Who said Microsoft/Win is better? It's more like pointing differences, preferences and issues. I disliked Win 8. It was more of a test. Like they threw the ball and waited to see where it would sit. Fail. Something similar went on with the XBOX One... Epic threads on gaming sites. :dancing: But they got a lot of criticism and listened to it (to a degree, at least). But I don't think it was really a Microsoft/SONY/company thing, rather that the gaming crowd is more sensitive to getting ripped off or fooled or taken by the hand (plus, they'd made some ridiculous [or untimely] statements). Anyway... No point in this.

 

Great post, and mostly great responses. I myself started on Mac in 1987, typesetting business cards, resumes, restaurant menus, and such, on an Apple Lisa at a print shop. I recall using Photoshop 2 and other primordial versions of graphics and page-layout software (remember pre-Adobe ALDUS PageMaker, anyone?) at another print shop, where the Compugraphic Linotronic that I'd used was replaced by a Mac. So, I've witnessed and participated in the glory and ridiculousness of Apple/Mac from its "toddler" stage into its mid-life crisis period. Concurrently, I've had my run with Windows (which I've not used much in the past several years), building and repairing my own PCs and repairing and reconfiguring this-and-that version of Windows and its drivers. Meanwhile, I've also gotten familiar with Linux, especially since it's no longer necessary to be a "guru" in order to get a solid distro (of, say, Ubuntu) running. What I have learned (and as always, which is subject to revision) is to accept the ephemerality of What You Know and of How You Do It, and to try to discern at what point one is at the mercy of the caprices of market-driven development and just has to upgrade one's stuff, in some manner, every few years. At best, along with that comes new things to learn and new ways to do things.

Two points made by Cook caught my eye, and with all due respect: First, no one "forces" anyone to upgrade their O/S, but adoption of newer software does (and vice-versa). For example, in order to use Logic Pro X, I had to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion, and if I want to use the concurrent version of Garageband, I "have to" upgrade to Mavericks, which is where I'm drawing the line, as I'm 95% content with ML, and I'm still quite content with Garageband 6. Second, Apple will stop making pro-level software if pros stop buying it – but pros will stop buying it if the latest versions are dumbed-down to the ground. A friend of mine is having to upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard just to be able to use his web browsers, with Flash and Java, et al. – and he's also going to thereby have to upgrade to a more recent version of Pro Tools and other software. My own upgrading to ML warranted a faster system than the last Macbook Pro that shipped with Snow Leopard, so I upgraded from an HDD to an SSD. It's a triune feedback loop: new software requiring new hardware or new O/S, or any combination thereof.

My personal strategy is to hang as far back as the trailing edge, until absolutely-necessary to upgrade software, O/S, and/or hardware – but the computer companies butter their bread with early-adopters prodded into downloading the "latest" updates – of an operating system, no less, which may include revisions of file-system structure and render some of the user's software immediately obsolete (that is, unusable on the most recent version of the O/S). Many people believe that they must have the-latest, or they're being left-behind. I can't believe how many Macbooks as old as from 2008 with Mavericks upgrades I see on Craigslist, either because their users thought that the Snow Leopard that had come on them was "too old," or because having the latest O/S might render their old Macbooks more commercially viable. It's also prudent and useful, if one can afford it, to have more than one computer, for running either an older O/S or another platform.

Even so, how far back should I hang – to the first PowerPC running System 7? I liked Windows 2000, but can't run much of the newer software on it, though newer software also requires more powerful hardware than had run W2k. Having to upgrade, in some way or another, is cyclically inevitable – but who's driving the market? Is it developers who con the masses into early-adopting? (It's easier to do so if you can market shiny, sleek gadgets to show-off to your friends.) Is it the sheeple who early-adopt and set the example for the Rest of Us to run over the cliff along with them? (Easier to do so while engrossed in what's on one's iPhone.) Is it the ages-old conflict between Need and Greed? Myself, I like being able to do things which I could not have done on older computers/software. Adobe CS6 is sorta what I had hoped/envisioned to use someday when I'd been using Photoshop 2 back in 1991, and with CS6 I can go beyond whatever idea I want to realize.

