Nvidia's Studio Laptop Lineup Aims to Compete With 15-Inch MacBook Pro

[EEzycade]

Stop being so petty. Oh dear,a typo , forgot to add a ****ing character... :-\

I know. How dare you! That person must have had a bad day.
[doublepost=1559103395][/doublepost]I disagree with the thread title. It’s not “Aims to compete with 15 inch Macbook Pro.” It should be “Will be more reliable and powerful.” I mean seriously, even Apple sheep have to admit that the current macbook lineup is not reliable(keyboard), underpowered, and has an apple tax. Apple should care more about the Mac but sadly, they’ve made it clear they don’t.

 

[Qha]

Guys... the 7x score is from the Arnold render, which utilizes the RTX raytracing cores. Of course raytracing is faster on dedicated hardware. Raw processor performance isn’t anywhere near 7x.

 

[Lozza013]

I must admit. I want to buy a new Mac but at this stage I’m really not sure I admit I’m looking at Windows computers. I mean I’m happy with my iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch (I’ll be updating in September) but with Macs I’m not sure. I say this because of all the issues they’ve had that’s sort of put me off but again I’m not sure at this stage.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Yes, it bothers me sooo much. When you develop websites, the 16:10 is a must...

I'm just surprised that most manufacturers are still sticking with that 16:9 just to save a few bucks.

Seriously? You're unable to develop web sites if your screen is 16:10 instead of 16:9?
[doublepost=1559127384][/doublepost]

And I'd like to ask why Pixar ... are still using Mac as their main workstation. Maybe because it just works.

Maybe because Pixar was founded by Steve Jobs. Who knows?

 

[Sedulous]

GPUs? Err, No.

AMD can barely match an NVidia 2080. Forget about the 2080Ti.

Nvidia mobile GPUs also outperform anything from AMD.

Actually Radeon VII is on par with or outperforms 2080Ti in some cases (such as DX12 games). Yeah, mobile AMD GPUs still have some ways to go but honestly, the improvement trend for AMD has been very impressive. Strange Apple insists on AMD GPU but excludes their CPUs that are now better than anything Intel has on offer.

 

[Stella]

Actually Radeon VII is on par with or outperforms 2080Ti in some cases (such as DX12 games). Yeah, mobile AMD GPUs still have some ways to go but honestly, the improvement trend for AMD has been very impressive. Strange Apple insists on AMD GPU but excludes their CPUs that are now better than anything Intel has on offer.

Outperforms 2080TI, really?
Not according this review:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-05-01-radeon-7-vs-rtx-2080-benchmarks-7001
( ^ compares against 2080, which in the summary ranks lower than GTX 1080 Ti )

Comparison against 2080Ti:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-05-01-radeon-7-vs-rtx-2080-ti-benchmarks-7001

Or this ( direct comparison of 2080Ti )
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/02/11/radeon-vii-vs-rtx-2080-ti/


Apple insists on AMD because it supports openCL - Nvidia does not, IRC.

It's a shame AMD are finding it difficult to compete with Nvidia - prices are higher because of this.

In terms of CPU, AMD have done very well on desktop in recent years, and their mobile CPUs are beginning to show promise.

 

[Sedulous]

Outperforms 2080TI, really?
Not according this review:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-05-01-radeon-7-vs-rtx-2080-benchmarks-7001
( ^ compares against 2080 )
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-05-01-radeon-7-vs-rtx-2080-ti-benchmarks-7001

Or this ( direct comparison of 2080Ti )
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/02/11/radeon-vii-vs-rtx-2080-ti/

Apple insists on AMD because it supports openCL - Nvidia does not, IRC.

It's a shame AMD are finding it difficult to compete with Nvidia - prices are higher because of this.

Again, depends on what is being tested. For example Radeon VII beats the 2080Ti in blender benchmark. It is comparable in many DX12 games (and better in some like CS:GO). I only very quickly glanced through but even the review you posted shows that the Radeon VII is comparable to or better than the 2080.

The point is that NVIDIA is great but AMD is rapidly catching up. Just like Intel, I think NVIDIA will have to do better. Gimmicks like a second display next to the keyboard and foldable/OLED notebook displays won't change the market. But it would be nice if Apple started to design serious hardware again... the marketing and style team have had far too much say over engineering (i.e. a computer shouldn't have to hit 100℃ before the fans turn on).

