Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

Yeah, I know... I didn't pull the trigger...

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/7/12/17563646/apple-blackmagic-external-gpu-price-release-date
@chrisbmx116 you’re the resident egpu guru no? How does this stack up against what you’ve used. Is this going to give me the pc gaming performance I yearn for?

From what I've read it's decent but expensive and not upgradeable. But it'll last a few years for sure and has plenty of use as a hub with the usb3/tb3/hdmi etc ports.

My experience with other Blackmagic products is middling. I've probably spent 20k on their broadcast equipment in recent years and think it's great for the price point but has quirks that need overcoming.

All said, if I upgrade my mbp in the next year I'll likely pick one of these up.

non upgradable gpu is a pretty dumb. The ASUS Rog or Razer Core looks a better use of money.

OH HAI.

So, this black magic, its actually great... but not what you are after.
Its a high end (build) super silent studio eGPU for video editors especially those running LG 5K displays as it is the only eGPU/GPU with TB3 output for TB3 monitors. It works in Bootcamp/W10 if you have a previous eGPU set up as there are driver detection issues (although AMD cards are harder to get working on most MacBooks in W10).

@Sumo I wouldn't call it dumb, it doesnt suit everyone but its really well built, runs cool and super silent, things that are important in the studio environment, and the price isn't that bad considering, a core V2 + an rx580 would set you back more and those things run loud. The Asus looks like a great enclosure.

If you want to game you should really boot into windows, and when doing that Nvidia cards are so much easier to set up.

The new 13inch MBP, this, and an LG 5K would be a beast of a set up for someone who only uses macOS (a lot of my games are macOS too). I can't justify upgrading on a yearly basis so sticking with my 2017 and a 1070 for games in Windows.

One extra point, the Blackmagic eGPU will only do 30fps at 4k/5k, 60fps at 1080. So if you do get one for gaming then stick with a 1080 monitor. Saying that, you need to use an external monitor, it can't feed back to the inbuilt display.

That doesn’t sound right? FPS is determined by refresh rate and gpu power no? I game at 1440 on a 5K and it’s great so running half res is an option.

Hmm, reading it again Blackmagic say it will do 4k at 60fps
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicegpu/techspecs/W-DRE-10

I can't find where I was reading the fps stats before. I assumed there was some built in fps limiter.

it's not upgradeable, won't work with Windows or with with a mac running TB2.
Has anyone benchmarked it?
I'd spend my money on a watercooled Nvidia card (to reduce noise) and a decent 3rd party enclosure. In fact I did :)

Slightly off topic, but I’m looking to get a printer, any recommendations. Thinking laserjet, scan and copy with the ability to print over wi-fi. Got a 1 month subscription to which? So I could look at their reviews and they recommend a Samsung printer, but it’s a bit old and Samsung are now in collaboration with hp.
It’s only for me and my missus and for printing out forms, letters and work stuff.
Thanks

We had/have a samsung laserjet and it was great. Really fast, good quality prints etc - didn't have a scanner. I'm now getting rid of it as the ink is so hard to track down after their HP merger that it's more cost effective to buy a new one (with a scanner this time) than spend about 500 quid on a new set of ink including import from some dealer in australia because they're the only place that have stock of the OG samsung stuff (have a bad habit of never buying off brand ink). Appreciate the insanity of recycling/freecycling a perfectly good printer but :/

Understand still have my old Apple jet printer which I was supposed to fix but never got round to, but have never replaced/recycled.
Which printer are you thinking of?
Samsung one which? Recommended you can’t update or find the drivers for online, so no point in purchasing.

We have an HP M277DW (such a catchy name!) and it does all this well. The replacement timers aren’t silly expensive either

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-M277dw-LaserJet-Colour-Printer/dp/B00TON9V2C

This was the one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Xpress-C1810W-Colour-Printer/dp/B015J5483K?th=1

How many pages will you print per month? Do you really need to print colour? Do you want it to live on your desk or in a drawer? How many documents will you scan each month?

For just printing the odd document or letter I would suggest a small inkjet with a separate flatbed scanner. Both can live in a desk drawer, clutter free FTW. I have a Canon iP100 which supports wireless printing, inkjet cartridges are pennies and last ages, together with a Canon LiDE 120 scanner.

I've also had a b&w laser like you mention but honestly they're not worth it unless you print 200+ pages per month.

these guys always have the best reviews for this kinda stuff

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-all-in-one-printer/

How do I stop Files from launching every time I open my iPad? Searched google and settings, can’t find the answer.

Looking to free up space on my MBP - there is a "Install macOS High Sierra.app" 5.2GB - can I delete this? Should I save it onto an external backup in case it isn't easily downloadable in future and I need to reinstall the OS?

my instinct is that you can definitely delete that.
Should you need to re-install in the future, you can start the download off again from the recovery drive/bootup menu.

Or from the App Store. If you’re already running HS then delete. On a related note I run cleanmymac on all my machines as it’s really good at freeing up wasted drive space.

Have you tried deleting it and reinstalling?

Anyone in the market for an iPad? I bought my 2017 32GB model brand new last May or whatever it was released, and I am now thinking I quite like an update to maybe a pro with the pencil...

Not 100% sure what I want yet but if you are after an iPad then you might just help me to make up my mind... Cheers

Friend just bought on of they all singing and dancing MacBooks, after that patch he seems to think its absolutely rapid. Smashing render times on Premiere pro that would take 10 mins before now taking 30 secs.

When I can afford it im defo getting one, seems like the ticket.

Hi. Idiot question - iPad activation lock came on randomly. Sorted it out and reset password but not sure why this happened - glitch or something more suspicious? Thanks in advance.