Amazon changed the face of retail over the last 20 years but has failed miserably to make inroads in the luxury goods market. Now, it's trying something new. The online retailer has purchased a small stake in retailer Neiman Marcus and will reportedly provide data and logistics to Neiman and its new owner, Saks Fifth Avenue.
Yesterday, Saks Fifth Avenue and parent HBC announced the $2.65 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus (which also owns Bergdorf Goodman), putting the largest US luxury retailers under the same roof, The Wall Street Journal reported. Amazon is a minority investor in the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval.
"How do you future-proof a brand like Saks or Neimans or Bergdorf? You do that through technology," Saks CEO Marc Metrick told Bloomberg. To that end, Amazon will gather high-quality customer data, analyze it to offer more personalized options and improve logistics.
Amazon has attempted to access the luxury retail market over the years, but the major brands want nothing to do with it. "We believe the business of Amazon does not fit with LVMH, full stop, and it does not fit with our brands," LVMH said back in 2016. The only place that LVMC (which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givency and other labels) does business is in its own retail stores, at retailers like Neiman Marcus or on its own website.
In Europe, luxury brands won the right to block third-party sales of products online if they felt it damaged their image. In addition, the EU ruled in 2010 that brands with less than a 30 percent market share could prevent online retailers from selling their wares.
Amazon has tried to break into bricks-and-motor retail with varying degrees of success. Its ownership of Whole Foods is one positive example, but its cashierless Go stores have largely failed to take off.
With the acquisition of Neiman Marcus by Saks' parent HBC, Amazon is getting involved in an organization expected to do a combined $10 billion worth of annual sales. There's no word on the size of Amazon's investment, but it seems a relatively safe bet compared to the more radical brick-and-mortar experiments it's tried in the past.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-takes-a-new-brick-and-mortar-approach-with-a-stake-in-neiman-marcus-133019628.html?src=rss
Amazon changed the face of retail over the last 20 years but has failed miserably to make inroads in the luxury goods market. Now, it's trying something new. The online retailer has purchased a small stake in retailer Neiman Marcus and will reportedly provide data and logistics to Neiman and its new owner, Saks Fifth Avenue.
Yesterday, Saks Fifth Avenue and parent HBC announced the $2.65 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus (which also owns Bergdorf Goodman), putting the largest US luxury retailers under the same roof, The Wall Street Journal reported. Amazon is a minority investor in the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval.
"How do you future-proof a brand like Saks or Neimans or Bergdorf? You do that through technology," Saks CEO Marc Metrick told Bloomberg. To that end, Amazon will gather high-quality customer data, analyze it to offer more personalized options and improve logistics.
Amazon has attempted to access the luxury retail market over the years, but the major brands want nothing to do with it. "We believe the business of Amazon does not fit with LVMH, full stop, and it does not fit with our brands," LVMH said back in 2016. The only place that LVMC (which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givency and other labels) does business is in its own retail stores, at retailers like Neiman Marcus or on its own website.
In Europe, luxury brands won the right to block third-party sales of products online if they felt it damaged their image. In addition, the EU ruled in 2010 that brands with less than a 30 percent market share could prevent online retailers from selling their wares.
Amazon has tried to break into bricks-and-motor retail with varying degrees of success. Its ownership of Whole Foods is one positive example, but its cashierless Go stores have largely failed to take off.
With the acquisition of Neiman Marcus by Saks' parent HBC, Amazon is getting involved in an organization expected to do a combined $10 billion worth of annual sales. There's no word on the size of Amazon's investment, but it seems a relatively safe bet compared to the more radical brick-and-mortar experiments it's tried in the past.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-takes-a-new-brick-and-mortar-approach-with-a-stake-in-neiman-marcus-133019628.html?src=rss
Nike is discontinuing its self-lacing Adapt BB sneakers and providing a case in point of what can happen to tech that relies on apps. First announced in 2019, the sneakers used a Back to the Future II style power-lacing system called FitAdapt that was adjustable either manually or with an app. Now, the company will no longer make new Adapt shoes and is retiring the Nike Adapt App, it announced in a help document spotted by The Verge.
"After five years, we’re retiring the Adapt App and removing it from the Apple and Android app stores, globally, on August 6, 2024," the page states. "Don’t worry, your Adapt shoes will continue to work without the app. See below for more information about the retirement of the Adapt App."