 

[Stella]

Can you post links to those DX12 and Blender benchmarks you refer to? I'd be interested to see.

Sure, Radeon 7 will beat other GPUs in some tests - but what is important is overall performance. Not cherry picked results. That graphics you posted, that's just one performance test, not overall summary.

I certainly agree with your other points. The "gimmicks" of second display next to keyboard - they are purely for gaming - i.e., having Discord open on another display. It's interesting. Personally, I don't think it will become mainstream - but certainly worth the experiment.

Again, depends on what is being tested. For example Radeon VII beats the 2080Ti in blender benchmark. It is comparable in many DX12 games (and better in some like CS:GO). I only very quickly glanced through but even the review you posted shows that the Radeon VII is comparable to or better than the 2080.
View attachment 839510
The point is that NVIDIA is great but AMD is rapidly catching up. Just like Intel, I think NVIDIA will have to do better. Gimmicks like a second display next to the keyboard and foldable/OLED notebook displays won't change the market. But it would be nice if Apple started to design serious hardware again... the marketing and style team have had far too much say over engineering (i.e. a computer shouldn't have to hit 100℃ before the fans turn on).

 

[Sedulous]

Can you post links to those DX12 and Blender benchmarks you refer to? I'd be interested to see.

Sure, Radeon 7 will beat other GPUs in some tests - but what is important is overall performance. Not cherry picked results. That graphics you posted, that's just one performance test, not overall summary.

I certainly agree with your other points. The "gimmicks" of second display next to keyboard - they are purely for gaming - i.e., having Discord open on another display. It's interesting. Personally, I don't think it will become mainstream - but certainly worth the experiment.

Linus Tech did a nice review on the matter and draws roughly the same conclusion on the Radeon VII vs NVIDIA offerings. The biggest caveat is that AMD probably went overkill on the RAM and the result is something that is priced too closely to NVIDIA to be truly competitive (as the Radeon still lacks several features NVIDIA offers, i.e. ray tracing).

As I said in an earlier post, Apple is not doing themselves any favors by refusing to use NVIDIA for graphics and AMD for CPU. Who knows, maybe Apple is just biding their time until they sort out their own chips for Macs.

 

[mavericks7913]

Mac Pro should be able to use both Nvidia and AMD, AMD and Intel, and more.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Mac Pro should be able to use both Nvidia and AMD, AMD and Intel, and more.

Or more generally, if Apple are not sufficiently committed to making the hardware in the MacBook Pro the best laptop of it's kind then they should licence out macOS to other hardware manufacturers who are.

 

[Kcetech1]

Hmm please take a look at 'every manufacturer' ultrabooks or laptop forum. I can say that Apple has been the most reliable manufacturer in terms of QC and aftersales service. X1 Carbon has multiple QC issues that are as unacceptable as the earlier iterations of butterfly keyboards. Dell XPS has suffered a lot of thermal and build quality issues. Albeit their unpredictable QC, their customer service are not even on par with Apple's, which gave their users free repair service for their keyboards for futureproofing.

And I'd like to ask why Pixar and other high-end media companies are still using Mac as their main workstation. Maybe because it just works.

you do Know Pixar moved to primarily non apple computers back in early / mid 2015 when some of us subcontracted with them right? ( rendering units and workstations )
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/pixar-shows-software-at-gtc-2016/

WETA I believe has totally moved away from Macs as has a few others I used to work with.

Avatar was mostly early HP Apollo 6000's If memory serves me, but I know that was their main gear back in 2016

Endgame, Battle Angel, and most everything I know of they have worked on since about early 2017 is all on the new 6000's

Edit: nope wasnt losing my mind as a bunch of their units are on the top 500 list
https://www.top500.org/site/2343

 

[dannys1]

In short, you're now buying a disposable computer with regards to the Mac and you're paying an even higher apple tax then we had say back when Steve Jobs ran the show. Many people found value for the higher price because of the quality, but sadly that's been missing from MBPs these past few years. Their keyboards failure too much, we've had flexgate, the display coating coming off. T2 crashing (thankfully that seems to be behind us)

I mean you're not, this is nonsense. It's utterly ridiculous to say something is a "disposable computer" because you can't change the ram in it yourself. That makes my OLED TV (which cost twice as much as a MacBook Pro) "disposable" too. My single use professional audio interface that cost £1500 and provides just a stereo output "disposable" because you can't upgrade it.