Adobe CS6 brings me to my final point: the snare of proprietary anything. Using Mac-only software, one is restricted to the Mac domain. However, if I use Adobe Premiere on Mac, I can also use it on PC. Cross-platform software is cool that way, though the compatibility of plug-ins can be a pain (AU-vs.-VST, for example). If Adobe were to build MIDI (back) into Audition, I'd probably abandon Logic Pro for it. Since Apple seems to be focusing on supplying the iPhone Zombie Army, I'm already looking toward the horizon to see where further possibilities lie, other than that cliff over yonder.

 

I understand and also respect your points of view.
But why the heck people get seduced to install LOGIC X when LOGIC Pro 9 or 8 are nearly the same thing??
People often don't think enough about all the issues, troubles, risks related to "new" software.
Furthermore you sometimes have to put on a considerable amount of time with studying all the (new/old) features in the programs. When you're used to it to work with a probed, trusted setup that can give you
enough draw backs!

Even those things with web browsers, Flash and Java are i.m.o. not of vital importance.
I simply don't want to be up to date at any cost, because i want to use the computer as
tool for creative purposes. I want control over the machine, not the opposite way!
Therefore I appreciate simple software and friendly developers that don't jump on every
"last train" passing by just to satisfy the will of all the trend-makers,
shakers + movers out there.

 

WINDOWS 8.1 X64 - 'nuff said. glitch free, bugless.

 

i already wrote something like this on a different thread..

let's go, again
for mac,
if we are not pro-mac, then, we are anti-mac
and as an anti-mac, we can go fuck off.
1 month ago i learned about apple watch, and went to their website. i clicked on their videos, and i couldn't open them, because i don't have and don't want to install quicktime. and if i don't install quicktime, then, it means for apple that i'm not a mac user... then... i can go fuck myself, they don't need me, and they don't even want me to watch their stuff, as, not being a pro-mac, there are chances i won't buy anything... then, i can't watch the videos. end of the story.
with the html5 and all video format support, why they force people to swallow their itunes, ithis, ithat, quicktime, etc ? damn, i'm not going to install a huge spy app, that controls every file i have, it's name, etc, just to read a fucking damn video format !

i recognize apple do try to push the boundaries, and tries to release new hardware. because of them, we can have google tablets for 100$ or less.
but i hate that sectarian side, where people must live like zombies, eat apple, breath apple, shit apple, drink apple, in the apple world, THE WAY APPLE WANTS.
they release the first iphone and decide to not put the mms ? people buy it and accept not having mms. they decide to not install flash, because.. "oh, it slows down the iOs...", or rather... they don't want to depend on a format, flash, they don't own and master... and once again, people have to stop visiting tons of their favorite websites, because their safari wouldn't play flash movies, load flash menus, etc. again, people must breath and live the way apple want.

i fight for a free world, i fight for freedom, it's totally against my guts, to become a slave of a company, whether it's called apple or crapple, by giving away my freedom of choice, my choice of freedom, and starting living in a certain way, the way the "master" wants.
to that, i SAY NO.

what i have above all, is all those companies that strive to make os versions of their apps, when apple themselves, they don't give a fuck about, again, the non pro-apple guys. why don't they make a logic X for windows, as an audio-daw developper, the same way a steinberg, an avid, a bitwig, an ableton, etc, will , like a good french phrase says " se casser le cul", to release a mac version of their cubase, Live, pro tools, etc.
again, apple is the most selfish as possible, and shows they don't need us, the non-mac guys.

even if they could sell logic x for pc, and make 1 billion$ cash, they wouldn't do it. they want everybody to enter their world.today, an innocent ipod. that innocent ipod requires an innocent itunes. of course, itunes work better on mac, and with a mac, you could use airplay. and with airplay, you could use the apple tv. and what about making photos with your new iphone. and slowly, people get stuck into that wonderland, where their next product will have to be an apple product... because.. it works better with the current environment. and once there, it's simply impossible that someone might want to buy a non-apple product, or a non-apple compatible device. a huge trap. that really scares me.

without any offense for you guys that have macs and love apple, and are happy with their products...it's all fine for me. but all the other people, kids, etc, once they fall into the trap, it's over.
i see my friend kid... 9yo... started by wanting an ipad. and of course, it asked for an itunes connection. then, the kid started saying everything else was shit, the iphone was the best smartphone. and so he got an iphone 5. i had offered them a computer i didn't need, that was a bit old...now, they are looking for a new computer... and the kid, of course, "would love" to have a mac, because for him, macs are the best. of course, the ipod is there too. and no, they aren't rich. at all. but that kid is already blind, and indoctrinated. no matter if we try to explain him that this or that smartphone is 2 times better, or that computer is 3 times faster, or that tablet is much better, for him, apple is the best of the best. at 9yo, it's scaring. to grow up, thinking one only need one fruit, one vegetable, one tshirt, one this, one that.as long as it's an apple.


