TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

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Michael Canavan
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by Michael Canavan »

Gravity Jim wrote: I just want to know exactly what makes the latest MacPros outdated.
Same as it always is, there are faster Xeons out now, (look at Intels site they don't even sell the 6 core 2.7 for the Mac Pro out "now", it's an 8 core or 12 core. They have even faster chips, just comparing..) faster RAM, faster SSDs, a new version of Thunderbolt v3, (shipping in Windows PCs already, capable of supporting USB 3.1 Gen 2), and USB3.1 Gen 2 .....

In short all the regular things you expect from a 2016 Mac Pro are not in the 2013 introduced Mac Pro.
Yes everything is fast now, but if I'm laying out 3-5grand I want the fastest, period.
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by frankf »

A new 2.7gB 12 core 2013 MP with 32gb RAM, D500 video cards and 1T SSD from will cost $8k plus tax, keyboard and mouse. Add a 4K monitor (beautiful by the way), maybe jump to 64GB RAM and AppleCare. ?$ Just saying on the price.
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TinenTech
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by TinenTech »

I just don't understand the logic behind the trashcan Mac Pro for music recording. To make anything with PCI cards work, whether Pro Tools HD or UAD, you have to buy an external card cage to make it work. The Mac Pro tower "cheese graters" make it easy to throw SATA drives in there, with nothing else messing up the machine room. For us it's about being able to pull a client's SATA drive out and give to them without much fuss, or a bunch of external drives sitting on a shelf.

IMHO, the extra blazing-fast speed of the next generation of CPUs has given software engineers a license to write "bowl of spaghetti code" instead of going back and improving and streamlining the existing software. I look back on the Intel Core Duo against an i7 machine, and it hasn't improved my life much if at all. My MBP 1,1 32-bit running 10.6.8 boots faster and displays the Application Folder faster than my MBP with an i7 64-bit running 10.11.3. Lower latency has been a plus I admit, but I'm a CueMix fan anyway :mrgreen:

If I was doing a lot of video effects and processing, then the horsepower of the new processors would be useful to me. But 24-bit audio? No problem for years.

It would be great if either Apple or Microsoft started from scratch and wrote an OS that is truly mission-critical capable, e.g., suitable to run applications that affect human life and safety. Reading the fine print of your software agreements shows they specifically disclaim that. Here's hoping the lack of progress recently is because Apple has a secret team working on "OS Eleven". :deadhorse:
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by mikehalloran »

I just don't understand the logic behind the trashcan Mac Pro for music recording
It is overkill for music. AV is the target market.
I look back on the Intel Core Duo against an i7 machine, and it hasn't improved my life much if at all.
Do you run DP? I notice a huge difference even between the i5 and i7 on the same file.
To make anything with PCI cards work, whether Pro Tools HD or UAD, you have to buy an external card cage to make it work.
That argument is almost 4 years old now. I believe that ship has sailed. Apple has made it clear that they do not want to support 3rd party hardware. Just this week they announced that separate displays, discontinued last February, will never come back and that the Air Port line has been officially discontinued (development stopped in 2013).
It would be great if either Apple or Microsoft started from scratch and wrote an OS that is truly mission-critical capable
That will never, ever happen for the reason it never has: liability issues.

Let's say for a moment, that some dream world could exist where Apple or MS or anyone could write software with zero defects—that is what you are proposing. What third party applications would be allowed to run over these operating systems? Probably none as all would have the ability to compromise the OS. What are the chances for future development? Perhaps some but it would be extremely slow in coming. Heck, if it was Apple, they'd have to fix Logic or there would be no DAW that could run on ... well, it wouldn't be called a Mac.

Case in point. A company I once worked for still offers TCP/IP for Windows 3.1 (Microsoft never did) and still sells it to the military and to some very large customers for medical applications. Why? Because when it goes down, 3.1 reboots in seconds. Other products are found in million dollar servers for CATV. The standard 'mission critical' disclaimers apply even though they are used in real world 'mission critical' applications.
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by bayswater »

mikehalloran wrote:Apple has made it clear that they do not want to support 3rd party hardware. Just this week they announced that separate displays, discontinued last February, will never come back and that the Air Port line has been officially discontinued
?? By dropping monitors and wifi routers, presumably they are taking on the obligation to support the 3rd party options available to Mac users.
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Shooshie
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by Shooshie »

bayswater wrote:
mikehalloran wrote:Apple has made it clear that they do not want to support 3rd party hardware. Just this week they announced that separate displays, discontinued last February, will never come back and that the Air Port line has been officially discontinued
?? By dropping monitors and wifi routers, presumably they are taking on the obligation to support the 3rd party options available to Mac users.
That could be a good thing.
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Re: TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

Post by mikehalloran »

?? By dropping monitors and wifi routers, presumably they are taking on the obligation to support the 3rd party options available to Mac users
Huh?

All they have to do is make the architecture open to 3rd party solutions as they have done for years. For example, beginning today, you can buy a 4K and a 5K monitor through the Apple Store. These come from LG. They cannot be covered by AppleCare and the warranty falls on LG.
http://www.apple.com/us_edu_126406/shop ... ays-mounts

This is no different than the 3rd party printers, TB racks, remote drives and other accessories you can buy. You aren't limited to buying them from the Apple Store.

I will miss the Airport Time Capsule. It's very easy to setup and maintain. You can still buy them but, when they are gone, that's it, no more. There's no reason to believe that Time Machine can't work over a 3rd party router with an attached HHD, however.

A friend of mine was a bit bent when, after an update to Yosemite, the Canon printer bundled with her iMac stopped working. Oops! I found print and scan drivers for Mavericks on a Canon site, downloaded and emailed so she could get it working. Took awhile to understand that, even though Apple sold her the printer, they weren't responsible if the driver was left out of Yosemite. Fortunately, the drivers I found still work in Sierra but, when/if they don't, she will need new printer.
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