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Post by indiehouse on Oct 12, 2020 10:08:22 GMT -6
Well, I did it. iMac 2020 (I7, 1TB SSD), utilizing my edu discount. I applied for an Apple card to spread the payments out over a year at 0%. I sprung for the Airpods Pro deal (for an extra 90), and got 20% discount on Applecare as well. That was painful. Even more so knowing this thing is going to be obsolete in a couple years... I think you’re going to love the machine. I am loving mine. Also, for whatever it’s worth, I’ve never bought the doomsday scenario that Apple is going to stop supporting its gigantic, global army of Intel machines in a couple of years. Nor do I think that upon release of the first couple Apple silicon machines the audio software world is going to instantaneously be solidly ready to rock with them. You're totally right. I'm probably just being overly pessimistic. I would like to use this for the next 8-10 years, but I fear that it won't be supported THAT long, considering it would need supported by Apple as well as all the various audio software companies I use.
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Post by Drew @ UA on Oct 12, 2020 10:18:03 GMT -6
Certain 2019 and 2020 iMacs I believe. Ok, well I guess I hope that I just didn't order one of those. Can you share any details about which 2020 iMac configurations? Sorry, I do not know specifics. Chances are you'll be fine considering how many of our users use these machines compared with how many users have had issues. We're talking single digits. Just be VERY careful when doing the install and pay attention to every dialog box. We've NEVER, I repeat NEVER had an install fail if all dialogs/procedures are followed.
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Post by indiehouse on Oct 12, 2020 15:20:08 GMT -6
Well, here’s a twist of fate. My 2012 Mac Mini died today, out of nowhere. Technically I think it’s the startup disk. But how’s that for timing?
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Post by the other mark williams on Oct 12, 2020 18:28:44 GMT -6
Well, here’s a twist of fate. My 2012 Mac Mini died today, out of nowhere. Technically I think it’s the startup disk. But how’s that for timing? Wow, that's nuts - glad your new machine is on the way. I think you're really going to like it.
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 13, 2020 3:16:27 GMT -6
“People tell me it's a sin To know and feel too much within I still believe she was my twin But I lost the ring She was born in spring But I was born too late Blame it on a simple twist of fate“
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Post by Ward on Oct 13, 2020 5:31:38 GMT -6
And Tim Cook is such a supply chain guy, it must drive him crazy to be so beholden to Intel for everything with no control at all. Yeah but I’ll bet he was shitting bricks not knowing who was going to end up with control of ARM😁. The thing is Tim Cook really needs a Steve Jobs for balance. Apple might be a better Company under Cook, but it needs that next great product. Yes... I was hoping that after Jobs' passing it would be: Jonathan Ives CEO Tim Cook COO Wish it could be that way now.
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Post by sirthought on Oct 14, 2020 10:27:30 GMT -6
I just bought a Mac Mini with the i7 CPU. Will be looking for a decent monitor that doesn't hit my wallet too hard.
I currently use a 2017 iMac with an i5 and it works really well in most mixing situations. There are some CPU heavy plugins that will hit the ceiling quickly, and I think the i7 and extra cores will help that. I usually avoid the Acustica stuff and a few others here and there. It's not a huge problem, because enough alternatives are out there that you can still get the job done.
The main reason to switch was size. I occasionally need to travel with my setup and the iMac isn't quick and easy for that. I can usually plug into someone else's monitor or rig something smaller. I used to use MacBook Pros, but ALL of them had heat issues and I just don't want to go down that road anymore. I know the Mini's aren't immune from it, but I think much less.
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Post by indiehouse on Oct 14, 2020 12:11:15 GMT -6
I just bought a Mac Mini with the i7 CPU. Will be looking for a decent monitor that doesn't hit my wallet too hard. I currently use a 2017 iMac with an i5 and it works really well in most mixing situations. There are some CPU heavy plugins that will hit the ceiling quickly, and I think the i7 and extra cores will help that. I usually avoid the Acustica stuff and a few others here and there. It's not a huge problem, because enough alternatives are out there that you can still get the job done. The main reason to switch was size. I occasionally need to travel with my setup and the iMac isn't quick and easy for that. I can usually plug into someone else's monitor or rig something smaller. I used to use MacBook Pros, but ALL of them had heat issues and I just don't want to go down that road anymore. I know the Mini's aren't immune from it, but I think much less. I'm second guessing whether or not that would have been a better buy for me.
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Post by guitfiddler on Oct 14, 2020 21:49:21 GMT -6
Dang, after going through this thread for hours I’m still undecided about moving forward about what new Apple computer I’m going to go with. I used to build custom PC’s and I hated windows for audio machines, but I can build a very powerful silent machine. I can’t stand Apple because they use cheap garbage hardware in their systems, but I like their OS better, things just work without having to deal with OS conflicts, or massive resource black holes. It’s always a conundrum. Why don’t these companies design a proprietary computer that just works with their system? It might even reduce the cost because they would be buying a plethora of them from a supplier. If it’s priced wrong I guess the market will decide the price.
