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Posts Tagged ‘Apple’s’

Apple’s ‘nano-texture’ Pro Display XDR monitor requires special cleaning cloth

17 Dec

Apple’s incredibly expensive Pro Display XDR monitor is offered with an optional nano-texture glass that costs an extra $ 1,000 and must, it turns out, be cleaned using only a special cloth provided by Apple. The unique cleaning requirements, which don’t apply to the version of the monitor that features standard glass, were recently spotted by MacRumors in an Apple support document.

According to the support document, Apple includes a special ‘dry polishing cloth’ with its Pro Display XDR with nano-texture glass monitor. Owners are told to use this cloth to wipe smudges and dust from the display. Apple warns that the nano-texture glass cannot be cleaned using any liquids. If it’s anything like the various ‘nano’ coatings we see in modern lenses, this isn’t a surprise. Such coatings are so fragile that they are never used on the outside (environment-facing) sides of glass elements at all.

The polishing cloth can be cleaned using dish soap and water (it must be thoroughly rinsed and left to air dry for at least 24 hours), but replacing the cloth isn’t simple. Apple says customers must directly contact the company in order to get a replacement cloth, the cost of which hasn’t been specified.

Given that the nano-texture glass costs $ 1,000 on top of the Pro Display XDR’s $ 4,999 price (not including the $ 999 Pro Stand and $ 199 VESA mount adapter), you might expect the cleaning cloths to be free. Whether that turns out to be the case is unknown at this time, but seems unlikely considering Apple’s track record.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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John Wick, Deadpool 2 director shot Apple’s new ‘Snowbrawl’ ad with iPhone 11 Pro

05 Dec

Apple tapped Deadpool 2 and John Wick director David Leitch to direct a 90-second iPhone advertisement called ‘Snowbrawl.’ As its name suggests, the video features high-action footage of a snowball fight filmed in cinematic style using the iPhone 11 Pro.

It’s not uncommon for Apple to publish video and image ads shot using its latest iPhone models. The company has increasingly embraced short-form storytelling as part of its ads and ‘Snowbrawl’ is no different. The commercial shows off the iPhone 11 Pro’s camera capabilities while telling the brief story of children engaged in an epic snowball fight to save a kidnapped teddy bear.

Creatives have been producing works shot using the iPhone for years. The 2018 movie Unsane was shot entirely using the iPhone 7 Plus, for example, though it should be noted that a variety of gear, including stabilizers and external lenses, are often used as part of these projects.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple’s Smart Battery Cases for iPhone 11 models feature a dedicated camera button

21 Nov

Apple has announced its new Smart Battery Cases for its latest iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max devices, and hidden within them is a little surprise. Each of the Smart Battery Cases features a dedicated camera button that launches the Camera app.

According to the product description, the dedicated camera button will launch the Camera app regardless of whether the iPhone is locked or unlocked. ‘A quick press of the button takes a photo and a longer press captures a QuickTake video,’ reads the description.

A close-up look at the dedicated camera button, located on the right-hand side of the case when looking at the screen of the iPhone.

This marks the first time any dedicated camera button has been found on a first-party case or battery case from Apple and further amplifies Apple’s emphasis on photography with its latest devices.

The Smart Battery Cases cost $ 129 for all iPhone 11 models and come in three colors: Black, White and Pink Sand. They are available to order now through Apple’s online store, physical Apple Stores and authorized Apple retailers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro can power two 6K displays, including Pro Display XDRs

20 Nov

Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro is a major step up in terms of specifications and performance compared to its smaller predecessors. While we already know many of the specifications fo the computer, Apple has posted the support document for the new computer unveiling a nice surprise for photographers and videographers who want to make the most of the new hardware.

