iMac Pro -> M1 Imac 24"

[mpe]

I know it is not a typical upgrade path. But I am seriously trying to decide if I should trade my iMac Pro for the new iMac M1 24" (considering fully loaded spec with 16GB and 2TB SSD).

My context is as follows:

• I do software development for living (8 hours a day, 5 days a week), coding in Xcode & command line, Zoom meetings with clients, ...
• I also do some non-pro image editing in Photos/Lightroom Classic and general Internet use.
• My iMac Pro is a base model (8c, 32GB RAM, 1TB, Vega56). I am still very happy with its performance for what I do on it.
• I also have M1 Macbook Air (M1, 16GB/512GB) as my secondary computer.

Reasons I am considering the trade:

• For what I do the M1 seems to be just as fast as my iMac Pro (confirmed on my Macbook Air)
• My iMac Pro is quickly loosing value. Right now I can still sell it for good money, buy fully loaded iMac 24" and even pocket some difference (I can reclaim VAT on business purchases). This might not be the case in a few months time.
• I'd love to gain some desk space
• I love colour choices.
• Touch ID
• My Apple Care just expired

Reasons I am still hesitating:

• iMac Pro is still better in some performance aspects, particularly GPU and RAM
• 4 + 4 USB ports, SD card reader
• 27" vs 23.5" screen estate and 5k vs 4.5k
• Some reviews say that speaker quality on M1 might be inferior to iMac with bigger speakers
• The same about FaceTime camera (iMac Pro has 1080p without any crazy post processing)

Would you jump?

 

[petvas]

I would say that if you don't mind the display size difference, then go for it. If you want to see how big the difference is, try this here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/mx3w9b

I have a 27" iMac and am in a similar position. Sometimes I think that the 27" iMac is too big, sometimes it feels just right. I think that the 24" will have the perfect size for me, but I am also not 100% sure. I have an M1 iMac on order and when it comes I will see how I feel about the size difference.

 

[uller6]

I know it is not a typical upgrade path. But I am seriously trying to decide if I should trade my iMac Pro for the new iMac M1 24" (considering fully loaded spec with 16GB and 2TB SSD).

My context is as follows:

• I do software development for living (8 hours a day, 5 days a week), coding in Xcode & command line, Zoom meetings with clients, ...
• I also do some non-pro image editing in Photos/Lightroom Classic and general Internet use.
• My iMac Pro is a base model (8c, 32GB RAM, 1TB, Vega56). I am still very happy with its performance for what I do on it.
• I also have M1 Macbook Air (M1, 16GB/512GB) as my secondary computer.

Reasons I am considering the trade:

• For what I do the M1 seems to be just as fast as my iMac Pro (confirmed on my Macbook Air)
• My iMac Pro is quickly loosing value. Right now I can still sell it for good money, buy fully loaded iMac 24" and even pocket some difference (I can reclaim VAT on business purchases). This might not be the case in a few months time.
• I'd love to gain some desk space
• I love colour choices.
• Touch ID
• My Apple Care just expired

Reasons I am still hesitating:

• iMac Pro is still better in some performance aspects, particularly GPU and RAM
• 4 + 4 USB ports, SD card reader
• 27" vs 23.5" screen estate and 5k vs 4.5k
• Some reviews say that speaker quality on M1 might be inferior to iMac with bigger speakers
• The same about FaceTime camera (iMac Pro has 1080p without any crazy post processing)

Would you jump?

I was you a week ago. I had a base model iMac Pro, just out of warranty, and a few-months old M1 Air. I was happy with the speed and performance of the iMac Pro, but wanted to preserve some value. I made the jump to a loaded M1 iMac, and I don't regret a thing. Some comments to put the switch into perspective for you:

