In recent years , many professional have started sense like Apple ’s spurned lady friend . Through no faulting of their own , the passion just seemed to fleet .
Apple might claim otherwise when confronted , but the telltale signaling have been hard to discount :
Mac Pro : Apple ’s most powerful Mac has been torturously slow in the update department . It has n’t changed physically in eons . ( Though it ’s about to . ) Ironically , the one Mac targeted specifically at the pro user remains the only Mac without a high - pep pill Thunderbolt connection . Even the Mac mini has had Thunderbolt for over two years .
17 - inch MacBook Pro : This big - screen laptop computer was a favourite and a necessity for designers and video editors who needed that much genuine estate to be their mobile skillful . Then , fagot .
Final Cut Pro : When the long - awaited update to Apple ’s high - closing video editing suite in the end appeared , it lack sure lineament vital for pro editor : multicam redaction , EDL support , backward compatibility and more . You could say the pro editing community was speechless — but it was n’t . The cries of anguish were long and loud .
Aperture : The latest version was released in February 2010 . Yes , that ’s 3.5 years without a major update . Even if you weigh this shoddy , the perception of stagnation is a natural result when Aperture ’s rival , Adobe Lightroom , go along to evolve visibly .
Could it possibly be ? Would Apple ever even consider about aver goodbye to the pro mart ? I hope you ’re pose down for this , but Steve Jobs did in fact once regard that very option .
This was back in the days when iMac had shew itself as a global bestseller . During one of the representation ’s regular meetings with Steve , he divvy up that he was considering killing the pro products . His rationale was as you might expect : consumer products have an inexhaustible upside , while pro product are aimed at a recession market that eats up major resources .
Obviously , the pro mart has value for Apple , even if its numbers are comparatively small . Pros are opinion leaders , influencers and evangelists . Their love of Apple evidence up in the purchase decisions of friends , family line and colleagues . So Steve in the end renewed his commitment to the pros — but he never said that this commitment would n’t evolve .
Clearly Apple has alter its thought process about the pro market place , and how it can best serve its pro users . Some wo n’t like it , but basically it ’s the difference between Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X. In FCP7 , the control are fertile and deep . As a consequence , getting proficient with the app is a serious undertaking . FCPX is very powerful , but less daunting and more seductive — streamlining and automating some of its ripe capabilities . For a lot of pros , this represents a dumbing down of FCP . In this room of cerebration , FCP is evolving into “ iMovie Pro . ”
But one must be careful to separate two very unlike issues . First , there is the characteristic coif of the app itself . Then there ’s the bigger outcome of where video redaction is headed . intelligibly Apple would like to rethink the fundamentals and build something better .
As a result , Apple does lose some customer . ( Some of whom are rather loud about it . ) But it keeps a core chemical group of pros happy by pushing the boundaries . At the same time , it invites a big audience of gamy - end consumer who can all of a sudden understand , enjoy and profit from the app .
The new Mac Pro , hail by and by this yr , embody a standardized ism . It ’s “ drug user - well-disposed ” in the way it ’s designed , with expandability via Thunderbolt rather than internal slots and bays . Simply attach whatever you postulate and you ’re in business sector . It air an supporting message to the pro market that Apple has not forgotten them . More than an update , it ’s a reinvention of one of the oldest computing machine family . It ’s something that only Apple would do .
The new Mac Pro does institute back memories of the Power Mac G4 Cube . That computer also surprised people with its visual design — and ended up being deplume from the market in a class . But the Cube was a consumer product price too in high spirits . The Mac Pro is a pro product that should be worth its terms .
Will every pro drug user love the raw Mac Pro ? Nope . We ’ll no doubt get word grousing that with its raw cylindrical anatomy , the Mac Pro is virtually impossible to single-foot - install . Or that sacrificing internal options is a non - starter .
For those mass , Apple is still walking away from the pro market . In Sojourner Truth though , Apple is walk to a plaza that ’s entirely new — and ask the pros to take the air with them . They ’re betting that people who do it to create and innovate will appreciate a first-rate - powerful computer designed in the same spirit .
Ah , but there does still continue the matter of the vanishing 17 - column inch MacBook Pro . Unless you believe that in the future professional will dead prefer work on pocket-sized screens , it ’s hard to see this as a positive development .
Of of course all will be forgiven if that small infant were to come back , all prissy and Retina - ized …
Ken Segallis a originative film director with a long history with Apple and NeXT . He ’s theauthorofInsanely Simple : The Obsession That drive Apple ’s Success , and writes for his own blog , Observatory . you may find his homepagehere .
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