I have Adobe CS 5.5 Production Premium and Apple Final Cut Studio 2009. I am looking for a "new" Mac Pro from 2009 to 2012. I have also checked the Mac OS requirements of both software. Adobe CS 5.5 requires "Mac OS X v10.5.8 or v10.6.3; Mac OS X v10.6.3 required for GPU-accelerated performance in Adobe Premiere Pro" and Apple Final Cut Studio 2009 requires "Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later". I am looking for the best high end Mac Pro that has 2 physical CPUs. But I am getting mixed results from internet searches. Someone said that the last supported OS is 10.6.8. Someone else suggested Mac OS 10.7 to 10.8. I am not sure what is the last operating system that the software supports before they start to become unstable. Please help me. Thanks.
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MP All Models Hello. I need help with the best Mac Pro
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I’ve used Adobe CS5.5 in Mac OS Mavericks 10.9 up to Yosemite 10.10. Works fine. I can’t comment on 2009 Final Cut Pro as I don’t use this software. On another thread topic, a member confirmed that Adobe CS6 runs ok with Yosemite. See post no. 4. The best choices would be a 2010 5,1 cMac Pro or 2009 4,1 cMac Pro
Is my 2010 Mac Pro too old to use Adobe Premiere?
I'm using a 2009 Mac Pro with a lot of updates to make it run the latest version of Adobe Premiere, which is 14.1 under Creative Cloud 2020, so you can update yours to do the same. I edit 4K video for Dell Technologies all day, every day with this thing. My 2009 Mac Pro specs are: - W3680...
forums.macrumors.com
I think to be on the safe side, I will get the 2009 4,1 Mac instead of the 2010 5,1 Mac because it can run Leopard and I can start from there and see which Mac OS I would like to have installed permanently on the machine for compatibility for the two software suites in addition to newer software such as FCPX.
Classic Final Cut not supported beyond Sierra. But what in your workflow compels you to use decades old software and hardware that are no longer supported? For about the same money that you would spend on upgrading a 5,1, you will get better performance on a 2016-18 iMac Retina. For FCPX, it's best on the newer hardware, which it's optimized for.
Considering that I had issues with my "new" Mac Pro from 2013 and I recently sold my 2009 Mac Pro, I am not sure which Mac desktop will be perfect for me in reliability, performance, and software compatibility. I tried converting video in my 2009 Mac Pro but the fan noise was loud. I was never able to use Final Cut Pro X in the 2013 Mac Pro because of video issues but I was able to return it. I am now thinking of rebuying the 2013 Mac Pro because of its size and power in a smaller machine than the 2009 Mac Pro. I am still not sure which Mac Pro desktop to get.
I'm considering going down the same path... what Mac are you using now that is superior to the 5,1?
Don’t get me wrong. We all love our 5,1 machines. On the other hand, I’m not sure all that many of us who are on them would buy another one right now. Already, it is challenging to run the current operating system. It may seem crazy, but if you don’tNeed a monitor the Mac mini is a computer you can grow with. Of course, everything is external, but at this point it is more expandable than a 5,1.
GitHub - cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive: Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve.
Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve. - ...
github.com
By all means stay with the MP 5,1 if you like tinkering, the expandability, and using only older apps.
I find it could be expensive and pointless to constantly tinker, add new components, and deal with kexts and hacks to keep the MP 5,1 updated and upgraded. It‘s a never ending battle to keep it from obsolescence. It is obsolete already. I enjoy the tinkering, but it’s not a hobby and I can‘t afford to continue throwing money and time at it.
Expandability on the 5,1 is way overhyped, because limitations come with obsolescence. Even if you stick the latest hardware in its aging body, it cant’ be expected to magically work as a modern computer. The built-in tech is 2 or 3 generations behind, e.g., PCIe is gen2, no Thunderbolt, no Bluetooth 5, etc. The 5,1 is stuck in time, which is perfectly fine if you only use old apps and don‘t need tech that meets the newest standards.
Take FCP classic, which is perfectly fine on the MP 5,1, but it does not run on macOS beyond Sierra. That means it’s limited to the last generation of graphic cards, like the RX 580 or a hacked GTX 1080. Sierra does not support the current generation of AMD Vega, Navi, or Nvidia Turing cards. (I have tried installing Retroactive, and it’s not yet ready for prime time for old FCP.)