In the support document for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro Apple has revealed that its new laptop can be used to power up to two 6K displays, including Apple’s own Pro Display XDR. According to the support document, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro can be used in the following configurations:

  • Two 6K displays with resolutions of 6016 x 3384 at 60Hz
  • Two 5K displays with resolutions of 5120 x 2880 at 60Hz
  • Four 4K displays with resolutions of 4096 x 2304 at 60Hz
  • One 5K display at 5120 x 2880 at 60Hz and up to three 4K displays at 4096 x 2304 at 60Hz

So, in addition to more robust 4K and 5K display options, the new 6K support means two of Apple’s Pro Display XDR can be used at full resolution with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. If it sounds like an intense operation, Apple assures users it is, clarifying that in order to maximize display performance with multiple monitors, users should plug a single monitor into each side of the laptop, as there’s only one bus for each set of Thunderbolt 3 on the side of the laptop. This will spread out the workload and result in better performance. Below is an excerpt from the support document:

‘Your MacBook Pro has two busses for its four Thunderbolt 3 ports. Each pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports (on the left and right sides of your Mac) are different busses. Whenever possible, connect your displays to different busses to maximize performance. Don’t connect more than two displays to either bus. If you connect a 6K, 5K, or multi-cable 4K display, use a different bus for each of the displays.’

Using some back-of-the-napkin math, such a setup with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and two Apple Pro Display XDR units would cost at least $ 12,795, if we are to assume the base 16-inch MacBook Pro computer and the base Pro Display XDR units with the first-party VESA mounts.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The latest iOS 13 developer beta gives us a sneak peek at Apple’s new Deep Fusion mode

05 Oct

Earlier this week, Apple released the first developer beta version of iOS 13 with support for its Deep Fusion technology built-in. Although there’s still plenty to learn about the feature, multiple developers have already taken the camera tech for a spin and shared their thoughts (and results) around the web.

To refresh, below is a brief explainer on what Deep Fusion is from our initial rundown on the feature:

‘Deep Fusion captures up to 9 frames and fuses them into a higher resolution 24MP image. Four short and four secondary frames are constantly buffered in memory, throwing away older frames to make room for newer ones […] After you press the shutter, one long exposure is taken (ostensibly to reduce noise), and subsequently all 9 frames are combined – ‘fused’ – presumably using a super resolution technique with tile-based alignment (described in the previous slide) to produce a blur and ghosting-free high resolution image.’

Although the tests are far from conclusive, we’ve rounded up a few sample images and comparisons shared by Twitter users from around the world. From the commentary shared by those who have tested the feature and from a brief analysis with our own eyes, Deep Fusion appears to work as advertised, bringing out more detail and clarity in images.

In addition to the above comparison, photographer Tyler Stalman also compared how Deep Fusion compares to the Smart HDR feature.

As noted by Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With, it seems as though the image files captured with Deep Fusion are roughly twice the size of a standard photo.

Much remains to be seen about what Deep Fusion is actually capable of and how third-party developers can make the most of the technology, but it looks promising. There seems to be some confusion as well regarding whether Deep Fusion will work with Night Mode, but according to Apple guru John Gruber, the two are mutually exclusive, with Deep Fusion being applied to scenes between 600-10 lux while Night Mode kicks in at 10 or fewer lux.

We’ll know more for sure when we have a chance to test the new feature ourselves.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Taking photos across California to recreate Apple’s macOS wallpapers

17 Sep

YouTuber Andrew Levitt teamed up with friends Jacob Phillips and Taylor Gray to recreate the stock wallpapers Apple includes with its Mac computers by traveling around and snapping them one photo at a time. The project required a trip into the blistering hot Death Valley National Park, as well as Sierra National Forest, Yosemite National Park, Mavericks and more.

The group of guys showed their endeavors in a newly published video detailing the project. Levitt notes that their final images aren’t quite the same as Apple’s due to different seasons, among other things, but that they’re representative of the experience and getting to see each destination in person. The five resulting images have been made available to download as wallpapers here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple’s ‘MultiCam’ recording will be available on iPhone XS, XR and the latest iPads

17 Sep

During its iPhone 11 event last week, Apple showcased an as-yet-unreleased version of the Filmic Pro app running on the new iPhone 11 Pro. The app was capable of recording footage from multiple cameras simultaneously, for example, front and rear camera or wide-angle and primary shooter. According to Filmic Pro, the updated version of its app will be available in the App Store sometime later this year.

