Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The new Mac Pro vs the new iMac?
- Thread starter SHNXX
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Start with your requirements and what you need rather than with what you want. What do you plan to do with one of those computers that requires the power and more importantly the $$$$ of a Mac Pro?
The new iMac 27" i7 3.5 GHz is a beast! the only reason for going with Mac pro is if you are a professional film maker or extreme gamer and you need the dual GPU cards.
I am a musician and I am going for the top iMac with 256 GB SSD, 3.5 GHz Quad core and add more RAM later, and not from Apple because their RAM is so expensive.
I am a musician and I am going for the top iMac with 256 GB SSD, 3.5 GHz Quad core and add more RAM later, and not from Apple because their RAM is so expensive.
It all depends on what you're using them for. For most people an iMac will be enough - no need to get a MacPro.
I guess in the past I did some programming and used windows at the same time (dedicated cores) as well as light movie conversions so I benefited from Mac Pro's hard drive expansions and ability to upgrade RAM to 16 or more.
I don't think I will be doing much programming anymore except to check others codes.
Movie conversion also not a big deal.
I like Mac pros because I've never owned an iMac in the past.
Does this signal any need for a Mac Pro?
I don't think I will be doing much programming anymore except to check others codes.
Movie conversion also not a big deal.
I like Mac pros because I've never owned an iMac in the past.
Does this signal any need for a Mac Pro?
No it doesn't. An iMac should be fine for what you're looking at using it for. Maybe you should buy one iMac and after getting the feel for it, you could then decide between anothe riMac or a MacPro.
Remember the iMac has Thunderbolt ports so storage expansion isn't an issue and 32GB of RAM should be enough for what you're doing.
This is a hard choice if you are like me and would get the highest end BTO options. I priced it out over the weekend:
iMac: 3.5 i7, 3TB Fusion, 780m + 32GB (3rd party) + Pegasus TB External RAID
$4,300
Mac Pro: 3.7, 256 SSD, D300 + 32GB (3rd party) + Pegasus TB External RAID
$4,899
That's not a huge price difference.
iMac: 3.5 i7, 3TB Fusion, 780m + 32GB (3rd party) + Pegasus TB External RAID
$4,300
Mac Pro: 3.7, 256 SSD, D300 + 32GB (3rd party) + Pegasus TB External RAID
$4,899
That's not a huge price difference.
You forgot to add a high quality screen to the MacPro. Also, the internal disks aren't the same size.
that isn't even a real comparison on the same level unless you consider 3TB vs. 256GB, built in 27" 2560 x 1440 screen vs. no screen an apples to apples comparison.
----------
no extreme gamer in their right mind would pay extra for workstation video cards (not built for gaming) just to play games. you wouldn't spend extra money on a sports car to tow your trailers right?
Honestly, the iMac these days can handle a CRAP TON. It has a very nice display and it is beautiful. I would get two of these, count my blessings and count my savings!
I'm pretty sure you have to rip the screen off. Not something I would be willing to risk.
I'm in the same boat but I'm leaning towards the Mac Pro. Why?
Because the current iMac model (although plenty fast) is missing some key features that the new lineup has. Those being Thunderbolt 2 ports and PCIe flash storage.
If you're like me, you'll keep your system for a minimum of 4 years, and you'll want to be in the current hardware offerings. The iMac is now behind the MBP in performance. It's no slouch with TB1 and SSD (SATA) but I feel like Apple is not going to bring the specs up on the iMac for a bit to prevent competing with nMP sales.
If for some reason they do a refresh in December on the iMac and brought it up to the rest of the lineup, I'd probably get it. I would love to have that big screen with TB2 ports and PCIe but I just don't see that happening in time.
Again, most users wouldn't really notice a difference but it's harder for me to put down close to 3k on a high spec'd iMac when it's missing this new tech that Apple is probably going to push hard this year.
Because the current iMac model (although plenty fast) is missing some key features that the new lineup has. Those being Thunderbolt 2 ports and PCIe flash storage.
If you're like me, you'll keep your system for a minimum of 4 years, and you'll want to be in the current hardware offerings. The iMac is now behind the MBP in performance. It's no slouch with TB1 and SSD (SATA) but I feel like Apple is not going to bring the specs up on the iMac for a bit to prevent competing with nMP sales.
If for some reason they do a refresh in December on the iMac and brought it up to the rest of the lineup, I'd probably get it. I would love to have that big screen with TB2 ports and PCIe but I just don't see that happening in time.
Again, most users wouldn't really notice a difference but it's harder for me to put down close to 3k on a high spec'd iMac when it's missing this new tech that Apple is probably going to push hard this year.
just an FYI, the 2013 imac does have PCIE flash for its SSD. This was one of the big announcements they made during its release, Its really only missing TB2, but there aren't many TB1, let alone TB2 devices out to make too big of a deal about that. Until prices come down, adoption and release of new equipment will be quite low.
Can you point me to that documentation? I've asked several store employees/geniuses and they state it is not PCIe.
THe reason for going with a MP is simple - IMO of course....
either:
1) You need want desire more than 4 cores to do what you want to do
2) You need want desire more TB bandwidth than an imac provides. Two TB1 ports for a combined 20Gbps of throughput. Thats either more than 3 more monitors - or a collection of largeRAID arrays or other things. If one does not KNOW if they need this kind of external expansion then 99.9% of the time - they don't. (MP TB2 BW is somewhere between 3 and 6X the imacs - I am not sure anyone knows yet...)
