Hi , I am about to get the latest MacBook Pro before this year ends.
Are there any known issues with the latest MBPro models when using touchdesigner?
Which bootcamp/windows combi is best? Is Mavericks ok to use?
thnx in advance for your input.
Mavericks is fine for all of my work. Everything still seems to work coming from mountain lion. Works for TouchDesigner in Win8 for me. There’s a slight trackpad issue, but not the end of the world:
thnx for your reply.
Jumpin on the black friday deal for the 2.7 full option today. 
I’m also using Windows 8 on my Macbook Pro retina bootcamped with no issues. (other than having to use Windows 8 
)
First thing to do after installing Windows and the Apple drivers package is update the Nvidia graphics drivers.
Elburz is correct about the trackpad, but you need a 3 button mouse anyways to use TouchDesigner, two buttons a la trackpad doesn’t cut it.
Windows is a bit finicky in general about the Mac trackpad and right clicks, takes some getting used to. Cant comment on the apple magic mouse with windows yet, since I use a logitech trackball for all my machines.
nice to hear about these xtra tips guys. will do the nvidia update.
good to know i need a two button mouse.
3 button is best, then you have quick access to middle clicking on OPs.
My two favorites:
I used to use these ones, very high quality:
logitech.com/en-ca/product/p … e-mouse-mx
Then my wrists were getting tired, so I’m almost exclusively using these:
logitech.com/en-ca/product/w … kball-m570
seriously considering returning the MBPr and picking up one of these: newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6834152443 which is the best option I’ve found that approaches the same portability as a MBP
I’m trying really hard to make the macbook pro work, but I think it ends up being less convenient than it’s worth… might as well use a notebook that’s made for windows if all I’m going to run is windows anyway.
MBPr pros:
apple = flawless hardware quality, ultra portable, and beautiful screen
OSX runs perfectly on the hardware
MBPr cons:
cannot use TouchDesigner (and other programs) on OSX
Windows:
overheating without tinkering with fan speeds, at which point they become loud anyway
native resolution = text too small in TD, 1920x1080 = non-native and blurry text and UI elements
screen tearing, which I assume is due to retina display. Tried messing with v-sync, but it only semi-cured the problem in 1920x1200 mode.
The mouse dragging started working out of the blue.
enthewhite - I see where you’re coming from. That MSI does look great actually. If you plan on using the MBPr to do shows or such, probably a good idea to get something more stable, or make sure you test it with all possible setups, I imagine the high resolution screen + thunderbolt outputs might present their own obstacles when working live.
My company has Origin 15" workstations, and all our installations have their own towers, so for me the MBPr is great because I can open up a project on the road and either do some auxiliary programming, or use it on-site as a VNC laptop, instead of carrying those obnoxiously big Origins. If someone was doing serious work and could only afford 1 rig, I would recommend otherwise. If you’re messing around and learning, it might be all you ever need.
I also use OS X a ton for other types of work, so the trade-off of losing some TouchDesigner performance, to be able to have OS X and Windows on one laptop is worth it. I used to carry around a Macbook Air AND the Origin on the road.
Well, I spent the entire day searching the depths of the internet for the perfect MBPr alternative. I believe I found it-- The Dell Precision m3800 
It has all the right specs, build quality and size/weight to rival Apple, and it has a 1920x1080 version so that TD can run in peace
This thread helped to sway me: forum.notebookreview.com/dell-la … eview.html
It is quite nice actually. Good, a bit pricey for the specs, but if portability is what you need, that does look great.
A bit of a bummer that you can’t get the base model with 16gb of RAM and full SSD. Hopefully those aren’t soldered down like the MBPr.
Have you seen these? A little less slick, but quite similarly spec’d and you could buy almost 3 for the price of the Dell!
shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/th … ries/w530/
Also nice that you can get the option of the K2000m, as well as bumping the specs up to 16gb of RAM right out of the shop, and still being about half the price of the Dell. Worth the look if you ask me.
enthewhite, are you having tearing issues with external monitors plugged in? Or do you get tearing with no monitors plugged in as well?
I was perfectly fine till a few hours ago, and all of a sudden, my main screen is constantly tearing, non-stop, even when I have no external monitors plugged in. Talked to apple support and they think it might be hardware related, so I’m taking mine in tomorrow to get it checked. I’ll let you know what they say, incase your tearing issue is same as mine.
I had tearing constantly. Even when just dragging around the network viewer. Also in programs like Photoshop. The only thing that seemed to halfway cure it (although it was still noticeable) was when I changed the resolution to 1920 x 1200 and set the vsync setting g in the nvidia control panel to… Can’t remember which vsync option made it better.
I ended up returning the laptop. 'twas a shame. I really loved that piece of hardware.
Now looking at the gigabyte p34g or the p35k…
Sounds like you have exactly what just started happening on my end. Changing the resolution fixes it on my side as well. I’ll let you know what support says, might just be some bad nvidia chips. Its a real buzz kill! Although strange that I didn’t have this issue till just this week.
Apple rep said it looked like a hardware issue. I’ll have my machine back in a few days.
Hopefully that fixes it. Makes me half regret not trying that myself, but still would rather have a windows machine for convenience. TD isn’t the only windowz software I use.
As well, if it happened once, this may end up being a common issue, so probably better to play it safe.
Hi
as topicstarter I just wanted to let you know I am using TD on my new MBPro model 2.6 ghz with 2gb ram on the video card. 
I was wondering what the ideal screensetting is when using TD. Letters and knobs are very small.
Can i set up a differnt screensize in windows?
Is there maybe a hidden knob to put the TD GUi in a larger resolution?