The multi-cam recording function uses a new API that comes with iOS 13 and, according to Apple, required a redesign of the camera pipeline on their devices. The good news is that the changes have already been made on the iPhones XS and XR, as well as the latest iPad Pro models, as explained in this WWDC session keynote.

A screenshot from the WWDC session that shows the supported MultiCam Formats on the iPhone XS.

However, having multiple cameras active and recording at the same time puts a lot of stress on the hardware, which is why multi-camera recording on the 2018 devices has some limitations. Only certain combinations of cameras can be activated simultaneously (see table below) and, depending on the hardware requirements of their app, developers might have to revert to lower-quality video streams to make the feature work.

A screenshot from the WWDC session showing what combination of camera modules can be used with the MultiCam API in iOS 13 on an iPhone XS.

It has not been clarified yet which camera combinations will be usable on the iPhone 11 generation but during the Filmic demo, the footage appeared to be recorded from all four of the iPhone 11 Pro’s cameras simultaneously.

Nevertheless, this is good news for owners of 2018 Apple flagship devices who will be able to use the new feature at least partly. The multi-cam API should launch with iOS 13 on September 19. We’d expect a bunch of third-party apps implementing the functionality soon after.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Asus takes on Apple’s Pro Display XDR with new 1600-nit HDR ProArt Display

06 Sep

Asus has shown a series of new ProArt products at the IFA show in Berlin including what it describes as ‘the world’s first HDR 1600 and 120Hz variable-refresh rate professional display.’ The ProArt Display PA32UCG is a 32in monitor with 4K UHD resolution and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and is aimed at those who need absolute color accuracy in standard and high dynamic range modes. The display is compatible with the Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log-Gamma and HDR10 HDR standards and uses over 1000 mini LED back lights to produce a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits.

This Asus display could be out before Apple’s Pro Display XDR goes on sale. Both displays are 32in and offer a maximum brightness of 1600 nits, HDR and 10-bit color, but Apple’s model has 6K resolution whereas this one is limited to 4K. The Asus ProArt Display, however, has a faster refresh rate than Apple’s 60Hz – and is likely to cost less. A stand is also included with Asus’ monitor.

The display has built-in hardware calibration and with 10-bit color it supports the DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, sRGB, Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 color spaces. It offers 2x Thunderbolt ports as well as DisplayPort, 3x HDMI and a USB hub.

Asus also announced the ProArt StudioBook One, the first laptop to use the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics card. Asus describes as the computer as the world’s most graphically powerful laptop.’ An Intel i9 processor and new cooling system help with intensive video editing of up to 8K resolution. Asus has placed the CPU and GPU behind the display to avoid heat being trapped in the base, and has created a vent in the lid that allows two fans to draw in air to keep the main components cool.

The display in the laptop is a ProArt model, featuring 4K UHD resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and the ability to reproduce 100% of the Adobe RGB color space.

No pricing or availability dates has been released yet. More information can be found on these and the other products launched today in the press release below and on the Asus website.

You can also watch the full IFA presentation in the video below

Extract from the press release

{pressrelease}

ASUS ProArt lineup for content creation

Since the launch of the first ProArt display in 2011, ASUS has been committed to meeting the specific needs of professional content creators and has been recognized with over 400 industry awards. The content-creator market is expanding at a rapid pace and there are now more than 200 million PC-based creators worldwide, according to Intel research[1].

To meet the evolving needs of professional workflows in traditional content-creation fields, such as photography and videography, as well as provide new solutions for 3D designers, game developers and professionals in other creative disciplines, ASUS is introducing a brand-new lineup of ProArt products. Designed as a complete digital solution for content creation, these new ProArt devices deliver absolute precision for original imagination, extreme performance for unstoppable creation, versatile connectivity for seamless speed and promised stability for proven reliability. This new ProArt lineup represents the foundation of a comprehensive content-creation solution that will continue to grow with innovative new products designed to be the best companions for creators.

