New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel [Solved]

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
grrrz
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by grrrz » Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:41 am

upgrading to an M1 right now would be disappointing because the performance is pretty poor under rosetta; so the best bet would be to wait for live to go native. Maybe by the time live is native you'll have more choice about what mac to buy.
There's also the used computer road.

jonljacobi
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by jonljacobi » Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:00 pm

If I didn’t want to run Windows, I’d go M1. With Rosetta, performance is a little off my older i7 iMacs, but not by much subjectively. Live will be ported and then I’m thinking you’ll be happy. Or wait for the M1X.

BTW. Parallels with Windows for ARM is okay, until you try running apps that haven’t been ported to ARM. Then it’s slow. Very slow. And not a lot of Windows apps have been ported, nor will they be for a while.

Forge.
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by Forge. » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:21 pm

H20nly wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:59 pm

I mostly use Waves plugins, but I'm good on V12

This could be one potential issue, as they include compatibility with updated OS (and most likely the M1 too) in the Waves Update Plan, so if yours isn't current you would need to renew it, even if you're happy with v12.

Since using Pro-Tools a lot to record at uni, + Waves, I've had to go back to the old way of not updating anything until absolutely necessary. Pro Tools always lags behind in updates. It's why commercial studios are often slow to update, because if it's working and reliable it's not worth the downtime to update and risk of more downtime from problems.

If you upped it to 20GB RAM, that's pretty impressive, it's probably still a pretty decent machine. I inherited an early 2009 iMac, and it can't go past 8GB, and can't be updated beyond El Capitan, so it's pretty limited. But CPU wise, it's still better than anything I made most of my music with back when I was most prolific.

Remember also, with Macs you can boot from external HDs, so if you keep backups, even if your HD dies you can just run it from an external.

There used to be an adage "never buy 1st generation Apple anything", which I think is still pretty true. They have always been aggressive in switching to new formats before anyone's ready. If you want to tinker and fk about, then go for it. But if you just want to carry on working and making music, leave it.

jonljacobi
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by jonljacobi » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:03 pm

There will probably be some pretty good deals on used Intel Macs in the near future.

H20nly
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by H20nly » Sun May 02, 2021 7:33 am

valid points

@grrrz and jonljacobi - the rosetta thing sounds like a PITA. I don't really need to deal with it because it's a phase; meaning, after a point in time it will have been a useless exercise with no future value for the time spent on it. It's not like I'm seeking a career that has experience dealing with it on the resume. So there's good reason to wait.

@Forge - I'm current with Waves for a bit. Maybe the renewal date for that is a good time to make a decision by - assuming my current iMac holds up... To be truthful, it's running fine. The 20 GB of RAM and 3.1 Ghz i5 have served me well. I'm just concerned because a decade is a long life lived for a platter HDD. That and the OS upgrade path ending are my biggest concerns. Your mention of booting from external HD is a great disaster plan, especially since that drive can be an SSD. Thanks for that.


Since you can order, as of yesterday, I hopped on the site tonight to see what the upgrade options are. No surprises there... but I can get a 24" with 16 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, Mouse + Trackpad + number pad on keyboard (great for Cubase) for under 2700 USD. So even if they do make a bigger one... I might just roll with that size.

And yeah, Tarkekith... jur is right... you're not exactly gambling :lol:
The real question is, how long does Apple think they need to push the OG 24" before they force buyers remorse on early adopters :wink:

Currently looking at silver... maybe the newer ones will have the gunmetal grey :idea:
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

H20nly
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by H20nly » Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:48 am

Apple is really busting my balls. My old iMac is choking to death trying to use newer plugins with Live. I have two new tracks close to mastering ready and I can’t add another plugin without Live locking up…

I need a new computer :x

I might have to suck it up and buy the 24 inch… but I know I’ll regret it in April or whenever they finally release the larger model. Fuckers
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

steko
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by steko » Sun Dec 26, 2021 12:17 am

H2Okie wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:48 am
Mommy, mommy, I wanted my Pony for christmas, not for my 5th birthday in spring!!!
Image
Rahad Jackson wrote:My Awesome Mix Tape #6

Pitch Black
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by Pitch Black » Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:50 am

^^ ooooh harsh! 8O :lol:

You should know better than to come between a man and his entirely-necessary, completely-justified, sensible, sober, aspirational, notional, potential Apple purchase!

You monster!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

steko
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by steko » Mon Dec 27, 2021 2:39 am

:)
Rahad Jackson wrote:My Awesome Mix Tape #6

Tarekith
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by Tarekith » Mon Dec 27, 2021 4:33 am

A sober Apple purchase, hmm......


:x
Tarekith
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H20nly
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by H20nly » Sun Jan 02, 2022 1:40 am

Hey my old computer is shitting the bed. Please raise your hand if you just muscle through that and never upgrade…
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

Pitch Black
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by Pitch Black » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:14 am

At 5min to midnight this New Year’s Eve, and literally 60sec before the end of my set my mac froze with a loud audio buzz/stutter over the PA.

I think it knows there’s going to be a new baby in the house next week and it’s passive-aggressively taking it out on me! :lol:
MBP M1Max | MacOS 12.7.2 | Live 11.3.20 | Babyface Pro FS | Push 3 (tethered) | a whole other bunch of controllers
Ableton Certified Trainer
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H20nly
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by H20nly » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:21 am

Oh snap! That must have been a horrible feeling

Congratulations on the new member of the family!!

The good news is, as long as you don’t want a full sized iMac, you can get a new computer today… not wait for Apple to hold their nuts and brag onstage through multiple keynotes like I have for the last 12 months…

Yeah I want a fucking Pony :x
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

Pitch Black
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by Pitch Black » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:29 am

Just so we’re clear, when I say new baby I mean 16inch M1 Max with 64GB.
MBP M1Max | MacOS 12.7.2 | Live 11.3.20 | Babyface Pro FS | Push 3 (tethered) | a whole other bunch of controllers
Ableton Certified Trainer
Soundcloud

H20nly
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Re: New iMac or Wait?? Apple vs. Intel

Post by H20nly » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:32 am

Now you’re just rubbing it in :lol:

Well, congratulations nonetheless!

How has the transition been from Intel to M1 for you? Did you [temporarily] lose a lot of plugins or other software?

Edit: never mind… “next week”
I’d love to hear how it goes though… Hoping to go through it soon… :x
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

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