“Final Cut Pro X 10.0 was launched 7 years ago today. Why hasn’t it taken over the world of TV and film editing?” Alex Gollner writes for Alex4D. “Final Cut is better than the rest. That isn’t enough.”
“Despite the efforts of the Apple’s Video Applications team, the ‘top’ 0.25% of editors don’t trust Apple as a whole: The wider Apple that makes Mac hardware that seems more and more out of date. The Apple that still can’t share its plans in a useful way,” Gollner writes. “The biggest problem: They don’t trust the Apple that doesn’t nurture a deep post ecosystem.”
“Apple would like high-end users to invest in their hardware and software, yet Apple doesn’t seem to care about others who have invested in businesses that support the high end,” Gollner writes. “They still don’t trust Apple because of the way Final Cut Pro 7 was discontinued 7 years ago. Improving features in the application itself is not enough to win back trust.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Leaving their high-end flagship professional Mac Pro to rot for 5+ years certainly doesn’t engender trust among professional Mac users either.
Mismanagement of product lines and misplaced priorities have ripple effects that Apple’s upper management seem to have failed to fully anticipate or appreciate.
In the annals of Glorious Apple Failures, the Mac Pro is doing its damnedest to earn top billing.
There is simply no excuse for a company swimming in a lake of cash atop a mountain range of money to not have every single product they offer, including their top-of-the-line flagship Mac, up-to-date and state-of-the-art at all times. If even Dell et al. can manage it, why the hell can’t Apple?
A team of interns with petty cash could come up with a Mac tower in 6 months or less that Mac professionals would line up to buy in droves.
We’re going to operate on the idea that Apple was so consumed by The Colossal Distraction (Apple Park) that even such obvious issues fell through the cracks because the alternative, that Apple’s management team has become so fat and lazy without Steve Jobs to drive them that they’ll let even their flagship Mac languish for half a decade, is too horrifying to contemplate. _ MacDailyNews, May 31, 2018
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s 2013 Mac Pro, five years later – May 31, 2018
Why can’t Apple keep their products up-to-date? – April 10, 2018
Why is it taking Apple so long to update the Mac Pro? – April 10, 2018
Apple’s latest announcements about the modular Mac Pro really ramp up expectations – April 6, 2018
Apple needs to stop promising new products and start delivering them – April 6, 2018
Apple: No new Mac Pro until 2019 – April 5, 2018
Apple reiterates they’re working on an all-new modular, upgradeable Mac Pro and a high-end pro display – December 14, 2017
Why Apple’s promise of a new ‘modular’ Mac Pro matters so much – April 6, 2017
Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro was flexible, expandable, and powerful – imagine that – April 6, 2017
More about Apple’s Mac Pro – April 6, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – April 4, 2017
Apple’s apparent antipathy towards the Mac prompts calls for macOS licensing – March 27, 2017
Why Apple’s new Mac Pro might never arrive – March 10, 2017
Dare we hold out hope for the Mac Pro? – March 1, 2017
Apple CEO Cook pledges support to pro users, says ‘we don’t like politics’ at Apple’s annual shareholders meeting – February 28, 2017
Yes, I just bought a ‘new’ Mac Pro (released on December 19, 2013 and never updated) – January 4, 2017
Attention, Tim Cook! Apple isn’t firing on all cylinders and you need to fix it – January 4, 2017
No, Apple, do not simplify, get better – December 23, 2016
Rare video shows Steve Jobs warning Apple to focus less on profits and more on great products – December 23, 2016
Marco Arment: Apple’s Mac Pro is ‘very likely dead’ – December 20, 2016
How Tim Cook’s Apple alienated Mac loyalists – December 20, 2016
Apple’s not very good, really quite poor 2016 – December 19, 2016
Apple’s software has been anything but ‘magical’ lately – December 19, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Rush Limbaugh: Is Apple losing their edge? – December 9, 2016
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Apple may have finally gotten too big for its unusual corporate structure – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016
Apple’s disgracefully outdated, utterly mismanaged Mac lineup is killing sales – October 13, 2016
Apple takes its eye off the ball: Why users are complaining about Apple’s software – February 9, 2016
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015
Classic Pipeline. Ignore premium hardware and software until it is the laughing stock of the industry.