A FAQ goes on to state that the Adapt app "should continue to function" follow its removal, if you already have it installed. You won't be able to move it to a new device, though, and future iOS updates may limit or end functionality.
Nike goes on to state that if the app is removed, the shoes will retain the last light color selected. Features still available without it include power on, check battery status, adjust your fit, save your fit, unlace shoes and power off.
Perhaps the biggest loss with the end of Adapt is in accessibility, as the shoes were marketed in part as a way to make shoe tying easier for people with limited mobility. It also shows the danger of tying functionality of physical technology to custom apps — once the app loses support, the product gets a lot worse and there's not much you can do about it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nike-is-killing-the-app-for-its-futuristic-adapt-bb-sneakers-120039424.html?src=rss
Nike is discontinuing its self-lacing Adapt BB sneakers and providing a case in point of what can happen to tech that relies on apps. First announced in 2019, the sneakers used a Back to the Future II style power-lacing system called FitAdapt that was adjustable either manually or with an app. Now, the company will no longer make new Adapt shoes and is retiring the Nike Adapt App, it announced in a help document spotted by The Verge.
"After five years, we’re retiring the Adapt App and removing it from the Apple and Android app stores, globally, on August 6, 2024," the page states. "Don’t worry, your Adapt shoes will continue to work without the app. See below for more information about the retirement of the Adapt App."
A FAQ goes on to state that the Adapt app "should continue to function" follow its removal, if you already have it installed. You won't be able to move it to a new device, though, and future iOS updates may limit or end functionality.
Nike goes on to state that if the app is removed, the shoes will retain the last light color selected. Features still available without it include power on, check battery status, adjust your fit, save your fit, unlace shoes and power off.
Perhaps the biggest loss with the end of Adapt is in accessibility, as the shoes were marketed in part as a way to make shoe tying easier for people with limited mobility. It also shows the danger of tying functionality of physical technology to custom apps — once the app loses support, the product gets a lot worse and there's not much you can do about it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nike-is-killing-the-app-for-its-futuristic-adapt-bb-sneakers-120039424.html?src=rss
Earlier this year, Nintendo said it would shut down all Wii U servers, putting an end to multiplayer, co-op and other services. Now, the company has announced that it's ending Wii U repairs as well, effectively giving last rites to the loveable but not very popular console.
In May, Nintendo forewarned the end of Wii U repairs. "The period for retaining repair parts as stipulated in the repair service regulations has expired, so as soon as the current stock of parts is depleted, repair services will end," the company wrote in a service notice. The Wii U is now listed as no longer eligible for repair on an end-of-life service page, just as Nintendo previewed.
The Wii U launched in late 2012 as a successor to the Wii, but it failed to catch on with consumers, selling just 13.56 million units. It was eventually replaced by the Switch, which has gone on to more than 10 times the sales at 141.3 million units.
The defining feature of the Wii U was its Gamepad with a built-in 6.2-inch touchscreen. That allowed you to play either fully handheld or connected to a TV, a new feature at the time. The other key selling point was the first-party games like Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World. At the time, those offered local multiplayer action you couldn't find anywhere else.
It was also just a quirky, weird and fun console that "wiggled its way into the hearts of many players, including myself," Engadget's Jessica Conditt wrote back in 2015. Nintendo is set to announce its successor to the Switch before March 2025, but if you're still playing on Wii U, you'd need to take extra good care of it now that repairs will be far more challenging.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-ends-wii-u-repairs-190023430.html?src=rss
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reminding several computer companies that "warranty void if removed" stickers are illegal, as is language discouraging consumers from fixing their own devices. The Commission warned ASRock, Gigabyte and Zotech to get rid of them and remove terms threatening to void warranties if users break the seal, it wrote in a press release spotted by The Verge.
"Letters to three other companies warn against their use of stickers containing 'warranty void if removed' or similar language that are placed in locations on products that hinder consumers’ ability to perform routine maintenance and repairs on their products," the FTC wrote. "These letters were issued to ASRock, Zotac, and Gigabyte, companies that market and sell gaming PCs, graphics chips, motherboards, and other accessories."
