Make 2012 more efficient with new Mac hardware

2011 has been a big year for Macs. First up, we had the arrival of the speedy new Thunderbolt port, then were treated to a fierce new system update in OS X Lion. With all these technological developments, it's important not to get left in the lurch, and ask yourself whether your team's current Mac hardware is making your workflow as efficient as it can be...

Along with the Thunderbolt announcements, Apple unleashed new hardware, including a crop of iMacs and MacBook Pros with the new data transfer bus built in. Very exciting, but it did mean we had to say goodbye to a dear old friend. The classic design of the white MacBook is no more, with the entry level hardware position being filled by the slick MacBook Air. Any of the new MacBook Pros or iMacs now ship with Thunderbolt and OS X Lion as standard, so by upgrading your hardware you get to take advantage of all these new benefits...

Thunderbolt is go!

Taking over the old Mini DisplayPort, Apple and Intel's new Thunderbolt port technology promises speeds that leave USB 2.0 in the dust. As it gives you a dual-stream 10 Gbps connection, you get access to speeds only previously available over PCIe, which means faster connections for all your peripherals, from RAID drives to video I/O.

One I/O box we're particularly excited about is the AJA Io XT. Boasting two high-speed Thunderbolt ports, the XT is daisy-chainable so you can connect extra storage or displays, and is compatible with a range of codecs including ProRes, DVCProHD, CineForm and Avid DNxHD. Blackmagic are also weighing in with the Intensity Extreme - the first Thunderbolt device to combine HDMI capture and playback with analogue component, NTSC, PAL and S-Video connectivity. As well as providing true uncompressed video captured directly from the HD camera's image sensor, the Extreme is also completely powered through the Thunderbolt port.

Then there's the UltraStudio 3D capture and playback device which supports full stereoscopic workflows, letting you capture two streams of 1080p HD video for both the left and right eye to separate QuickTime or DPX files. For a limited time, we're even offering an exclusive deal where you can buy the Ultrastudio 3D with a free Thunderbolt cable thrown in! But you don't even have to worry about getting a whole new box as, using an affordable Matrox MXO2 Thunderbolt adapter, you can now hook up any PCIe-dependent MXO2 device to the new range of Thunderbolt-enabled Macs. Winner!

OS X Lion: The claws are out

As well as new connections, Apple introduced a whole new operating system in OS X Lion (10.7). Packed with features that make it easier to share work with colleagues and clients, and generally make your workflow more intuitive, Lion is now installed as standard on all new Mac hardware. If your hardware isn't qualified for Lion yet, here are some of the features you'll be missing out on:

• Full-screen apps and multitouch. Designed to operate more like iOS devices, these make your work more fluid, allowing you to swipe between apps like FCP X and After Effects without having to leave the full-screen view.
• Resume and Versions. Restart your system, and Resume brings up all your apps exactly how you left them, while Versions saves a timeline of previous versions of documents to revert back to. Now it's even more difficult to lose any unsaved work!
• AirDrop. It's now easy to drag and drop files around the place, wirelessly sharing clips right from the Finder window with AirDrop.

What hardware do I need?

Basically, any new iMac or MacBook is qualified to run OS X Lion, and will also include a Thunderbolt port. We stock a wide range of Mac hardware, and can advise on what would be best for your workflow.

We've picked out one machine as an example. It packs enough power for editing, but is also portable enough to take from the studio on to the set. This 17" Quad-core 8GB MacBook Pro features a hi-res glossy screen that's large enough to work comfortably in your preferred apps, but as it also features a Thunderbolt port, there's the opportunity to hook up an extra Apple display for showing clips to the whole crew. The RAM has been upped to the maximum 8GB, which makes it perfect for handling intense applications and workloads, and the AMD Radeon 6750M GDDR5 processor also gives you 1GB of dedicated memory for enhanced graphics capabilities.

Find out more about our full range of Mac hardware, including the 17" Quad-core 8GB MacBook by calling 03332 409 306, emailing broadcast@Jigsaw24.com or visiting Jigsaw Broadcast. For regular news updates and offers, follow us on Twitter @JigsawVideo or head to our Jigsaw Video Facebook page.