• the M1 iMac is EVEN QUIETER than the iMac Pro. Wow. I thought the iMac Pro was quiet. On full load the M1 is still quieter than the iMac Pro at full load. It's hard to believe this is possible.
• the M1 feels snappier for most work (even things like opening windows, etc. You already know this from your M1 Air). M1 iMac is plenty of power for my workload.
• I enjoy the additional desk space. The 24" is a great size.
• I'm fine with the reduced number of ports. I have a USB-C to USB-A port multiplier stuck to the back of the machine using Velcro.
• I enjoy the white bezels! They look clean and sleek.
• The FaceTime camera on the M1 is way better than the iMac Pro, even though they're both 1080P. The M1 post processing magic is great and makes a noticeable difference.
• The speakers on the iMac Pro are way better than the M1 iMac. The M1 speakers aren't terrible, but they're noticeably lower volume (and tinnier) than the iMac Pro.
• the M1 handles external displays far better than the iMac Pro. iMac Pro always had issues with external displays and stability, and I would occasionally get display position resets, black screen flashes, or hiccups when turning the external display on or off.
• I miss my Windows XP virtual machine. I'm using an old 2013 iMac to run windows for now, but I'm trying to figure out a better solution. It was nice having windows available at the click of a button on the iMac Pro. I will figure this out and while it's my biggest pain point, it's not a dealbreaker
• no more bootcamp and windows games No good solution to this one. I'm stuck to gaming on my xbox 360 until I can get my hands on a new series X, which looks like it won't happen until 2023...
• DO IT!
  

 

[pmiles]

I know it is not a typical upgrade path. But I am seriously trying to decide if I should trade my iMac Pro for the new iMac M1 24" (considering fully loaded spec with 16GB and 2TB SSD).

My context is as follows:

• I do software development for living (8 hours a day, 5 days a week), coding in Xcode & command line, Zoom meetings with clients, ...
• I also do some non-pro image editing in Photos/Lightroom Classic and general Internet use.
• My iMac Pro is a base model (8c, 32GB RAM, 1TB, Vega56). I am still very happy with its performance for what I do on it.
• I also have M1 Macbook Air (M1, 16GB/512GB) as my secondary computer.

Reasons I am considering the trade:

• For what I do the M1 seems to be just as fast as my iMac Pro (confirmed on my Macbook Air)
• My iMac Pro is quickly loosing value. Right now I can still sell it for good money, buy fully loaded iMac 24" and even pocket some difference (I can reclaim VAT on business purchases). This might not be the case in a few months time.
• I'd love to gain some desk space
• I love colour choices.
• Touch ID
• My Apple Care just expired

Reasons I am still hesitating:

• iMac Pro is still better in some performance aspects, particularly GPU and RAM
• 4 + 4 USB ports, SD card reader
• 27" vs 23.5" screen estate and 5k vs 4.5k
• Some reviews say that speaker quality on M1 might be inferior to iMac with bigger speakers
• The same about FaceTime camera (iMac Pro has 1080p without any crazy post processing)

Would you jump?

The two items in quoted in bold above say everything. Everything else is just background noise.

You're more concerned about resale/trade-in value than anything else. If you thought you could sell the iMac Pro 5 years from now for the price you paid for it, you wouldn't even be having this conversation with yourself.

The current line up doesn't meet your needs. You're trying to justify getting one none the less... and your strongest argument is the resale value of your current computer.

Lets put another spin on this quandary... you bought an iMac Pro when a regular iMac was clearly also available for sale. Heck, you could have even bought the lowest end iMac they had at the time... which is essentially what the current M1 iMac is. Why did you buy the higher end model back then?

I think you already know the answer to your question.

For what it's worth, I'd wait until the new higher end models reveal themselves... because you're only going to be kicking yourself later if you don't. You may still by the lower end one, but at least then you will have a full picture of what the complete Mac lineup is and not just a small glimpse of it.

 

[za9ra22]

The answer, for the OP is simple, and lies in two issues: Performance and screen size.


To take screen size first, if the 24-inch iMac screen is enough real estate, it is hard to beat the experience of using one. I moved from a (standard) 27-inch iMac to the 24, and it has made my working life a lot easier. While the loss of some screen space is irksome at first, the fact the 24-inch screen fits in my field of view all at once makes it much less fatiguing to use. (For me, that is).

In terms of performance, if the iMac Pro has actual real-use performance advantages in areas of system use that are important to your case, then hold on to it for a while yet, because as much as it will lose value and you may then not be able to recover much of its cost later, you shouldn't be seriously contemplating a bread-and-butter system with performance constraints that impact your work over one that doesn't. A new, higher performance, model will come out in due course, and give you better and more practical choices, even if not the potentially financial benefit of right now.