It wasn't just the stickers, but language in the warranties stating that guarantees would be voided if said seals were broken. The practices "may be standing in the way of consumers' right to repair products they have purchased," according to the release. Commission staff will review the companies' websites after 30 days and failure to correct violations may result in law enforcement action.
Right to repair laws have spread across US states, but the FTC is actually referencing decades-old rules. Under the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, companies can't place restrictions on repairs unless they provide the parts or services for free or receive a waiver from the FTC.
This isn't a new occurrence, as we wrote about a similar warning from the FTC way back in 2018. At that time, the watchdog sent warnings to six companies: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, ASUS, HTC and Hyundai. Such stickers and policies aren't necessarily illegal in other nations though, as iFixit wrote last year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftc-warns-some-pc-manufacturers-that-theyre-violating-right-to-repair-rules-120009736.html?src=rss
With the current rebellion against Adobe’s subscription model, folks are taking a hard look at Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio. And many like what they see. It’s arguably more powerful than Adobe’s Premiere Pro, offering better color correction tools along with built-in effects and audio apps. Best of all, it’s free (though you can pay $300 to upgrade to the Studio version).
To make it more practical for those editing on the go, Blackmagic introduced an iPad version in late 2022 with the Cut (editing) and Color pages, but no effects or audio apps. The idea was to offer creators a way to edit or color-correct on the road, with everything syncing up via Blackmagic Cloud. It was also a good option for those who prefer to work on mobile devices.
Earlier this year, Blackmagic introduced the $509 Micro Color Panel that gave users tactile control for color correction, just like the highly paid colorists in Hollywood. Better still, it can be used with Resolve on iPad, so you can click, dial and roll in a precise manner, rather than pawing inaccurately on a touch display.
Steve Dent for Engadget
I lovecontrol surfaces, so I was eager to test the Micro Color Panel with my iPad Air M2 to see how they work together. At the same time, I wanted to try out Blackmagic’s Cloud to share projects on multiple devices.
You get two installs with DaVinci Resolve Studio, so I used my desktop key to install it on my iPad Air M2. Blackmagic recommends an iPad with an M1 or later processor, and though it will work with earlier iPads, you may be restricted to HD and features will be limited.
Blackmagic provided me with a free trial of its Cloud service so I could transfer projects from my desktop over to the iPad. That normally costs $5 per month per library, which gives you 500GB of storage and unlimited projects that can be shared with up to 10 collaborators.
You can easily share timelines, effects, metadata and media. To transfer files, you can either connect a USB-C drive or share full or proxy media (smaller versions of your video clips) on Blackmagic Cloud. That requires a fast connection — both to upload and download — but once that’s done, they live locally on your iPad. Any new media files are automatically synced to the Cloud.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The downside of DaVinci Resolve on an iPad is the clumsy touch-based interface, especially for color correction – but that’s where the Micro Color Panel comes in. Blackmagic has a rich history of building such controllers for professional use, but the new model is its smallest and cheapest to date.
Though diminutive compared to the $859 version, the new Micro Panel still oozes quality. Its black finish can draw some dust but otherwise looks professional. The buttons light up to help you find them in a dark studio, but the labels on the dials don’t, so they can be hard to read.
The panel comes with its own battery that gives you about 15 hours on a charge. Though you can use USB-C to connect to PCs or Macs, iPads only support Bluetooth, with USB-C reserved for charging.
After pairing the Micro Control Panel to your iPad, you need to enable it in DaVinci Resolve’s preferences. Then, you can slide your iPad into the slot on the back and you’re ready to work.
Steve Dent for Engadget
To be clear, the Micro Control Panel is not designed for editing — it’s strictly for color correction. To that end, it mirrors the interface of DaVinci Resolve’s Color Page. The main controls are for “Lift” (black levels), “Gamma” (contrast) and “Gain” (overall brightness).
Those wheels and dials offer nice levels of resistance and accuracy, compared to the Loupedeck+ and other types of control surfaces I’ve tried. They're used for things like shadows, highlights and saturation, while the buttons let you view the image full screen, move from clip to clip, add keyframes and more.
The tactile experience is a strong selling point of the Micro Control Panel, but there’s a catch-22 using it with the iPad. At home, I’d be likely to use it with my PC or Mac for more speed and versatility. When I’m on the road with my iPad, though, I’m not sure I’d take the Micro Control Panel with me, because it’s too bulky.