Through many years of Steve he didn't think the computers should be upgradeable either, right from the first Mac with Woz.

For most of the PowerPC age upgrading RAM was difficult as lots of it was rejected by the machines (leading to "Apple tested ram" label we see for Intel CPUs these days when any RAM with the right specs will do) - and it's not like through the 90's and 00's when Steve was around we didn't see many hardware mistakes too. The iMac USB mouse everyone hated, the Power Mac G4 cube that basically didn't work and of course the Lisa.

I agree that finally, after about 20 years of trying, the PC manufacturers have almost caught up to Apple's laptop quality. Gone are the days of pieces of plastic crap where the keys fell off and the battery completely stopped working after a year (well I think, I assume so anyway) Razer certainly make some nice stuff - but most of these really well designed and made things are barely any cheaper than what Apple offer anyway and come with Windows as the only OS - and I very much doubt they have residuals as good as Apple.

 

[maflynn]

I mean you're not, this is nonsense

I disagree, apple has been moving closer and closer to that ideal. more and more of the design is setup in such a way that you (or they) are unable to fix a defective component. They want you to keep buying new computers, not update/fix the existing ones.

My single use professional audio interface that cost £1500 and provides just a stereo output "disposable" because you can't upgrade it.

Or more importantly repair it. Apple has to replace the entire top case when replacing the battery. They're intent is to have you buy a new one

If you look at apple's competition, where many of the thin laptops are mere millimeters thicker, yet can have the keyboard repaird, the ram upgraded/replaced. The battery replaced and SSD storage upgraded.

This article is related to iPhones but I think it fits for Macs as well: Comment: Apple is taking its in-store iPhone push too far by promoting upgrades instead of repairs

Apple asked retail employees to promote the new iPhones using methods not seen before. Technicians were told to push iPhone upgrades to consumers with out-of-warranty devices. Senior sales staff had to make sure other retail workers were suggesting upgrades, and easels offering generous trade-in deals for the iPhone XR were erected in stores.

Its in apple's best interest to get people to buy instead of repair, and the design of MBPs are showing an increased inability to actually fix the laptop or make out of warranty repairs cost prohibitive to the consumer - especially compared to much of the competition. Battery repair, typically under a hundred for many laptops - Apple its close to 300 dollars.

I agree that finally, after about 20 years of trying, the PC manufacturers have almost caught up to Apple's laptop quality.

Caught up? I think in many cases, surpassed. Apple has had a string of issues with the latest being particularly embarrassing, i.e., keyboard failures that span 4 computer models.

and I very much doubt they have residuals as good as Apple.

No argument that apple's profits are the best in the industry, when many people are willing to pay 4,000 for a laptop

 

[dannys1]

Caught up? I think in many cases, surpassed. Apple has had a string of issues with the latest being particularly embarrassing, i.e., keyboard failures that span 4 computer models.

I mean that's been your only quip - and granted the keyboard reality wasn't great but i've sold hundreds of these things and only one person has had issues.

I've also owned the 1st, 2nd and 3rd butterfly keyboards and only had issues with the 1st - i've now owned 3 different versions of the 3rd revision and all has been perfect. It's not been Apple's finest moment but it's also not as wide blown an issue as many make out.

I also genuinely think it's the nicest keyboard i've ever typed on, though I realise that is personal preferences, i'd hate to go back to the spongy keys.

No argument that apple's profits are the best in the industry, when many people are willing to pay 4,000 for a laptop

Residuals doesn't mean profits.

 

[maflynn]

I mean that's been your only quip

No it hasn't. The quality issues sadly date back prior to 2011 with many GPU failures, there's staingate, flexgate, the T2 instability. Many users complained about coil whine and speaker crackle.

I've also owned the 1st, 2nd and 3rd butterfly keyboards and only had issues with the 1st - i've now owned 3 different versions of the 3rd revision and all has been perfect. It's not been Apple's finest moment but it's also not as wide blown an issue as many make out.

I've not had issues with my Mac but that doesn't mean those flaws don't exist. In fact that's more or less irrelevent. The point remains that apple has been grappling with certain issues over the past few years that fly in the face of being a premium product.

Residuals doesn't mean profits.

