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Pianoworldstage

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 3, 2019
67
7
Hi

I'm considering buying an IMac late 2013, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, OS High Sierra, it will be specifically for music production working with Garageband.. unfortunately theres no option to upgrade the RAM any further then 8GB or to upgrade the hard drive to an SSD. In terms of speed will the currant specs be sufficient for working with audio and a piano sample library running through Garageband?

Or would it be advised to purchase an external SSD and install Garageband and the sample library on the SSD ?
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,403
13,287
where hip is spoken
Hi

I'm considering buying an IMac late 2013, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, OS High Sierra, it will be specifically for music production working with Garageband.. unfortunately theres no option to upgrade the RAM any further then 8GB or to upgrade the hard drive to an SSD. In terms of speed will the currant specs be sufficient for working with audio and a piano sample library running through Garageband?

Or would it be advised to purchase an external SSD and install Garageband and the sample library on the SSD ?
I have a 2014 entry-level iMac whose HDD was within "minutes" of completely dying. I bought an external SSD for it, cloned the internal drive to it, and now boot from it. I was concerned that it would be slow, but it turned out to be significantly faster than it ever was. I was quite surprised.

If you are getting a GREAT deal on that iMac then I recommend getting an external SSD and doing the same thing... if it isn't a great deal, then simply buy a new iMac.
 
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Pianoworldstage

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 3, 2019
67
7
Thanks for your feedback..
here are the specs for the iMac,

iMac 13,1/i5-3335S/
8GB Ram/1TB HDD
GT 640M/21"/A

Intel Core i5 Processor
2.7 GHz, Quad-Core)1600 MHz FSB

Price £350.. is it worth it for the intended use ???
 
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