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Author Topic: New MacBook Pro Update  (Read 8126 times)

rdonson

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Regards,
Ron

BernardLanguillier

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2018, 10:31:02 pm »

http://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-3-dock/thunderbolt-station-3-plus/

Neat, but you need power to use these.

It helps when your devices need to be connected at home, not really on the road.

And even at home,  use my current 2013 macbook pro in various locations when I upload SD card content or when I skype with my jabra speaker.

These docks are IMHO great for desktops and a poor attempt to compensate for the shortcomings of Apple for laptops that are supposed to be mobile devices.

Never thought I would say this, but Microsoft looks like a better option for people who actually do something with their computer.

Cheers,
Bernard

D Fuller

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #22 on: July 16, 2018, 10:32:59 pm »

http://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-3-dock/thunderbolt-station-3-plus/

Caldigit is a fine company, and I’m sure this is a fine device. It won’t (by itself) meet my needs, but will for the majority of people here, so it’s a great recommendation.

But here’s the thing, Ron, should someone really have to pay $340 to get their $4,000 laptop to talk to devices they use every day that connected with no problem to its predecessor? I just find that hard to swallow.
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digitaldog

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #23 on: July 17, 2018, 12:27:02 pm »

Not hard to swallow when you can easily take the MacBook Pro solo or have a full desktop system with a big display etc for $350 to do so. I have one of these, it works flawlessly and it too is easy and small to pack, the one time I needed to do a presentation.
https://smile.amazon.com/OWC-Port-Thunderbolt-Dock-Space/dp/B01N51P3BB/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531844712&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=owc+USB+hub


As an owner of the first Gen 2016 Macbook Pro Touch-bar, how much faster would Lightroom fun on a new, 2018 unit with 32 Gigs of RAM?
I feel like I need to wait another year.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #24 on: July 17, 2018, 04:44:52 pm »

I have the 2017 3.1 ghz MacBook Pro.  I”ve been debating on replacing my MacPro with a iMac Pro, but every time I figure out which one I want it ends up in the 7-8k range, and I really don’t need the display.  My main LR library and images reside on a partition on the laptop and I use it in target disk mode on the desktop to back it up and then work on images, so I only work with a single copy of the library.

So, I have the new MacBook Pro with 2.9ghz 6 core, 560 graphics card and t2b SSD arriving on Friday.  I believe it will rival the Mac Pro as a desktop (maybe even beat it in a few things)  so I can sell the Mac Pro and only have to work with one machine.  Hook up the OWC dock Andrew linked and I can continue to use my twin NEC 30” displays, 5 raid storage devices etc. and I”m up and running faster when I get to my main workstation because I don’t have to constantly reboot into target disk mode.

My only concern is whether 6 cores at 2.9ghz is as fast as 4 cores at 3.1ghz, although I’m assuming the core i9 tech vs the older core i7 has an impact.

Eventually I’ll move my hard drives in my 5 external raids from Thunderbolt 2 cabinets to the new Thunderbolt 3 cabinets, but for now I’ll use the TB3->TB2 adaptor. 

Even though the new laptop was a little pricey, I think I can sell the current Laptop and current Mac Pro to cover some of the cost. Main advantage of the Mac Pro is 64gigs of ram, so it will be interesting to see if LR and PS run as efficiently.

Should be fun testing it all out over the weekend, I’ll see if  talking myself into it actually works out. :-\
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D Fuller

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #25 on: July 17, 2018, 08:39:40 pm »

I have the 2017 3.1 ghz MacBook Pro.  I”ve been debating on replacing my MacPro with a iMac Pro, but every time I figure out which one I want it ends up in the 7-8k range, and I really don’t need the display.  My main LR library and images reside on a partition on the laptop and I use it in target disk mode on the desktop to back it up and then work on images, so I only work with a single copy of the library.

So, I have the new MacBook Pro with 2.9ghz 6 core, 560 graphics card and t2b SSD arriving on Friday.  I believe it will rival the Mac Pro as a desktop (maybe even beat it in a few things)  so I can sell the Mac Pro and only have to work with one machine.  Hook up the OWC dock Andrew linked and I can continue to use my twin NEC 30” displays, 5 raid storage devices etc. and I”m up and running faster when I get to my main workstation because I don’t have to constantly reboot into target disk mode.

My only concern is whether 6 cores at 2.9ghz is as fast as 4 cores at 3.1ghz, although I’m assuming the core i9 tech vs the older core i7 has an impact.

Eventually I’ll move my hard drives in my 5 external raids from Thunderbolt 2 cabinets to the new Thunderbolt 3 cabinets, but for now I’ll use the TB3->TB2 adaptor. 