The complete lineup of ProArt StudioBooks takes advantage of NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ GPU capabilities, including realtime ray tracing and AI acceleration, catering to the needs of content creators and meeting the stringent requirements of the NVIDIA RTX Studio program. RTX Studio laptops are precision crafted to deliver dramatic improvements in productivity and performance across everyday creative apps. In addition to the flagship ProArt StudioBook One and ProArt StudioBook Pro X, the series also includes ProArt StudioBook Pro 17/15 and ProArt StudioBook 17/15 with both Quadro® and GeForce GPU options and all featuring Windows 10.

“With ProArt, ASUS has always been dedicated to delivering precision tools that empower creative professionals to do their best work,” said Mr. Samson Hu, ASUS Co-CEO. “I’m thrilled to be at IFA 2019 to announce our all-new, expanded ProArt lineup that takes our dedication to a new level, equipping more creative professionals than ever with a complete digital solution that enables them to achieve their artistic visions.”

“Content creators are more mobile than ever and must keep up with tight deadlines and complex workflows,” said Bob Pette, vice president of professional visualization at NVIDIA. “The latest ASUS ProArt lineup, punctuated by the world’s fastest laptop, carries the RTX Studio badge and is powered by NVIDIA RTX GPUs. They deliver high-end desktop performance and portability, so artists and designers can visualize and create their best work faster than before.”

The spark of inspiration can ignite at any time and content creators need a trusted, professional platform that matches the way they work and gives them the power to realize their creative vision. ProArt is inspired by creative professionals. It is designed with precision to go above and beyond the exacting standards professionals demand in order to provide immersive tools that support the creative process to bring the best ideas to life.

Together with the announcement of the new ProArt lineup, ASUS is launching the I am ProArtist campaign. Creators can submit their best 2D or 3D digital artwork or an original film clip for a chance to win ProArt products, including ProArt Display PA27AC, ProArt Display PA32UC, ProArt Station PA90, ProArt StudioBook Pro 17 and Mini PC PB60G. Full details are available at the campaign website: https://www.asus-campaign.com/iamproartist/

ProArt StudioBook One
ProArt StudioBook One is the most powerful StudioBook ever. Carrying the RTX Studio badge, the first laptop to feature NVIDIA Quadro® RTX™ 6000 graphics is the world’s most graphically powerful laptop. It is powered by the latest 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 processors, which deliver single and multi-threaded performance that enables creatives to tackle compute-intensive tasks and do the most with the software crucial to their workflows. NVIDIA Quadro RTX graphics provides users with more CUDA, RT, and Tensor cores, enabling rendering of animations, 8K video editing and data calculations to be handled more smoothly and efficiently.

ProArt StudioBook One has a powerful cooling system featuring a lightweight aerospace grade titanium alloy thermal module designed to optimize inlet and exhaust flow. When the lid is opened, the hinge tilts the chassis by 4.57° to maximize the inflow of cool air into the chassis. Heat-generating components, including the CPU, GPU, and thermal systems are placed behind the display to ensure comfortable use, even when placed on the user’s lap.

The 4K UHD PANTONE® Validated display on ProArt StudioBook One is truly amazing, boasting a superfast 120Hz refresh rate and edge to edge glass that sits flush with the bezels. Its 84% screen-to-body ratio provides immersive visuals, while the display’s wide 100% Adobe RGB gamut and Delta-E < 1 rating ensure exceptional color reproduction and accuracy.

For creatives, software is key. That’s why ASUS tests and invests in comprehensive Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certification processes to ensure the very best experience with professional software applications.

ProArt StudioBook Pro X
ProArt StudioBook Pro X is the first NVIDIA Quadro-powered laptop to feature ASUS ScreenPad 2.0 and the four-sided ASUS NanoEdge display. The innovative display design provides a 92% screen-to-body ratio and 16:10 aspect ratio for immersive visuals. ProArt StudioBook Pro X also supports an exceptionally wide color gamut with 97% DCI-P3 color space coverage and delivers high color-accuracy.

