Is it time for me to upgrade?

[yungskeeme]

I have a mid 2007 core 2 duo imac. 21 inch I believe. Mainly use it for music production. Was talking to an eniginer and laughed when told h about my core 2 duo. I have 3 gb that I was thinking about maxing to 6. I know maxing out is cheaper but think a new mac would be better. What do y'all think? Thinking about a 15 inch MBP

 

[vmachiel]

Not and engineer here, but do know some basic stuff about computers.

2007 is really old in terms of computing, especially if you do stuff like music production (for just typing word documents it's fine for example). Upgrading your RAM will help to some (probably small) extend, but you'll still be crippled by the old processor. Since the 15 inch rMBP has PCIe based flash storage as well, the overals experience of upgrading will be significant. (although, that storage is expensive so you'll need some external storage probably).

I don't want you te spend money if you don't have to, but if you can afford it and current gen MBP would be a major upgrade IMO.

 

[yungskeeme]

I didn't think upgrading the RAM would do much. I want to be portable as well so I think getting a MBP would be better. Trying to find a used one. Kinda pricey for a brand new one

Not and engineer here, but do know some basic stuff about computers.

2007 is really old in terms of computing, especially if you do stuff like music production (for just typing word documents it's fine for example). Upgrading your RAM will help to some (probably small) extend, but you'll still be crippled by the old processor. Since the 15 inch rMBP has PCIe based flash storage as well, the overals experience of upgrading will be significant. (although, that storage is expensive so you'll need some external storage probably).

I don't want you te spend money if you don't have to, but if you can afford it and current gen MBP would be a major upgrade IMO.

 

[Fishrrman]

The OP wrote above:
[[ Thinking about a 15 inch MBP....]]

Unless you intend to buy an external display to go along with it, I'm thinking you're going to be dissatisfied with the MBP, insofar as music production is concerned.

I've found that with DAW software, one thing that really makes life easier is a LARGE display, wide enough so that you can see a good portion of your audio timeline before scrolling "jumps into the picture".

Unless you absolutely have-to-have portability, you might even consider the late-2012 2.3ghz i7 Mac Mini. Plenty of power to handle audio and plugins, not lots of money (which can be used for a good display, for audio I might consider one of the new "ultrawide" 29"). If you get the base model, add an SSD (240gb capacity would be enough, and it's the "sweet spot" for pricing right now). You don't even have to open the case -- just get an external enclosure (look at the Inateck on amazon) or a USB3/SATA dock, and create "an external booter". You can use that for OS, apps. Use the internal drive as your "media drive" for your audio projects.

I agree with another poster who said that upgrading RAM (by itself) probably won't help that much. You need to "upgrade the entire package"...

 

[Micky Do]

If what you have works OK for you, why bother upgrading just because someone says its out of date?

On the other hand, if what you have is limiting what you want to do, or some of the hardware is wearing out, it could be an opportune moment to upgrade.

 

[Intelligent]

Not and engineer here, but do know some basic stuff about computers.

2007 is really old in terms of computing, especially if you do stuff like music production (for just typing word documents it's fine for example). Upgrading your RAM will help to some (probably small) extend, but you'll still be crippled by the old processor. Since the 15 inch rMBP has PCIe based flash storage as well, the overals experience of upgrading will be significant. (although, that storage is expensive so you'll need some external storage probably).

I don't want you te spend money if you don't have to, but if you can afford it and current gen MBP would be a major upgrade IMO.

The 13 inch retina also has PCie.

 

[yungskeeme]

Update. I just got a mid 2010 15 inch MBP 2.66ghz w/ 8gb of ram and I love it!!