Even though the new laptop was a little pricey, I think I can sell the current Laptop and current Mac Pro to cover some of the cost. Main advantage of the Mac Pro is 64gigs of ram, so it will be interesting to see if LR and PS run as efficiently.

Should be fun testing it all out over the weekend, I’ll see if  talking myself into it actually works out. :-\

I have the same 2017 MacBook Pro, plus a 12 core Mac Pro. Because my primary work is video, my library is a 32TB  Thunderbolt 2 RAID. The 32 vs 64 GB RAM question is an important one, but perhaps more for After Effects and Resolve Studio than for Photoshop, Capture One, and Lightroom.

I’ll be interested 8n your impressions. A laptop that could truly fill in for a desktop would be great, and the eGPU options might make that possible.
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rdonson

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #26 on: July 17, 2018, 08:54:58 pm »

Neat, but you need power to use these.

It helps when your devices need to be connected at home, not really on the road.

And even at home,  use my current 2013 macbook pro in various locations when I upload SD card content or when I skype with my jabra speaker.

These docks are IMHO great for desktops and a poor attempt to compensate for the shortcomings of Apple for laptops that are supposed to be mobile devices.

Never thought I would say this, but Microsoft looks like a better option for people who actually do something with their computer.

Cheers,
Bernard

The good news is that everyone has options.  If you don't like what Apple has to offer you're not required to buy it.

To the questions of would I take this with me when I travel?  Yes, I would and I do but my use case is likely different from others.  I go to a place and spend a week there with my MBP plus goodies.  I just need space and power and I'm a happy camper. 

For the record, the Caldigit devices have served me well for years.  I have two of them and they are built extremely well. 
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Regards,
Ron

Wayne Fox

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #27 on: July 17, 2018, 09:47:13 pm »

The calDigit dock looks good as well.  I'll have to compare with the OWC closely.

I'm curious with all of these devices is why only 2 TB3 ports.  One port is needed to connect to the laptop, if you drive two displays you can use the DisplayPort for one, but then you have to connect the other display to another port on the laptop so you have all the hard drives connected to the other TB3 port on the dock. Or I guess you can connect your external drives to another port on the laptop and use the dock's port for the 2nd display. Maybe that's the only way to drive 2 displays anyway.
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D Fuller

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #28 on: July 17, 2018, 11:47:56 pm »

The calDigit dock looks good as well.  I'll have to compare with the OWC closely.

I'm curious with all of these devices is why only 2 TB3 ports.  One port is needed to connect to the laptop, if you drive two displays you can use the DisplayPort for one, but then you have to connect the other display to another port on the laptop so you have all the hard drives connected to the other TB3 port on the dock. Or I guess you can connect your external drives to another port on the laptop and use the dock's port for the 2nd display. Maybe that's the only way to drive 2 displays anyway.

I suspect the answer is bandwidth. Thunderbolt devices typically want a lot of it. If you connect two T3 drives to a dock to a T3 and a USC3, or a 4K monitor and a drive, performance isn’t going to be there.
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #29 on: July 18, 2018, 12:04:18 am »

For what it’s worth I have a OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock that used to work ok but things started to go wrong with a OSX upgrade and it has been useless since then. Very unmac experience.

One more reason why I dislike these devices.

Cheers,
Bernard

davidgp

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #30 on: July 18, 2018, 12:30:35 am »

My only concern is whether 6 cores at 2.9ghz is as fast as 4 cores at 3.1ghz, although I’m assuming the core i9 tech vs the older core i7 has an

That it is the base clock... usually that happens when all cores are used and the processor is drawing the max amount of power and creating the max amount of heat. If less cores are used the processor is able to turbo boost to higher speeds... well, the used cores, while the rest are basically turn off.



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davidgp

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #31 on: July 18, 2018, 12:43:39 am »

The calDigit dock looks good as well.  I'll have to compare with the OWC closely.

I'm curious with all of these devices is why only 2 TB3 ports.  One port is needed to connect to the laptop, if you drive two displays you can use the DisplayPort for one, but then you have to connect the other display to another port on the laptop so you have all the hard drives connected to the other TB3 port on the dock. Or I guess you can connect your external drives to another port on the laptop and use the dock's port for the 2nd display. Maybe that's the only way to drive 2 displays anyway.

That has to do how the Intel Thunderbolt chips work in those devices, and probably even the protocol itself.

You can not have a hub like USB, at least not with the actual chips and I doubt that changes in the future. But the protocol allows you to daisy chain devices. Useful for example when you connecting several disks or a 10 Gigabit network card... if you are connecting an eGPU I will not daisy chain it... the GPU will take advantage of all the thunderbolt bandwidth.

