What Would You Do? New Macs.

[Rufuss Sewell]

I also have a 2009 core 2 duo. I think I'll be upgrading to whatever MBP they announce Monday. I travel a lot so the iMac isn't for me.

[deathromantik]

If it doesn't have Mountain Lion (so many unneeded "improvements") then yes get a new one, you will need more RAM though as Lion is a bit of a resource hog. I have "spinning coloured wheels of great pause" all the time even just surfing the web, checking email, CS5 stuff and in Logic. I have not seen much of it in Protools though.

[Popsicles987]

until i have to i will revert any machine back to snow leopard...it's the only os i trust. i hated lion.

[deathromantik]

I think the new MBPs won't run on any version less than lion.

[Popsicles987]

Originally Posted by deathromantik

I think the new MBPs won't run on any version less than lion.

I just checked into this and you're right. This really bums me out. Looks like getting the iMac is my best bet for now...I'll still need my old laptop until some of the software I use completely works in Lion.

[projektk]

Keep it if it still works and get the new iMac. You should have at least one production computer with a desktop processor.

Sent from my LG-P925 using Gearslutz App

[deathromantik]

After having a look at the new MBP a lot of things scream don't buy, the worst things being no optical drive and the RAM is soldered on now.
It is in effect a Mac Air with an i7 cpu and a large iPad screen.
If you can get your hands on a Late 2011 MBP then go for it failing that get a desktop.

It looks to me like apple are pushing themselves out of the Pro Audio market going by the iOS like high cost disposable hardware route the are going down. Lets just hope they don't do that with the desktop computers, I would not hold my breath though.

By the way what apps would you need? Most apps run on Lion now. Well the last ProTools 9 upgrade version does. Pro Tools 10 is better though; Yay no lost fade files and clip gain can be nice if you happen to record something nice while you are setting your levels.

[Popsicles987]

I'm at a standstill...nothing seems like the obvious "amazing" option right now. damn.

[MartinHarp]

Originally Posted by deathromantik

...you will need more RAM though as Lion is a bit of a resource hog. I have "spinning coloured wheels of great pause" all the time even just surfing the web, checking email, CS5 stuff and in Logic. I have not seen much of it in Protools though.

You might want to get your Mac checked then.

Back when I reformatted my drive in preparation for Lion... nice clean SL install with istat menus being the only 3rd party app installed. SL was taking up almost 3gb of ram upon a fresh reboot?!. Updated to Lion... that number was cut in half.

That said, I'm on the latest update (10.7.4) and they STILL haven't fixed the quicklook freezing issue. Other than that, it's been very stable, quick and good on resources. Though I haven't looked back, I'm not exactly looking forward to iOS (Mountain Lion) on my Mac. There is such a thing as adding useful features to an OS and then there is destroying it with useless features. I just hope it has an option to turn off all of the facebook/twitter integration features. I don't need another process running in the background for something I'll never use.
(and I'm not the only one, I'm sure...)

[skira]

Originally Posted by Popsicles987

I am currently using a 2.66/15"/500GB/4GB Dual Core MacBook Pro. I am having trouble deciding if it's worth it to keep my laptop for travel and get one of the new iMacs next week for my production space. My other option is to sell my current laptop and just upgrade to one of the new laptops. I'd like to save money

Wait a few weeks if you can. Speed-bumped iMacs upgraded with USB 3.0 are now presumed to come out later this year (based on a vague email about new desktops next by Apple's President, Tim Cook, later clarified to refer only to Mac Pros... thus iMacs this year!). USB 3.0 devices are going to become standard very quickly now that it's built into new PC motherboards, and having machines with it helps guard against obsolescence. (If you want an iMac now USB3 is backward-compatible, so you can use peripherals but just limited to USB2 speeds.)

In fact I am waiting myself, since affordable Thunderbolt/USB3 Mac Pros didn't come. If new iMacs come by September I'm jumping on one. If not, I'll probably buy a cheap, refurbed Mac Mini and use it for a year until I can make a better choice between iMacs and Mac Pros.

[SSquirrel]

Originally Posted by deathromantik

After having a look at the new MBP a lot of things scream don't buy, the worst things being no optical drive and the RAM is soldered on now.
It is in effect a Mac Air with an i7 cpu and a large iPad screen.

