IMacs vs. Mac Pro??? Chassis for iMacs. No thundrbolt. STILL,,,

[Jay M]

It's my opinion that if you are doing real work, then you need a real computer. Since you use Logic, then you need a Mac. The only real Mac is a Mac Pro.

Dump the Mbox and and get an RME PCIe soundcard. The Mac Pro has room for 3 data hard drives - that's 6TB worth of sample storage for a few hundred dollars.

If money's an issue, then dump Logic and build a PC.

~Jay

[Drum9uy]

First of all, with tons of new stuff around the corner, obviously don't buy anything right now.

I'm not saying any of this is confirmed, but by following recent possible "controlled" leaks, new macbook pros may include upwards of an Ivy Bridge 2.7Ghz quad core and iMacs upwards of an Ivy 3.4Ghz i7 quad. Both also having the possible update of "retina" displays which will double the current screen resolution.

Another developing option is the external thunderbolt->pcie enclosures from Magma and Sonnet which will offer 1-3 pcie slots over thunderbolt to allow macbooks and imacs the ability to interact with card-based systems (PTHD, SSL Madixtreme, pcie SSD storage, etc.)

If you want lots of dedicated internal storage, huge amounts of RAM, or true server xeon processor chips, then you'd be looking at a Mac Pro, but (even being the owner of one) I think we're slowing passing the time when the Pro is necessarily the "best" vs. "best for certain applications."

Now in regards to the firewire question, from recent speculation, apple might remove direct firewire ports on the computers (assuming those who need it will adapt over thunderbolt). I haven't experienced any issues myself using firewire drives on a pre-thunderbolt macbook pro and mac pro, both on PT9 and PT10. That's only my experience and YMMV, but here's to positive thinking

Good luck

[valis]

In regards to Firewire, all post 2007 laptops have only a FW800 bus, so attaching anything 400 speed to the 400 header brings the speed of all devices down to FW400 speeds, thus the problems with dropouts you refer to.

Current iMacs and Macbook Pros don't even have the 400 header now, iMacs only have 1..One!...firewire port. TB will obviously be an advantage here.

In fact were I purchasing today I'd have to balance whether I wanted a *used* Mac Pro (2011 six-core models have massive oomph but a price premium paid this late in the life cycle is a bad investment for smaller studios/single users imo) or if I could get by on a new iMac for a year...or even 6 months and then sell it. I personally find a lot of uses for machines retired for primary use, I often have 3-5 machines in here getting at least moderate use.

So I'd be able to potentially justify getting a new iMac now if I were in need of a new machine, and invest in either a TB enclosure or TB to FW adapter for my drives and use the FW800 header for any FW based audio devices I had. Meaning the resale value or 'post 2012 Mac Pro purchase' value of that iMac would be high enough to justify the added expense.

A used SandyBridge iMac is also not a bad idea, especially as many refurbs from Apple are just returns that had no issue to begin with (Apple can't repackage a return as a new sale).

[mattg082]

I've had a Mac pro for years and my next MAC will probably be an IMAC. They have gotten powerful for the money. I'm on a 2007 Mac pro and it runs everything great with my Rosetta/lunchbox setup. I could only imagine what any newer iMac could give me. Besides the pci card deal and having to use a hub/adapter for multi FireWire.... For 1600 the iMac has my attention.

[skira]

Originally Posted by Drum9uy

First of all, with tons of new stuff around the corner, obviously don't buy anything right now.

Ask again in 4 weeks.

[Dpro]

Originally Posted by Jay M

It's my opinion that if you are doing real work, then you need a real computer. Since you use Logic, then you need a Mac. The only real Mac is a Mac Pro.

Dump the Mbox and and get an RME PCIe soundcard. The Mac Pro has room for 3 data hard drives - that's 6TB worth of sample storage for a few hundred dollars.

If money's an issue, then dump Logic and build a PC.

~Jay

I do real work in Logic and I do it on an IMAC. What you are saying above is your opinion . Imacs are every bit as powerful sometimes more powerful than some Macbook Pro's.
I see people doing Pro work on Mac Book Pro's as well.


Current Imacs and even the Mac Mini server quad core I7 are quite powerful enough for Pro work. They both have Thunderbolt ports and the IMAC have two of those along with a Firewire 800 port and 4 usb ports. That's enough to run an expansion chassis with any PCIE cards you may have.
Oh and the new Imacs yet to be released will have USB 3.0 ports as well.

Sorry but you can work without a Mac Pro these days lots of people do. Granted the Mac Pro is the Ultimate with the drive slots extra ram slots etc... Though honestly I will say this right now. In my opinion I would rather wait to see whats coming than invest in a current or older Mac Pro that does not have Thunderbolt.

Oh and I will add there are quite a few people doing Pro Work on the Mac Mini server 2 ghz quad core I7. In fact there are threads about it here on GS.