MP 7,1 Help Mac Pro 7,1 question

[Man on the moon]

In 2023 is it a bad idea buying a Mac Pro 7,1 from a studio that no longer will use it.

Now my question is more for advice on the pro and cons of this decision.

This would be for a 16 core / 4TB SSD , 384gb ram and Radeon 5700X 16gb of gddr6

4-5K

I appreciate any feedback

 

[rm5]

In 2023 is it a bad idea buying a Mac Pro 7,1 from a studio that no longer will use it.

Now my question is more for advice on the pro and cons of this decision.

This would be for a 16 core / 4TB SSD , 384gb ram and Radeon 5700X 16gb of gddr6

4-5K

I appreciate any feedback

What is your workload? That's the important question... so can you please describe that to me? Personally, I'd recommend against it, unless you really need it.

Reasons why you would need such a machine over a Mac Studio (or Apple Silicon Mac Pro, when that comes out):

1. Your workload is RAM intensive
2. You need 4 TB of internal storage "on the cheap"

For $4-5K that seems like a good deal to me, especially with 384 GB of RAM, but just be aware it could be replaced VERY SOON with Apple Silicon, and then it will lose a lot of its value.

 

[prefuse07]

The guy above me is thinking very much inside of the box. First, computers are not investments, so who cares if it will lose value? (unless your whole point of buying stuff is to flip it, and if that is the case, please leave, scalper...) The flip side to that, is to wait until the prices come down more before you buy.

There are many other things to take into consideration than just RAM or internal storage (come on man):

See THIS post, and check out that whole thread.

We don't know if the 8,1 will come out any time soon (though we hope!)

Until there is any announcement, there has been an abundance of speculation on whether the 8,1 will support third party dGPUs, if it will have expandable RAM, expandable Storage. If it will be on AS, or the last x86/Intel machine.

Then there is the price, and based on what the 7,1 and Mac Studio are priced at, there has been no indication that the 8,1 will have an entry level price.

IMO a 7,1 is for sure still worth it in 2023, and while the current pricing might seem high, you have to remember to take inflation into consideration -- case in point, in 2012, a "mid-range" cMP was selling for ~$2,999.99 from apple (according to everymac), which in 2023 dollars is now equal to ~$3,909.10. I know it's still a wash compared to the $5,999.99 from apple right now for a base spec 8-core, but I guess one other thing to keep in mind is that the 7,1 was all constructed in the USA, so it's a really solid piece of kit (and a damn sexy one at that).

The question you need to ask yourself, OP -- is this... is the 7,1 worth it for you and your workflow (this I do applaud Mr. rm5 for asking).

 

[Man on the moon]

Is it worth it ?yes, because I want it.

Now am I some Hollywood super producer like Michael bay no.

I was looking to keep it for a while and my workflow surely doesn’t require this kind of machine.

Seems like a good deal

 

[prefuse07]

Is it worth it ?yes, because I want it.

Now am I some Hollywood super producer like Michael bay no.

I was looking to keep it for a while and my workflow surely doesn’t require this kind of machine.

Seems like a good deal

Another thing to think about -- if you buy it now, and in 2-3 months apple announces the 8,1 and prices for the 7,1 suddenly plummet -- are you going to hate yourself? or will you not even look at 7,1 pricing after you make your purchase, because you will be so happy that you got one, and you won't care anymore about the market until you come to purchase your next machine (hopefully a few years from now).

The 7,1, while being totally worth it (IMO), does have a gamble aspect -- we also don't know if apple will continue to support it, and all of their other x86 offerings, and we also don't know when support for these x86 machines will cease completely.

Given their history, we have seen apple drop support for machines erratically (look at all of the apple stuff that was surprise-dropped from Ventura).

 

[Man on the moon]

I wouldn’t hate myself because these specs are better than default offering. The max studio seems to be better but I just don’t want that one.

 

[MrScratchHook]

I wouldn’t hate myself because these specs are better than default offering. The max studio seems to be better but I just don’t want that one.

if you have the money and it wont put you in debt, just buy it. yes its worth it.

