If you had to buy today...

[musique]

I'm in a position where I have to buy a new Mac at the office to replace a 5-year-old iMac. This will be used occasionally for FCPX and Motion (and maybe Avid and/or Premiere Pro) as well as your basic office work (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), some web site development, and photo editing. Because it'll be purchased by my employer, everything has to be Apple except for external drives. This means no 3rd party memory or anything other than Apple display. And it probably means I'll be using it for another 5 years.

I have read the rumors about a new iMac being introduced later this month, but I need to place an order soon.

Question: For the uses I've described, if you had to order very soon would you purchase a current model MBP with 8 GB RAM and an Apple display or a new (but last year's) 27" iMac with 16 GB?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[dlimes13]

I'm in a position where I have to buy a new Mac at the office to replace a 5-year-old iMac. This will be used occasionally for FCPX and Motion (and maybe Avid and/or Premiere Pro) as well as your basic office work (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), some web site development, and photo editing. Because it'll be purchased by my employer, everything has to be Apple except for external drives. This means no 3rd party memory or anything other than Apple display. And it probably means I'll be using it for another 5 years.

I have read the rumors about a new iMac being introduced later this month, but I need to place an order soon.

Question: For the uses I've described, if you had to order very soon would you purchase a current model MBP with 8 GB RAM and an Apple display or a new (but last year's) 27" iMac with 16 GB?

Any input would be appreciated.

First off, why does the memory have to be from Apple? Apple memory prices are a joke and should be purchased from elsewhere. Not to mention, the MBP can take 16 GB and the iMac can take 32 GB when you upgrade it yourself.

As of RIGHT NOW, I would buy the Classic MBP (not Retina), upgrade it do 16 GB yourself (for 1/2 the price) and get an Apple Thunderbolt Display. More up-to-date hardware, and the portability is there if needed.

You really can't go wrong with either or, but with the iMac being 17 months old right now vs. the MBP being only 3 months old, it would be better to get a MBP. But please, order the memory and hard drives 3rd party.

 

[peoplevoice]

I rather an iMac

This is my personal point of view. I have never liked too much the laptops to work for many hours in a row as it is the case in an office environment. For me the size of the display is very important more than the portability. I would buy maybe one MBP and 4 iMacs.

 

[musique]

Believe me, I understand the question "why buy all Apple?" In the world of large institutions (especially ones that are not media focused) there's a mindset that says "You buy from one company." In addition, we have an IT department that will not take any responsibility for even attempting to solve problems unless they are comfortable with a "name" vendor. Finally, it's hard enough in my environment just getting permission to buy Apple because almost all other workers (not necessarily the executives) can only get Windows machines.

 

[MacSignal]

MBP + Apple Display

MBP + Apple Display

Way more viable for upgrades, even if you have to use all Apple parts. USB 3.0. Dual displays and more portability with the MBP. Imo, much less prone to failure than an iMac too.

 

[designs216]

Get the high end 2.7 MBP maxed out with a 512GB SSD and TB external display. Make the IT weanies happy by ordering Applecare at the same time.

I would be so thrilled that the boss was finally springing for that setup that I'd buy my own 8GB cards for it. Just keep the factory originals handy so you can pop them in later if anyone wants to do an inspection.

 

[therealseebs]

It depends a lot. For desktop work, depending on workload, I might well get a mini. Heck, I'm probably going to get one shortly to replace a few year old model. The Mac Pro is definitely out; it's horribly outdated, etcetera. Consider:

1. Laptop + monitor.
2. Mini + monitor.
3. iMac.

I'd say 1 and 2 are better choices. Which is best depends on what you want from it.

 

[musique]

Yeah, I know. At home, I have a MP (3,1) from 2008 and it's showing its age.

Because of the heat, I'd prefer not to burden a laptop with rendering video. However, with Thunderbolt drives and the Apple display it appears that the new MBPs are the way to go.

Thank you for your thoughtful ideas.

 

[HenryHealy]

As it is an office machine, I would go with an iMac. However, the iMacs really are due an upgrade and should have been upgraded at WWDC and the current ones are lacking on the internals so I would go for a MBP 15" with the display

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'm in a position where I have to buy a new Mac at the office to replace a 5-year-old iMac. This will be used occasionally for FCPX and Motion (and maybe Avid and/or Premiere Pro) as well as your basic office work (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), some web site development, and photo editing. Because it'll be purchased by my employer, everything has to be Apple except for external drives. This means no 3rd party memory or anything other than Apple display. And it probably means I'll be using it for another 5 years.