i don't understand why devs spend 50% of their time, porting their apps to mac, when there only are like 5% of potential buyers, compared to the people who own a pc. ok, you will say that there are a lot of people who work with audio on mac... but there are also a lot of people that moved to pc.
i see the company where i worked. only about 0.5-1% of users had macs. and of course, it was the kind of people that would try to sell "ohh, this drawing in Indesign looks better on my mac then on my pc"..." or "...oh, at home, i don't have any problems.." of course, if the guy only does 2 clicks to launch itunes, and another click to watch his photos, of course, the risks of a BSOD are low...
and slowly, we started removing all those macs, that would require as much IT guys as 99% of pcs... because indesign, illustrator, and all the apps, existed on pc as well... so.. no reason to keep macs, just because "it seems that...bla bla".

but then, some honchos started asking for a way to have their private iphones connected to the company network, email, etc... and the nightmare began. with dozens and dozens of servers, apps, connectors, and plenty of crap, to make some kind of virtual mac AD to connect to windows servers... what a fucking mess.


i don't know where apple is trying to go. sure, their ideal world would be a 100% tablet-smartphone, with 100 different idevices connected to it:
those devices costs a few $ to make, and can be sold 100 times that price. devices with soldered batteries, etc, where people need to update every year, unlike a desktop, where people can easily keep the same machine during 2-3-4 years. no, they want to sell a lot, expensive, and often.

why itunes isn't simply... installed on a tablet or smartphone ? everything is connected to everything.. so basically, each device could be client and server...? ah ok... it forces people to buy a nice 2500$ laptop, to view those fantastic pics on a 13" retina screen...

why the hell can't we drag and drop audio files, on an iphone or tablet ?? ah ok... via itunes, everything is sent to apple servers, and they know exactly what kind of movies people watch, what kind of albums and music genre they listen... to better display some ads for some albums, that correspond to their tastes...

i would bet an arm and a leg that each video that passes through itunes, even if it's called, or rather, SPECIALLY if it's called "my...video.", "my... girlfriend"... "my... wife"..., i am sure itunes captures some random screenshots from those movies, and send them to apple servers... great, huh ?

and via itunes, every divx people watch, the filename is obviously sent to apple servers, again, to see how many people are watching the latest xmen...


i don't know how the world will be, in 10+ years. but i don't want a world 100% "applelized"

but of course, like on playstation-xbox comments, i am sure there are mac fans who are reading this, and will say "ohhh, it's not like you say"... "mac is great"... etc etc.

again, being free is good. and thinking freely is even better. that's why apple's "think different" is a bit weird.. because that's exactly what they force people to do: think differently from what they would think, normally, without apple. but with apple, one must DO, LIVE, again, everything must be done the way apple wants. and that, it's not for me. no problem if i don't show my new iphone 23S in public... i will survice.

 

the thing that pisses me off is that, in the future, when I finally want to upgrade my Mac setup to something better than my MBP (w/ Mav 10.9.4) I will be stuck with the latest OSX that will be available at the time... which should be way worse than this Yosemite cluster-fuck

 

+1!
That's the right mindset.
Never give up your freedom, THEY might want to seduce/fool you with their tricks,
but all THEY want is total control, submission and enslavement.
In the end they'll make you believe that your life+freedom are worthless…
……if you're not following their "guide lines". But what if they call out a war…
……and nobody joins the(ir) army to get slaughtered?

 

No, they're on smack... I mean Mac, sorry.

 

On topic: I personally don't think Apple will move away from the Pro area. It may seem that way because the "Pro area" is more and more accessible to mainstream. But that's it: accessibility. The raw power packed by a 2005 Mac Pro is now easily obtainable by a MacBook Pro at a maybe 10x smaller price. The needs are not 10x higher anyway. We don't need a 10x complex music as compared to 2005 or 10x video complexity as compared to 2005. We only have more and more people who produce content. In this context I would say that Apple is doing exactly the right thing.