What’s really interesting is the feedback on the new i5 performance. I have a 2012 Mac mini with 16 gigs of ram. It has dual internal ssd’s and a usb ssd drive externally. It’s solid and I’ve never experienced it sounding like a leaf blower with my Apollo mkii Interface. It’s always been silent. Some of my projects are taxing, and it gets hot, but I never hear the fan once.
I was thinking about going either MacBook Pro or another Mac mini. Still trying to decided. I can’t do iMac because if there is a monitor issue(seen it)the whole computer is down, and I like to go on location and meet with the artist to record. So I like the idea of packing up a rig and going. Eventually, I plan on making the switch to Luna with an Apollo X converter.
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Post by sirthought on Oct 15, 2020 1:17:40 GMT -6
Just from my experience, my 27" iMac display is really nice. No issues with that ever and I notice the difference when looking at other screens now. I also really love the speakers in the 27" iMac. It's not something I'd mix on, but for listening to YouTube or something for fun the speakers really perform well, and unlike the crappy MBP speakers these actually can get loud when you want that. I think today's iMac is a great value considering everything you get with it.
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Post by OtisGreying on Oct 15, 2020 3:46:23 GMT -6
Just from my experience, my 27" iMac display is really nice. No issues with that ever and I notice the difference when looking at other screens now. I also really love the speakers in the 27" iMac. It's not something I'd mix on, but for listening to YouTube or something for fun the speakers really perform well, and unlike the crappy MBP speakers these actually can get loud when you want that. I think today's iMac is a great value considering everything you get with it. The iMac looks really good for those who don't need a mobile rig, I'd go for it if I could sacrifice portability. We're you able to find a sale on your Mac mini i7 purchase? I've been seriously considering buying one, but also curious about upcoming releases
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Post by svart on Oct 15, 2020 8:32:21 GMT -6
I'll let you all know how my 500$ Lenovo m920q micro works out in a few weeks.
I7-8700T 6 core 24GB ram 512GB NVME SSD W10Pro
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Post by indiehouse on Oct 15, 2020 9:44:21 GMT -6
Oh man, here I am considering a new-in-box i7/500SSD 2018 mini for $1k, and 32GB OWC RAM for $135, vs $2300 for the 1TB SSD iMac plus OWC RAM.
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Post by indiehouse on Oct 15, 2020 9:52:23 GMT -6
The thought process here is that I wouldn't be out as much money when the new Apple processors become the norm.
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Post by ragan on Oct 15, 2020 10:31:27 GMT -6
I'll let you all know how my 500$ Lenovo m920q micro works out in a few weeks. I7-8700T 6 core 24GB ram 512GB NVME SSD W10Pro New machine just for kicks or did something happen? I thought your older i5 rig was running Reaper great?
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Post by the other mark williams on Oct 15, 2020 12:08:54 GMT -6
Just from my experience, my 27" iMac display is really nice. No issues with that ever and I notice the difference when looking at other screens now. I also really love the speakers in the 27" iMac. It's not something I'd mix on, but for listening to YouTube or something for fun the speakers really perform well, and unlike the crappy MBP speakers these actually can get loud when you want that. I think today's iMac is a great value considering everything you get with it. The iMac looks really good for those who don't need a mobile rig, I'd go for it if I could sacrifice portability. We're you able to find a sale on your Mac mini i7 purchase? I've been seriously considering buying one, but also curious about upcoming releases We got my wife one of these bags for her 27” iMac before a recent trip: Damero Carrying Tote Bag Compatible with Apple 27" iMac Desktop Computer, Travel Storage Bag for iMac 27-inch and Other Accessories, Black www.amazon.com/dp/B07WDB9TYM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_p-iIFbFEQRHV7Not saying it made her situation as portable as a MBP, but man, she loved it. Super easy to pack up and go.
