iMac vs. iMac Pro, which one is right for me?

[travelvideographer]

Hi guys, after long thoughts I decided to ask you Mac specialists. I’d need a new desktop computer for both my video and music production.
In terms of video, I work with Premiere Pro and After Effects. The videos that I produce are usually in Full HD, but sometimes I use 4K footage, too.
Right now I use a Alienware 13 with a GTX1060 for that and it works fine, especially when I travel, but I would love to have a for editing at home.

The other thing that I do is music/filmscoring for my videos. Therefore I use Komplete 11 Ultimate which requires 500 GB of memory space alone. Right now it is installed on a windows desktop, but the workflow isn’t so nice because the PC freezes a lot. Also, I enjoy using Garage Band on my iPad and I can imagine using Komplete 11 Ultimate on a iMac.

Above all I have frequent problems to bring large video files from my iPhone X to the windows computer, so right now I solved that problem by using iCloud.

Anyway, I’d like to merge my video and music activities on one machine and thought about buying an iMac 27”. The model that I would choose would probably be one of the top range models.
However, I wonder if that would be enough for my purposes. Also, I heard that the 2017 iMac is about to get an update this year and I would not want to buy an outdated product.

So for these reasons I thought it might be worth looking at the iMac Pro, too. I would choose the model with the 8 core Xeon and the improved graphics card, Vega 64 (is it actually necessary to upgrade it or is the 56 enough for my purposes?).

I haven’t used a iMac so far, but am familiar with Apple’s portable products and love using them. However, I have not really a clue of which setup I would need for video editing and music production. For this reason I would love to ask you people out there!

Thanks !

 

[alphaswift]

It sounds like you have a case for a higher end solution. If the system will help make money, I'd go Pro.

 

[pat500000]

I have komplete 9 ultimate on Mac Pro....maybe you want to wait for Mac Pro.

 

[propower]

Any 2017 iMac with SSD (NOT Fusion) will do what you are asking. The difference between the lowest 2017 i5 and highest i7 were only in the number of plugins I could run at lowest buffer settings (audio use - Logic, Pro Tools, studio One). The difference in Video editing and final production of HD video from iMovie between the i5 and i7 was less than 10% in my tests. The PCIe SSD is in many ways the key and if you want an always quiet machine - i5 is the ticket. i7 is great but runs much hotter and will incur near maximum fan speed on every video encode.

The most important thing though is all SSD. It is perfectly reasonable to use a 256GB OS internal and either USB3, USB3.1 or TB3 for external SSDs - Komplete, bulk storage and even Audio record drives. I squeeze my entire Drum and synth libraries (Komplete 11 (not ultimate), BFD3, Toontrack etc + my active video workspace and my Audio workspace on a 1TB internal SSD drive. Expensive - but fabulous.

The iMac Pro at $3500 would be a no brainer. $5K + incidentals is fine if you NEED to run huge sessions and really tax the machine on encodes - or you just have the $$ and like having the top machine. It is also reported to be reasonably quiet at high loads as well. Otherwise I fear you would feel no difference. I am 1+ years on my i5 iMac (came from a 2013 Hex Core MP). Was a stellar choice on that day.

 

[Strider64]

I went with the iMac Pro, but from online reviews between the iMac Pro and the iMac the two differences that I see is. One - if you're not doing a lot of video editing (putting in titles and special effects) and don't mind the fans spinning at high speed under full load then the regular high iMac is a good option. I have also seen some benchmarks where the iMac beats the iMac Pro on certain tasks when it came to video.

Second - if you're not using FCPX and just Adobe CC Suite then a person won't get a big boost from the iMac Pro, for Adobe CC Suite is not optimize for it. This doesn't bother me for I kicked Adobe to the curb in favor for FCPX.

Just something to think about.

Oh from what I have been seeing the 10-core iMac Pro is the sweet spot for most people. Though I am only using a 8-core iMac Pro, but this computer is fast enough for me. I don't have to worry about someone waiting for me to get done with a task or job.

 

[pier]

The top of the line 5K iMac should be more than enough for you. Get an SSD though. Also take note that the i7 can be noisier than the i5.

The iMac Pro will be faster in multithreaded operations (encoding video etc) but if you're mostly producing 1080p I don't think it's worth it.

Although if you can I would wait. A new Mac Pro and an iMac refresh will be released at some point.

I also second what @Strider64 says about Premiere and FCPX. If you are doing video on a Mac, FCPX or Resolve are faster than Premiere.

