iMac 2021 to replace Mac Pro 3,1

[humanafterall]

I work professionally as a graphic designer, mostly Photoshop, Illustrator and occasionally some After Effects stuff on various projects (animation, video editing, creative video art etc). I'm on a Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008), 2 x 2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon , upgraded with SSD, 24GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 4 GB. I'm used to the limitations and speed of this "ancient" model and I was wondering if it'd be the right decision to replace it with an M1 iMac 8C CPU, 8C GPU, 16GB and 512GB SSD. I have checked geekbench scores between the iMac 2021 and Mac Pro 2008 and of course the latter is left way back behind. I'm reading reviews though that the M1 iMac is not for professional use but I've been working professionally with an outdated model for years now, so I guess the M1 will be a huge difference in terms of speed and efficiency and it'll be more than enough for me. What do you think?

 

[CharlesJenks]

I would wait for the new more powerful iMac to come out. I also use the Adobe suite professionally and am fine with my 2017 27 inch iMac, 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 with 64 GB OWC memory. I may update but would also be fine staying with what I have. I would steer clear of the 24 inch M1 given its lack of ports. And, again, something much better is coming soon.

 

[chrisdazzo]

I would wait for the new more powerful iMac to come out. I also use the Adobe suite professionally and am fine with my 2017 27 inch iMac, 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 with 64 GB OWC memory. I may update but would also be fine staying with what I have. I would steer clear of the 24 inch M1 given its lack of ports. And, again, something much better is coming soon.

Agree with this. It won't be much longer (figure a 1-year avg. product cycle) until the new M1X/M2 Mac Mini and MBP's are released, and the iMac should follow soon after Q1 2022 probably). I've got a relatively powerful iMac at home as well, and am itching to hop on the M-train, but patience will be rewarded with "gen" 2.

 

[Realityck]

I work professionally as a graphic designer, mostly Photoshop, Illustrator and occasionally some After Effects stuff on various projects (animation, video editing, creative video art etc). I'm on a Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008), 2 x 2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon , upgraded with SSD, 24GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 4 GB. I'm used to the limitations and speed of this "ancient" model and I was wondering if it'd be the right decision to replace it with an M1 iMac 8C CPU, 8C GPU, 16GB and 512GB SSD. I have checked geekbench scores between the iMac 2021 and Mac Pro 2008 and of course the latter is left way back behind. I'm reading reviews though that the M1 iMac is not for professional use but I've been working professionally with an outdated model for years now, so I guess the M1 will be a huge difference in terms of speed and efficiency and it'll be more than enough for me. What do you think?

You might find this particular video useful.

That early 2008 Mac Pro is similar to one I had and the speed/memory utilization of the M1 iMac is just a huge increase. The concern I would have is how much of your older software needs a much more current version?

The stores tend to keep blue and silver 8/8/16GB/1 TB configurations that they receive so many per week, (check the highest priced choice then config above, and look at local pickup. The 24 iMac can drive a external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

Now as far as when the next larger iMac comes out, that could be January thru April as my guess. I think Apple has their hands kinda tied trying to get 14"/16" AS based MBPs first. Those are a option also as they can drive external monitors also.

Hopefully you will play with these in the stores and discovery what is right for your needs. In retrospect those were such large boat anchors to carry around for servicing. What ever comes in the future will be a lot lighter as quieter without all those fans.

 

[humanafterall]

I would wait for the new more powerful iMac to come out. I also use the Adobe suite professionally and am fine with my 2017 27 inch iMac, 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 with 64 GB OWC memory. I may update but would also be fine staying with what I have. I would steer clear of the 24 inch M1 given its lack of ports. And, again, something much better is coming soon.

Thank you for your thoughts. I guess the most important part of the decision is to have in mind that M1 is at a whole different level of performance. I mean that even 5 years ago the configuration of the current mid-level 8/8/16GB/512GB M1 iMac with that display would be considered a professional choice.

 

[humanafterall]

Agree with this. It won't be much longer (figure a 1-year avg. product cycle) until the new M1X/M2 Mac Mini and MBP's are released, and the iMac should follow soon after Q1 2022 probably). I've got a relatively powerful iMac at home as well, and am itching to hop on the M-train, but patience will be rewarded with "gen" 2.

Thanks for your input. Of course there will always be a better model coming next but what I'm thinking is that I have done a lot of professional work with my ancient 2008 Mac Pro which was considered the pro choice 10+ years before and there is an affordable Apple Silicon Desktop available that beats even the 2017 iMac Pro in single-core benchmarks.

