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Imac pro vs Mac Studio
- Thread starter Danielvfx
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All the reviewers say yes. i was planning on a new ‘iMac Pro’ that didnt materialize, but it seems to have been replaced with the M1 Ultra. The upgrade cycle for the current M series seems to be 2 years, so it is a good time to buy one if you need it as you wont see an M2 Ultra for 2 years (though the upcoming Mac Pro might be a Quad M1 Max)
Depends on the specs of your iMac. It trails just behind the 18 core iMac Pro, but should beat the others for CPU-bound tasks.
Thanks Mike. So the 18core would be the fully spec'd out iMac Pro and you recon the base studio wouldn't out-perform it?
If you're currently running the 18-core iMac Pro, both the multithreaded CPU - and the Metal GPU - benchmarks are roughly comparable. In single threaded performance the M1 Max is a clear winner.
I don't have any experience with Nuke specifically, and that, unfortunately, is the only thing that really matters in your case. And every workflow is different and will stress and favour different machines differently, but I'd be surprised if you saw a significant performance delta between the two.
Were I in your shoes, I'd probably await a native version of Nuke and non-beta AS version of After Effects before making the leap.
I don't have any experience with Nuke specifically, and that, unfortunately, is the only thing that really matters in your case. And every workflow is different and will stress and favour different machines differently, but I'd be surprised if you saw a significant performance delta between the two.
Were I in your shoes, I'd probably await a native version of Nuke and non-beta AS version of After Effects before making the leap.
The current Ultra may beat the best configured iMac Pro at some tasks, but for most task not by much or even worse due to core count.
I am seeing the AS Mac Pro or the potential iMac (Pro) down the line being actual upgrade paths from the 2017 iMac Pro, or maybe the next iteration of the Mac Studio + Ultra.
The bigger reason to go Ultra now would be:
1) to switch to Apple Silicon ASAP
2) to get out of the AIO setup that's forced on the iMac Pro
Neither of which don't seem to apply for the OP.
I am seeing the AS Mac Pro or the potential iMac (Pro) down the line being actual upgrade paths from the 2017 iMac Pro, or maybe the next iteration of the Mac Studio + Ultra.
The bigger reason to go Ultra now would be:
1) to switch to Apple Silicon ASAP
2) to get out of the AIO setup that's forced on the iMac Pro
Neither of which don't seem to apply for the OP.
The Ultra should significantly outperform *any* configuration of the iMac Pro, in both single- and multi-core and GPU-bound workloads, provided you're running AS-optimized software. The Max Studio is a close match for the highest-end iMac Pro, whereas the full-fat Ultra will trade punches with the highest end Mac Pro in most workloads (some very GPU-bound workloads will favour the Pro if configured with one or more of the best available cards).
In CPU bound workloads, both single-core and multi-core, the Max Studio should be *significantly* faster (like, over 50%) than the 8-core iMac Pro, provided your software is well-optimized for AS.
If I were in your shoes, I'd ask around on some Nuke forums (believe there's an active community on reddit?) for anyone's experience running on a MacBook Pro with the Max. It's the same SoC, so performance will be effectively identical. They'll be in the best position to advise whether the lower RAM ceiling and lack of AS optimization are major impacts to their workflows.
if you can't afford it now then wait when you can. There is no point spending money on something that is just a bit better. Also, Apple does 0% instalments so maybe that could be an option too.
If I were you, I would wait and see what WWDC brings. Also, you can always buy it and test it at home and see what you gain. Return period is 14 days which is plenty to test your specific needs/requirements
If I were you, I would wait and see what WWDC brings. Also, you can always buy it and test it at home and see what you gain. Return period is 14 days which is plenty to test your specific needs/requirements
You should probably stick with what you have if you aren't experiencing serious bottlenecks. And don't discount the 5K display. I'm using a solid 4K LG with my Ultra, but miss the iMac 5K display and don't want to spend the additional $$$ for the studio display as of yet. Out of curiosity, what can you get for trade in for your iMac Pro?
