NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Other => Topic started by: MFloyd on January 19, 2017, 11:12:32
-
I have the new MBP for about a month. Numerous reviews are available on the net / press, so the purpose of this thread is not to try to replicate what has already (and more thoroughly) done, but just to share some personal experiences, and especially the ones in connection with photography.
The configuration I bought was the 15" TouchBar 16 GB one, with 1 TB SSD and the AMD 460 4GB graphic processor. A slight overshoot in terms of configuration, but as everything is now soldered, no chance to do a MLU - Mid Life Upgrade- as I did with the former MBP 2009 early version.
At the same time it was my first experience with the Sierra OS, as my previous MBP was too old.
My image software is mainly Adobe Lightroom (Lr) and Photoshop (Ps), I'm also using a Wacom tablet and a Datacolor Spyder 4 screen calibration sensor. I have still some Thunderbolt 3 HDD on order, but have already one installed i.e. Porsche LaCie 2 TB portable HDD. Unfortunately, my Apple Cinema 24" display with it's mini DVI doesn't work with the new MBP, so I'm on for a new screen.
System is stable, with a few Lr abends but really nothing worrying. The famous TouchBar is nice, but certainly not my driver for the change. With a 8 year younger MBP, and super fast Thunderbolt 3 connections, it is clear that everything is going faster, with virtually no lag.
More to come, but my first impressions are positive without any reservation.
A partial view of my setup:
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/547/31558041754_403198e95f_k.jpg)
-
Seems to be extremely touchpad-oriented? No mouse? What about needing dongles for hooking up peripherals?
I feel having a system that basically cannot be further user-upgraded or modified quite weird and disappointing to be honest. Everything hinges on added external devices.
However, if you are happy with your new Mac, all is well that ends well.
-
Congrats on your purchase! Hope you enjoy it.
Incidentally, the first thing I was worried to see the new MBP is the large touchpad being accidentally operated during typing. Are you all right with that?
-
Thank you Akita and Bjørn. With regard to a mouse, I largely prefer a Touchpad. I have a mouse, but haven't probably used one for about 4 years. My son, who carries still out some civil engineering tasks (Cad/Cam, Solid Works, etc) prefers a mouse. Its a matter of preferences and tasks I believe. The present MBP doesn't hinge more or less on peripheral devices than my previous configuration. I bought 4 dongles of which one is presently used (see picture: on the upper right corner of the MBP). But, as time will pass, dongles will disappear, being replaced by new equipment with USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 connections. The other advantage with new USB-C equipped hardware is its "pass through feature" i.e. you can hook up serially up to 7 devices and receive / distribute electrical power at the same time e.g. I ordered a new external HDD which will also power the MBP at the same time it exchanges data.
(http://www.lacie.com/files/lacie-content/products/porsche-design-desktop-drive/_images/LaCie-Porsche-Design-Back-of-Box-Desktop-5L.jpg)
HDD with USB-C double connectivity
@Akira: the large touchpad has a "hand palm recognition feature" and should not react on hand palms touching the touchpad.
-
You did not answer my concern about the machine being literally soldered to a given configuration, not changeable by a user later? For me that would be a definitive deal-breaker; however, as I'm not into Macs no personal worry at present unless the 'soldered' trend gets momentum.
Please don't construe the above as a criticism, it is about getting insights into the newest technology.
-
Hi Bjørn, I thought that I addressed the question in my first post. Of what I have read, the MBP, new version, is not upgradable; I believe it's because of the even smaller dimensions: everything must be so cramped inside. That's also the reason I sized the configuration, the way it would hold for at least 5 five years, I hope. I did not feel your remark as being criticism, just genuine curiosity 😊
-
You did mention the bare facts in the opening post, true, but not your thoughts on them. Thanks for elaborating the topic.
-
My past experience with AMD / ATI Grahics in notebooks was very bad, so I am sceptical concerning that feature. My Nvidia Notebooks still run, they are only outdated, the AMD/ATI counterparts died because of bad engineering in the Graphics department. They generally run too hot therefore live shorter. OK if you can replace them in a desktop; Not OK, if they are permanetly builtin unreplacable in a Notebook.
My 2 Cents
-
Thanks, Christian, for the details about the touchpad. The palm recognition seems to be a clever feature.
-
@Frank. I'm not too much a specialist in graphic cards. Though, I have the reputation to push the hardware to its limits. For the time being, I didn't hear any desperate roars of fans crying for cold air, neither could my laptop step in as an auxiliary heating in these freezing temperatures. Future will tell us. But i'm not too concerned.
-
I'm just replicating my post on the the other MBP thread. The screen - for a laptop - is quite impressive. In this regard, I made a DataColor quality analysis of the screen; the text is in French, but most of you will understand.