Ok, its not something I deal with and I'm unfamiliar with that aspect. I misunderstood that portion of your post.

 

[dannys1]

I've not had issues with my Mac but that doesn't mean those flaws don't exist. In fact that's more or less irrelevent. The point remains that apple has been grappling with certain issues over the past few years that fly in the face of being a premium product.

I think you might be a bit close to this forum and the complains maybe as a staff member. If you go and search for your X1 you'll find lots of threads about how they've blown up, failed, broken, been returned - there's a Reddit thread with about 50 people on it saying how they'd returned it. Yet i'm sure yours is fine too, as will most be.

I don't think anything has failed more or been less reliable since 2011, no more so than normal. Plus Steve was still around then too! My 2009 iMac had a known graphics card problem, they also had known yellowing on the screen and had lots of replacements. I had a G5 Powermac which arrived DOA (and then the second one was flawless for years) i don't see anything in my use today to suggest problems or failure rate is any higher than normal or anyone else.

Ok, its not something I deal with and I'm unfamiliar with that aspect. I misunderstood that portion of your post.

Residual value means it's resale value - you'll offer hear the term applied to cars where it's quite important due to the high loss of initial investment.

 

[cggobbler]

Source for that claim please.

Pixar's design teams use MacOS in their initial design stage before exporting all design into their own program and outsourcing it to the render farm. They are now mixing Linux and MacOS.

Media company? Look at Verizon Media (formerly Oath) who runs these media brands: AOL, Autoblog, Engadget, Flurry, Huffpost, Kanvas, TechCrunch, Tumblr, Yahoo!, and multiple other brands

And other companies that have Mac enterprises:
1. IBM
2. General Electric
3. Concentrix
4. SAP, one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world
5. Capital One
etc.

And please look at IBM stating (with graph on the links below) that investing in Mac ecosystem has resulted in smaller total cost even with higher initial pricing.

Source:

https://www.jamf.com/blog/fortune-500-companies-follow-in-ibms-footsteps-with-mac-choice-programs/

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...macs-and-ios-devices-issued-to-employees/amp/

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/6-of-the-largest-enterprise-mac-deployments/

 

[Lone Deranger]

Pixar's design teams use MacOS in their initial design stage before exporting all design into their own program and outsourcing it to the render farm. They are now mixing Linux and MacOS.

Sorry, I should have been more specific about my quoting you. I was merely interested in the Pixar side of things. Indeed the other companies have gone on record for their choice of Macs in the past. I do remember the headlines at the time.

Regarding Pixar's use of Macs, I think it is not so different from most VFX companies, or indeed VFX workflows for high end film & TV production in general. Character design/general concept design certainly is not too picky regarding choice of platform (except Linux actually). Lots of concept illustrators (especially those staying on the 2D side) are indeed still residing on the Mac. More so if they're freelance, less so if they are part of a big facility. It's when we get to the 3D side that hardware choice quickly shifts towards a mixture of Linux and Windows.
Any Macs you'll find in those departments will be for producers who run Office and/or some kind of pipeline tracking/asset management tool like Shotgun or some proprietary analogue. But that's pretty bland bread and butter stuff in my opinion. What's interesting to me is if 3D artists were given Macs again to work on. But with the current state of the Mac, it's just not a good investment for most companies sadly. The fact is that the majority of VFX companies are operating on the bleeding edge of solvency. One project away from going out of business. They certainly cannot afford Apple's pricing for their large teams of 3D artists. Though Pixar being an exception here, I've certainly not heard or read anything about Pixar running Presto on Macs. Maybe the predecessor, 'menv' did back in the Steve Jobs days?
A few years ago I asked a some old colleagues of mine who now work at Pixar about this and they basically confirmed that Macs aren't really much of a presence there. This already being well into the 'Tim "what's a computer?" Cook' era, I wasn't surprised.
Anyway, this is just from my personal experience. YMMV.

 

[richinaus]

Question for fellow Creatives: When or where are you using laptops capable of graphics tasks normally reserved for desktops?

I'm nearing retirement after 30+ years in commercial arts and used a laptop very seldomly—and never for design tasks. It was an early 17 in. MBP. Veterans like me spent decades advocating for bigger and bigger desktop displays. The thought of working with a 15 in. screen makes me cringe.

This is a very good point as no laptop can replace my iMac 5k screen.