The other issues:

- If you are looking to switch and and you are hoping to recover as much value from selling the iMac Pro as possible, switching sooner rather than later would be a good thing to do. With the iMac Pro discontinued, and no 'Pro' level M1 iMac yet announced, you'd likely have the best chance of a good return selling the iMac Pro now rather than later.

- The lack of ports on the M1 iMac is a bit disappointing, but easily overcome with an external hub. Not quite so elegant as almost-no wires, but pretty simple.

- Speaker quality is pretty good, but not exactly exceptional. Mostly not loud enough, but they are very 'listenable'. I would suggest a pair of HomePod minis as a stereo pair to link up with the system, or indeed, a more traditional speaker system plugged into the headphone jack if cost is more important.

- The camera is a bit of an oddity. In some circumstances it is much better, but there is no doubt that it uses post processing to achieve results. This can create some odd consequences, including noise in dark areas of contrasty images, but beware YouTube reviewers who are as interested in their status as 'influencers' as they are in the product. It isn't hard to find the ones who have a need to say something to get attention in their crowded marketplace of voices, and will big-up their point to do it. What I mean to say is that in use, the camera is actually very good. Not perfect, but still very good.

 

[mj_]

This was just released a few minutes ago. Haven't watched it yet so I can't comment on its usefulness.

 

[Realityck]

This was just released a few minutes ago. Haven't watched it yet so I can't comment on its usefulness.

As one person commented "seeing this I want to wait a little bit for the M1X Mac but this makes me so excited for it".

So we know the M1 can run many application processes at the same time, much better then Intel, but it diffidently lacks enough processing power when pushed as that sound disappearing when doing editing a final cut video example. It shows the potential of these new SoC's for sure, but we want the M2 models forthcoming with beefed up CPU and GPU cores.

I liked the lowest priced 24" iMac model compared to the 10K Mac, its sure to attract eyes!

 

[petvas]

As one person commented "seeing this I want to wait a little bit for the M1X Mac but this makes me so excited for it".

So we know the M1 can run many application processes at the same time, much better then Intel, but it diffidently lacks enough processing power when pushed as that sound disappearing when doing editing a final cut video example. It shows the potential of these new SoC's for sure, but we want the M2 models forthcoming with beefed up CPU and GPU cores.

I liked the lowest priced 24" iMac model compared to the 10K Mac, its sure to attract eyes!

If you are into professional video editing, then I can understand what you are saying. For people that do not do video editing professionally and want a computer for general productivity, research, fun and general computing tasks, the new iMac is perfect.

 

[za9ra22]

This was just released a few minutes ago. Haven't watched it yet so I can't comment on its usefulness.

This was really quite fascinating. Opinion pieces on the internet are often quite useless, but this real-world example of use is far more instructive.

As the owner and user of an M1 iMac (though not the base model), I am not surprised by the findings. This system is genuinely remarkable in what it seems capable of doing - and while I don't have an iMac Pro, I do have a 27-inch 2015 iMac which by comparison is slow and tends to do a lot of pausing-not-quite-beachballing during my workday. It never bothered me while using it, because I didn't much notice it, but the M1 simply flows through the same tasks. Faster and smoother in use, and it is quite a difference in user experience.

I don't do the kind of video editing this guy does, but I wouldn't be worried about trying it!

 

[Realityck]

might as well make the discussion not be so 24" iMac centric.

 

[Warped9]

might as well make the discussion not be so 24" iMac centric.

Candidly that video is a lot of assumptions and prayer like we’ve been seeing in this forum since the 24 was introduced.

 

[Warped9]

This was really quite fascinating. Opinion pieces on the internet are often quite useless, but this real-world example of use is far more instructive.

As the owner and user of an M1 iMac (though not the base model), I am not surprised by the findings. This system is genuinely remarkable in what it seems capable of doing - and while I don't have an iMac Pro, I do have a 27-inch 2015 iMac which by comparison is slow and tends to do a lot of pausing-not-quite-beachballing during my workday. It never bothered me while using it, because I didn't much notice it, but the M1 simply flows through the same tasks. Faster and smoother in use, and it is quite a difference in user experience.

I don't do the kind of video editing this guy does, but I wouldn't be worried about trying it!

THAT video was informative! He pitted the cheapest new iMac you can buy against the most expensive iMac Pro and it wasn’t humiliated.

