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If the Mac Pro comes out in 2018, will you buy one?
- Thread starter fourthtunz
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So then you also meant that you upgraded it to 1MB of memory and not 1GB of memory?
Nah it was really 1GB... Is PCjr ended up being 20' wide with all those 256k sidecar modules ;-)
So long as we can actually upgrade the GPU this time and the CPU and RAM aren't soldered in I'd say more or less for certain.
I'd still like 3.5" internal disk bays ideally given that 2.5" ones are still only available in much small capacities but guess I'll end up having to fork out for an external enclosure for these. Unfortunately we are still along way off the 10TB dirt cheap SSD's I would wish for!
Price and the exact timing of release may mean I have to wait a little for it but hopefully there is still some life in the old upgraded 09 Machine I have yet, with the bulk of new Macs sold today being laptops it still performs as well or better than them for most of my own tasks.
I'd still like 3.5" internal disk bays ideally given that 2.5" ones are still only available in much small capacities but guess I'll end up having to fork out for an external enclosure for these. Unfortunately we are still along way off the 10TB dirt cheap SSD's I would wish for!
Price and the exact timing of release may mean I have to wait a little for it but hopefully there is still some life in the old upgraded 09 Machine I have yet, with the bulk of new Macs sold today being laptops it still performs as well or better than them for most of my own tasks.
So then you also meant that you upgraded it to 1MB of memory and not 1GB of memory?
Yep lol. So used to gigabytes now.
It came with 64K.
If expanded to 128k, video RAM sat right above that.
By design, any memory you added to it got added above the video RAM in the addressing space.
So, if you added an additional 512K, you'd have 640K. But with the video RAM addressed between 128K and the additional 512K, the system couldn't use the additional 512K as RAM. But it could be used as a RAM disk.
But, using utilities, you could remap the video RAM to be beyond 640K.
That would allow the operating system to recognize the 640K as system memory.
Then later they came out with a way to do essentially the same thing and bring it up to 768K and putting the video RAM above that.
And if I remember right, by utilizing another add on and utility, I managed to bring it up to a full megabyte of RAM. But I don't recall if that included the video RAM or not.
Whatever I couldn't use directly in DOS, I would map for use with any memory resident utilities and any relocatable DOS system files.
It was a clunky way around things. But it worked.
The competition would be a quiet/silent PC built to server grade specs (ECC memory, no thermal issues). So, maybe. I'd prefer to have something that can run OS X at least some of the time, even though I don't spend much time in that mode on my current cMP. I'm happy with the upgrades on the cMP and can wait for a year or so.
I'm not a power user right now, but just curious, are you video editing with your windows machines?
For me if I were to upgrade I would just buy the 2010 12 core that I saw on eBay for $1200..
What did you upgrade to?
I realize pros need great video cards, etc..I'm just doing audio..thanks!
I think its too bad that Apple doesn't just upgrade the old boxes or even the trashcan, without changing the design
but what do I know?
No. What I have works fine. Actually, since I've started working more with electronic sounds instead of orchestral using Logic, my track numbers are over-all much lower and CPU usage correspondenly less. But it's nice to have the headroom for flexibility.
I'm hoping the 5,1 Mac Pro gets one or two more OS upgrades and also a few more years of Logic updates. People are still using Logic 9 so not having the latest and greatest version of Logic isn't going to matter much to me for some time. By then maybe I'll be able to work in Linux and leave Apple's musician not so friendly hardware and Microsoft's data slurping behind. DAWs such as Reaper and more and more synths and a handful of natural instrument libraries are now working in Linux. If some of the major players in audio production eventually support Linux it would be a whole new ball game.
I'm hoping the 5,1 Mac Pro gets one or two more OS upgrades and also a few more years of Logic updates. People are still using Logic 9 so not having the latest and greatest version of Logic isn't going to matter much to me for some time. By then maybe I'll be able to work in Linux and leave Apple's musician not so friendly hardware and Microsoft's data slurping behind. DAWs such as Reaper and more and more synths and a handful of natural instrument libraries are now working in Linux. If some of the major players in audio production eventually support Linux it would be a whole new ball game.
Many years ago, Ford had a slogan: Quality is Job 1.
This was of course parodied and applied to companies like Microsoft: At Microsoft, Quality is Job 1.1.