The new MBP smokes the shit out of a MBA. Much stronger processor, more potential RAM, top end video card and crazy screen. I know you just meant it has stuff soldered and glued like the Air does, but the performance is certainly putting out "pro" numbers

[Popsicles987]

I'm selling my laptop and buying a new MBP...not the retina display...or possibly a refurb 17" since it has the express card slot. Any input on the exact model I should get right now and how to outfit it? I'll wait until the new iMac and/or Mac Pros come out and hop on one then.

[deathromantik]

Refurbished is a good option. IMO the last good MBP came out early 2012. The new ones just make me want to build a Hackintosh.

[skira]

Originally Posted by Popsicles987

I'm selling my laptop and buying a new MBP...not the retina display...or possibly a refurb 17" since it has the express card slot. Any input on the exact model I should get right now and how to outfit it? I'll wait until the new iMac and/or Mac Pros come out and hop on one then.

FYI if you buy any refurb machine with Thunderbolt you can buy an Expresscard adapter for $125.

[Popsicles987]

I pulled the trigger on a new 15" MBP 2.6 quad i7 with a 128GB ssd. I also ordered 16GB of RAM from OWC to put in it and a 750GB 7200RPM HD to put where the optical drive is. I think this is my best option right now and I'll look to get the Mac Pro when the new ones drop.

[gramps]

make it backwards compatible to previous os's...otherwise no thanks. i have enough outdated mac gear.

[gdoubleyou]

Originally Posted by gramps

make it backwards compatible to previous os's...otherwise no thanks. i have enough outdated mac gear.

I'm quite sure someone has done a hack, do a search.

It would probably void the warranty!

[mostapha]

I have Leopard running on a 766mhz g4, so yes…hacks exist. All I needed to do was find and delete the one line of code that checked processor compatibility in a config for the installer. Can't upgrade because they dropped PPC support, but whatever.

Also, what are you people doing to your machines? Lion works just fine for me (logic 9; then pt 10.2, maschine, etc).

Almost all of the new BS iOS "features" can be disabled just like anything else if you have a clue what you're doing, and I still think dashboard and the dock are the most annoying.

Personally, I don't care what they do…it's OSX or go to hard disk recorders because windows isn't worth using and PT will never work on Linux. But, I can see your points. Apple scares the crap out of me, and really it amazes me just how much I hate windows to put up with them.

Still. I can't see them giving that market up completely.

God help us if they do.

[deathromantik]

Linux does have Ardour and Mixbus though, sure they don't have as much plugins and they have not been in development as long as pro tools.
I only use OSX and Pro Tools not because I like them but because I am required too by my college.
I'd guess that there are others the same.
But lets not get off topic; the OP has made his choice. Let's just hope that he is happy with it.

[anguswoodhead]

You may have seen this already.....
It's tricky with Apple now for sure

[Popsicles987]

Originally Posted by anguswoodhead

You may have seen this already.....
It's tricky with Apple now for sure

It would be nice to see an updated chart for the new computers.

[SSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Popsicles987

It would be nice to see an updated chart for the new computers.

The new computers have only been out a week. People may have been posting benchmarks in the later part of the thread, it just hasn't made it to the front page yet. Or it hasn't been long enough for folks to have benchmarked

[Syncamorea]

Originally Posted by deathromantik

After having a look at the new MBP a lot of things scream don't buy, the worst things being no optical drive and the RAM is soldered on now.

I thought GS consensus was that nobody uses archaic optical drives anymore?

[deathromantik]

Those who are blessed to live where there is cheap, fast and reliable internet believe such things.
A Sony Discman cost $40 new; burnable CDs work out at about $0.50 each when bought in bulk, iPod costs $300, you can see why optical drives are still wanted.
My university requires my mixes, art work and session files to be burnt to disc. My bag is already full with my books, MBP, a usb hub, iLok, mouse, and two hard drives I don't need to be brining a CD/DVD burner too.

I earn to little to have a credit card, so I buy my Movies, TV shows and Music from physical stores and rip them myself to FOSS lossless formats. Magazines have muisic and software that they give away on optical media; if you don't have a drive, how are you going to listen to or install it?

There is such a thing as blindly following trends in technology, Kraftwerk touched on this in some of their songs, Neil Postman raves on about it and to a degree he is right.

An example is that this whole cloud hype is just a revised version of the Mainframe in a larger, more, commercialised model.