 

[Squirkytunkle]

I am audio visual creator working a lot with Logic, Lightroom and occasionally FCPX. Honestly, I would also veer towards a standard iMac just like Pier said above. I have a fully loaded 2015 iMac and it mostly works very well for me. I have some Logic sessions with 30 plus tracks and tons of plugins ( 50- 60e easily) and rarely find myself wanting or needing for more. I use a lot of Native Instrument plugins for my sound design with Reaktor getting used tons as well as Kontakt and others used in most sessions.

As said above, the SSD route is the way to go. Loading sample libraries in Kontakt is MUCH faster with SSD.

Even this setup works quite well for some 4k editing in FCPX with an external RAID. A 2017 iMac would be much much better again than mine with the latter. Also, as said above, if you are going Mac then FCPX will be a MUCH better solution for video editing. Apple software is highly optimised with Apple hardware. Adobe is a most definitely not.

If you are going to use Mac hardware then i also highly recommend trying Logic.

If you were heavily into 4k editing then it would be a no brainer to go for the iMac Pro, but you said you are shooting usually with HD with some 4K.

Yes, it would seem likely that Apple will update iMac later in the year and it should be with the 6 core coffee lake cpus (a BIG step up). There is no guarantee with that though so if you really need now than go for something soon. If you are worried as you say that you might end up with an outdated product and can wait till the autumn, then definitely wait.

Anyways, thats just my two cents and I wish you best of luck with whatever you go with!

 

[travelvideographer]

Wow, thank you so much for your answers! Well as far as the Mac Pro is concerned, I don’t know when Apple will bring it. Also I prefer the 5K display of the iMac.

Well I can wait for a iMac refresh, but I would want to have a new computer this year - and who knows what Apple plans.

Yes most of my work right now is in 1080p, but I would want to be ready for the future, especially since I’m already using 4K footage. In terms of animations I use a lot of 3D camera tracking and some special effects/animations. Well, I’m used to Premiere Pro and like that I can switch between Premiere and After Effects, so I donkt see myself switching to FCPX

What is important to me is to have a workflow where I can concentrate on the things that I’m doing and not so much on workarounds for problems ;-).

What I don’t like about the iMac Pro is that there is no way to upgrade the RAM, at least not so easy as with the regular iMac.

Would 32 GB Ram, the Vega 56, 8 Core Xeon and a nice big SSD be enough? Or would I need the Vega 64?

I mean in my country a iMac with 2TB SSD, 32 GB RAM and i7 would cost 5K €, and a iMac Pro with the 8 Core Xeon, 32 GB RAM, the Vega 56 and also 2TB SSD would cost 5500 €.

Again it is so cool that you guys share your experience to help me, thank you!

 

[jday7757]

I’ve done a lot of “research” on this very same question and my opinion is that not only will the latest high spec iMac work fine, (as someone else mentioned above) it might even be better than an 8-core iMac Pro when using the Adobe Creative Suite. The reason is that the adobe products are not optimized for using the extra cores that the iMac Pro is going to give you. The processor and RAM are going to be the key. On the other hand if you were going to use FCPX then the iMac Pro will leave the iMac in the dust.

I currently have a late-2014 27” Retina iMac and use PPro and AE and am ver6 happy with it’s speed and performance. I do NOT deal with much 4K video but with 1080P, almost all my editing plays in real-time (unless i’ve applied multiple intensive effects). Since my iMac is almost 4 years old i’ve Been looking at upgrading just due to the advancement in processor technology. I hav3 d3cided to wait a few months and see if Apple announces an upgraded iMac. If not, I will probably go ahead and buy a 2017.

One last caveat to what I’ve said above and that is that the iMacs do run hotter than the iMac Pros which means that under heavy load the fans will ramp up and you will hear them. That does happen on my 2014 iMac but it doesn’t really bother me, plus I believe the 2017 iMacs are a little better in this respect (although not as quiet as the iMac Pro).

 

[ElectronGuru]

Here’s the thing about future proofing for future proofing sake. If you spend twice the price for twice the years (say 6 years), you could spend the same cash every 3 years and have a machine half the age for the second 3 years. So get the pro if you can use the cores.

I have a 2017 27 with ssd. Love it so much I’ve moved away from my mbp. And I can add ram anytime.

