I’m rethinking whether or not to hold out for the assumed forthcoming big imac replacement.
TL; DR.
I stopped in a local apple store since my just-out-of-warranty ipad would not turn on. That turned out pretty well with a replacement ipad for $99.
But as often happens in the car biz, I was there getting some service work and I walked through the showroom “just to have a look.” There was a whole slew of those eye-rollingly pastel imacs lined up for the fashionable offices or kids or whoever is going to buy them, BUT... I made an unplanned stop and grabbed a yellow-tinted mouse.
Keep in mind I’ve been doing everything computer-related on the same i5 27” imac since 2011. So when that screen fired up, my eyes were lovingly assaulted by the most wonderful combination of color and resolution i think i’ve seen outside of a springtime arboretum with my new glasses on. And that was just the desktop. Each of the demo photos brought a new level of clarity and color it seemed. Ok apple, the picture is pretty but I need a work machine. I opened up a handful of apps which seemed to open and be ready just a nanosecond before i completed the click on the mouse (including Pixelmator Pro - is that included software now?) which was pretty impressive speed but again, remember where i’m coming from.
So I needed a test that i could compare to my trusty old workhorse at home. The majority of common apps I use at home for work and play, like office suites, browsers, pixelmator, sketchup, and other typical media apps work fine and entirely fast enough even on the old imac, at least with its user-modified SSD and RAM. The real test for me would be video compiling or converting or whatever you call it. I’ve used imovie and handbrake enough to know that video-crunching really taxes my mid-2011 by measure of heat, time, and system monitor details. But really - time. I opened imovie, in less than a heartbeat of course, and performed by non scientific test by converting one of the included 60 second “projects” to a MOV file at 1080p and high quality vs fastest speed. Took a total of 11 seconds. (side note: i tried the same on a new mba which took 14 sec., both were 8/8/8 machines.) When i got home i performed the same “test” with a 60 second project i had in my imovie library which took 54 seconds. Of course i was not surprised that it was faster, but it was a good hands-on / real-world example of the improvement that *I* would see in daily use. These benchmark tests that everyone touts are a bit like car horsepower numbers: looks good on paper, but what does it get me on the track? I’ve thoroughly embarrassed guys with big hp euro machines with my little japanese appliances before, so I understand it ain’t just about the engine output.
Since my current setup software is restricted by OS limitations, and the increasing amount of consumer level video “work” I do, i figured i would wait until a big change mac replacement comes out and then reasonably load that up for heavier use and future proofing. But after plinking around a bit on a new M1 24”, I’m questioning that plan. Maybe this one is good enough. Other than workspace size, how much better will it be? For these kinds of applications, where does that law of diminishing returns kick in? The old tank is still chugging away so I don’t have to make that call yet, but I might need to reconsider.
¯\_( ツ)_/¯
TL; DR.
I stopped in a local apple store since my just-out-of-warranty ipad would not turn on. That turned out pretty well with a replacement ipad for $99.
But as often happens in the car biz, I was there getting some service work and I walked through the showroom “just to have a look.” There was a whole slew of those eye-rollingly pastel imacs lined up for the fashionable offices or kids or whoever is going to buy them, BUT... I made an unplanned stop and grabbed a yellow-tinted mouse.
Keep in mind I’ve been doing everything computer-related on the same i5 27” imac since 2011. So when that screen fired up, my eyes were lovingly assaulted by the most wonderful combination of color and resolution i think i’ve seen outside of a springtime arboretum with my new glasses on. And that was just the desktop. Each of the demo photos brought a new level of clarity and color it seemed. Ok apple, the picture is pretty but I need a work machine. I opened up a handful of apps which seemed to open and be ready just a nanosecond before i completed the click on the mouse (including Pixelmator Pro - is that included software now?) which was pretty impressive speed but again, remember where i’m coming from.
So I needed a test that i could compare to my trusty old workhorse at home. The majority of common apps I use at home for work and play, like office suites, browsers, pixelmator, sketchup, and other typical media apps work fine and entirely fast enough even on the old imac, at least with its user-modified SSD and RAM. The real test for me would be video compiling or converting or whatever you call it. I’ve used imovie and handbrake enough to know that video-crunching really taxes my mid-2011 by measure of heat, time, and system monitor details. But really - time. I opened imovie, in less than a heartbeat of course, and performed by non scientific test by converting one of the included 60 second “projects” to a MOV file at 1080p and high quality vs fastest speed. Took a total of 11 seconds. (side note: i tried the same on a new mba which took 14 sec., both were 8/8/8 machines.) When i got home i performed the same “test” with a 60 second project i had in my imovie library which took 54 seconds. Of course i was not surprised that it was faster, but it was a good hands-on / real-world example of the improvement that *I* would see in daily use. These benchmark tests that everyone touts are a bit like car horsepower numbers: looks good on paper, but what does it get me on the track? I’ve thoroughly embarrassed guys with big hp euro machines with my little japanese appliances before, so I understand it ain’t just about the engine output.
Since my current setup software is restricted by OS limitations, and the increasing amount of consumer level video “work” I do, i figured i would wait until a big change mac replacement comes out and then reasonably load that up for heavier use and future proofing. But after plinking around a bit on a new M1 24”, I’m questioning that plan. Maybe this one is good enough. Other than workspace size, how much better will it be? For these kinds of applications, where does that law of diminishing returns kick in? The old tank is still chugging away so I don’t have to make that call yet, but I might need to reconsider.
¯\_( ツ)_/¯