I have friends which are doing video editing for a living and they have no reason to complain about the FCP at all. Actually is quite contrary. And they are not fanboys, are just professionals who get their work done. As Adobe and Avid are developing their own software is a good thing but they say that is nothing at this point which Apple products can't do in terms of video editing vs Adobe. However my opinion is not based on people's around me opinion on Apple.

Off topic: I am a Mac user since last year. I bought a MacBook Pro because was the most powerful and slick machine at that moment. I had a pretty big budget but everything but Apple and Asus were ugly and bulky. Also, Asus at that respective time had a really bad position of the cooling area (under the left palm rest pad and it was burning in a way I could not held my hand on it). So that's why I personally ended up with an Apple product. Also I tried for 2 years to make music on my PC with Ableton Live and I could not finish a single track. After switching to Logic pro X, I manage to finish a few. It's definitely the Logic's layout which is more intuitive for me. Perhaps many people are in the same condition (regarding Logic and FCP layouts) and Apple knows that and is helping us.

We'll see what the future brings

 

I'm back

I didn't wanted to start a war about Mac/PC. I like both, even if i made an hackintosh just to realize i didn't wanted to use Logic X,
Aperture is dead and i already can use Studio One and Ableton on PC. I know it is stupid, but i like to test things
Now my hackintosh partition is taking dust on a brand new SSD (i will probably kill it soon and mount it on a laptop).
So yes, i like OSX, again. But that's not enough.

Second point, when i was speaking about pro Apple softwares (Aperture(dead, again), Logic X, Finalcut pro X to name a few), i should have be more precise. What is "pro" software ? You can make music on a 90's Gameboy. Pro software need to be cutting edge in his domain. To do that, you need to pay big bucks dev. That's where Apple is now closing doors to me.
Because there are so few pro users compared to "mainstream" they prefer to invest their cash in everything else, other than pro softwares.
If Logic X was so important to Apple, you wouldn't have waited 4 years. Imagine how many money Apple could have invested if they really wanted to ? 2 years would have been more than enough for such a big company.
May be next year, you will learn Apple will not update Logic X anymore on their next OS upgrade. Like they have done with Aperture. No one even thought about it before it happened.
Who knows ? Not me. And almost no one on this planet.
That's where the problem is. Adobe will never kill Photoshop or Premiere. Because they only do softwares. Not Apple.
This is not good for business. A computer or software, to me, is an investment (time and money). And if it don't last, it is a bad investment. You can make it last, of course. But as computer tech, i don't see things like that. You can still make music on an Atari...you know

Combine that with Steinberg, Ableton, Avid (and more) saying you need to avoid Yosemite upgrade for at least some months...you see my OP pattern.Some ppl will argue it is always like that. Yes...but now, it is every year

 

let's not forget the most important: costs

for example, Sony may have to spend 100'000$ on tvs, to expect make probably less than 10% net. or even less, as margins are ultra tiny, on the tv side, in particular.
apple, they will spend 100'000$ on iphones, and they will probably make 400'000$ net.

the same with laptops. sony or any other brand will spend 1 million $ on manufacturing laptops, from 300$ street price, to 800-1000$. and if they make 10% net, they are already super happy.
now, take apple. they aim people who have absolutely no problems to spend 2000$ on a macbook. with ssds and new intel cpus, with a lower wattage, they can build those thin laptops, in china, for maybe 200-500$ each, and they will make +1000$ on each sale, where sony, acer, asus, etc, they can consider themselves happy, if they make 40 or 50$ net, on each laptop. because there is a real war on that 300-800$ laptop market, they are forced to sell stuff really really cheap, by reducing their net profit quite a lot.

just like there are clients for buying a 3000$ dishwasher, when a 300$ bosch could be a super deal, triple AAA, 10 years warranty, etc, there are lots of clients that are ready to spend 700$ on the next iphone, even if they already had the latest version.

apple is interested in selling expensive products with a "works great, fantastic, one absolutely need it" tag, and make tons of cash on each sale, than fighting with other brands, and need to sell millions units of some products, to expect make a few thousands or millions in cash.

no, the solution is selling products that must be replaced often, that can't be replaced or upgraded (no memory card, no replaceable battery, etc), so people have no other choice than getting a new apple product. we will never see apple products being sold at 20$, even if they could sell 50 million units in one year: that's too much work and effort. if you sell 2 ferraris, you don't need to sell 500 fords, anymore.