 

[prefuse07]

FWIW, mine just arrived on Thursday, and i've been so ecstatic about it that I haven't even taken it out of the box yet!

 

[Man on the moon]

FWIW, mine just arrived on Thursday, and i've been so ecstatic about it that I haven't even taken it out of the box yet!

View attachment 2160455

I have mine in car and can’t wait to hook it up.

Thanks to all who replied and provided great insight.

 

[flowrider]

When I received mine, within 15 min. it was out of the box and running. I then took it down, and proceeded to mod away👍🏼

Lou

 

[prefuse07]

I guess I am still sort of "saying goodbye" to my trusty ol' 5,1, which has literally been a tank!

Enjoying its last moments, if you will

 

[avro707]

In 2023 is it a bad idea buying a Mac Pro 7,1 from a studio that no longer will use it.

Now my question is more for advice on the pro and cons of this decision.

This would be for a 16 core / 4TB SSD , 384gb ram and Radeon 5700X 16gb of gddr6

4-5K

I appreciate any feedback

Terrible idea, everyone knows they are worth nothing, dead to Apple, etc - or so certain people here say.

However, I got one new last year spent AUD$16 and it has been superb! Love that machine. Engineering is beautiful. It runs great.

Because I had a busted hip at the time I needed help unboxing it and lifting it into the desk, but once that was done I had it powered up and software installed within about 1 hour. I even had my NVME drives running in it immediately. It was easy.

The 5,1 is too old now. the 7,1 is the logical replacement. I wish you the best with your new computer. These are like buying a new car.

I guess I am still sort of "saying goodbye" to my trusty ol' 5,1, which has literally been a tank!

Enjoying its last moments, if you will

Enjoy your new 7,1, it’s a fantastic computer and welcome to the evil dark side of the Mac and Mac Pro community.

I’m still running the 5,1 machines too. The “dead” dual X5690 machine that made me get the 7,1 is running again too. So all of them are runners and I have more than adequate computing power.

The 7,1 is everything I liked about the 5,1 but with the shortcomings of the 5,1 addressed. It can be upgraded far more than the 5,1.

 

[rm5]

The 5,1 is too old now. the 7,1 is the logical replacement.

Fair... I wish I could afford a 7,1, but I obviously can't afford a $5K machine, being as young as I am and not having a day job, but that's OK. Still sticking with my 5,1 for the time being! Plus, I don't think my workload would justify getting a 7,1—I don't work in a movie studio, etc. Either my M1 or my 5,1 can handle my productions just fine. And I don't even have a 12-core like some of you folks. I'm sure that would help, but honestly I don't need it. It runs 60-track Logic productions just fine.

 

[MisterAndrew]

The 7,1 is totally worth it in 2023. I got a brand new one this year. It doesn't matter if it loses value when the 8,1 is released. The value it has is what it can do today. We don't know much about the 8,1, but based on the rumors it's most likely going to be pretty lame.

 

[avro707]

Fair... I wish I could afford a 7,1, but I obviously can't afford a $5K machine, being as young as I am and not having a day job, but that's OK. Still sticking with my 5,1 for the time being! Plus, I don't think my workload would justify getting a 7,1—I don't work in a movie studio, etc. Either my M1 or my 5,1 can handle my productions just fine. And I don't even have a 12-core like some of you folks. I'm sure that would help, but honestly I don't need it. It runs 60-track Logic productions just fine.

It wasn’t a purchase I made lightly, it’s kind of painful parting with that much cash in one go, even if you can afford it.

Depending on what the new 8,1 is like, either the 7,1 values will come down or they will stay high. The rumours so far make it look like Apple is going the wrong way.

The 5,1 users have to hope the bootrom project comes good and learn how to do hardware maintenance on those old machines. I’m not looking forward to have to learn how to solder in new chips into my 5,1 machines.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Is it worth it ?yes, because I want it.

Now am I some Hollywood super producer like Michael bay no.

I was looking to keep it for a while and my workflow surely doesn’t require this kind of machine.