 

[za9ra22]

THAT video was informative! He pitted the cheapest new iMac you can buy against the most expensive iMac Pro and it wasn’t humiliated.

I am really not surprised because the M1 is puzzlingly good. Hard to imagine why other chip manufacturers haven't developed similar technologies, but on the other hand, it would seem that the major critics of this system's performance are perhaps not among those who actually have used one.

Or of course, maybe they're just not holding it right!

I do think, however, that this real-world example of a base M1 in use tends to show that Apple do have a pretty good idea what they are doing... and a lot of the pundits, well, maybe not so much.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

The two items in quoted in bold above say everything. Everything else is just background noise.

You're more concerned about resale/trade-in value than anything else. If you thought you could sell the iMac Pro 5 years from now for the price you paid for it, you wouldn't even be having this conversation with yourself.

The current line up doesn't meet your needs. You're trying to justify getting one none the less... and your strongest argument is the resale value of your current computer.

Lets put another spin on this quandary... you bought an iMac Pro when a regular iMac was clearly also available for sale. Heck, you could have even bought the lowest end iMac they had at the time... which is essentially what the current M1 iMac is. Why did you buy the higher end model back then?

I think you already know the answer to your question.

For what it's worth, I'd wait until the new higher end models reveal themselves... because you're only going to be kicking yourself later if you don't. You may still by the lower end one, but at least then you will have a full picture of what the complete Mac lineup is and not just a small glimpse of it.

I totally agree with you.
In a way, I'm in this boat myself. The difference is that my current Mac is neither as powerful, nor as recent as the iMac Pro. I was ready to buy this iMac, but when I saw the limitations… I decided to wait.. for that simple reason you invoke.

 

[user34]

I'm in a similar situation but I'm sticking with my Imac pro. I have a macbook air m1 as well and the deal breaker for me is the ability to add more displays and lack of bootcamp (I've tried parallels windows on the m1 but it wasn't good enough). Also, there are a few apps where the M1 doesn't run well as compared to the intel processor and it doesn't seem to be memory related. Re Screens - I'm able to run the Imac Pro + 2 LG 5k monitors + 2k Dell U2720Q monitors. The M1 only lets me run one. The interesting thing is, apple states the Imac pro supports two 5k monitors or four 4k monitors simultaneously. However, if you plug them in in a certain order, the 2 5k monitors work at 5k resolution and the two 4ks also at 4k resolution (in addition to the main 5k screen). I have upgraded my ram to 128gb and once the 2191B processor drops to a few hundred, I'll just upgrade that too (currently ~$600) and ride this until the next M1 version comes out that supports multiple screens. Let's keep in mind the Imac Pro came out quite a few yrs ago, so being just a tad better than the M1 shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

 

[uller6]

I'm in a similar situation but I'm sticking with my Imac pro. I have a macbook air m1 as well and the deal breaker for me is the ability to add more displays and lack of bootcamp (I've tried parallels windows on the m1 but it wasn't good enough). Also, there are a few apps where the M1 doesn't run well as compared to the intel processor and it doesn't seem to be memory related. Re Screens - I'm able to run the Imac Pro + 2 LG 5k monitors + 2k Dell U2720Q monitors. The M1 only lets me run one. The interesting thing is, apple states the Imac pro supports two 5k monitors or four 4k monitors simultaneously. However, if you plug them in in a certain order, the 2 5k monitors work at 5k resolution and the two 4ks also at 4k resolution (in addition to the main 5k screen). I have upgraded my ram to 128gb and once the 2191B processor drops to a few hundred, I'll just upgrade that too (currently ~$600) and ride this until the next M1 version comes out that supports multiple screens. Let's keep in mind the Imac Pro came out quite a few yrs ago, so being just a tad better than the M1 shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

It was a really hard decision giving up my iMac Pro, and the ability to run multiple screens is a killer feature. In the end, for me, the decision came down to my electricity bill. The M1 iMac reduces my entire home's load by ~ 4kWh/day. That's a lot of electricity. I still have a couple of old Intel macs around for me to do Intel things (VMWare virtual machines), but they spend most of the time in hibernation.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

My prediction is that you're NOT going to be satisfied with the "upgrade" to the 24".