about logic 10 : do they really need those logic clients that will buy the app for less than 100 bucks ?with a full infrastructure needed, a full support, people working on hundreds thousands of bugs.. these daws, like cubase, etc, which still have old apps, for compatibility, must be a true nightmare to code, as everything from the previous versions should be imported, flawlessly, on the new version. that requires months, and huge teams, to make everything work.
they could simply dedicate a few millions (with their hundreds billions cash, they can easily have a 100 guys team, working on logic, 24/7... cash isn't the problem.
so far, logic was a catalyst for acquiring a mac. but by selling it lower than 100 bucks, are they expecting everybody will turn to mac, because the app is really cheap, and the 400 euros they save, compared with buying a full cubase 7.5, for example, could be used to buy a mac with even better specs...
or are they doing this logic x update really really cheap, only to bring people to the apple world ?

could a lighter logic x version replace garageband, like a version that could easily run on an new ipad, and actually,they are working on a much much bigger daw ? and what if that daw ONLY worked with a brand new apple audio interface, with their own midi keyboard, some special controller a la maschine, etc etc, with some special apps , done on audio units XXL, that would require apple devices, and could easily work, be connected, etc, via airplay, for the midi controller, with thunderbolts connections everywhere, etc etc, so people WHO really wanted a big pro version of an apple DAW, they would have to buy the mac, the apple audio interface, some apps, etc etc... ?

with all the cash they have, they could easily do it. like pipotron3000 said, apple don't give a fuck about minorities...if they can't make half a billion $ on a device they are selling, then it isn't interesting for them. why would they care about the 5000-10000 people in the world, that use photoshop or indesign or illustrator for mac ? peanuts. those people are permanently having issues with their apps, os, and often, there is no solution: yeah, mac works great at home... but try to join an active directory, try to synchronise stuff, try to use lotus notes, try to use some exotic apps... say hello to error messages nobody as ever seen, on forums, and nobody can help.
these pro guys ,not geeks at all, they are the perfect guys to call the IT guys 5 times a day. or to call apple support once a week, because this icon has moved 3 pixels to the right, and yesterday, it wasn't like that, and the guy couldn't sleep well!

these customers, i am sure apple don't want. they want customers that will check youtube, facebook and twitter on their macs, that will open itunes and play some tracks, and will go to safari or watch some videos or photos. THOSE are the perfect customers, that barely use all the keys of a keyboard, type their emails on their tablets, and use their contacts on the iphone.
those are the perfect customers that will bring 2000-4000$ to apple, per house, with all the idevices, from macbooks, apple tvs, iphones, ipads, ipods, chargers, adapters, who will easily replace the hardware once something new is out, and will never call the apple support, as , what they do, the cpu isn't risking any serious overload...

we'll see.

but somehow, it frustrates me, knowing that probably, cubase 8 is being delayed ONLY because they are having serious issues with yosemite, and cubase 8 could probably be released by now, or before 2015, but NO, steinberg must obey, and must release a working cubase 8 to all the cubase mac fans... fans that won't hesitate a second to move to logic x, like many probably did, WHILE steinberg was doing all they can, so mac users can also play with cubase. meanwhile, some miles away from berlin... apple don't give a fuck about logic x for windows users.
steinberg, bitwig, ableton, and all the other daws....since and BECAUSE apple seems to follow their own path, alone, by doing their stuff, their way, without caring about the rest of the industry, and more precisely, anything related to daws... i think it's about time to stop spending your time making all the efforts to please apple and apple users, when most apple users, and apple, don't care about you. concentrate your resources on windows, we could have our daw's with twice more cool features, better interface, etc etc. because of all the extra time spent on the windows version.

apple don't do ANY effort on the computer side. they simply hate it (read my comment above about the quicktime story...), they don't care about windows and windows users, they want to force their standards down our throats, again, so, just let them do their igarageband, iphoto, idvd, icd, icalc, itab, ipiss, ifuck, icrap, isheet, iwrite, ilogic on their side, and concentrate on windows. and devs will be able to create better plugins and instruments, if they don't have to code a new bugged version on an bugged sdk, every single year, to be "up-to-date". fuck it, really.


ps. this isn't about wars mac-pcs. no. this is about apple behavior towards those who don't eat their food nor drink their water.

 

Apple will do what's good for Apple, that's clear, as will its customers, right?