With ProArt StudioBook Pro X, users can edit and render multilayered files with professional-grade NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 graphics, optimized for stability and performance with professional software apps. It is powered by an Intel Xeon® or 9th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with six cores designed with the optimal combination of high frequency and threads to handle complex, multithreaded applications. CPU-attached Raid 0 ensures the fastest possible storage performance, with speeds of up to 6 GBps compared to the typical 4 GBps[2]. Additionally, ProArt StudioBook Pro X is designed to operate at full load without the need to throttle the speed of the CPU or GPU, making it outstandingly reliable for even the toughest workloads.

ProArt StudioBook Pro X is the first in the series to feature ScreenPad 2.0. This interactive secondary touchscreen upgrades the traditional laptop experience, providing users with an intuitive smartphone-like interface on which they can easily manage tasks and create their own seamless multitasking workflow.

The compact dimensions of this 17-inch laptop is comparable to that of many 15-inch laptops, slipping easily into a briefcase or messenger bag for professional grade graphics on the go. It looks good, too with a classy Star Grey finish with rose gold highlights.

ProArt Station D940MX
ProArt Station D940MX is a compact workstation-grade desktop designed for content creators and media professionals Featuring an 8-liter chassis, it is one of the smallest desktops available yet delivers incredible performance with a dual-sided logic board to house its powerful CPU, GPU and memory. It is powered by a 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 processor with up to 64GB DDR4 2666MHz memory, NVIDIA® Quadro RTX™ 4000 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 2080 Ti graphics, dual storage with a 512GB PCIe® SSD and 1TB HDD, and ultrafast connectivity, including dual Thunderbolt™ 3 ports on the front panel.

In addition to its compact size, ProArt Station D940MX has a stylish, modern design with unique touches especially for content creators, including an LED indicator at the bottom of the chassis to reflect the current status of the PC. Users can take a break and step away from ProArt Station D940MX when rendering graphics, simply glancing at the LEDs to check whether the process is done.

ProArt Station D940MX uses an advanced hybrid thermal system to cope with the heat buildup within the confines of its compact chassis. The system incorporates a 2D vapor chamber and heat pipes to lower overall internal temperatures by up to 6.8°C. Quad fans situated in different zones of the chassis help dissipate heat quickly, including an auxiliary fan on the hard drive, which increases airflow by up to 9% to ensure stable data performance.

Despite its powerful cooling system, ProArt Station D940MX operates silently, generating less than 19 dB of noise at idle, and up to 37 dB at full load, allowing users to work without distractions and not worry about the hum of cooling fans in the background when streaming or recording. Designed for the demanding needs of content creators, ProArt Station D940MX meets strict military-grade MIL STD 810G durability standards to ensure reliable long-term performance.

ProArt Display PA32UCG
ASUS ProArt Display PA32UCG is the world’s first HDR 1600 and 120Hz variable-refresh rate professional display. It features 4K UHD resolution and mini LED backlighting that delivers industry leading brightness and color performance for the critical visual workflows of filmmakers, broadcasters and game developers. ProArt Display PA32UCG is VESA pre-certified for DisplayHDR 1400, the industry’s latest and highest standard of HDR performance.

Featuring 1,152 individual mini LED backlights with local dimming that enable 1,000 nits of full-screen sustained brightness, 1,600 nits of peak brightness and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, ProArt Display PA32UCG delivers exceptional high-dynamic range (HDR) performance and supports all major HDR standards, including Dolby Vision®, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and HDR10.

ProArt Display PA32UCG also features quantum-dot technology, enabling it to display a wide color gamut with DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, sRGB, Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 color space support. With true 10-bit color depth and a three-level factory color pre-calibration process, ProArt Display PA32UCG delivers incredibly accurate color (Delta-E < 1) out of the box, and built-in ProArt Hardware Calibration technology with color profile write-back to the display ensures continuous accuracy for dependable ongoing performance.

Adaptive-Sync enables a 48–120Hz variable refresh rate (VRR) that eliminates visual smearing, tearing and motion blur, making ProArt Display PA32UCG a welcome addition to game-development workflows. Additionally, the display offers rich connectivity with two Thunderbolt™ 3, one DisplayPort and three HDMI ports as well as a built-in USB hub, enabling content creators to connect a wide variety of devices and enjoy ultrafast transfer speeds with external storage.

