Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1433345
50 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Winter 2022 struggles with Red video, suggesting that some further optimization is required. Whether this optimization will ultimately come from Red or Apple (if at all) remains to be seen. My biggest question leading up to release was the issue of thermal throttling, a safety feature included in most modern systems to prevent overheating. If the processor reaches a certain temperature, the system reduces the amount of supplied power. While this protects the computer from melting its own hardware, it comes with a noticeable reduction in performance. This issue has made its way into the mainstream in recent years, as developers have struggled to pack as much power into the smallest possible gizmos and gadgets, with Apple having particular difculty circumventing the issue. In 2019, MacBook Pro's equipped with more expensive i9 processors had such a problem with thermal throttling that they often performed worse than units outtted with cheaper i7 processors. The original M1 MacBook's suffered from throttling issues as well, leading many to question whether it was possible to put that level of performance power into a 13-inch laptop. While I cannot comment on the 14-inch model, the 16- inch M1 Max seems to have very few issues in terms of throttling. To test the issue, I transcoded thirty seconds of 8K ProRes 422 HQ to DNxHQ, which completed in twenty-seven seconds. I then created a two-hour timeline and lled it with les of various lengths, framerates, codecs, and resolutions—just to make the processor as angry as possible. After completing that render three hours later, I reran the original thirty second ProRes to DNxHQ test, which completed in twenty-nine seconds. A longer series of tests would be necessary to determine for sure but this would suggest that the issue of thermal throttling has been reduced, if not eliminated. This can likely be attributed to the low draw power of the unit, with high intensity tasks only drawing about forty watts for sustained usage. This trumps my Alienware, which achieves less impressive results on a 110-watt draw. In this instance, Apple really is able to do more with less, making the M1 Pro and Max MacBook's two of the eco-friendlier workstations on the market. Performance notwithstanding, the computer does feature some nice quality-of-life improvements. The divisive touch bar, rst introduced in the 2016 edition of the MacBook Pro, has been removed, and the fragile tap pad keyboard interface has been replaced with a more traditional mechanical button setup. Typing on this computer feels nicer and, speaking as someone with joint problems in my hands, the softer impact when typing is much appreciated. The display is lovely and displays rich, contrasted colors that seem consistent with the iPhone XR and iPhone 13 Pro with which I was able to compare it. Out of a sense of nostalgic curiosity, I watched the aforementioned Attack of the Clones on this overpowered display, and while that lm denitely shows its age, it looks and sounds spectacular on the MacBook Pro. The image is crisp, clear, and sharp and, more impressively for a laptop, the same can be said of the sound. It's amazing how far we have come in just twenty years of digital lmmaking. The M1 Pro retails starting at $1,999 for the 14-inch model and $2,499 for the 16-inch model, while the M1 Max will set you back $2,399 and $3,499 in those sizes respectively.