I also use iMac Pro, and am very much looking forward to upgrading to an Apple Silicon Mac. Unfortunately, I don’t quite see the Mac Studio with M1 Ultra a legitimate upgrade option yet, for two reasons:
1. Ultra will be faster, for sure, but this alone is not enough. My iMac Pro has 128 GB of RAM. If I am going to replace it, I would hope the new machine to have at least 196 GB of RAM, better 256 GB. M1 Ultra is capped at 128 GB, very unfortunately. With M1 Ultra, I can probably run current tasks somewhat faster, but it will not enable new, much larger projects.
2. The 5K display in iMac Pro is still very good. If I am to replace the iMac Pro with something else, I would hope to have a display that’s significantly better. The new studio display is probably a little better, but not by much. (I will need to see it in an Apple Store to confirm.). The only display that’s qualified to be significantly better is the Pro Display XDR, but it’s price is prohibitive for me now.
Four years ago I was “forced“ to purchase an iMac Pro to replace my aging 2010 Mac Pro, because Apple was not able to launch a real Pro for a long while. The iMac Pro turns out to have very good value. It’s fast, and its display is gorgeous. (Previously I used the first-generation 5K display from Dell on my 2010 Mac Pro. It’s not as good as the one in iMac Pro.) Despite how good M1 Ultra is, I still don’t find a package that can convince me to upgrade. Perhaps I need to wait until there are M2 Ultra and a new 6K or 7K display whose price is not crazy.
1. Ultra will be faster, for sure, but this alone is not enough. My iMac Pro has 128 GB of RAM. If I am going to replace it, I would hope the new machine to have at least 196 GB of RAM, better 256 GB. M1 Ultra is capped at 128 GB, very unfortunately. With M1 Ultra, I can probably run current tasks somewhat faster, but it will not enable new, much larger projects.
2. The 5K display in iMac Pro is still very good. If I am to replace the iMac Pro with something else, I would hope to have a display that’s significantly better. The new studio display is probably a little better, but not by much. (I will need to see it in an Apple Store to confirm.). The only display that’s qualified to be significantly better is the Pro Display XDR, but it’s price is prohibitive for me now.
Four years ago I was “forced“ to purchase an iMac Pro to replace my aging 2010 Mac Pro, because Apple was not able to launch a real Pro for a long while. The iMac Pro turns out to have very good value. It’s fast, and its display is gorgeous. (Previously I used the first-generation 5K display from Dell on my 2010 Mac Pro. It’s not as good as the one in iMac Pro.) Despite how good M1 Ultra is, I still don’t find a package that can convince me to upgrade. Perhaps I need to wait until there are M2 Ultra and a new 6K or 7K display whose price is not crazy.
I did and the consensus is that the studio is a great machine but won't show its full potential in Nuke until its optimised. That's why I'm thinking to get one now anyway because it just in general a better machine than the iMac Pro I have now and once Nuke is updated it'll run as it should on the Studio.
Thanks for the advise though
The 14day option would have been great but the Studio isn't even fully available in South Africa yet😅 so I have to import it from the US or Canada myself
The iStore here in South Africa offered R21000 which is roughly 1400usd but I'm selling to another company that buys Macs for basically double that
Yeah I'm starting to think I should also wait till end of the year at least to see what Apple brings out
The roadmap is fairly clear. Another M1 Mac Pro (quad M1 Max chips) then M2 refreshes of laptops and desktops followed by the M2 Pro, Max and Ultra versions 12-24 months after their initial release. I guess the question is will there be a 27 inch (or larger) iMac -- I think unlikely or a larger rumored Macbook Air (possibly) or an M2 Pro Mac Mini?
But what about a touch screen MacBook?!?
Is it even clear there will be an M1/AS optimized version of Nuke in the near future?
Their customer base is probably mainly on Win/Linux. How much of a Mac-centric company (product) might this be? They killed the Mac port of Mari a while back after it was lagging behind for a long time - a software once used to demonstrate the advantages of the previous Mac Pro no less.
To be fair they did put in some extra Mac-specific bugs as a bonus though.
Their customer base is probably mainly on Win/Linux. How much of a Mac-centric company (product) might this be? They killed the Mac port of Mari a while back after it was lagging behind for a long time - a software once used to demonstrate the advantages of the previous Mac Pro no less.
To be fair they did put in some extra Mac-specific bugs as a bonus though.