Has anyone tried Pro Tools 2021.7 on the Monterey Betas?

[Sardi]

I feel the same re: the HDMI port. I can’t be the only one that has a bunch of different HDMI cables. TB to HDMI. DisplayPort to HDMI. DVI to HDMI.

The SD card slot I’m glad they put back on. Handy to rip out the card from say my Sound Devices recorder or SLR and transfer. Also a cheap way to add a tonne of storage. Could leave a 512GB SD card attached permanently for all sorts of data that doesn’t need to rely on blazing fast speeds. Adds no extra weight or bulk to the machine.

And totally agree on the re-inclusion of the MagSafe connector. That should never have been removed. One of the best inventions they ever came up with IMHO.

The chunky look to me comes from the additional feet. Probably better from a cooling standpoint, but the little rubber feet of old looked much sleeker. Also not a fan of the throwback all black keyboard. Looked much better with the aluminium running around the keys. Glad they ditched the Touch Bar though. The notch… looks… well, pretty hideous. I just don’t know why they couldn’t have blacked out the whole top strip. Keep thin bezels on the bottom and side and a thicker top. Would have looked more elegant I think.

Regardless, they’ve delivered a VERY powerful machine. To think, they’re just one year in. Imagine what the Mac Pro will deliver. Amazing times ahead I think.


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[dominicperry]

HDMI is there, right or wrong, for office users.
Loads of people roll up at offices (their own, or customers' or suppliers') and the screens on the desks and the projectors in the meeting rooms have an HDMI connection. Could everyone carry a dongle? Yes they could. Do they? Frequently not.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

HDMI is there, right or wrong, for office users.
Loads of people roll up at offices (their own, or customers' or suppliers') and the screens on the desks and the projectors in the meeting rooms have an HDMI connection. Could everyone carry a dongle? Yes they could. Do they? Frequently not.

Maybe in UK, but here in Finland most meeting rooms have minidisplayport available for Apple users. Both are standard, with DVI and VGA going away (good riddance).

I have been more worried about whether I have forgot my power adapter at home when I visit UK, because your power brick is just as incomprehensible than driving on the wrong side of the road.

What I would want is just some kind of understanding what connections we want to be using. HDMI for displays is fine, no problem. USB-C which soon becomes USB4 and compatible with TB, fine as well. SD card slot I do not understand, instead I would understand that computers still have 1-2 USB-A ports for backwards compatiblity if there is space for it. FireWire is already legacy but can be done with an adapter, so it is a personal choice. Wireless is so common most computers do not really need dedicated (and big) ethernet port. And if needed, that can also be done with an adapter.

Back to my point, connection need to unify. One size fits all baseball caps have been around for a century already. Same goes for connections soon enough.

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Maybe in UK, but here in Finland most meeting rooms have minidisplayport available for Apple users. Both are standard, with DVI and VGA going away (good riddance).

I have been more worried about whether I have forgot my power adapter at home when I visit UK, because your power brick is just as incomprehensible than driving on the wrong side of the road.

What I would want is just some kind of understanding what connections we want to be using. HDMI for displays is fine, no problem. USB-C which soon becomes USB4 and compatible with TB, fine as well. SD card slot I do not understand, instead I would understand that computers still have 1-2 USB-A ports for backwards compatiblity if there is space for it. FireWire is already legacy but can be done with an adapter, so it is a personal choice. Wireless is so common most computers do not really need dedicated (and big) ethernet port. And if needed, that can also be done with an adapter.

Back to my point, connection need to unify. One size fits all baseball caps have been around for a century already. Same goes for connections soon enough.

Yes, totally agree - although there are so many connection types now that it's impossible to please everyone with every kind of legacy device.

The UK three-pin power plug is designed to always lie on the floor with the pins upright, and to be the most painful thing you can possibly tread on, ever. All other considerations are secondary.

As for driving on the wrong side, there's a very long and interesting history associated with which countries do what - all covered in the Wikipedia page. All I can say is that whenever I visit any European country, I find it very very hard not to get run over when crossing the road. Of course, us Brits jaywalk as a matter of course, so we get what we deserve!

Dominic

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

HDMI is there, right or wrong, for office users.
Loads of people roll up at offices (their own, or customers' or suppliers') and the screens on the desks and the projectors in the meeting rooms have an HDMI connection. Could everyone carry a dongle? Yes they could. Do they? Frequently not.

Funny. I tend to find DVI more common than HDMI. Perhaps it’s because it’s been around longer.

I get your point, but it’s an awful waste of a port. The HDMI port is just that. A TB port could be anything and is far more useful.

I’m pretty organised though so maybe I just assume everyone else carries adaptors and cables. I rarely get caught out. I’ve even started buying doubles ended USB flash drives - USB A on one end and USB C on the other end.


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[JFreak]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

The UK three-pin power plug is designed to always lie on the floor with the pins upright, and to be the most painful thing you can possibly tread on, ever. All other considerations are secondary.

Hear! Hear!

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Sardi

awful waste of a port

We have two alternatives here.

#1: one type of ports and handful of adapters
#2: no apdapters and multiple types of ports

Maybe one day consumer electronics get rid of HDMI but today HDMI port is a wise move.

Maybe one day all legacy USB-A things are distant memory, but today 1-2 old USB ports is a wise move.

The more USB-C (TB4) ports the thing has the better. Everything seems to be going that way. But we are not living in the future yet, so in my opinion HDMI or USB-A are not waste of ports, because I also hate adapters.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by JFreak

in my opinion HDMI or USB-A are not waste of ports, because I also hate adapters.

To me they are if they’re taking the place of a TB port, which in this case is exactly what they’re doing.

If they had of left 4 x TB and added the HDMI port, fine. But they haven’t. They’ve substituted an extremely flexible port to one that is capable of a single use.

FTR - I’m also not a fan of adaptors, but let’s not kid ourselves, we’ve been using them forever. It’s not a recent thing. I’ve had to convert from FW800 to FW400. Heck, I used to have loads of SCSI cables because of the different connection types they used.


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[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Sardi

To me they are if they’re taking the place of a TB port, which in this case is exactly what they’re doing.

If they had of left 4 x TB and added the HDMI port, fine. But they haven’t. They’ve substituted an extremely flexible port to one that is capable of a single use.

FTR - I’m also not a fan of adaptors, but let’s not kid ourselves, we’ve been using them forever. It’s not a recent thing. I’ve had to convert from FW800 to FW400. Heck, I used to have loads of SCSI cables because of the different connection types they used.


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As I said, it is about balancing the need of adapters and real world use cases.

In three(ish) years I believe things may be USB-C (TB4) only but for now I welcome that this M1 Mac Mini of mine has two USB-A and one HDMI in addition to two TB ports. Better if there was four TB ports, but the great thing about this design is both TB ports have their own TB buss so both are running full speed.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by JFreak

As I said

I also said things. This is a discussion. We are conversing and sharing opinions. There is no right or wrong. You have your viewpoint. I am sharing mine. They differ.

My requirement for an HDMI port is non existent. For example. My monitor in the studio has DisplayPort, DVI & HDMI. Running DP or DVI I get full 2560x1440 resolution. Running via HDMI I only get 1080p. So, I have no need for HDMI as I could use TB.

Everyone has different use cases. You can’t please everyone. IMO, they shouldn’t have dropped a TB port to reintroduce a legacy connection. That is all.


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