A welcome Apple silicon and form factor update to the MacBook Pros, two sizes and two choices of chips.
The 13 inch MacBook Pros have been a huge success, Tim Cook mentioned how the M1 chip had propelled the Mac to have its best year ever. So when we heard of the upcoming Apple event, we knew that something special was going to happen with new larger MacBook Pros.
It didn't disappoint.
The new MacBook Pros have a new form factor and come in two sizes, 14 inch and 16 inch, although as the screen is larger and the bezel smaller, comparisons to the previous models aren't really valid.
The main story is the two new chips, the M1 Pro and the M1 Max that can power both machines. You can also specify up to 64GB of memory for both machines. As they both use a SOC, that's a lot of memory shared for the cores and GPU. Apple are saying that these are the first two chips designed for the pro market.
'M1 Pro and M1 Max unleash massive gains in performance and transform pro workflows. M1 Pro features a powerful up-to-10-core CPU, up-to-16-core GPU, 200GB/s of memory bandwidth, up to 32GB of fast unified memory, and a ProRes accelerator in the media engine. M1 Max features a 10-core CPU, doubles the GPU with up to a massive 32 cores, 400GB/s of memory bandwidth, up to 64GB of fast unified memory, and two ProRes accelerators in the media engine.'
You will also notice that the Touch Bar has gone and the MagSafe has returned. Add in a Liquid Retina XDR display, three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, an HDMI port and a SDXC card slot and you can see that Apple has listened to Pro users.
- Stunning New Design: With an all-new aluminum enclosure, MacBook Pro optimizes internal space for more performance and features. It also comes with a new Magic Keyboard that features a full-height function row and physical function keys that replace the Touch Bar, bringing back the familiar, tactile feel of mechanical keys that pro users love.
- World’s Best Notebook Display: MacBook Pro offers a stunning Liquid Retina XDR display that brings HDR content to life with unbelievable detail and more vivid colors than ever before. And with ProMotion technology — featuring an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz — tasks are more fluid and responsive.
- Most Advanced Connectivity Ever in a Mac Notebook: Both models feature three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, MagSafe 3, and an improved headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones.
- 1080p FaceTime HD Camera: At 1080p, it delivers high-quality video and great performance in low light. Plus, with computational video the camera system users appear sharper with more natural looking skin tones.
- Best Audio Ever in a Mac Notebook: Delivering a next-level audio experience, the new MacBook Pro has industry-leading, studio-quality mics and a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system that supports spatial audio for a sophisticated, three-dimensional listening experience.
Customers can order the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models today, with availability beginning next week. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $1,999 (US), and $1,849 for education; the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $2,499 (US), and $2,299 (US) for education.
We hope to have a new MacBook Pro soon and will test it out using the new versions of the Pro video Apps announced today.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