Seems like a good deal

If I were you, I would just get a Mac Studio.
Again, unless you absolutely need something like X86 Windows compatibility, or 300+ gB of RAM.
A Mac studio is going to be cheaper, it’s going to take up less room, and it’s going to be supported for much longer.
Apple could sunset X86 macOS as early as 2025, at least from future feature updates. Obviously security updates will last a couple years longer, but I would not be betting on that as a platform anymore, at least not one worth dumping 4000+ into.

 

[Man on the moon]

I love it and I am very happy with the purchase.

One thing I have to say out of pure frustration and annoyance is that the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID should work on the Mac Pro.

Just on silicone Mac is absurd.

 

[AlexMaximus]

I love it and I am very happy with the purchase.

One thing I have to say out of pure frustration and annoyance is that the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID should work on the Mac Pro.

Just on silicone Mac is absurd.

Congratulations. This rig will last a long time. The MP 8.1 will be a complete Desaster and will top the 6.1 trashcan. They already dropped the ball with a No-RAM-Upgrade Middle finger. Apple Silicon should not exist in the Pro market in the first place. Since Steve Jobs and Sir J. Ive are gone, the 2019 represents the very last and best Pro Machine ever built. Enjoy the last engineering marvel of a dying world of values as we know it. - You won’t own anything and be happy, - eat the bugs, .. and with Apple Silicone you will not own the right to repair either.

 

[MarkC426]

Late to the party, as the OP has already purchased....
A plus from me on the 7.1, I am jealous....😍

People also need to consider what apps they have which are not AS native, and possibly work badly on AS Macs.

Updates aside, there is no reason you can't use a 7.1 for a decade. I am still using my 5.1 on Mojave.

Before the naysayers jump onto security updates (oh the horror ), I would imagine anyone getting a 7.1 would be for professional app use, not for web-browsing/FB etc.

 

[avro707]

I love it and I am very happy with the purchase.

One thing I have to say out of pure frustration and annoyance is that the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID should work on the Mac Pro.

Just on silicone Mac is absurd.

Look at the flip side, we get a black keyboard.

Touch ID would have been useful but there is also Apple Watch unlock. If you have such a watch (I don’t).

@MarkC426 above, I’m surprised you haven’t upgraded to Monterey. 12.6.3 runs nicely on the 5,1 and 12.6.4 is available on the beta channel at the moment.

 

[macguru9999]

I bought one, a very similar deal to this. maybe a bit cheaper even. i wanted one so no regrets, its great.

 

[Man on the moon]

I bought one, a very similar deal to this. maybe a bit cheaper even. i wanted one so no regrets, its great.

Congrats and yeah I am very happy.

People may disagree but I hope this is not one of the last great designs/builds by apple. Jony Ive departure will truly have an impact on the designs of future devices.

Example: Mac Studio looks terrible and they just took an existing design and made it taller.

 

[macguru9999]

Yeah, probably my last intel mac .... I am very interested in the M2 ultra Mac Pro , but there is no rush, I can use the intel compatibility at the moment. Interestingly, I had a new M1max 16in MBP here today that I was setting up and it felt very fast, finder and browsing but it has 16mb non upgradeable ram.

 

[Kentrent]

I'm glad you bought it. it's a beautiful piece of engineering... from design to build quality. The logic board and everything inside the computer has no wires... it's amazing. I bough mine in October last year and I love the specifications on my machine. It's a 28 cores, 384 GB RAM, 8 TB SSD, afterburner card, and 2X Vega II Duo. I don't do the work that require this much power, but I bought it anyway because I love the engineering in this machine.

 

[Man on the moon]

I'm glad you bought it. it's a beautiful piece of engineering... from design to build quality. The logic board and everything inside the computer has no wires... it's amazing. I bough mine in October last year and I love the specifications on my machine. It's a 28 cores, 384 GB RAM, 8 TB SSD, afterburner card, and 2X Vega II Duo. I don't do the work that require this much power, but I bought it anyway because I love the engineering in this machine.

wow that is some serious machine. you ever maxing the 1.5TB ram?