Steve Dent for Engadget
So despite Blackmagic marketing this as an iPad accessory, I’d say it’s currently better for desktop DaVinci Resolve Studio users who want more tactile control. It’s great for people who only edit on iPad, but I’d imagine that in a Venn diagram of those folks and the ones willing to spend $508 on a color correction panel, there is only a tiny overlap.
In sum, Blackmagic’s Micro Color Panel is portable, attractive, well-designed, nice to use and reasonably priced. If you spend a lot of time on color correction, you’ll find it to be a timesaver once the controls become second nature. It’ll also make your editing suite look more professional.
Though not yet a great match for the iPad, that could change. Apple recently launched the iPad Pro M4, including a 13-inch model that offers similar performance to many MacBooks. At the same time, Blackmagic Design has promised to bring the iPad version of DaVinci Resolve more on par with the desktop versions. If that happens, many Resolve users may opt to use the iPad version exclusively — which would make the Micro Color Panel more desirable.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ipad-and-blackmagics-micro-color-panel-make-strange-bedfellows-183835929.html?src=rss
With a US ban of its hyper-popular drones more likely than not, DJI has been diversifying into products that won't be affected by the Countering CCP Drones Act, like backup batteries. Now the company is entering the e-bike arena with the Avinox Drive System that will go up against the likes of Bosch, Bafang, Shimano and SRAM.
The Avinox system promises a relatively light 2.52 kg (5.6 pound) weight (5.39 kg including the batteries), while offering up to 105Nm (850W) of peak torque/power and 600Wh or 800Wh battery options. It uses GaN 3x fast charging tech, so the 800Wh battery can be charged from 0 to 75 percent in 1.5 hours. A planetary gearset and polymer gears allow for a balance of size, weight and power output, along with a quiet ride, according to DJI.
The system offers four standard riding assist modes, Auto, Eco Trail and Turbo, along with a Boost mode for extra power when required. The Auto mode uses what DJI calls "multi-sensor fusion" to continuously adjust assistance based on riding resistance.
Avinox includes a two-inch OLED full-color touchscreen display to control the assist modes and display pertinent information. It allows riders to connect their smartphones to access features like security, data recording, sharing and real-time bike status/location. You can also use the app to access and customize assist levels and parameters.
Finally, it comes with dual Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth connectivity for a "clutter-free handlebar setup," the company wrote. The Avinox system appears to out-spec some popular systems from Bosch, Shimano, Brose and others thanks to the lower weight, extra torque and higher-capacity batteries.
It'll first appear with a new bike brand called Amflow, which is launching the new PL model weighing in at 19.2kg (42 pounds) — on the low-end for electric mountain bikes (eMTBs). The Amflow PL also includes a four-bar linkage structure and "cutting-edge geometry," a rear shock co-tuned with FOX, and an SRAM rear derailleur.
As for the US ban on DJI's drones, the Countering CCP Drones Act has passed through Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It's now set to be reviewed by the Senate and if approved, would likely be signed into law by President Biden. In a counterpoint article, DJI wrote: "This act damages not just DJI, but also the broad ecosystem of operators, businesses and public safety agencies that rely on their technologies to conduct safe and efficient operations."
DJI's Avinox Drive system will be sold only to manufacturers, so no retail price is available. The Amflow eMTB doesn't have an exact price yet, but will be sold for between €7,000 and €12,000 ($7,500 and $12,850) in Europe. It's due to be released in Q4 2024 "through authorized dealers in Germany, the UK and Australia, amongst others," the company said.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dji-further-diversifies-from-drones-with-the-avinox-e-bike-drive-system-070043218.html?src=rss
With a US ban of its hyper-popular drones more likely than not, DJI has been diversifying into products that won't be affected by the Countering CCP Drones Act, like backup batteries. Now the company is entering the e-bike arena with the Avinox Drive System that will go up against the likes of Bosch, Bafang, Shimano and SRAM.
The Avinox system promises a relatively light 2.52 kg (5.6 pound) weight (5.39 kg including the batteries), while offering up to 105Nm (850W) of peak torque/power and 600Wh or 800Wh battery options. It uses GaN 3x fast charging tech, so the 800Wh battery can be charged from 0 to 75 percent in 1.5 hours. A planetary gearset and polymer gears allow for a balance of size, weight and power output, along with a quiet ride, according to DJI.