If it were me, waiting is the only question

 

[DQ11]

I'm also kind of in the same situation but not quite the same.I've been looking at the 27" 2017 imac 4.2 ghz with 16gb ram + 512 GB SSD.

I was just hoping I could run 35-45 tracks in logic with mostly vsts without the fans running super loud all the time.

 

[propower]

I try out every Mac I get with stock models and BTOs. 2 week no question asked returns at an Apple store. I tried a BTO 27 i7 1TB SSD, a stock 3.4G and a stock 3.8GHz machine before ordering the one I have. Using my workflow I knew it would do the job!

Just go to the store and bring home a likely candidate - (or get a BTO)- and see how it performs in your workflow.

Future proofing: FWIW - My Hex Core MP was a future proof machine that was way more than I "needed" at the time. 3 Years later is was still way more! My current 1 year old iMac is faster at everything vs the MP and still has plenty of headroom for what I am doing. Count me in the camp that would rather buy a new machine with Apple Care - and sell that one every 2 years or so for the next newer model . I would LOVE an iMac Pro - but it would make very little difference in my case...

 

[Apple TarHeel]

Hi guys, after long thoughts I decided to ask you Mac specialists. I’d need a new desktop computer for both my video and music production.
In terms of video, I work with Premiere Pro and After Effects. The videos that I produce are usually in Full HD, but sometimes I use 4K footage, too.
Right now I use a Alienware 13 with a GTX1060 for that and it works fine, especially when I travel, but I would love to have a for editing at home.

The other thing that I do is music/filmscoring for my videos. Therefore I use Komplete 11 Ultimate which requires 500 GB of memory space alone. Right now it is installed on a windows desktop, but the workflow isn’t so nice because the PC freezes a lot. Also, I enjoy using Garage Band on my iPad and I can imagine using Komplete 11 Ultimate on a iMac.

Above all I have frequent problems to bring large video files from my iPhone X to the windows computer, so right now I solved that problem by using iCloud.

Anyway, I’d like to merge my video and music activities on one machine and thought about buying an iMac 27”. The model that I would choose would probably be one of the top range models.
However, I wonder if that would be enough for my purposes. Also, I heard that the 2017 iMac is about to get an update this year and I would not want to buy an outdated product.

So for these reasons I thought it might be worth looking at the iMac Pro, too. I would choose the model with the 8 core Xeon and the improved graphics card, Vega 64 (is it actually necessary to upgrade it or is the 56 enough for my purposes?).

I haven’t used a iMac so far, but am familiar with Apple’s portable products and love using them. However, I have not really a clue of which setup I would need for video editing and music production. For this reason I would love to ask you people out there!

Thanks !

Best Buy has the iMac 5K on sale (3.2Ghz 2TB Fusion drive, 8 GIG RAM - 24GB RAM installed myself) so I went with that ... I don't do much more than hobby video stuff .. Office files like large spreadsheets were glitchy .. scrolling was not very smooth ... I liked the computer a lot but was concerned about 4 - 5 years from now .. Noticed Best Buy had base iMac Pro on sale for $4,599 - took iMac 5K back and got iMac Pro 8 Core - night and day difference in speed for everyday apps like Office 365 not to mention iMovie .. Speakers sound 1000% better ... I guess Apple upgraded those from iMac 5K. If you can afford, go with the Pro .. but the other folks on here who are smarter with regards to video production may offer better advice ... I love my purchase of the Pro

 

[DQ11]

I try out every Mac I get with stock models and BTOs. 2 week no question asked returns at an Apple store. I tried a BTO 27 i7 1TB SSD, a stock 3.4G and a stock 3.8GHz machine before ordering the one I have. Using my workflow I knew it would do the job!

Just go to the store and bring home a likely candidate - (or get a BTO)- and see how it performs in your workflow.

Future proofing: FWIW - My Hex Core MP was a future proof machine that was way more than I "needed" at the time. 3 Years later is was still way more! My current 1 year old iMac is faster at everything vs the MP and still has plenty of headroom for what I am doing. Count me in the camp that would rather buy a new machine with Apple Care - and sell that one every 2 years or so for the next newer model . I would LOVE an iMac Pro - but it would make very little difference in my case...

Interesting. Where do you go about selling it? Back to apple? E-bay?

Did you stick with the i5 or go with the i7? Did the fan noise and heat bother you at all?