With respect monitors, a thunderbolt 3 cable can transport two 4K 60p signals or one 5k 60p signal... usually this hubs will give you one HDMI option and one display port option as maximum. Those signals are driven directly by the GPU in your laptop... so, even if you have 4 tb3 ports in your laptop does not mean that you can have 8 4K displays... the two GPUs inside that MacBook Pro, I think, they will not be able to support them... for that scenario you will need to connect eGPUs...


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E.J. Peiker

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #32 on: July 18, 2018, 08:37:21 am »

In today's episode of super creepy Facebook hooks into everything you look at on the internet, right after reading the latest posts in this thread about MacBook Pro port expansion peripherals, this ad popped up immediately for such a device:
https://www.hypershop.com/products/hyperdrive-solo-hub-for-usb-c-macbook-pc-devices
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davidgp

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #33 on: July 19, 2018, 12:38:58 am »

Hi,

Careful with the i9 version... looks like Apple thermal design can not keep the temperatures down enough -

https://youtu.be/Dx8J125s4cg

https://youtu.be/oSvp9MjqnZE

Regards,

David



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Joe Towner

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #34 on: July 19, 2018, 11:57:58 am »

That has to do how the Intel Thunderbolt chips work in those devices, and probably even the protocol itself.

You can not have a hub like USB, at least not with the actual chips and I doubt that changes in the future. But the protocol allows you to daisy chain devices. Useful for example when you connecting several disks or a 10 Gigabit network card... if you are connecting an eGPU I will not daisy chain it... the GPU will take advantage of all the thunderbolt bandwidth.

More than 2 TB3 ports would require a full on PCIe switch. TB devices have always been either a bridging device (2 TB ports) or a termination device (1 TB port).  It's cheaper to implement a terminating device, as it doesn't have to include the pass thru functionality.  A switch device would be really bad in that it's upstream would be limited by the 4 PCIe Gen3 lanes each TB3 port has.

What I really want to see is more of the docks doing independent 85w power injection, as that's where I lose a port otherwise. 
Just snagged a Vava https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079GSMZ7G/ microdock as it does pass thru of power, plus HDMI, USB3, SD/MicroSD and RJ45 networking all in one.  It's not perfect, but fits in my bag.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #35 on: July 19, 2018, 01:01:42 pm »

Hi,

Careful with the i9 version... looks like Apple thermal design can not keep the temperatures down enough -

https://youtu.be/Dx8J125s4cg

https://youtu.be/oSvp9MjqnZE

Regards,

David



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Interesting.  Although the tests appear to be taxing the processor more than typical LR and PS tasks, I don't do much video work.  I'll check it out while I test it out over the weekend.
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davidgp

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #36 on: July 19, 2018, 01:39:44 pm »

Interesting.  Although the tests appear to be taxing the processor more than typical LR and PS tasks, I don't do much video work.  I'll check it out while I test it out over the weekend.

Yes, continuous tasks like video enconding are more prone to show this behaviour. I suppose that in future updates, Apple will make the fans more aggressive, so the temps are not as high. More noise though...

Farmer

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #37 on: July 19, 2018, 06:05:55 pm »

Yes, continuous tasks like video enconding are more prone to show this behaviour. I suppose that in future updates, Apple will make the fans more aggressive, so the temps are not as high. More noise though...

They will remove fans.  If you want them, you will be able to use external ones ;-)
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Wayne Fox

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #38 on: July 19, 2018, 10:40:31 pm »

Yes, continuous tasks like video enconding are more prone to show this behaviour. I suppose that in future updates, Apple will make the fans more aggressive, so the temps are not as high. More noise though...
Yeah, if it's a big problem a software update will change the fan behavior.  there are already ways to run the fans more aggressively, so I'll watch things and if needed try out some of those ideas.
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BAB

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Re: New MacBook Pro Update
« Reply #39 on: July 19, 2018, 11:25:23 pm »

Well if I owned a 2016 or 2017 mbp I wouldn’t upgrade for many reasons but the most important one are
Thermal throttling is daunting and cripples the MBP when running PS filters on larger images..panos and 400mb -1.5gb files. Unless your running the MBP in your freezer.
The current 2018 MBP won’t max out ever even with the most expensive configuration. Apple admits it.
The video card is really not much of an upgrade but it’s better.
The keyboard is still a potential problem Apple laid some plastic film under the keys maybe it works.
1-4 TB drives prices are falling weekly so unless your old MBP has crapped out I will wait for the Nov-Dec MBP release. My thoughts are a better case, different keyboard, better cooling system, cheaper storage and if not well then I’ll bite the bullet once all the user reviews shake out.


As for the iMac you can buy a stripped one or use your older one buying new boards and drives, thermal coupler, ram and all parts needed to build your own to apples most expensive iMac and highest specs building it will save you 2k or more and only take one hour to build.


So for me I stay with my mid 2014MBP for 4-5 more months.
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