Mac Pro (Early 2008)
Intel Xeon E5462 @ 2.8 GHz (8 cores)
Score: 407

iMac Pro (Late 2017)
Intel Xeon W-2150B @ 3.0 GHz (10 cores)
Score: 1114

iMac (24-inch Mid 2021)
Apple M1 @ 3.2 GHz (8 cores)
Score: 1712

My point is that iMac M1 24'' should be considered an affordable pro choice.

 

[humanafterall]

You might find this particular video useful.

That early 2008 Mac Pro is similar to one I had and the speed/memory utilization of the M1 iMac is just a huge increase. The concern I would have is how much of your older software needs a much more current version?

The stores tend to keep blue and silver 8/8/16GB/1 TB configurations that they receive so many per week, (check the highest priced choice then config above, and look at local pickup. The 24 iMac can drive a external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

Now as far as when the next larger iMac comes out, that could be January thru April as my guess. I think Apple has their hands kinda tied trying to get 14"/16" AS based MBPs first. Those are a option also as they can drive external monitors also.

Hopefully you will play with these in the stores and discovery what is right for your needs. In retrospect those were such large boat anchors to carry around for servicing. What ever comes in the future will be a lot lighter as quieter without all those fans.

Hey thanks for all the useful advice!

I've watched Tyler Stalman's video before and there are a lot of YouTubers out there that share the same opinion, that iMac M1 is powerful enough for professional use.

Apple Silicon is a totally different thing from the past models and it's really capable from what I understand. Of course M1X or M2 will be way more capable. What I'm thinking is that M1 is democratizing the computer world by offering access to high end performance with affordable machines. I mean some 5 years ago you could find the same level of performance at $5000 with an iMac Pro, or later at $6000 with an Mac Pro (without the display!). I think there was a huge price gap between consumer prosumer and professional models and big performance differences. With the M1 and especially with the iMac M1 that gap seems to close and I believe Apple of course gave it a lot of thought in regards to pricing vs performance and it seems they decided to "open up" and offer the product of their tech research to a wider market.

So I think the philosophy behind the iMac M1 is that it sports the latest technology from Apple, it is indeed marketed as an affordable consumer level model, but it is configurable for professional use. And while there are pro models coming in the next months that will bring new standards I think that this one will remain as the affordable all-in-one choice that we wouldn't think of even 3 years ago as an option. The 21'' Mac that the M1 iMac is supposed to be replacing wasn't even by far of the same significance as a technology advance back then.

 

[chrisdazzo]

...
iMac (24-inch Mid 2021)
Apple M1 @ 3.2 GHz (8 cores)
Score: 1712

My point is that iMac M1 24'' should be considered an affordable pro choice.

Absolutely true - the M1 iMacs are plenty powerful and affordable for what they offer. Those single-core scores are insane.

 

[theluggage]

Apple Silicon is a totally different thing from the past models and it's really capable from what I understand.

Yes, and it will almost certainly run rings around your 2008 model CPU wise - just don't get sucked in by the "8GB on M1 = 16GB on Intel because unified memory" myth - if the 'memory pressure' reading on your 24GB 2008 is going into the yellow/orange during your regular workflow then you could probably do with more than the 16GB maximum of the current M1 machines.

Also think about what sort of display you want - the 24" on the M1 iMac is probably all-round better than what you have at the moment, but larger displays are available these days, so you may be better off with a M1 Mini plus the display of your choice. Or, if you want all-in-one, the anticipated 5k iMac replacement should have something at least as good as the 27" 5k display (which is a thing of beauty) and possibly a larger/higher res upgrade. Also, none of the M1 macs can support more than two displays (so, only 1 additional display on iMac) which is something expected to change with the new machines. Also, the M1 GPU might completely thrash Intel integrated graphics - but that is a low bar, and the M1 is only really comparable to a so-so, several years old desktop GPU (which is still something, for a 15W SoC, but that doesn't count for much on a desktop).

It's always the case that, if you wait, something new will come along, but in this case we've really only seen half the story with Apple Silicon. The M1 is a chip optimised for tablets and ultraportables - not a graphics professional's main machine - and while the advance is such that it gives the last Intel "Pro" macs a run for their money, I think that's only a transition phase until the "Apple Silicon Pro" (ie. M1X or whatever it gets called) machines come out. They need to be a substantial, clear blue water, upgrade c.f. the current higher-end Intel Macs - the M1 isn't that.

In this case, your previous machine is still going strong after 12 years. You're probably not going to repeat that feat, but if you want something that is going to stand the test of time you might want to set your sights a bit higher than "better than my 13 year old Mac" - I'd at least wait for the M1X machines to show, if not give it another year for the early worms to get the bird (speaking as someone who bought a 2006 Mac Pro that ended up on premature door-stop duty).