I'm coming from a 2007 MBP 2.4 ghz core 2 duo + 2GB ram + 120 GB HD(5400). I max out at like 20 tracks and if I try to use even one instance of Kontakt it knocks it down to like 15 tracks before I get errors. I'd been 90% stock Logic Plug ins and a couple demos/free ones that were compatible with OSX 10.4.1.

So yea Literally anything will be better than that, but I'm also going to want to be doing more and so I'll need more power. I think the i5 should be good enough but I'm either paying $3,450 for the 27" + specs I listed or $3,150 for the i5.

Either way I'm paying $3,000. Part of me feels odd about paying that much for only an i5.
[doublepost=1529726692][/doublepost]

Here’s the thing about future proofing for future proofing sake. If you spend twice the price for twice the years (say 6 years), you could spend the same cash every 3 years and have a machine half the age for the second 3 years. So get the pro if you can use the cores.

I have a 2017 27 with ssd. Love it so much I’ve moved away from my mbp. And I can add ram anytime.

If it were me, waiting is the only question

What do you use it for?

 

[propower]

Interesting. Where do you go about selling it? Back to apple? E-bay?

Did you stick with the i5 or go with the i7? Did the fan noise and heat bother you at all?
.....

I complete my tryouts in the 2 week return window and return to either the Apple store - or once they sent me a shipping label.

I do ProAudio and simple 1080 Video (though 4K footage from iPhones is no real problem either) all on the 3.8GHz i5. Fantastic machine. Have yet to ever exceed 60% CPU load on multitrack audio super low latency recording, mixing and mastering with 2 extra monitors. Fan only increases speed on long video encodes up to ~1800RPM. 1200RPM is not silent but is darned quiet and no bother micing acoustic things 5 feet away.

 

[DQ11]

I complete my tryouts in the 2 week return window and return to either the Apple store - or once they sent me a shipping label.

I do ProAudio and simple 1080 Video (though 4K footage from iPhones is no real problem either) all on the 3.8GHz i5. Fantastic machine. Have yet to ever exceed 60% CPU load on multitrack audio super low latency recording, mixing and mastering with 2 extra monitors. Fan only increases speed on long video encodes up to ~1800RPM. 1200RPM is not silent but is darned quiet and no bother micing acoustic things 5 feet away.

awesome. glad to hear it's working out for you. Do you use AU's at all? I'd be using more virtual instruments and only some audio channels for the most part and I know it's more taxing on the cpu that way. I'm hoping it would be good for 30-40 tracks.

 

[AlexMaximus]

Wow, thank you so much for your answers! Well as far as the Mac Pro is concerned, I don’t know when Apple will bring it. Also I prefer the 5K display of the iMac.

Well I can wait for a iMac refresh, but I would want to have a new computer this year - and who knows what Apple plans.

Yes most of my work right now is in 1080p, but I would want to be ready for the future, especially since I’m already using 4K footage. In terms of animations I use a lot of 3D camera tracking and some special effects/animations. Well, I’m used to Premiere Pro and like that I can switch between Premiere and After Effects, so I donkt see myself switching to FCPX

What is important to me is to have a workflow where I can concentrate on the things that I’m doing and not so much on workarounds for problems ;-).

What I don’t like about the iMac Pro is that there is no way to upgrade the RAM, at least not so easy as with the regular iMac.

Would 32 GB Ram, the Vega 56, 8 Core Xeon and a nice big SSD be enough? Or would I need the Vega 64?

I mean in my country a iMac with 2TB SSD, 32 GB RAM and i7 would cost 5K €, and a iMac Pro with the 8 Core Xeon, 32 GB RAM, the Vega 56 and also 2TB SSD would cost 5500 €.

Again it is so cool that you guys share your experience to help me, thank you!

Unless you run a Youtube channel with millions of subscribers or you make a +++six figure income from your professional work, I really would think twice about it if you indeed really need that much power of a 5500 US$ machine....
But it always depends how your inside economy works, how good you are in the tax de- / reduction games and how much do you depend on the machine to make money. You may think twice about how much power you really need. In the age of eBay you could very well find an iMac that is barely used for about 50% of the price tag and be totally fine with it.

If you are a younger guy in the US, I would probably take a different rout. Especially in the advent of the next looming finance crisis of the millennium, an end to a unipolar geopolitic world and an end of the US hegemony of the US Dollar as a world reserve currency. I would go for a barley used iMac for 50% price point. Use the other halve to go on a trip to South Amerika, Europe or Asia with your Action cam in the back pocket before the game is over. There is not much time left. And its too late in the game to start with a shelter construction project, stacking MRE's, bullets and physical unregistered gold coins in its basement. Crisis wise, if we are lucky its 2007 again, if we are unlucky it is 1920 or even 1938 on steroids.