I'd keep using the iMac Pro until the upcoming "large screen" iMac is released with the newer m-series CPU. This will almost certainly happen by October/November -- not really that far off in the future.

BUT... don't buy one immediately.
WAIT just a few weeks until user reports/reviews start to appear.
THEN you will be in a better position to make a "more meaningful" upgrade...

You've got "upgrade fever".
Don't let it overcome your power of reason...

 

[rambo47]

The release of a larger M1 iMac is close. At this point it's probably prudent to wait a month or two. When the new hotness is released there will be a spate of folks trying to sell their 24" models to trade up. Apple takes older models as partial trade-in but they offer pennies on the dollar. Check the Buy/Sell section of this forum as there will be a bunch of them offered at discounts to new prices. Apple will probably have some refurbished returns on their site too.

Mac Rumors Marketplace
Apple Certified Refurbished

 

[Realityck]

The release of a larger M1 iMac is close. At this point it's probably prudent to wait a month or two. When the new hotness is released there will be a spate of folks trying to sell their 24" models to trade up. Apple takes older models as partial trade-in but they offer pennies on the dollar. Check the Buy/Sell section of this forum as there will be a bunch of them offered at discounts to new prices. Apple will probably have some refurbished returns on their site too.

Mac Rumors Marketplace
Apple Certified Refurbished

Did you ever consider that Apple has stretched out the Apple Silicone releases so it promotes the demand for each new release?

They started with all the models that offer the lowest performance and gradually stepup to more performance. Yes I put last November's M1 MacBook Air/M1 13" MacBook Pro in that same grouping as far as laptops, as well as their smallest desktop the M1 Mac mini. Then a few months later (late April, shipping late May, they up the anti with the M1 24" iMac where its demand didn't hurt the same of anything else. Now they need to play their third release Nov/Dec 2021 with the 14"/ 16" MBP, possibly the larger 30" iMac, finally the Mac Pro next May 2022. All of this activity clearly separate from the other to maximize their marketplace and anticipation.

 

[rambo47]

Did you ever consider that Apple has stretched out the Apple Silicone releases so it promotes the demand for each new release?

They started with all the models that offer the lowest performance and gradually stepup to more performance. Yes I put last November's M1 MacBook Air/M1 13" MacBook Pro in that same grouping as far as laptops, as well as their smallest desktop the M1 Mac mini. Then a few months later (late April, shipping late May, they up the anti with the M1 24" iMac where its demand didn't hurt the same of anything else. Now they need to play their third release Nov/Dec 2021 with the 14"/ 16" MBP, possibly the larger 30" iMac, finally the Mac Pro next May 2022. All of this activity clearly separate from the other to maximize their marketplace and anticipation.

This is S.O.P. for Apple. Initial product release with limited specs > second generation with new features and a mild bump in specs > more features for the third generation and a bigger jump in specs > ...This plan worked so well for the PPC MacBook, the PowerBook G3/G4, and with the iPhone they'd be crazy not to continue to use it as a template.

The 24" M1 iMac actually has decent specs if you do a BTO configuration. I got the 8/8 16GB/1TB model which is beefier than I expected to be able to get. And the prices of upgrading the RAM and HDD were far more reasonable (by Apple standards) than ever before.

 

[Realityck]

This is S.O.P. for Apple. Initial product release with limited specs > second generation with new features and a mild bump in specs > more features for the third generation and a bigger jump in specs > ...This plan worked so well for the PPC MacBook, the PowerBook G3/G4, and with the iPhone they'd be crazy not to continue to use it as a template.

The 24" M1 iMac actually has decent specs if you do a BTO configuration. I got the 8/8 16GB/1TB model which is beefier than I expected to be able to get. And the prices of upgrading the RAM and HDD were far more reasonable (by Apple standards) than ever before.

FYI, you actually can get that configuration in blue and silver without it being a custom BTO. Just select the $1699 config apply the options 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD and then look to see if you can pickup from local Apple stores. Note they only get one or two in every few days currently. If you see it available buy it online before they get sold.

 

[Alchemist]

I'm going to chime in on this because some of my work overlaps with your use case and I have relevant first-hand experience.