IMHO, while the FCP X debacle may look like a fumble, or Apple turning its back on the Pro world at large (i.e., writers, designers, audio, video and photo pros) there is another factor at play (with FCP X) and one I've not yet seen publicized or mentioned in the media, and that is its role in Broadcast TV, as opposed to Film/Cinema. I stood witness several years ago (I can't remember if it was 2009 or 2010, but either of those years) when the Apple sales rep got booted out and banned from the WB lot in Burbank by no less than the Senior VP of Technology. This was the result of Apple's disdain for addressing issues (bugs and lack of features) demanded by the studios (all of them, not just WB).

This should come as no surprise to anyone who followed, or witnessed first hand, the X-Server debacle that preceded a couple of years prior to this incident (you can google it to find how Apple discretely killed this product line). From there, issues with FCP quickly made their way to the (boiling) surface, not least of which the unreliability or altogether lack of networkability (which for, um, network TV, is kinda paramount).

So down the Hollywood toilet FCP went, not far behind XServer(s). Once Apple lost the market driving TV studios (many of which are also bi-coastal Film studios) what do you think was Apple's CEO's conclusion? "Let's win them right back?" Nah. Not when you have over $60-100 Billion buckaroos in the bank. Most likely his response was: "Fuck 'em. Let them deal with those sweet Adobe bugs for a change. See how they like dem apples." And by all indications, Premiere is also struggling (for stability and features) in the Broadcast world. I've had first hand experience with this recently in Asia. You wouldn't believe the number of bugs Adobe is currently having to address, and pronto.

Remember, Broadcasters don't have the same patience as consumers, even prosumers do (or have no choice but to have). There are options (Avid, GV to name a couple) other than FCP and Premiere.

So, having established this backdrop, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised (I practically purred) when I saw the new iMac 5K display. Clearly this is meant to placate Samsung (a little, ok, a lot) in the media, but also, its most obvious end users are going to be Media Pros, including Audio/Logic guys, who can never have too many pixels. As it is this 5K display is perfect for 4K video editing so you know that half the San Fernando valley's getting one on either Black Friday or for XMas, if they haven't already. If you don't know who I'm referring to, google it ; )

So yeah, software is not at the top of Apple's priority list. Considering Logic and FCP don't even bother with copy protection anymore, it's not really surprising. Those software suites are there to entice Media Pros to stay in the Apple ecosystem, and I can vouch to the effectiveness of that reasoning: I'm personally only too happy to keep buying Apple computers (desktops and laptops) so I don't have any more of the compatibility headaches I once had to deal with, in the 90s and early 2000s when I ran Logic on PCs. In addition, I'm delighted to be able to walk into a store, with or without appointment (weekends excepted, of course) and talk to a human being about any hardware issues I might be encountering (let's not forget the hardware's made in China, folks). I can't really say the same for Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Toshiba or Sony machines; you have to ship them back to some far away location for evaluation, and I don't know about you, but when you're on the road 70% of your life, that's highly inconvenient. Apple Stores however? Practically everywhere, all over the world.

So my point is that Professionals rely on Macs for other reasons than nostalgia or loyalty, or - gasp! - technophobia. We're a pretty smart, adaptable and pragmatic group of people; we have to be, or we'd be out of business. And Apple is not just software, but also hardware (with a lot of stores manned with usually very friendly and helpful human beings), and that's something that a lot of people, who perhaps don't mind call centers and the like, seem to be forgetting.

So, pardon me for repeating myself, but in light of, and to highlight, what I've just written, I will: Apple will do what's good for Apple, as will its customers, and this will persist for as long as it remains mutually beneficial.

 

Don't you think Aperture users would have been pleased by a 5K screen to edit their photos ?
Now, they will use Lightroom to do that.

Yes, of course Apple do what is good for them (selling more and higher priced they can).
And customers do what they want, too.
This is the obvious part.

The less obvious part is still :
When Apple will put so much mainstream public limitations to their products, making them totally unusable for professionals and advanced users, just to please mainstream users ?
When Apple will kill all their pro softwares, because they just don't care anymore (like Aperture) about few sells ?
To me, it is coming soon. That was the point

First, pros will use third party softwares (like Lightroom to replace Aperture).
Second, third party devs will leave the Mac boat, because they will sell so few copies on Mac it will cost them too much...like pros softwares to Apple

For now, it still works right, i agree

 

I kinda hear what you're saying now, mate; to be perfectly honest I hadn't even computed Aperture as a Pro app (don't always believe Apple Marketing)! Perhaps this is because I've never seen, or even heard of, any Pros who use Aperture as their (main or sole) Pro App; perhaps that's (abysmally low sales figures are) a major factor in Apple throwing in the towel.