However believe it or not I have friends who work professionally in the design world on laptops and one on a 13" ! I can't believe he does it but he said he actually prefers it. He also had the delaminating screen and didn't bother him - yes he is a bit odd.

Really though the benefit of the laptop is the ability to hook up to a screen at your desk and also work in many other locations. I can last about 3 hours on a laptop screen before I start wanting my desktop monitor.
However a lot of these 'creator' laptops wont be going anywhere near a client of mine, as they are immensely embarrassing [except for Razer].
[doublepost=1559360366][/doublepost]

Sorry, I should have been more specific about my quoting you. I was merely interested in the Pixar side of things. Indeed the other companies have gone on record for their choice of Macs in the past. I do remember the headlines at the time.

Regarding Pixar's use of Macs, I think it is not so different from most VFX companies, or indeed VFX workflows for high end film & TV production in general. Character design/general concept design certainly is not too picky regarding choice of platform (except Linux actually). Lots of concept illustrators (especially those staying on the 2D side) are indeed still residing on the Mac. More so if they're freelance, less so if they are part of a big facility. It's when we get to the 3D side that hardware choice quickly shifts towards a mixture of Linux and Windows.
Any Macs you'll find in those departments will be for producers who run Office and/or some kind of pipeline tracking/asset management tool like Shotgun or some proprietary analogue. But that's pretty bland bread and butter stuff in my opinion. What's interesting to me is if 3D artists were given Macs again to work on. But with the current state of the Mac, it's just not a good investment for most companies sadly. The fact is that the majority of VFX companies are operating on the bleeding edge of solvency. One project away from going out of business. They certainly cannot afford Apple's pricing for their large teams of 3D artists. Though Pixar being an exception here, I've certainly not heard or read anything about Pixar running Presto on Macs. Maybe the predecessor, 'menv' did back in the Steve Jobs days?
A few years ago I asked a some old colleagues of mine who now work at Pixar about this and they basically confirmed that Macs aren't really much of a presence there. This already being well into the 'Tim "what's a computer?" Cook' era, I wasn't surprised.
Anyway, this is just from my personal experience. YMMV.

the scary thing is the windows 3D apps run faster in bootcamp than the same version of the Mac apps on the same Mac hardware. in macOS. The logical decision is easy - windows. The heart decision is hard - Mac.

 

[Lone Deranger]

the scary thing is the windows 3D apps run faster in bootcamp than the same version of the Mac apps on the same Mac hardware. in macOS. The logical decision is easy - windows. The heart decision is hard - Mac.

I’ve heard this before. It really puts macOS and Apple in a bad light. With Microsoft catering Windows to the entirety of the computer hardware world, (an infinite amount of hardware configurations), the fact that Apple is beaten on its own limited hardware/software turf is quite simply, embarrassing.

 

[richinaus]

I’ve heard this before. It really puts macOS and Apple in a bad light. With Microsoft catering Windows to the entirety of the computer hardware world, (an infinite amount of hardware configurations), the fact that Apple is beaten on its own limited hardware/software turf is quite simply, embarrassing.

I think it may sit between Apple and the developers. If I was making software I would always prioritise the majority users. Unfortunately that is not the Apple user.

 

[bvz]

Hmm please take a look at 'every manufacturer' ultrabooks or laptop forum. I can say that Apple has been the most reliable manufacturer in terms of QC and aftersales service. X1 Carbon has multiple QC issues that are as unacceptable as the earlier iterations of butterfly keyboards. Dell XPS has suffered a lot of thermal and build quality issues. Albeit their unpredictable QC, their customer service are not even on par with Apple's, which gave their users free repair service for their keyboards for futureproofing.

And I'd like to ask why Pixar and other high-end media companies are still using Mac as their main workstation. Maybe because it just works.

Umm.

Pixar does not use Macs as their main workstations. They haven't used Macs in any significant way (outside of the art department) in well over a decade, and even back then they weren't the main workstations.

ILM didn't use Macs in any meaningful way outside of the digital matte department and the rebel unit, and not since star wars episode 2. (They were still running os 9 when they dropped the Mac for anything outside of digital matte paintings. Today they mostly do digital matte work on pc's running Windows.)

Double negative (now DNEG) doesn't use Macs in any appreciable number.

Tippett studio had a bunch of cheese grater towers, but hasn't gotten a Mac Pro since 2009.