I am a professional wedding photographer and until recently owned the iMac Pro 10c (1TB/32GB/56 GPU). I was worried about ending up with a sunk-investment in the iMac Pro so I offloaded it via eBay. For the interim, I am working on my M1 MacBook Air (low-end model with 512GB SSD). I am waiting on something fire-breathing to be released as my next long-term machine. The experience thus far has been eye-opening.

Top line is this. While the M1 is an amazing chip, it cannot ENTIRELY defy physics. It can keep pace with the iMac Pro in many areas, but when it comes up against it's weaknesses, the iMac Pro's advantages are distinct.

Prior to selling my iMac Pro, I used the M1 MacBook Air as an occasional machine. I did a bit of culling on it, using Photo Mechanic, I wrote emails, I surfed the web etc. I might edit the occasional photo in LR Classic. It was always very speedy and it impressed the hell out of me. The smaller screen size and resolution is obviously a massive ballache as a pro photographer, but aside from that, it worked well. This opinion has started to change with everyday use for full-scale commissions. I first noticed it when I attempted to import 1000 Canon R5 cRAW images into LR Classic following a recent wedding. I like to render 1:1 previews prior to getting to work, so after the copy element of the import, there is usually a wait of 30 mins or so while the system chews through and creates these previews. The iMac Pro didn't do it instantly, but I could go grab a coffee, read an article or just write an email and in a short time it'd be done. Not so on the MacBook Air M1.

To begin with, things ran smoothly with the machine doing the first 30-50 odd previews pretty snappily. Then things ground to a much much slower rate. I wasn't timing it, but it took the best part of 3 1/2 hours to generate 1:1 previews for the whole wedding. My guess was that the issue was thermal throttling and a quick check with a heat gun supported this. Exhaust temperature (measured by aiming at the 'MacBook Air' wording beneath the screen) had risen from 31˚C at idle, past the 36-38˚C I had previously seen under load up to 41-42˚C. Clearly things were hotting up. My guess is that some pretty rigorous thermal throttling was coming into play to stop the M1 melting itself.

Obviously, on the other M1 Macs there area fans to help with this problem, but I don't know whether the cooling systems in those machines are capable enough to keep the M1 from throttling under this sort of intense load. Prior to moving from to my iMac Pro I had a high end iMac 27" - the first of the 5K models. This machine, while great also had thermal throttling issues and the biggest win of the iMac Pro was less the 10c Xeon and more the cooling system that meant those cores could run at full throttle for hours on end and keep doing their thing at 100%.

The other issue I've run into is during editing itself. The 8GB of RAM I have in my M1 MacBook Air hasn't been an issue for me in past use, despite running lots of apps concurrently, but LR Classic is a notorious memory hog. Export and editing speeds have been shown to improve dramatically, just by doubling the amount of RAM available. Well this ugly problem rears it's head in LR Classic on the M1 too. Within a few mins of editing, LR Classic bogs down hugely. I am extremely experienced using the app and this is not behaviour I had seen on the iMac Pro or the iMac 5K before that. This was all experienced while running the latest, Apple Silicon native version of LR Classic. It got to the point where, while in the develop module, I'd hit the left or right arrow key to progress onto the next image, and after a couple of seconds lag, the image would then progress, but often it would progress more than one image on, maybe skipping 2 or 3 images. This was only happening in the develop module, where it renders higher quality versions, but it is indicative of the extreme slow downs I was experiencing.

In short, editing on this machine at 1:1 really wasn't working. I put this down to a combination of thermal throttling and the huge amount of RAM swapping that LR was forced to do. In the end, I have started editing using offline smart previews. This speeds things up a lot and makes the machine entirely workable but it is not my preferred way of editing. On the smaller screen of the MacBook Air it is bearable, but in the past on 27" screens I have found the perceptible loss of quality to be unsatisfactory. Obviously, this doesn't show after relinking the full fat raws and exporting, but during the edit it used to bug me.

So that's my long and winding story of using the M1 as a serious editing machine. I appreciate that this was not a specific report about editing on the M1 iMac, but bear in mind that the lower-end model has a less capable cooling system than the higher end M1 iMac so this should be factored into your buying decision.