The system offers four standard riding assist modes, Auto, Eco Trail and Turbo, along with a Boost mode for extra power when required. The Auto mode uses what DJI calls "multi-sensor fusion" to continuously adjust assistance based on riding resistance.
Avinox includes a two-inch OLED full-color touchscreen display to control the assist modes and display pertinent information. It allows riders to connect their smartphones to access features like security, data recording, sharing and real-time bike status/location. You can also use the app to access and customize assist levels and parameters.
Finally, it comes with dual Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth connectivity for a "clutter-free handlebar setup," the company wrote. The Avinox system appears to out-spec some popular systems from Bosch, Shimano, Brose and others thanks to the lower weight, extra torque and higher-capacity batteries.
It'll first appear with a new bike brand called Amflow, which is launching the new PL model weighing in at 19.2kg (42 pounds) — on the low-end for electric mountain bikes (eMTBs). The Amflow PL also includes a four-bar linkage structure and "cutting-edge geometry," a rear shock co-tuned with FOX, and an SRAM rear derailleur.
As for the US ban on DJI's drones, the Countering CCP Drones Act has passed through Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It's now set to be reviewed by the Senate and if approved, would likely be signed into law by President Biden. In a counterpoint article, DJI wrote: "This act damages not just DJI, but also the broad ecosystem of operators, businesses and public safety agencies that rely on their technologies to conduct safe and efficient operations."
DJI's Avinox Drive system will be sold only to manufacturers, so no retail price is available. The Amflow eMTB doesn't have an exact price yet, but will be sold for between €7,000 and €12,000 ($7,500 and $12,850) in Europe. It's due to be released in Q4 2024 "through authorized dealers in Germany, the UK and Australia, amongst others," the company said.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dji-further-diversifies-from-drones-with-the-avinox-e-bike-drive-system-070043218.html?src=rss
I’ve always been a PC guy, even when other content creators were waving MacBooks around. I’ll state up front that I don’t game, so everything I do on a laptop revolves around video editing. To handle that, I use a high-end desktop Windows machine at home and up till recently had a Gigabyte Aero 15X laptop for video editing on the go.
Then, the Aero 15X died. The keyboard stopped working and the Thunderbolt 3 port failed. I didn’t even really mourn the loss — it was always noisy and hot. Battery life was never great, and to do any serious video work, I had to plug it in with a comically large and heavy power brick.
It was time for a new laptop, but I had no intention of reliving my Gigabyte experience. Instead, I wanted to find the best laptop for image and video editing — a lightweight, powerful and cool computer with long battery life. I needed to edit 4K video on DaVinci Resolve while doing color correction, as well as adding effects and titles. I also do RAW photo editing, so I’d be using Photoshop and Lightroom regularly, too.
I eyed a MacBook Pro M3, but figured it would be too expensive. After checking, I was surprised to find that the gap between the price of a new MacBook Pro and a Windows laptop with similar performance has been less since Apple started using its own Silicon.
So I made the leap and purchased a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip (12-core CPU and 18-core GPU), 36GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. From what I’d read, that would be enough to handle challenging edits. I paid $3,100 in Canada including taxes, with the same machine selling for about $200 less in the US.
Steve Dent for Engadget
I put my new MacBook to work right away when I created a video review of the Nikon Z8 while in Vancouver. Later, I edited a review of the Fujifilm X100 VI in London and did a hands-on video for Panasonic’s S9 camera from Japan. Those projects gave me a good feel for the MacBook’s performance, battery life and usability while on the road.
Back at home, I was curious to compare the MacBook to my desktop PC. While not state-of-the-art, the latter still has impressive specs with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-core CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 64GB of RAM. To that end, I expected the two machines to be relatively competitive, performance-wise.
I use mirrorless cameras like the Canon EOS R6 II and Panasonic’s S5 II, which output up to 6K 10-bit 4:2:2 Log H.264 or H.265 Quicktime files. Those formats usually tax a computer’s processor and GPU, so I wasn’t expecting real-time playback.
