best pc laptop for extensive use of Ps/Dw/Fl and some Pr? Anything around $1000-1300 you would recommend? I’ve read some great reviews of Hp Envy 14 and it seems to be very good…

        I’m looking forward to your thoughts.

        Marek

  7. Terry – in your post, you said:

    “I had hoped for faster Nvidia cards with 1GB of RAM or more for Mercury (effects) Playback in Premiere Pro CS5, but the good news is that Premiere Pro rocks with real-time GPU playback on AMD too.”

    Not sure I understand that last part – I thought Premiere Pro CS5 only supported nVidia GPUs for Hardware-based acceleration of the Mercury Playback engine. Or is there new support for OpenCL? Or maybe I’m just misunderstanding what you said?

    2. George, Mercury Playback comes in TWO flavors: Software and Hardware. While the Hardware playback only works with specific cards, the Software playback isn’t restricted to a specific card/vendor. In other words, a fast card like the AMD ones Apple is using will benefit Premiere.

      See this post for more info.

      1. Thanks Terry. The video that you posted in your update does help clarify that the new Macbook Pros will only be able to use the software (CPU-only) version of the Mercury Playback engine. While the performance is pretty great for most workflows, I think we would be incorrect in saying that “a fast card like the AMD ones Apple is using will benefit Premiere” – when in fact under Software-based Mercury Playback, the GPU probably does very little work (the video you posted showed all CPU threads maxing out).

        Hope that one day Premiere Pro will write a code base to take advantage of AMD Radeon GPUs via OpenCL. The datasets over on Harm Millaard’s site (ppbm5.com) suggest that the AMD 6750M on these new Macbook Pros might be able to deliver approximately 10x performance if they were actually used for Hardware-based (GPU) version of the Mercury Playback Engine (assuming that the AMD 6750M equates roughly to an nVidia GTX 470 video card).

        Thanks!,
        george

  8. I’ve been a Mac Daddy for years. As soon as you get comfortable with your new purchase they attack you with the “this time it’s better than ever” stuff. It’s like an addiction so you’re constantly chasing a ‘ghost’.

    They should be required by law to place a warning on the product stating “ Using the Apple device will may be addicting”.

    They got the right name, Apple, isn’t that what got Adam and Eve kicked out of paradise?

    Well of to the Apple Store!

  9. Terry, how do you feel about Glossy vs. Matte displays now? You’ve said that you’re used to the Glossy but that your next MacBook will be a Matte display. I’m about to upgrade and am debating between the Hi Res Glossy vs. Matte. Thanks.

    1. I prefer Matte when I can get it! My last two MacBook Pros have been Matte and my MacBook Air is glossy because I don’t have a choice.

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