From PC laptop to rMBP

[phrehdd]

I'll try to keep this short here. I am hoping that some hands one experienced users could provide a few answer about rMBP. A friend of mine who uses only PC and Win laptops wants to move over at least one machine to an rMBP. Here are the concerns -

1) Using video oriented apps and concerned about issues (he heard about) with respect to heat problems.
2) What would be the ideal set up (other than external monitor) for a desk station centering around rMBP?
3) What screen calibration tools would be best suited for photo and video work?
4) What BTO or after purchase add ons should be considered?
5) Must be able to playback 1080 video durations up to 3 hrs straight (or more).

Hopefully, a few people will respond as my friend is wise enough to want to know what hands on folks say about this laptop for video/photo/possibly audio work. I am only going to guess that he is using Adobe products.

 

[Dark Void]

"rMBP" is sort of vague, but I'll refer to the high-end 15'' model with the dedicated graphics processor, and you can apply the information sans #1 to any other model.


1) Going to have to elaborate on "problems," but generally speaking no. When using 'pro' applications, the computer will switch to and begin using the dedicated GPU, which translates to power consumption and heat generation, but I'm not so sure it's any more than a negligible amount. I would be more concerned about the battery life in this regard, and not the heat - I don't think it will be an issue.

2) I don't understand this question. There is no default ideal setup. A desk, a keyboard, a mouse or external trackpad, a monitor. Probably a lamp of sorts. Maybe a dock or stand for the laptop. Whatever you prefer really.

3) Can't comment, but I am sure a google search will allow you to find industry standards for color calibration if professional work is going to be done. In any case, the accuracy of this is more/less going to be related to the monitor itself as far as what you're seeing. It's hard to say - numbers of factors, even down to eyesight, but like I said industry standards exist I'm sure.

4) They should all be considered. RAM and internal storage mainly, however. I wouldn't purchase addons from Apple apart from a warranty, and even then you can probably find it cheaper somewhere else. In the rMBP models, basically everything is adhered to the board in some form or fashion, so you need to decide what you may need in the future as far as components, and whether or not you're open to solutions like cloud storage or physical external drives for example.

5) Shouldn't be a problem - depending on the browser and the battery life situation if that's what you're referring to. If referring to VLC or Quicktime or an alternative - again, shouldn't be a problem. It can output video for as long as it remains charged, etc.

 

[phrehdd]

"rMBP" is sort of vague, but I'll refer to the high-end 15'' model with the dedicated graphics processor, and you can apply the information sans #1 to any other model.


1) Going to have to elaborate on "problems," but generally speaking no. When using 'pro' applications, the computer will switch to and begin using the dedicated GPU, which translates to power consumption and heat generation, but I'm not so sure it's any more than a negligible amount. I would be more concerned about the battery life in this regard, and not the heat - I don't think it will be an issue.

2) I don't understand this question. There is no default ideal setup. A desk, a keyboard, a mouse or external trackpad, a monitor. Probably a lamp of sorts. Maybe a dock or stand for the laptop. Whatever you prefer really.

3) Can't comment, but I am sure a google search will allow you to find industry standards for color calibration if professional work is going to be done. In any case, the accuracy of this is more/less going to be related to the monitor itself as far as what you're seeing. It's hard to say - numbers of factors, even down to eyesight, but like I said industry standards exist I'm sure.

4) They should all be considered. RAM and internal storage mainly, however. I wouldn't purchase addons from Apple apart from a warranty, and even then you can probably find it cheaper somewhere else. In the rMBP models, basically everything is adhered to the board in some form or fashion, so you need to decide what you may need in the future as far as components, and whether or not you're open to solutions like cloud storage or physical external drives for example.

5) Shouldn't be a problem - depending on the browser and the battery life situation if that's what you're referring to. If referring to VLC or Quicktime or an alternative - again, shouldn't be a problem. It can output video for as long as it remains charged, etc.

Thanks much for the response. I passed it along. The short version of his response was (beyond being appreciative of your fast response) was -
1) any issues of over heating when doing video app intensive work (his clarification)
2) he uses some sort of docking station, USB3 external drive, etc. He was wondering what was typical for people who do video editing with a Mac and probably wanted 'brands' of equipment to investigate beyond his PC laptop stuff.
3) I didn't get a full answer from him on this one but he evidently uses a Spyder brand profile calibrator for both his laptops and his monitor and wanted the best choice for a Mac.
4) He understood that one (thank goodness).
5) I think this has to do with worry that either CPU or GPU intensive usage during a work period that exceed a duration of time would possibly over heat the rMBP which would create flaws in playback or make it shut down. I gather he has issues on his Windows side.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[Dark Void]

1) No issues of overheating. Of course the machine will experience raised temperatures during intensive work, but nothing abnormal should occur unless there is a genuine issue.

2) I can't comment personally on the docking stations, but I've seen Twelve South tossed around a lot here. The mStand is pretty popular as well. External drives are hard to make recommendations for - I prefer Western Digital or Toshiba drives usually but my advice would be to just locate one with the interface that you would like and pay attention to the warranties. I would also suggest to avoid anything stated to be "for Mac," as in that case you're usually paying an extra $20-$30 for the drive to be formatted for OS X, which you can easily do in seconds by yourself.

3) Sorry, but can't really comment.

4)

5) This is not something to be expected. Playback shouldn't "degrade" or stutter over time during continual use. It will only ever shut down if there are genuine heat related issues and the temperature sensors pick up on it - but again that would be in the case of an issue with the computer and that is not to be expected.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I'll try to keep this short here. I am hoping that some hands one experienced users could provide a few answer about rMBP. A friend of mine who uses only PC and Win laptops wants to move over at least one machine to an rMBP. Here are the concerns -

1) Using video oriented apps and concerned about issues (he heard about) with respect to heat problems.
2) What would be the ideal set up (other than external monitor) for a desk station centering around rMBP?
3) What screen calibration tools would be best suited for photo and video work?
4) What BTO or after purchase add ons should be considered?
5) Must be able to playback 1080 video durations up to 3 hrs straight (or more).

Hopefully, a few people will respond as my friend is wise enough to want to know what hands on folks say about this laptop for video/photo/possibly audio work. I am only going to guess that he is using Adobe products.

1) Video oriented apps means nothing, is he editing 720p in imovie, or 4K in adobe. Either way their aren't heat issues as such, it is a metal laptop that uses the case as a heat sink it will get warm using any CPU/GPU intensive apps, as will any other metal thin light laptop.

2) there is no ideal set up there is only what he needs. For video editing then a good monitor with a keyboard and an external apple trackpad would be good, a thunderbolt dock will make going from laptop to desktop easy quick and tidy.

3) Scrren calibration is an individual thing, apples screens come pretty well calibrated what he does with his external is down to him.

4) Unless we know what apps he'll be using and what sort of editing etc he'll be doing there is no way to answer this. Obn a side note it sounds like the 5K imac would be a much better use of his money.

5) Every computer costing $600 or more made in the last 5 years can do this.