- Joined
- Jul 29, 2012
- Messages
- 2
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- 0
- Points
- 1
- Location
- New York
- Your Mac's Specs
- Macbook Pro 2012 Retina
Hello all. I have been a dedicated Linux user for the past 10 years. I use my computer for software development, photo and video editing, gaming, system admin, and general web browsing / documents, etc. To make a long story short, I have been struggling with some of the recent decisions made by Linux desktop environments and distributions so I decided to try a Mac. I'm not the only one.
I picked up a Macbook Pro Retina a week ago and I have been testing it out. Certainly the interface (gestures, etc) will take some getting used to, but I'm good with change and I'll get better at that with practice. I was excited to use something that truly "just works", but I have been running into some snags. There is a lot to like about this Macbook so please don't think I'm only focusing on the negative. It would just take to long to list all the positive things
Mac experts, I would appreciate any suggestions you could provide to solve these issues or please point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Video Editing
Linux has come a long way, but it still struggles with photo and video editing. I was eager to see Apple's advantages in this area.
Retina Display
Other
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Again, there are many things that I DO like about the Macbook. The hardware, build quality, design, form factor, overall OS interface, etc. are top notch. I really want to like this computer, but I'm trying to justify $3000 of expense that I didn't have before. If the computer can't do what I need better than my Linux systems, I'd be better off returning it and saving my money. Please help. Thanks!
I picked up a Macbook Pro Retina a week ago and I have been testing it out. Certainly the interface (gestures, etc) will take some getting used to, but I'm good with change and I'll get better at that with practice. I was excited to use something that truly "just works", but I have been running into some snags. There is a lot to like about this Macbook so please don't think I'm only focusing on the negative. It would just take to long to list all the positive things
Mac experts, I would appreciate any suggestions you could provide to solve these issues or please point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Video Editing
Linux has come a long way, but it still struggles with photo and video editing. I was eager to see Apple's advantages in this area.
- Indeed, iMovie has an exceptional interface and easy to use tools. However, it seems to lack support for many codecs. On Linux, I am used to every option being available everywhere. Perhaps that is because Apple has an incentive to keep people using only Apple technologies where the Linux community does not? Anyway, iMovie does not import many formats like MKV and MTS. I read the sticky on MTS and I know that I can transcode them prior to importing into iMovie, but I am looking to make my life easier with this switch - not to add steps and time. Besides, transcoding between lossy formats lowers the final output quality.
- My newer cameras use the MOV format so I thought I'd try some basic editing and worry about the MTS and MKV files later. Again, I am impressed with the user interface and I was ready to export my finished movie before I knew it. Much to my dismay, there are very limited output options. Settings like "good, better, best" seem geared toward novice users and don't provide the flexibility I need. Even FCP doesn't have more advanced encoding settings.
- Even so, I found a reasonable format (MP4 with H.264/AAC) and tried an export. I then discovered that iMovie does not utilize any of the power of my new computer. It does not support multi-core encoding and it does not use Quick Sync nor GPU accelerated encoding. I'm stuck waiting for 30 minutes while my 5 minute clip is encoded and only 8% of my CPU is used. I learned that Apple's 64-bit Final Cut Pro X does support multi-core encoding and GPU acceleration, but that's way overkill for my needs. It's another $299 on top of the $3000 I just spent on this laptop. Linux video editors use centralized libraries that support most every codec and multi-core encoding so this seems a step backward.
- I tested a trial of FCPx and Compressor. Indeed encoding was MUCH faster. However, I'm still stuck with a very limited set of codecs to choose from. Presets like "iPod" might be convenient, but I am not yet ready to swap every electronic device that I own for Apple's version. I want to be able to control and fine tune the settings for encoding video. On Linux, I would export H.264 (VBR quality 27, etc) and AAC (VBR quality preset) in an MKV container. Every option was visible and able to be changed or I could start with some convenient presets.
- I read that one option is to export in Apple's standard 1080p preset (which produces an enormous file much larger than the original from the camera) and then use another application (like Handbrake) to encode to the format I want. Again, why are there so many time consuming steps and multiple transcodes required?
Retina Display
- The video card in Apple's top Macbook isn't powerful enough to run games at the display's native resolution. As you know, when you don't run games at native resolution, they look worse.
- I am only able to control what resolution games are run at when running in full screen mode (in which case I can't switch between open apps). When selecting any "Windowed" mode, the OS displays the game however it wants no matter what resolution is selected. I would prefer for the games to be displayed using the native resolution in a smaller window, but they don't.
- Most apps are not optimized for the Retina display and look blurry. I know that this may be addressed in the future, but I suspect it will be a problem for a while. Of course, many Apple apps have been updated.
Other
- It seems like the OS only caters to novice users who want to use all Apple products and accept whatever suggestions the apps make. For example, I would like to be able to see actual file paths and hidden files in the Finder. I found ways to accomplish these things, but they are not obvious nor elegant. To see hidden files, a settings file must be manually updated. Once complete, ALL hidden files are shown everywhere so there is a bunch of garbage Mac files in every folder and on the desktop. On Linux and Windows, you can turn this on or off per directory and each time you browse. Settings are equally sparse. I could go on.
- Trackpad gestures are nice, but it seems like Apple forgot that users might sometimes connect a mouse. For example, the "natural" scrolling direction setting makes sense for the trackpad, but not the scroll wheel on a mouse. There doesn't seem to be a way to set a different preference by device. I tried a third party app "Scroll Reverser" and it solves that problem except forward/back gestures no longer function. Very annoying.
- I really liked "focus follows mouse" in Linux. Windows would gain focus when the mouse moves over them without having to always click. Focus was separate from "raising" the window. This obviously doesn't work on a Mac because of the unified menu at the top. For a power user, having the menus closer to the normal mouse position and "focus follows mouse" time savings add up.
- Things seem "locked down" compared to what I'm used to with Linux. Apple certainly wants to make sure I use only their products, file formats, and software. I'm sure someone will point out that you CAN use other things. However, it's not nearly as easy and integrated as the Apple products by design. Adding steps and third party plugins to accomplish every goal isn't ideal.
- There is a lack of settings to configure the computer the way I want. Perhaps too many settings is intimidating to the beginner, but I feel like I can't make the computer behave like I want. For example, I don't want the computer to go to sleep when I close the laptop lid. There is no setting to disable that.
- I'm not ready to send all my files and settings to Apple with iCloud or to subscribe to the whole Apple culture and iLife. However, everything seems designed to funnel users in that direction. Going contrary to that setup is cumbersome in the OS.
- Random gripe: I got Mountain Lion for free because I recently purchased this laptop. However, if I hadn't, I certainly wouldn't have purchased it. I can't find any compelling new features in this supposedly "major release" especially since I don't own an AirPlay device. If this is typical of OS updates, it's disappointing.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Again, there are many things that I DO like about the Macbook. The hardware, build quality, design, form factor, overall OS interface, etc. are top notch. I really want to like this computer, but I'm trying to justify $3000 of expense that I didn't have before. If the computer can't do what I need better than my Linux systems, I'd be better off returning it and saving my money. Please help. Thanks!