However, I noticed that I could smoothly play those video files in DaVinci Resolve on my MacBook Pro with no rendering or conversion required. I can’t do that on my well-specced desktop PC, so what was going on?
It turns out that even recent NVIDIA and AMD GPUs can’t decode many of those commonly used formats in real time, as systems integrator and benchmark specialist Puget Systems revealed recently. It is doable with some of the formats (not H.264) on newer Intel CPUs with Quick Sync tech on DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio or later.
Real-time playback of 8K H.265 files with multiple color correction nodes? No problem.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The ability to edit these files straight out of the camera was a major quality-of-life improvement, as it eliminated a time- and storage-wasting step.
I also saw real-time playback on my Mac in most circumstances with no rendering. That includes sequences with 6K and 8K video, color correction on most clips, titles, multiple layers, optical-flow time-warping and stabilization.
In contrast, my high-end desktop PC not only requires me to convert my video files but also to enable timeline rendering, particularly with 6K or 8K video. Both of those things take up time and can consume hundreds of gigabytes of disc space.
While the MacBook felt fast, I also wanted to see how it compared to my Windows machine more objectively. I used the PugetBench Creator benchmark suite, which compares performance between machines on commonly used creator apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve.
Considering my PC didn’t perform as well for video-editing, the results surprised me. The MacBook Pro M3 did come out on top in Photoshop tests, garnering an overall score of 10,076 compared to 7,599 for my desktop PC. That’s largely due to the superior M3 processor.
Steve Dent for Engadget
However, my PC out-benchmarked the MacBook Pro for video-editing by a pretty wide margin, thanks to its faster GPU. The Apple machine saw an overall score of 4,754 on the Premiere Pro PugetBench tests in high power mode, while my PC hit 8,763.
There are no public PugetBench tests yet for DaVinci Resolve, but Puget Systems’ own scores show that high-end PCs handily outperform high-end MacBook Pro models on that app. The PC is generally better when working with RAW formats and easily beats the MacBook Pro for GPU effects, AI features and encoding to H.264 and H.265 formats.
These results show that benchmarks don't paint a full picture. The relative power of a computer depends on what you’re doing with it, and in my case, the ability to edit certain video formats without rendering outweighed pure speed. However, people who use more effects or work with ProRes or RAW formats may be better off with a powerful PC.
All that said, a lot of the stuff I hated about my Windows laptop had nothing to do with performance. I was often annoyed by my Aero 15X’s weight (if you include the power brick), heat, noise, build quality and relatively useless trackpad.
Since I bought the MacBook Pro 16, I’ve never felt it get overly hot and the fans rarely kick in, even while editing video. By contrast, there’s not a single Windows creator PC I’ve heard of that doesn’t generate excessive heat and fan noise under intensive loads.
Add a second display like this Ricoh portable 150BW model
Steve Dent for Engadget
Another major bonus with the MacBook is that it offers the same performance whether plugged in or not, but the same can’t be said for most PCs. Many throttle down when unplugged, substantially reducing performance.
If you need to edit on the go and don’t have access to AC power, the MacBook wins here as well. While editing on DaVinci Resolve, it can go three to four hours on battery power alone, triple what my Gigabyte laptop could do. And it takes the MacBook Pro just 1.5 hours to get to a full charge, compared to around 2 hours minimum for Dell’s XPS 17 9730. It charges considerably faster, as well.
It’s also less of a grunt to lug than my Aero was, as it weighs a less and the charger is much lighter, too. Finally, the trackpad is much better, to the point that I can even edit videos without a mouse, something I could never say with the Aero or any other PC laptop I’ve owned.
While I have my quibbles — I dislike the webcam notch, for instance — I've otherwise found the MacBook Pro 16 M3 to be nearly perfect. As it stands now, Windows laptops using Intel and AMD silicon might be able to match it in performance, but they lag far behind in efficiency. That may change with the new Qualcomm laptops or NVIDIA’s upcoming 5000-series GPUs, but for now, Apple’s products are hard to beat for traveling content creators like me.
Update June 24, 2023: The article has been corrected to state that the Gigabyte Aero 15x has a Thunderbolt 3 port, not a Lightning port.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-latest-macbook-pro-beats-my-high-end-pc-for-content-creation-130053351.html?src=rss