This is all the norm. Most high end vfx companies run Dell or HP workstations running fedora or CentOS. The rest runs under Windows. MacOS is usually relegated to some art department tasks and spreadsheet work.

This is all from first hand knowledge.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Umm.

Pixar does not use Macs as their main workstations. They haven't used Macs in any significant way (outside of the art department) in well over a decade, and even back then they weren't the main workstations.

ILM didn't use Macs in any meaningful way outside of the digital matte department and the rebel unit, and not since star wars episode 2. (They were still running os 9 when they dropped the Mac for anything outside of digital matte paintings. Today they mostly do digital matte work on pc's running Windows.)

Double negative (now DNEG) doesn't use Macs in any appreciable number.

Tippett studio had a bunch of cheese grater towers, but hasn't gotten a Mac Pro since 2009.

This is all the norm. Most high end vfx companies run Dell or HP workstations running fedora or CentOS. The rest runs under Windows. MacOS is usually relegated to some art department tasks and spreadsheet work.

This is all from first hand knowledge.

Yep, that's what I heard too, from friends and colleagues working there.

We had a bunch of PowerMac G5's at Framestore back around 2004-2006 in the Texture and DMP department. They were fantastic to work on but were phased out around 2008-2009 because they didn't want to spend the extra money on specially trained Mac IT support staff. It's all PC workstations now running Windows and Linux.

At Weta Digital only the production/coordinators had Macs, as well as some sort of proprietary software running on Macs for their dailies sessions. But most VFX sups complained about it due to the frequent occurrences of the dreaded spinning rainbow during client sessions. (I can tell you, James Cameron is not a patient and compassionate man, haha ) I think their art-department had some Macs, but certainly not the 3D teams. In fact, the IT department laughed at me when I requested a Mac. This was around the Avatar period, not sure what they've got now. I'm guessing mostly PC hardware.
MPC London (don't know about the other sites) never used any Macs for their 2D and 3D artists. Only MacBooks for their producers/coordinators. Simple stuff only.
Now I'm here at Square Enix Tokyo and not a single Mac in sight. Have yet to even see one since I started here a little over a year ago.

So yeah, it's safe to say that Apple blew it with the VFX and game industry. There was a significant upsurge in interest from said industries when Apple went Intel and it looked good for a few years. But they've since turned their backs on us. Even if Apple somehow manages to come out with an incredible new Mac Pro, priced very competitively, it will take a looooong time and a lot of subsequent upgrades/products accompanied by pro-level support and macOS upgrades to win back the trust of the 3D community.

 

[ipponrg]

Yep, that's what I heard too, from friends and colleagues working there.

We had a bunch of PowerMac G5's at Framestore back around 2004-2006 in the Texture and DMP department. They were fantastic to work on but were phased out around 2008-2009 because they didn't want to spend the extra money on specially trained Mac IT support staff. It's all PC workstations now running Windows and Linux.

At Weta Digital only the production/coordinators had Macs, as well as some sort of proprietary software running on Macs for their dailies sessions. But most VFX sups complained about it due to the frequent occurrences of the dreaded spinning rainbow during client sessions. (I can tell you, James Cameron is not a patient and compassionate man, haha ) I think their art-department had some Macs, but certainly not the 3D teams. In fact, the IT department laughed at me when I requested a Mac. This was around the Avatar period, not sure what they've got now. I'm guessing mostly PC hardware.
MPC London (don't know about the other sites) never used any Macs for their 2D and 3D artists. Only MacBooks for their producers/coordinators. Simple stuff only.
Now I'm here at Square Enix Tokyo and not a single Mac in sight. Have yet to even see one since I started here a little over a year ago.

So yeah, it's safe to say that Apple blew it with the VFX and game industry. There was a significant upsurge in interest from said industries when Apple went Intel and it looked good for a few years. But they've since turned their backs on us. Even if Apple somehow manages to come out with an incredible new Mac Pro, priced very competitively, it will take a looooong time and a lot of subsequent upgrades/products accompanied by pro-level support and macOS upgrades to win back the trust of the 3D community.

Apple kind of blew it in large production studios as well. Many have left the Mac because simply Avid running on PC is better/cheaper/faster. I think they lost sight of corporate or don’t care about them. Instead they are targeting that indie prosumer.