Alas, this has become virtually axiomatic: Puchase of any sufficiently new generation device should be postponed until version 1.1.
As much as I will be tempted by the new modular MacPro, I will have to make a rational decision rather than an impulse decision. If I don't see the potential of keeping it for a good 5-7 years, I may have to hackintosh my way to an upgrade.
This was of course parodied and applied to companies like Microsoft: At Microsoft, Quality is Job 1.1.
Alas, this has become virtually axiomatic: Puchase of any sufficiently new generation device should be postponed until version 1.1.
As much as I will be tempted by the new modular MacPro, I will have to make a rational decision rather than an impulse decision. If I don't see the potential of keeping it for a good 5-7 years, I may have to hackintosh my way to an upgrade.
I was about jump ship, but Apple has thrown me a lifeline - albeit a slim and very long one. If they have learned the lessons of the nMP, then it should be fine. I really hope to buy one - Apple easily has the technology to make the best desktop in the business. But does it have the will?
I've been keeping an eye on Linux as an alternative for when my 4,1>5,1 is obsoleted by Apple & I can no longer get plugin upgrades.
My only concern about Linux is that plugin makers & aren't supporting Linux at all. Or perhaps only a very few because I haven't read of any.
I haven't moved my audio and video editing over to Windows yet. That is the one task still done on the old Mac. Mostly because I already have the software and it still does it.
But, I do use the PC's for just about everything else at this point.
Even my Mac ends up in Windows frequently.
There are some good sides to OS X that I like. So I use it where I can. But there is also a lot that I find Windows better suited for, or easier to get the job done in.
My 2012 MP will be due for a replacement around that time, so yes - if Apple can truly deliver a modular pro workstation, I will buy one.
Linux is a pain for music production.
Some software use Alsa, other use Pulse Audio and then there is Jack/Jack2 for the interconnection. Being linux there isn't also any kind of standardisation in how each pieces work or relate with each other.
I gave it a serious try and ended up waisting most of my time trying to patch the different application then making music.
I went back to Win10 with FL studio and to my old 2010 iMac with LogicX.
We'd like to buy one at my work, but it wouldn't be for me. We're upgrading our network and our software, so we're going to be at a point in a year or so where we could buy a few Macintosh computers for people who want them. Our new network will be set up so people can have the OS that they want and we won't have to worry about it playing nice with our network or the software that we use.
Our engineers are using HP Zs and they really don't care for Macintosh, so they're not switching, but our artist/web designer really wants a Mac. If I can justify it when we need to replace her HP Z, we'll do it. Apple just has to sell us something new that she can use.
I would love to have Macs at our company again, but it's really dependent on what Apple decides to do. It took me quite a bit to get some of our older employees to let me put Windows 10 onto their Windows 7 devices, so I doubt we'll ever have more than 2-5 Macs.
Personally, I'd be perfectly happy with the new iMac Pro that they're talking about.
Our engineers are using HP Zs and they really don't care for Macintosh, so they're not switching, but our artist/web designer really wants a Mac. If I can justify it when we need to replace her HP Z, we'll do it. Apple just has to sell us something new that she can use.
I would love to have Macs at our company again, but it's really dependent on what Apple decides to do. It took me quite a bit to get some of our older employees to let me put Windows 10 onto their Windows 7 devices, so I doubt we'll ever have more than 2-5 Macs.
Personally, I'd be perfectly happy with the new iMac Pro that they're talking about.
Here's a year old list of DAWs and plugins that work in Linux. You can add Reaper to this list and also Garritan Personal Orchestra 5 which has recently been reported to work in at least the Linux version of Reaper. U-he makes my favorite synth plugins and most of them are at least working in Linux as downloadable betas, available on their user forum.
http://linux-sound.org/linux-vst-plugins.html
one neat thing about cloud processing is that it doesn't matter what the user's computer is.
or- i really don't think apple would design a computer based around cloud processing because their current lineup (mini/nmp/imac/laptops) already works pretty great for that.
as far as i can gather from what the execs recently said, this newnewMP should be a very powerful local processing station.
I agree. Its just that as a pro you still have to buy the best tool for the job at the best price.
For some a used machine will do and for others they must have the latest and greatest.