"I calibrated and tested the 15" screen of my new MBP 2016. Herewith the DataColor report which was generated during the calibration:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a7pncw2f4z9z9et/MacBook%20Pro%2015%22%20DataColor%20SpyderElite.pdf?dl=0
The analysis shows a gamut which matches the DCI-P3 gamut, largely exceeding Adobe sRGB and closely overlapping Adobe RGB"
At your disposal for further information.
-
I haven't been using it very much, but I have to say that I love it thus far!
I too have no intention on upgrading in the next 5 years and given how it operates now, I don't see the need to do so.
It opens and saves images with a blink of an eye, at least my D750 NEFs and TIFFs. Whether I am using PhotoNinja or any other software I don't see any delays in my working process. In fact I am still surprised how quick it is :)
The fingerprint sign in is cool!
The looks are, well they are very important to me, outstanding.
The battery life is excellent.
The screen is amazing.
The huge track-pad is great and it doesn't get in the way of typing.
The touch bar is something that you need to get used to, but I can see how helpful it will be the more I use it.
I haven't taken Siri out on a date yet.
Yes, I miss the SD card slot, but for how long? Yes I miss the USB ports and mag-safe, but for how long?
It is a lot of money, but I am not sorry I spent it :)
-
With regard to a mouse, I largely prefer a Touchpad. I have a mouse, but haven't probably used one for about 4 years.
The Apple Magic Trackpad is brilliant. I have not used a mouse or a Wacom since getting the trackpad.
-
I do not now, nor did I ever need (or ask) for a super-thin laptop. One assumes that Apple's
market research told them that enough of their customers wanted it thin.
The soldered-in memory and HDD are exchangeable by service shop, right? If so, that's a regrettable inconvenience and moderate cost penalty.
As for the mouse: My first choice is a large trackball, second choice is the trackpad. Haven't used a tablet yet.
At the rare times I have used a standard mouse, I marvel at what seem (to me) to be the ghastly ergonomics of it.
-
My 6 weeks experience mirrors what Jakov has written above, as a primary CF card user the missing card slot is not an issue I just bought a sideways 8 shaped USB to USB C lead to connect my Lexar dual slot card reader, I bought one Apple USB C to Thunderbolt 2 dongle to connect to my LaCie small RAID unit so about £40 spent and I am as before connection wise. The trackpad is really good for quickly looking through images, initial culling etc. I was also a mouse at all times user but not now, my previous MBP from 2012 had the non upgradable build and had worked without issue over the last 4 years so no worries for me about that method of construction
-
Oops, I forgot about this thread, so here it goes again:
I have noticed that the Nik Collection crashes with the New Mac Book Pro?!
I reinstalled it but with no luck >:(
-
Unfortunately, Nik Collection seems to be abandoned. The latest OS's to be "officially" supported have long remained macOS 10.10 and Windows 8.
-
Nik collection runs just fine on Windows 10/64 bit.
-
I do not now, nor did I ever need (or ask) for a super-thin laptop. One assumes that Apple's
market research told them that enough of their customers wanted it thin.
The soldered-in memory and HDD are exchangeable by service shop, right? If so, that's a regrettable inconvenience and moderate cost penalty.
Hi Pluton. Personally, "thicker and bigger" 17" laptops do not bother me. But looking at my children (late 20's) and their friends, they are more in favor for lighter and smaller - more MacBook Air - oriented gear. They are also more mobile with their equipment. Whereas I move, most of the time, with an iPad. This might be a trend indication; but frankly, I don't know.
PS: BTW, my Nik collection, as Lr plugins, works fine under Sierra.
-
PS: BTW, my Nik collection, as Lr plugins, works fine under Sierra.
I am running Sierra and my Nik Collection causes PS5 to crash...
-
I don`t use everything. But hereunder a quick test with Color Efex Pro 4 "Midnight", Lr, Sierra:
(1) screenshot
(2) picture
-
I am running Sierra and my Nik Collection causes PS5 to crash...
Jakov, I'm rather surprised to know that PS5 still runs on Sierra... ::)
-
MFloyd, can you show me the output sharpener, please :)
-
Jakov, I'm rather surprised to know that PS5 still runs on Sierra... ::)
Akira, I was pleasantly surprised too :D
-
MFloyd, can you show me the output sharpener, please :)
No problem, but I'm not sure what you mean ?
I run Nik under Lr (not Ps) and both are CC latest version.
-
Nik collection runs just fine on Windows 10/64 bit.
Yes, I know. But, if it is abandoned, there would be no support for the fix when compatibility issue would arise.
-
I have a VMWare ESXi server to run my virtual machines on, if the mentioned situation should occur.
-
No problem, but I'm not sure what you mean ?
I run Nik under Lr (not Ps) and both are CC latest version.
When you open the Nik Collections there is an Output Sharpener tab together with other tools, like the one you posted.
-
Here it is:
- TIFF without compression
- type of TIFF recording: scratches (??) stripes
- JPEG quality: 80%
Translation in English, but I do not know what they mean by "scratches". I changed to English: and what is meant are "stripes". I do not know what this means either.