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Post by svart on Oct 15, 2020 12:09:40 GMT -6
I'll let you all know how my 500$ Lenovo m920q micro works out in a few weeks. I7-8700T 6 core 24GB ram 512GB NVME SSD W10Pro New machine just for kicks or did something happen? I thought your older i5 rig was running Reaper great? Originally I thought up the way I'd upgrade in the near future in my "Future studio plans" thread but then after the process of getting all these new plugins working, etc, the computer seems to be a little iffy. In my "Laptop vs. NUC" thread, I pondered which direction to go, but ultimately decided to go with a Small Form Factor (SFF) computer for the future, using USB to a set of MOTU converters. Unfortunately, over the last week or so I've had some very strange issues pop up with my recording computer. One day it wouldn't boot at all, just beeped. Rebooting didn't do anything and I had to pull power and wait until the standby power drained, then repowered/rebooted and it came up. Since then, one of my recent Reaper files wouldn't open up and I had to revert to a week old backup losing a handful of edits. All other reaper sessions open fine. All in all, the machine is almost 10 years old now and has seen thousands of hours of running, so I decided to start enacting my plans to move to a new computer and MOTU converters from the SSL Alphalink/MX4 DSP card and finally move to windows 10 and such. So I guess it's more of my hand being forced. It's costing me an arm and a leg, but I have some sessions coming up that I don't want to miss out on, so I need to get this running now in case of possible failure of the current rig.
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Post by Johnkenn on Oct 15, 2020 12:14:29 GMT -6
I really just need to pull the trigger on the 2019 mac mini i7...
Is the RAM user upgradable in it?
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Post by the other mark williams on Oct 15, 2020 12:16:26 GMT -6
I really just need to pull the trigger on the 2019 mac mini i7... Is the RAM user upgradable in it? It kind of is. What I mean is that yes, you can do it, but it’s considerably more difficult than on an iMac.
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Post by ragan on Oct 15, 2020 12:25:20 GMT -6
New machine just for kicks or did something happen? I thought your older i5 rig was running Reaper great? Originally I thought up the way I'd upgrade in the near future in my "Future studio plans" thread but then after the process of getting all these new plugins working, etc, the computer seems to be a little iffy. In my "Laptop vs. NUC" thread, I pondered which direction to go, but ultimately decided to go with a Small Form Factor (SFF) computer for the future, using USB to a set of MOTU converters. Unfortunately, over the last week or so I've had some very strange issues pop up with my recording computer. One day it wouldn't boot at all, just beeped. Rebooting didn't do anything and I had to pull power and wait until the standby power drained, then repowered/rebooted and it came up. Since then, one of my recent Reaper files wouldn't open up and I had to revert to a week old backup losing a handful of edits. All other reaper sessions open fine. All in all, the machine is almost 10 years old now and has seen thousands of hours of running, so I decided to start enacting my plans to move to a new computer and MOTU converters from the SSL Alphalink/MX4 DSP card and finally move to windows 10 and such. So I guess it's more of my hand being forced. It's costing me an arm and a leg, but I have some sessions coming up that I don't want to miss out on, so I need to get this running now in case of possible failure of the current rig. Gotcha. Well 10 years of heavy use is pretty damn good for a recording machine. That's just about what I got out of my last iMac, which still runs great, I just moved to a more VI-heavy workflow. And I want to stick with the Symphony MKII so that means Apple. Hope your new machine works well. I have a little i5 Lenovo Yoga that I use for school. It's been mostly great.
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Post by indiehouse on Oct 15, 2020 12:33:15 GMT -6
I really just need to pull the trigger on the 2019 mac mini i7... Is the RAM user upgradable in it? It's not 'officially' upgradeable, which means it voids any kind of warranty if you do it. I think.
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Post by Johnkenn on Oct 15, 2020 12:36:46 GMT -6
You guys really think I need the i7? I think I've asked this before...but even the i5 benchscores almost twice as fast as my 2012...
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Post by svart on Oct 15, 2020 12:50:30 GMT -6
You guys really think I need the i7? I think I've asked this before...but even the i5 benchscores almost twice as fast as my 2012... At least in my SFF investigation, the difference in price was only a couple hundred bucks, but the difference in benchmarking was almost double in favor of the i7, so I chose a slightly lesser i7 to save about a hundred bucks. I do realize that in Apple terms, moving from an i5 to an i7 means a lot more money than just a couple hundred bucks, but if you can, see which models they are and compare single-threaded benchmarks online. Some models of i7 don't mean a huge increase in performance from an i5, while some do.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,934
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Post by ericn on Oct 15, 2020 13:57:47 GMT -6
Power button gave up the ghost on my MBP, so I guess I get to join the party before the new ARM macs.
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Post by OtisGreying on Oct 15, 2020 17:39:28 GMT -6
The iMac looks really good for those who don't need a mobile rig, I'd go for it if I could sacrifice portability. We're you able to find a sale on your Mac mini i7 purchase? I've been seriously considering buying one, but also curious about upcoming releases We got my wife one of these bags for her 27” iMac before a recent trip: Damero Carrying Tote Bag Compatible with Apple 27" iMac Desktop Computer, Travel Storage Bag for iMac 27-inch and Other Accessories, Black www.amazon.com/dp/B07WDB9TYM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_p-iIFbFEQRHV7Not saying it made her situation as portable as a MBP, but man, she loved it. Super easy to pack up and go. Damn, that actually looks pretty convenient. Very interesting.
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