FCPX is optimized for Intel CPUs found in newer Macs. My 2018 iMac — not to mention my 2019 MBP 16" — have no issues with timeline scrubbing or stuttering like the MP 5,1. My iMac is also faster at rendering, transcoding and grading. If I were to spend money for a new FCPX machine, I would not invest in the kaput classic Mac Pro, as much as I love it on my desk.
I find it could be expensive and pointless to constantly tinker, add new components, and deal with kexts and hacks to keep the MP 5,1 updated and upgraded. It‘s a never ending battle to keep it from obsolescence. It is obsolete already. I enjoy the tinkering, but it’s not a hobby and I can‘t afford to continue throwing money and time at it.
Expandability on the 5,1 is way overhyped, because limitations come with obsolescence. Even if you stick the latest hardware in its aging body, it cant’ be expected to magically work as a modern computer. The built-in tech is 2 or 3 generations behind, e.g., PCIe is gen2, no Thunderbolt, no Bluetooth 5, etc. The 5,1 is stuck in time, which is perfectly fine if you only use old apps and don‘t need tech that meets the newest standards.
Take FCP classic, which is perfectly fine on the MP 5,1, but it does not run on macOS beyond Sierra. That means it’s limited to the last generation of graphic cards, like the RX 580 or a hacked GTX 1080. Sierra does not support the current generation of AMD Vega, Navi, or Nvidia Turing cards. (I have tried installing Retroactive, and it’s not yet ready for prime time for old FCP.)
FCPX is optimized for Intel CPUs found in newer Macs. My 2018 iMac — not to mention my 2019 MBP 16" — have no issues with timeline scrubbing or stuttering like the MP 5,1. My iMac is also faster at rendering, transcoding and grading. If I were to spend money for a new FCPX machine, I would not invest in the kaput classic Mac Pro, as much as I love it on my desk.
If what you want is FCP Studio and CS5.5, you are limited to Sierra. So, build the ultimate Sierra Mac Pro:
- Buy a dual processor mid-2010 or mid-2012 Mac Pro (don't buy an early-2009),
- a pair of X5690 Xeons,
- if you want CUDA, a NVIDIA GTX 980 or 1080,
- if you want OpenCL, AMD HD 7950/HD 7970/R9 280/R9-280X
- a NVMe SSD that can work with Sierra (4KB/sector like some Toshiba and Sabrent),
- 6x16GB 1333MHz 2R4 DIMMs to have 96GB RAM
- use the hell of it.
Don't buy a RX 580 for a Sierra Mac Pro, drivers are too buggy.
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I wanted the dual processors, too. But I am not sure about the graphics. Although I read that FCP X is best with AMD graphics because of OpenCL and I did think of going with the RX 580 because it supposedly works out of the box therefore no drivers are needed and it supports Metal. My other issue is not being able to have the boot screen with the RX 580, because it is not made for Mac, which I think is integral to owning an Mac.
AMD Polaris GPUs support with Sierra is at best incipient, Polaris drivers only are mature with Mojave. Forget RX 480/580 if you are going to use Sierra.
Stick with a HD 7950/HD 7970/R9 280/R9-280X if you want OpenCL. Btw, HD 7950/HD 7970/R9 280/R9-280X are self flashable for pre-boot configuration support.
Pre-boot configuration also support can be achieved with OpenCore, works fine with recent PC GPUs like NVIDIA GTX 980 and 1080.
Already told you, for OpenCL it's HD 7950/HD 7970/R9 280/R9-280X - all are variants of the same AMD Tahiti GPU.
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Supports start with 10.7.5, drivers are decent around Mavericks/Yosemite and really mature with El Capitan.
Again, HD 7950/HD 7970/R9 280/R9-280X is a self flash-able GPU - no need to pay anyone to do it, just buy one of the commonly used models that are know to work. There is a lengthy thread teaching how to do it:
-- How to make a Mac EFI ROM for HD 7950, HD 7970, R9 280, R9 280X --
- fixrom script from Netkas forum
- https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/help-overclocking-12-core-mac-pro.1762165/#post-19497121
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