For me, as a working professional, I am frustrated by the fact that at present the transition is so •obviously• incomplete. I know that must sound like regurgitating the obvious, but the available buying options for a professional creative user are limited right now. The M1 is clearly an incredible chip, and with decent cooling it would be AWESOME, but in my scenario it is not really working. I am holding out for the M-Class architecture wrapped in a system that offers more RAM, a desktop class power-draw and a cooling system that lets it work at 100% 24/7.

 

[za9ra22]

For me, as a working professional, I am frustrated by the fact that at present the transition is so •obviously• incomplete. I know that must sound like regurgitating the obvious, but the available buying options for a professional creative user are limited right now. The M1 is clearly an incredible chip, and with decent cooling it would be AWESOME, but in my scenario it is not really working. I am holding out for the M-Class architecture wrapped in a system that offers more RAM, a desktop class power-draw and a cooling system that lets it work at 100% 24/7.

A perfect example of reports of real-world use being far more useful as a guide than a bunch of arm-chair assumptions, which unfortunately we see a lot more of - I think that outline of your experience should help people make more sound judgements on the power of these current systems.

It is certainly true that the transition is very incomplete, though one would expect as much since we're not even a year into the migration. It's also (almost) inevitable, given Apple's track record, that they would start with consumer-level systems, since these are where the majority of customers are, and also from a practical standpoint, where the new silicon would inevitably be to begin with.

As the remaining products are announced, I think this will be a really great range of systems, though I worry a little that Apple have seemed to lag on their support to genuine pro-user needs in the last few years. Hopefully, not this time, when they ought to have more suitable system architecture to build from rather than Intel chip sets.

 

[mpe]

Here is my success story.

I sold my iMac Pro shortly after I started this thread.

I even ordered the iMac 24", had it ordered for a few weeks, but I had to cancel as the delivery window went well into my summer holidays. I was using my Macbook Air in that period.

This Friday, I discovered a iMac 24" in my preferred specs (16GB, 1TB) on Apple UK refurbished site for £1739. There was one in stock and only in pink colour, which wouldn't be my first choice, but I didn't mind that much.

Despite estimated delivery on Wednesday, I ordered it and DPD delivered it overnight. So it took about 18 hours from ordering to receiving, which is amazing. One thing that was putting me off was that I'd have to wait 4-6 weeks for BTO iMac delivery.

Coming from the base iMac Pro model I must confess that none of my original concerns materialised I don't miss any iMac Pro aspect at all (OK, maybe a few more ports would be good). The size, design and performance of iMac 24" is perfect.

 

[ADGrant]

Here is my success story.

I sold my iMac Pro shortly after I started this thread.

I even ordered the iMac 24", had it ordered for a few weeks, but I had to cancel as the delivery window went well into my summer holidays. I was using my Macbook Air in that period.

This Friday, I discovered a iMac 24" in my preferred specs (16GB, 1TB) on Apple UK refurbished site for £1739. There was one in stock and only in pink colour, which wouldn't be my first choice, but I didn't mind that much.

Despite estimated delivery on Wednesday, I ordered it and DPD delivered it overnight. So it took about 18 hours from ordering to receiving, which is amazing. One thing that was putting me off was that I'd have to wait 4-6 weeks for BTO iMac delivery.

Coming from the base iMac Pro model I must confess that none of my original concerns materialised I don't miss any iMac Pro aspect at all (OK, maybe a few more ports would be good). The size, design and performance of iMac 24" is perfect.

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You didn't say what kind of software you develop (though if you are using Xcode either iOS or Mac presumably). I am also a software developer but with the 2020 i9 Mac (10 cores, 64GB of RAM and 2TB SSD).

You have made your decision but for me a 27" Intel Mac does have a few advantages:

1) The 27" screen, for software development more screen is always better. If I had the room I would consider more monitors.

2) I can run Linux VMs on Intel and Windows using Bootcamp. The cloud is still largely composed of Intel Linux VMs so being able to run them locally is very useful. The additional RAM and full performance cores are obviously also very useful.

3) If you are developing MacOS software you really need both an Intel Mac and ARM Mac for testing. Having a Macbook and a desktop Mac is also quite useful. An Intel Desktop and an Apple Silicon laptop would make the most sense in that scenario since Intel MacBooks tend to be hot and noisy with fairly poor battery life.

4) Not all development tools fully support MacOS yet and those that do often require upgrading to the latest version of the software which is not always convenient.