I have read the rumors about a new iMac being introduced later this month, but I need to place an order soon.

Question: For the uses I've described, if you had to order very soon would you purchase a current model MBP with 8 GB RAM and an Apple display or a new (but last year's) 27" iMac with 16 GB?

Any input would be appreciated.

I'd buy a 15" non-retina MacBook Pro. Actually, I just did a week ago. Maybe you'd want Retina though for being Apple-supported for 16GB of RAM and being rated as the fastest Mac that Macworld has ever benched. If it is purchased by your employer and/or for work, maybe retina isn't a bad idea. I usually recommend against the retina for personal purchases, but for work, why not?

I'd always recommend against an iMac because the design is failure prone and probably Apple's worst. So yeah, retina Pro, non-retina Pro, or Mac Pro with a 27" LED display (seeing as the Thunderbolt Display isn't compatible with the current Mac Pros).

 

[will waters]

Personally i would go with the beefed up Mac Mini, and then get yourself two decent monitors from so as to have a dual display

http://store.apple.com/uk/configure/MC816B/A? for the mini
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0077L2LAC/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers For the monitors

You will also need two dongles which can be found on amazon, 1x HDMI to Vga & 1x mini display to VGA

This will give you a really nice setup.... And then in 3 or 4 years time you will only have to replace the mini and not the monitors...

I hope this helps

Will

 

[Macman45]

Yeah, I know. At home, I have a MP (3,1) from 2008 and it's showing its age.

Because of the heat, I'd prefer not to burden a laptop with rendering video. However, with Thunderbolt drives and the Apple display it appears that the new MBPs are the way to go.

Thank you for your thoughtful ideas.

FWIW and assuming you really have NO choice and have to buy now, I'd go with the iMac. I use a top spec (July 2011) and it renders video and deals with high end photo work very well. (see specs) but with only about 10 days to go my best advice is to convince the folks at the office to hang on.

 

[Solomani]

FWIW and assuming you really have NO choice and have to buy now, I'd go with the iMac. I use a top spec (July 2011) and it renders video and deals with high end photo work very well. (see specs) but with only about 10 days to go my best advice is to convince the folks at the office to hang on.

He's right. If the new iMacs don't come out (or not announced) by the middle of October, they probably never will this year.

It makes no (financial) sense for Apple to debut a new iMac in November or December, as the Holiday Shopping Season is already under way after Halloween.

So the best advice is to convince them to hold off for another week or two. If the new iMacs are still not announced by then, then go ahead with what others suggested (current model iMac or MBP).

 

[jpdunford]

If your company is paying for it just get a top spec Mac Pro with a couple of cinema displays.

 

[musique]

It has been a frustrating time. I have a green light to purchase a Mac, but Apple has little available that is the best and most current technological tool for the job.

Each day I look for rumors on the web, hoping that Apple's announced a date for a new product introduction (i.e., Mac).

I know I'm not the only one in this position. Given the other tools out there (Premiere, Avid), it's the kind of thing that actually makes me consider not fighting city hall (at my office) and getting a decked out Windows machine. (Did I say that out loud? )

Thank you for the good suggestions and the support.

Keeping my fingers crossed for good news soon...

 

[ELBOB2583]

MacBook Pro

I have an 15" Early 2011 MacBook Pro, upgraded with 16GB of RAM even though Apple says it only holds 8GB (thank you crucial.com). And its sooooooo easy to replace.

I did a little more to it. Removed the Optical Drive and installed a 128GB SSD. ITS INCREDIBLY FAST! Photoshop opens in 3 seconds.
This requires a little more investigating and learning about formatting, wether your Optical Drive Sata is 2 or 3 (2012s come with Sata 3 so no worries), transfering home folder to SSD and removing from Normal or doing a fresh install... Yes, it sounds complicated but its not that much.

 

[mwhities]

If your company is paying for it just get a top spec Mac Pro with a couple of cinema displays.

I'd do exactly this.

Granted, most likely over kill for it's intended uses but, it will definitely last the 5 year refresh for you office.