-
A TIFF may be saved in either striped (long horizontal rows) format or tiled (rectangular or square shapes) format. Strips and tiles are simply a way of dividing up a TIFF file's pixels for analysis.
The striped TIFF format came first. So older converter/editors/readers will know how to use that basic format. The tiled format is supported by a later TIFF 6.0 standard and considered an extension. I do not know if newer converter/editor/readers will be required to support the older striped TIFF format, but I would tentatively think 'yes' because strips are the basic format in TIFF 6.0.
Here's the thing to test. If you save a TIFF in striped format, can you later re-save it into a tiled format? Interestingly, I do not have an converter currently which permits me to test this myself.
EDIT: I clarified the explanation.
ADDED: http://www.fileformat.info/format/tiff/egff.htm (http://www.fileformat.info/format/tiff/egff.htm)
This link describes the TIFF standards. Way more there than any of us want to read, methinks!!
-
I am on the latest version of Sierra (10.12.3). The Nik Collection works just as it always did.
-
Andrea, thank you 😊 for the info.
-
Thanks, Anthony. Are you using Photoshop or Light-room?
-
Jacov, I am using Photoshop CC 2017 fully up to date.
-
Thank you, Anthony.
I make blurry pictures anyway :)
-
Congrats on your new hardware, great to hear that it works well.
As for the touchpad, I recall many years ago before I bought my first Macbook Pro that I absolutely hated touchpads and if I didn't have a mouse, I'd prefer to use the trackpoint. That all changed with the Macbook, I hated touchpads because all other touchpads was basically crap. I think you can get decent trackpads on Windows laptops today, but for years, Apple was the only ones that made trackpads that was worth using.
The lack of upgradeability is a shame and was already in effect when I bought my current Macbook Pro (late 2013 model), so I did what you did, bought it with the fastest CPU and as much RAM as possible to make it last as long as possible. I didn't buy the biggest SSD (1TB at the time and very expensive), I bought the 512GB SSD with the expectation that it would provide enough storage space for my needs. Here, 3 years later, it seems I was right. I don't store all my images and data on my laptop, I have a NAS for that and I have around 150GB of free space on my laptop.
As for upgradeability, I haven't had the need. My machine still runs smoothly and it's plenty fast. Intel's CPU's haven't improved much in performance since the model I have in mine, so that's no reason for upgrading and I expect my machine to last quite a few years yet :)
-
As for upgradeability, I haven't had the need. My machine still runs smoothly and it's plenty fast. Intel's CPU's haven't improved much in performance since the model I have in mine, so that's no reason for upgrading and I expect my machine to last quite a few years yet :)
How can we gauge our chip relative to today's performance for things like Lightroom and other image processing? My mobile machine is a Mac Book Pro Retina Mid-2013, chip is 3 Ghz Intel i7, with 8 gig memory. Obviously more memory would help, but what difference on processors in 3-4 years?
Rob.
-
The difference in CPU performance will be relatively small, perhaps a 10% improvement or such. Intel has mostly focused on minimizing power usage.
-
I used to be a Mac person, but learned to dislike the company. In the early 90's I was running Photoshop 2.1 on a LC/040 processor. I bought a MBP in early 2011, & that thing was a return/repair nightmare X 10. I only still use it because I bought an Adobe Suite & I couldn't get the software switched to PC.
(I've probably owned or serviced well over 100 powerbooks or desktop configurations. (I have a huge storage bin of apple parts.)
Their lack of user upgrade options, proprietary do dads and a new OS every year...(THAT BRICKED OR ELIMINATED SOMETHING,) left me in the dirt.
I'm still using Snow Leopard & my Abobe suite on my cRApple, for old times sake. I use an I7/Quad, Lenovo for leisure, but my now outdated Dell is my main rig. Lattitude E6530, 3rd gen, quad i7, Usb3, eSata...(no camera.) It even has a removable drive bay to swap the optical drive with a 2nd Hard Drive, or even a 2nd battery.
With a dock it works extremely well, & it's a grab & go, powerhouse.
If you like your new MBP, don't mind me, Enjoy it.
:) :) :) :) :)
-
My 2005 Powerbook still works, but the software has left it behind. I use it when I need its CD drive.
My 2008 MacPro was replaced only because the software had left it behind.
Mrs A's MacBook Air is from 2010 and is still her workhorse, but modern software tends to overtax it.
My MacBook Air is from 2011 and is used every day. It runs the latest version of Photoshop, but is showing signs of age.
I love my late 2014 iMac.
None of my Apple computers has ever been in for service.
Apple longevity is not an issue for me.
-
Beside the new MBP 2016, I'm still operating a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 (2005), under Windows XP, for field work, measurements etc. This thing had everything: from hot swappable disks, batteries, high intensity daylight touchscreen, heated and shockproof HDDs etc.; the disastrous Windows Vista OS closed definitely the doors for Windows OS. Never had a breakdown, neither with the Mac's or the Panasonic.