Remember when Mac Pros were awesome computers? Remember those towers, grinding away at top level computing jobs? That was a long time ago, thanks to no one but Pipeline.
And what’s worse, the end is STILL not in sight.
There is simply nothing PRO about FCP X,,
THE “X” Stands for “Ex” like Goodbye…
Like my EX-Wife…. who, simply didn’t get it.
I can name 10 features that are missing that stop me from even starting certain projects with FCP X, and its just an illogical approach to editing anyway, That’s why every single PRO editing program is nothing like FCP X. None of the others have adopted any of FCP X, illogical features.
I’d still buy a Mac Pro for Premiere or any other program.
Apple simply does not understand that Apple used to be synonymous with excellence, and now its not.. Apple also doesn’t understand that all kids who tinker with apps want to aspire to be the best… and will demand the best. and BTW, the PRO programs are actually easy to use. So the novice iMovie crowd was never afraid.
Why stay loyal? Apple will find the same with their phone loyalty as well, They have only 10% of the market as it is..
That’s why I say,, What Ecosystem?
Yes on MDN’s opinion.
I have said this several times in the past, but it bears repeating. Businesses (and pros) want dependability and stability above everything else. Stability means, at the very least, a predictable 3-5 year future supported by incremental development and well-orchestrated transitions as a product lineup changes and evolves, as well as plenty of time to test, adapt, verify, and roll-out a new implementation.
New features are great. Breakthroughs are exciting and wonderful. But the work has to get done in order to pay the bills. Dependability. Stability. Committed customer care to resolve issues. You need to get on board, Apple…you are no longer the small businesses bucking the establishment led by a charismatic visionary. Time to get down to business.
One interesting thing that came out of a recent article is how Apple is paying attention to a professionals workflow. A lot of people discounted this but it is a critical point. It’s not just the hardware and software, but also how it fits into the overall workflow and how disruptive it is when something even as insignificant as removing a port can be. Businesses expect a longer cycle for their hardware or peripheral technology.
I think it’s important to understand from that article WHOSE workflow Apple’s is focused on. Apple’s not inviting cheese-grater holdouts on campus to have a chat, they’re inviting Mac Pro users, MacBook Pro users, iMac users, iMac Pro users, MacBook users, people who are using today’s devices TODAY running pro apps regularly to do professional work.
So, I think anyone HOPING that Apple is working on a way to make it easier to connect cheese-grater Macs in a way to create a super computer cluster… PROOOOOObably not the pro’s they’re focusing on.
Just for good measure….
Hitler hears about FCP X original
Equally as funny, (AND ACCURATE)
Hitler finds out about FCP X
He was, after all, a perfectionist. Or something.
LOL, Never upset the Hitler base.
“Apple was distracted”
No.
“Apple’s management team is fat and lazy”
No. These two are just excuses. And not even GOOD excuses
Now, “Apple isn’t interested in the Mac Pro” is what should replace all the excuses until someone can show that Apple ARE interested in the Mac Pro. 2019 VERY likely means end of 2019, shipping in 2020, they would NEVER go without updating the things they care about for so long. In the same time frame, we’re going to see a second version of AIRPODS before we get a single new Mac Pro. What else are we likely to see? We’re going to see a fourth Apple Watch, a several new and multiple upgraded retail stores, updates to iWork, another iPhone, possibly two new iPads, a new laptop, maybe two, updates to the iPad chargers (from 29 to 30 watts), the only thing ONLY thing that may NOT see an upgrade before the Mac Pro, is the Mac mini.
Add to the list, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro X (and Compressor, Motion), and Logic while you’re at it.
This “trust” issue has been around since the late 1980s.
Most computer companies will provide a significant customer their firm’s plan for the next year and projected plans (subject to change) for the next five years. Non disclosure agreements and embargos against publicly stating any associated designs by the computer company’s customer. But the computer company’s intentions are clearly outlined allowing potential customers to make plans as to what they implement and support.
This has not been the case for Apple as far back as three decades or more. Even under hard non disclosure agreements Apple rarely outlines its future roadmap to even its largest customers. If any organization outside Apple can get a clear map of even the next 12 months they are doing exceedingly well.