Above post is right - imac is PCIe flash also but the nMP is specified at 1200MB/s and the imac is more like 750MB/s.
either:
1) You need want desire more than 4 cores to do what you want to do
2) You need want desire more TB bandwidth than an imac provides. Two TB1 ports for a combined 20Gbps of throughput. Thats either more than 3 more monitors - or a collection of largeRAID arrays or other things. If one does not KNOW if they need this kind of external expansion then 99.9% of the time - they don't. (MP TB2 BW is somewhere between 3 and 6X the imacs - I am not sure anyone knows yet...)
Above post is right - imac is PCIe flash also but the nMP is specified at 1200MB/s and the imac is more like 750MB/s.
I do video production for a living. I am a sole proprietor, with retained clients, and contract jobs that come and go. And I otherwise teach one video production college course. So my business is my income. Marketing type stuff in 1080p. With the majority of the work being 2 to 7 minutes in length. Occasionally something as long as 30 minutes. I sometimes do 30 second commercials in After Effects.
My current 2010 iMac still works well for me. But I just bought a new 27" iMac (hasn't arrived to me yet) with maxed out processor, maxed out gfx, 1 TB Fusion drive, and stock RAM (will buy 16 GB from Crucial and put all four sticks in, making it 24 GB RAM).
I took a look at the Mac Pro pricing page. At first glance, the $3,000 price tag for the base model (IIRC) doesn't sound bad. My iMac came up to about $2,500 with educators discount. But I do need a color accurate monitor. So anything other than an Apple cinema display won't cut it for the Mac Pro. That's about another $1k. The iMac's is also color accurate, btw. I wouldn't trust a ~$300 monitor to be accurate.
So the iMac will work very well for me. I'd say if you about what I do, or less-- definitely go with the iMac. The only people (at least in the type of work that I do) that I think would get a good cost/ benefit on the Mac Pro are people who have larger sized production studios. I.e., every second spent rendering is a second that you don't have to get to the many other jobs you have going. Anyone working in 4K (which I still think that the iMac would probably handle). Or someone who does feature length works regularly. Especially when it then comes to color grading that work. If you don't fall into one of those categories, and money is a consideration for you (which would be pretty much anyone who has to actually work for a living, lol), then IMO the Mac Pro is overkill and the current iMac would be a good fit for you. I can't wait to get my new one and cut my render time down significantly.
Now I would absolutely love to have a Mac Pro, and would be willing to pay a little more than I did for my iMac. But with the monitor, that's a minimum $4k, and that's way too much for me and my needs.
My current 2010 iMac still works well for me. But I just bought a new 27" iMac (hasn't arrived to me yet) with maxed out processor, maxed out gfx, 1 TB Fusion drive, and stock RAM (will buy 16 GB from Crucial and put all four sticks in, making it 24 GB RAM).
I took a look at the Mac Pro pricing page. At first glance, the $3,000 price tag for the base model (IIRC) doesn't sound bad. My iMac came up to about $2,500 with educators discount. But I do need a color accurate monitor. So anything other than an Apple cinema display won't cut it for the Mac Pro. That's about another $1k. The iMac's is also color accurate, btw. I wouldn't trust a ~$300 monitor to be accurate.
So the iMac will work very well for me. I'd say if you about what I do, or less-- definitely go with the iMac. The only people (at least in the type of work that I do) that I think would get a good cost/ benefit on the Mac Pro are people who have larger sized production studios. I.e., every second spent rendering is a second that you don't have to get to the many other jobs you have going. Anyone working in 4K (which I still think that the iMac would probably handle). Or someone who does feature length works regularly. Especially when it then comes to color grading that work. If you don't fall into one of those categories, and money is a consideration for you (which would be pretty much anyone who has to actually work for a living, lol), then IMO the Mac Pro is overkill and the current iMac would be a good fit for you. I can't wait to get my new one and cut my render time down significantly.
Now I would absolutely love to have a Mac Pro, and would be willing to pay a little more than I did for my iMac. But with the monitor, that's a minimum $4k, and that's way too much for me and my needs.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/09/24Apple-Updates-iMac.html
"The updated iMac now features support for PCIe-based flash storage that makes Fusion Drive and all-flash storage options up to 50 percent faster than the previous generation"
As people have already pointed out, the iMac has PCIe flash storage (in fact, I have one of those on my desk right now). Also, within the next 4 years the speed of hard drives will not increase that much that TB2 would give you a noticeable difference. TB2 is only really necessary if you need to do lots of high-speed external transfer on multiple disks attached to the same port. A single TB1 port has still enough bandwidth to simultaneously cover 10 PCI-e SSDs like the one's Apple uses. That should make every average user more then happy. Then again, are you really planning to use a storage system worth ten thousand of dollars with your computer?
fascinating ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
that post #22 doesn't want the nMP
For me - I am a pro Audio guy and owned every Mac Tower since the Power Mac 9600 in 1998. the late 2013 i7 imac is handling everything I throw at it with no issue.
Then again... this IS the iMac forum!!!!
that post #22 doesn't want the nMP
For me - I am a pro Audio guy and owned every Mac Tower since the Power Mac 9600 in 1998. the late 2013 i7 imac is handling everything I throw at it with no issue.
Then again... this IS the iMac forum!!!!