ProArt Creator Center
The ProArt Creator Center app delivers the optimal creation experience across all ProArt devices, enabling color calibration, performance optimization and synchronization. It lets users calibrate the display of their devices at any time and sync visual settings with connected ProArt devices. ProArt Creator Center also enables easy monitoring and optimization of system performance during production and even frees users from having to wait at their machine during rendering by letting them monitor progress on their smartphone or other mobile device.

{/pressrelease}

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Adobe Lightroom is now available on Apple’s Mac App Store for the first time ever

21 Jun

Starting today, Adobe Lightroom is available in the Mac App Store. This marks the first time one of Adobe’s flagship Creative Cloud apps is available within Apple’s redesigned desktop app market.

Adobe lists two in-app purchases within the Adobe Lightroom listing: a $ 9.99 monthly subscription option and a $ 118.99 annual subscription option.

A screenshot of the Adobe Lightroom app listing in the Mac App Store.

Adobe says the first week of using Lightroom, which comes with 1TB of cloud-based storage, is free. After the first week, the recurring monthly payment is automatically charged to your iTunes account. As with other macOS subscriptions, you can turn off auto-renew in your ‘Account Settings’ within 24 hours before the end of your billing period and you won’t be charged for the renewal.

Alternatively, if you already have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription that includes Lightroom, you can also log into your account after downloading Lightroom from the Mac App Store.

The $ 9.99 monthly subscription is the same price in the Mac App Store as it is on Adobe’s own website while the $ 118.99 annual subscription option is just shy of a dollar cheaper than the annual prepaid plan Adobe offers on its Creative Cloud website.1

Adobe’s decision to keep the prices the same is an interesting one considering Apple is known to take a 30% cut of in-app purchases made within its desktop and mobile app stores for the first year and 15% cut for each year after that. Even with the decrease in revenue though, it’s safe to say Adobe isn’t hurting, considering its stock is at an all-time high after a record-breaking Q2.

1 Adobe has the annual Lightroom prepaid plan listed for $ 119.88

Update (June 20, 2019): Added text to clarify that you can log into your existing Creative Cloud membership even when downloading Lightroom through the Mac App Store.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple’s new Mac Pro and 32″ 6K Retina display are a match made in media heaven

04 Jun

Apple unveiled more than software at its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2019 today. In addition to iOS 13, iPadOS and macOS Catalina, the Cupertino-based company also announced the Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR.

Mac Pro

Six years after Apple announced its barely-upgradeable cylindrical Mac Pro, aptly dubbed the ‘trash can,’ Apple took WWDC 2019 as an opportunity to unveil its most powerful, modular Mac Pro to date.

While undoubtedly new, the overall design is reminiscent of Apple’s original Mac Pro, complete with the ‘cheese grater’ vents, which are specifically machined to allow maximum airflow through the tower. However, unlike the original Mac Pro, this modular monster can shed its shell to offer complete 360-degree access to the internals, which are mounted on what Apple calls a ‘stainless steel space frame’ that serves not only as the skeletal structure of the computer but also as the handles and feet when the aluminum enclosure is slipped over it.

At the core of the Mac Pro is Intel’s new Xeon processor with up to 28 cores, a dedicated 300W power supply and robust cooling that keeps to the computer running ‘unconstrained at full power at all times’ when required to do so. Apple has included eight PCI Express slots (four double-wide and four single-wide), twelve six-channel memory slots for a maximum 1.5TB of RAM and a slew of various USB ports, including two USB-A ports and two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports on the rear of the tower with two addition USB-C ports on the top of the case for easier access.

In addition to the tower itself, Apple has also created three modules that are specifically designed to interface with the Mac Pro: the MPX Module, the ‘Afterburner’ video card and an I/O module.

The MPX Module is a quad-wide PCIx card that houses two AMD Radeon Pro Vega 2 or Radeon Pro Vega 2 Duo GPUS, its own heat sink and a Thunderbolt 3 connector that plugs directly into the motherboard for maximum speed. If maxed out with the two Radeon Pro Vega 2 Duo cards, the MPX Module alone could provide up to 128GB of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) from the GPUs inside.

