Where were you this time last year? We were waiting to go into WWDC to see the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR for the first time. This year? Nobody is attending, but we do have the Keynote livestream. Will we see the beginning of the transition from Intel to Arm-based processors?
Ever had that feeling of déjà vu? We can still remember when we had to run dual binaries of FCP (Classic) when Apple transitioned from PowerPC to Intel processors.
Now, if all the rumours are to be believed, we are about to see the the beginning of the change from Intel to Arm-based chips.
If so, what does that mean for Mac users and more importantly, FCPX users?
The year-old Mac Pro is modular, so we would expect Arm-based processor modules to be released at some point. They will of course cost, but not as expensive as buying another machine!
As for laptops, would the 16 inch MBP be the first candidate for change? Apple only last week announced the new GPU option, so who is going to pay $3000+ for a new machine when you know its life will be limited?
Sure, there will be the equivalent of the Intel/PowerPC translation software Rosetta if we all have to make a change. However, it is all the third party software developers that will take a big hit.
Keeping one instance of a product up to date with the macOS is bad enough. Having to port it to run on Arm-based chips as well is a heavy extra load for developers.
The FCPX ecosystem is larger than any other NLE and some of the products available are critical to certain workflows. Some users will move immediately to a new machine with the newly coded apps. Some will have to wait until all their third party products have completed the change.
Talking of changes, we haven't seen a major update of Final Cut Pro X for two years now. Is this because they have stopped development on the Intel version and have concentrated on the Arm-based version?
Let's hope they don't make the same mistake from FCPX's now legendarily bad launch where the previous version was killed overnight.
Who knows? We certainly don't, that's why we will be watching the livestream of the keynote from Apple Park with interest.
We are also planning a live show for tomorrow night (Tuesday) where we will be talking about WWDC and the impact it will have on FCPX editors. See you there!