This presents a major problem for entities that need to plan 2 – 5 years in advance.
Compound this with Apple doing idiotic things like ignoring the Mac Pro for 5+ years; creating a Mac Pro “trashcan” that few want; switching to FCP X without a clear migration path that is brain dead simple; etc. and you have a nearly insurmountable trust issue with the top tier computer users.
While I radically disagree with MDN’s statement: “A team of interns with petty cash could come up with a Mac tower in 6 months or less that Mac professionals would line up to buy in droves.”, it certainly is possible for a couple dozen top tier engineers to start with a blank sheet of paper and come up with a viable Mac Pro in under 12 months and have it in full production in under 18 months. Such a team could come up with a truly amazing (as in knock your socks off and “how the hell did they do that”) Mac Pro and have it in full production in under 24 months.
The problem, as I’ve said on this site before, is leadership. The Mac product lines have none. Absolutely none.
For the past six or more years Apple is slowly but surely losing its true pro customers across virtually all its use cases. Even if Apple were to come out with a truly amazing Mac Pro in the next 12 months (and shipping it in quantities with virtually zero wait times) Apple is never going to win back a large fraction of those truly pro customers.
Apple’s pro base saved it from oblivion back in the mid 90s. It wasn’t Apple consumer base. It was the set of pros. For almost a decade Apple has been sending the unofficial message, “We don’t care about true pros. ‘Prosumers’ are the highest segment of interest to us, and we barely care about them!”
But a new Mac Pro doesn’t have to be revolutionary. It only has to be fast, expandable, and able to use every graphic card with top tier specs.
It should also use industry standard architectures so that third party companies will have memory, drives and graphic cards available for years to come.
“truly amazing”
Unfortunately, there’s really nothing truly amazing in the desktop space. I’m struggling to think of one thing where I’d say, “Now THAT was amazing.” about a desktop form factor.
I got another email from a friend who’s leaving the mac platform today. She has an MSc and runs a very successful small business. She’s had it. Another friend who runs a small business is leaving after her current machine. It’s over.
The stock may keep ticking along for a while, but one day the curtain is going to be pulled back and it’s going to be ugly.
” The Mac product lines have none. Absolutely none.”
Absolutely bang on. Why can’t some tech journalist who is interviewing Pipeline bring up this point? I would LOVE to hear Pipeline defend his performance on the Mac Pro and Mac Mini.
What would Pipeline say?
He would say, “We are applying leadership where required to drive the creation of our best and most important products”
Translation
“The Mac really just isn’t all that important.”
There is a picture in Time where Tim Cook is sitting at his desk with an iMac and a stupid iPad with that cheap keyboard and guess which one he is using.
Tim has decided to be a mobile first person and really does not give a damn about the Mac. Nobody in their right mind would use that iPad when there is a large screen Mac on the desktop.
What would Tim say to being asked about the Mac Pro? The same nothingness he always says, in his drawling, overly gentle and friendly voice. “The Mac is the heart of Apple. We care /deeply/ about the Mac. The Mac is /dear/ to us here at Apple. And we care about the professional users as well. We believe that, with the Mac, people can go out there and do /great/ things.” He probably practices saying this, as well as his accessibility speech, his 100% energy speech, and all other sweet nothings in front of a full-length mirror, getting all the nuances of care into his expressions and speech. But we all know that they’re nothing. Even Microsoft is doing better than Apple now, at least in professional software, at most in its growing of Narrator into a full screen reader.
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Hey cut Apple some slack, they have 122,000 employees. They’re doing the best they can…
As I’ve said before, perhaps there was more meaning to Steve dropping the word computer from Apple’s name than I/we would like to admit…?!?! I hope not, but it sure seems that way…
I’ve been admitting it enough for both of us… just waiting for others to catch up. 🙂
Tim Cook and likely half the management team need to retire!
I don’t know why any of us comment on this at all. Apple’s management has been told all this stuff for years and they continue to ignore all of the hardware issues. We are receiving more frequent software updates for FCPX, which is good thing but this has been the only bright spot in a dark sea of neglect.