I really really hope, you will tell me in two years from now, I am delusional or a nut job. We all are in the calm before the storm. Get informed, get prepared! Don't sink 5,5 K info a fancy pantcy mac at this point of time and don't go into dept. Stay flexible, independent, souvern and as free as much as you can.

 

[travelvideographer]

Once again thank you for your opinions and insights. There are several things that I believe I have to consider when purchasing a new machine.

Right now I work mostly with 1080p footage, but I may very well switch to 4K fairly soon, so I want my computer to be ready for full 4K editing. In fact I already work with 4K occasionally.

The second thing is, I use After Effects a lot and very often my workflow requires to do my AE stuff at the same time as to my work with Premiere Pro, meaning that I use AE right from Premiere Pro. So the computer needs to handle that, too.

Additionally, as I said, Komplete 11 Ultimate and Maschine is my music production environment that I use along with the other software.

Eventually I’d say I’m a heavy user and the computer should have no problems with that.

So right now I tend towards the iMac Pro with 64GB of RAM, the Vega 64 and a 2TB SSD or a 1TB SSD with additional external SSDs.

I mean of course 6000-7000 dollars may seem a lot of money for that, but that computer is comparable to a machine that an engineer would use to create some sort of product. I mean, as I have played the piano for 20 years, I can say that a good grand piano easily costs more than 100K $ (at least from my favourite brands Steinway and Bechstein), so compared to that an iMac Pro is reasonably priced for the opportunities to be creative that you get.

In the end the computer is a machine that I spend more time with than with any other electronic device. It is one of the cornerstones of video production. For this reason I came to the conclusion, that if I spend little bit more now, I probably get a better workflow, a higher productivity and hence save time, which is the most valuable currency.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Once again thank you for your opinions and insights. There are several things that I believe I have to consider when purchasing a new machine.

Right now I work mostly with 1080p footage, but I may very well switch to 4K fairly soon, so I want my computer to be ready for full 4K editing. In fact I already work with 4K occasionally.

The second thing is, I use After Effects a lot and very often my workflow requires to do my AE stuff at the same time as to my work with Premiere Pro, meaning that I use AE right from Premiere Pro. So the computer needs to handle that, too.

Additionally, as I said, Komplete 11 Ultimate and Maschine is my music production environment that I use along with the other software.

Eventually I’d say I’m a heavy user and the computer should have no problems with that.

So right now I tend towards the iMac Pro with 64GB of RAM, the Vega 64 and a 2TB SSD or a 1TB SSD with additional external SSDs.

I mean of course 6000-7000 dollars may seem a lot of money for that, but that computer is comparable to a machine that an engineer would use to create some sort of product. I mean, as I have played the piano for 20 years, I can say that a good grand piano easily costs more than 100K $ (at least from my favourite brands Steinway and Bechstein), so compared to that an iMac Pro is reasonably priced for the opportunities to be creative that you get.

In the end the computer is a machine that I spend more time with than with any other electronic device. It is one of the cornerstones of video production. For this reason I came to the conclusion, that if I spend little bit more now, I probably get a better workflow, a higher productivity and hence save time, which is the most valuable currency.

Well spoken! I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[agtoau]

Got my iMac Pro last night: 10-core, 64GB, 2TB, Vega 64. This beauty is a beast! I don’t have numbers, but the RAW files from the 50MP Canon 5DS process noticeably quicker in Photoshop CC than on my 6-core, 64GB, 1TB, D700 trashcan Mac Pro. I think the difference will be even more stark when I take it for a spin in FCPX with some 4K footage.

 

[norbinhouston]

I just installed Mojave on my iMac Pro base and wow! I guess this is the first MacOS that's truly optimized for the iMac Pro, because its really awaken the snappiness of everything. I know there's been a lot of complaint about the iMac Pro but hopefully Mojave rectifies a lot of those.

 

[pat500000]

Is it hard to get mac pro 2010-2012 and upgrade gpu and rams?

 

[travelvideographer]

I have just ordered my iMac Pro and look forward to using it soon. I decided that I can’t wait for a nw Mac Pro or a new iMac, because I have to do my work now. Anyway, thanks for all your opinions and valuable knowledge!
Btw, which external SSDs can you recommend for video editing?