Apple’s ‘Afterburner’ module

Apple’s new ‘Afterburner’ is a hardware accelerator card with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or a Programmable Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Apple claims the ‘Afterburner’ card can process up to 6.3 billion pixels per second and is capable of handling up to three streams of 8K ProRes RAW or 12 streams of 4K ProRes RAW at 30fps. As Apple puts it, ‘Proxy workflows, RIP.’ The last one is an I/O module that adds two additional USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Apple has fitted the Mac Pro with a 1.4kW power supply and a specialized fan arrangement that actively cools the components using three fans at the front of the tower and a blower at the rear to push up to 300 cubic feet of air per minute through the 3D lattice grills on the front and rear of the tower.

The updated Mac Pro is set to launch this fall starting at $ 5,999, which will get you the eight core Intel Xeon CPU, Radeon Pro 580X GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Apple hasn’t specified what a fully maxed-out Mac Pro would cost, but based on a brief analysis from The Verge, it’s looking like it could top out at around $ 50,000 going by the current market price of the various components.

Pro Display XDR

Of course, what would a powerful desktop computer be without a beautiful screen to compose, create and review your work on it with? Years after leaving the display market, Apple is back—and it’s created a display that’s just as (if not more) crazy than its Mac Pro counterpart.

It’s called the Pro Display XDR and it’s a 32in 6K Retina (6016px x 3384px, 218ppi) HDR display that brings the best features of high-end reference monitors and manages to pack said features into a more compact, affordable (comparatively speaking) frame that offers the convenience of more traditional monitors.

The Pro Display XDR features 10-bit color depth, P3 wide color gamut, 576 zones of full-array local dimming and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio on a screen that has sustained 1000-nits brightness (with the ability to achieve 1600-nits at its peak). This is done with the help of an in-factory calibration that custom defines algorithms to achieve the most accurate color rendering possible.

An illustration from Apple’s keynote showing the layers that go into making the Pro Display XDR.

To keep the monitor cool, Apple took the same 3D grill from the Mac Pro and effectively turned the entire rear of the display into a giant heat sink for maximum heat dissipation.

Every Pro Display XDR comes with an ‘extremely low reflectivity’ screen, but Apple has also created a new matte option that uses ‘nano-texture glass’ to further scatter and light and reduce glare. In Apple’s own words:

‘Typical matte displays have a coating added to their surface that scatters light. However, these coatings lower contrast while producing unwanted haze and sparkle. The nano-texture on Pro Display XDR is actually etched into the glass at the nanometer level.’

Other features of the display include integrated reference modes—HDR video (P3-ST 2084), Digital Cinema (P3-DCI) and Photography (P3-D65)—and Apple’s True Tone technology to adjust the monitor depending on the ambient lighting conditions.

Apple has paired the Pro Display XDR with the optional Pro Stand, a dedicated stand for the display that uses a specialized hinge mechanism to make raising, lowering, tilting and rotating the screen easy enough to do with one hand. The monitor snaps on using a magnetic connection on the back and can easily be swapped out with a VESA mount adapter for more customized mounting options.

In case that new house wasn’t looking as enticing as you would hope, you could go ahead and drop what was going to be your downpayment on six Pro Display XDR monitors.

The Pro Display XDR relies on a Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect with the new Mac Pro, which can drive up to six of these things for a mind-numbing 120 million combined pixels.

The standard Pro Display XDR is expected to ship this fall for $ 4,999, with the nano-glass version costing $ 1,000 more at $ 5,999. The optional Pro Stand will set you back another $ 1,000, while the VESA mount adapter will be a slightly more reasonable $ 199.

While the pricing seems ridiculous, the display itself is on par—if not more capable—than many professional reference monitors that retail for five times the price. The stand feels like a bit of a money grab at $ 1,000, but the $ 199 VESA mount is a much more reasonable option and should yield more flexibility in the long run anyway.

For more information on the Pro Display XDR visit Apple’s product page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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