It's not even a situation remotely resembling the Logic vs Pro Tools (in the Mac world) penetration ratio: many Pros, at least in SoCal, use both. Logic as a front end for composing/songwriting, and ProTools as a back end, to dump in all the Logic tracks, and overdub/polish/mix them down before send-off to Mastering. Those who use PT alone do so mostly for tracking and mixing (not only studio owners but also songwriters/producers, albeit in a less keyboard centric genre of music), while 'stand-alone' Logic users are either (more keyboard centric) producers/songwriters or composers (many film/TV composers also use DP, in the same capacity).

But I digress, and I'm sure there is insight and validity to your point (of view). I was just trying to widen the scope of the topic you started and underline the fact that while Pros are 'married' to their software platform of choice, with all which that entails in terms of love-hate relationship (bugs/missing features), we also care greatly about Hardware and Service (hence the aforementioned FCP debacle) and that as long as there is Pro software (which makers/publishers thereof don't expect to sell in the 'millions') and Pros keep buying Macs, then there will be Pro software for Mac, whether Apple's, Avid's or Sony's (e.g., Soundforge).

That was my point, albeit expressed too late at night perhaps and therefore less succinctly than desired ; )

 

The raw power of a dual processor MacPro 3,1 which is upgraded is still significantly higher than that of a fairly recent MBP. The price is not 10x smaller on the Retina MBPs either, contrary to what you may believe. The needs, my friend, are exactly 8x higher, as 5K and 6K frame sizes are a reality in today's film production. And I am not talking about Hollywood high-end workflows. Those are already at 8K and soon to be even more. Our local mundane TV series are already shot in 5 or 6K on REDs. That requires quite a bit more juice than the 1080p you are referring to. And Apple with their trashcan 6,1 NMP is not providing enough expandability GPU-wise to keep up with modern color-grading workflows.

Music-wise, try running a few Divas on an old MacPro. And then try running them in a rMPB (In divine mode, ofc). Then compare the raw CPU power of 5,1 MacPro with a 6,1 NMP. Dual hexacores vs. a 12-core. You'll immediately notice that the "innovation" is over-hyped.

The trash-can is merely a 4K FCP-X editing machine. With FCP-X being so close to an amateur iMovie it makes my teeth ache. Those "professional" friends you are referring to. Do they shoot on professional cameras? Do they shoot documentaries? Do they do serious VFX-work? What do they work with? FCP-X?

One thing: Try to export an OMF file for Pro Tools from FCP-X without any 3rd party software. You'll quickly realize this is simply not possible without some kludges like exporting FCPX XML to X2 utility. Even better: just fire-up the old tried-and-true FCP 7.0.3 and skim through the menus. You will quickly see that FCP7 is the last PROFESSIONAL TOOL Apple has produced. Then compare it to the toy FCP-X. FFS, Final Cut Pro 7 supports a ton of control surfaces like JL Cooper Eclipses that we have. FCP-X lacks support for control surfaces at all. FFS, it even lacked multicam when it first came out.

Now, fire up Avid Media Composer and skim through the menus. I guarantee you'll be daunted. And well, that's what professional tools are all about. Flexibility and powerful features for creative professionals.

Your shiny MBP is not the powerful machine at that (or any moment). Check out alienware machines. The keyword is "SLICK". You went after slick and "that's what the pros use" thing... I could care less if my PROFESSIONAL MACHINE is Bulky or ugly. My equipment is mostly racked, btw.

That said, I am writing this on an MBP.

Back in the emagic days, it took me months to force myself into working with Logic 4 and migrate from Cubase. I am still working primarily with Logic (much less Ableton). And the future looks grim. I am an avid ENVIRONMENT user and it was DISABLED on LPX. That's a sign it will be deprecated and removed in the future. It already has lingering bugs which haven't been fixed in generations.

Not attacking you in any way, just expressing opinion. Apple is headed downhill and I am probably going to go the Cubendo/Studio One route or even Reaper that I bought for pennies.

FCP 7 is dead. Aperture is dead. Color is dead. Logic is next on the list.