Mac Pro for an Aperture/CS3 user?

[odinsride]

Hi,

I am wondering if there are any major reasons to go for a Mac Pro over the iMac for Aperture and Photoshop CS3 work? I'm sure it will run smoother overall but is it worth the huge price difference? Would an iMac be fine for this type of work? I am using a 2.4ghz MBP with these apps now and it seems to run fine for the most part, I am just looking for more of a desktop type solution at this point and using the MBP for light work while traveling.

Edit: I will also be doing some music recording with Logic 8 whenever I can afford the equipment I need.

 

[Umbongo]

An iMac can handle those applications fine. Of course depending on what exactly you are doing with them the horsepower of the Mac Pro may be beneficial.

The biggest reason to go with the Mac Pro would be because you intend to use a seperate display and wouldn't be getting any benefit from the built in one. A glossy display isn't the best if colour accuracy is vital for your aperture or photshop work.

 

[indiochano]

id recommend you do go for the mac pro as all creative suite apps will require a good amount of cpu power in order to handle tasks properly while multitasking (I usually have 3 CS3 apps open at the same time.. flash, illustrator, and photoshop)... that being said, if you plan on using logic 8, it makes even more sense to get a mac pro as music production requires a big machine too... using logic alongside other plugins (reverb, compressor, samplers with additional libraries, etc.) will take a good amount of cpu.

 

[schnee]

The glossy screens are terrible for photo work. If you do any color correction or manipulation you won't have much accuracy at all.

IMO the reason iMacs are glossy only is to prevent cannibalization of Pro sales for folks like you in the first place.

They can push an external monitor, so if color accuracy is important you can always attach a second display and have a dual monitor setup.

 

[odinsride]

I hadn't really thought about the glossy screen - good point guys. I guess I'll keep saving $$

 

[Molnies]

I recently moved from an iMac (first 24" model) to the latest quad core Mac Pro. I notice a huge difference in Aperture, working with thousands of RAW photographs was a struggle on the iMac but works smoothly on the Mac Pro. I haven't really noticed any major difference in Photoshop, but I don't really put much pressure on that application so it worked perfectly on the iMac already.

But yeah, if you can I would without a doubt go with the Mac Pro. Another reason would be the internal storage. If you're like me (or most photographers) your library can take up quite a large space and it's a huge benefit to have a separate internal drive just for photographs.

 

[pprior]

imac will likely run cs3 well, but large files may tax the RAM.

Aperture however will have a big bump from a Mac Pro as it uses a lot of the GPU (whereas CS3 is mostly CPU). Please also be aware that rumors are that CS4 will start to use GPU more as well. Snow Leopard will also be incorporating more GPU power than we see now.

Of course for the price of a well equipped mac pro you can buy an imac and upgrade again in a couple years, so you can decide....

Personally I would never use a glossy screen (HATE them) so imac is out for that reason alone.

 

[odinsride]

I recently moved from an iMac (first 24" model) to the latest quad core Mac Pro. I notice a huge difference in Aperture, working with thousands of RAW photographs was a struggle on the iMac but works smoothly on the Mac Pro. I haven't really noticed any major difference in Photoshop, but I don't really put much pressure on that application so it worked perfectly on the iMac already.

But yeah, if you can I would without a doubt go with the Mac Pro. Another reason would be the internal storage. If you're like me (or most photographers) your library can take up quite a large space and it's a huge benefit to have a separate internal drive just for photographs.

Yeah - I am on the verge of outgrowing my 200gb internal drive on my MBP. RAW images really eat up space, and I'm at the point where I'm trying to get into photography for a living, so my library is only going to grow.

 

[big dainjerus]

Get the mac pro man, in the end, its just money...You are going to spend a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to earn a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to waste a whole lot more of it in your life. Live in the Now my brother, as the future never happens until it is here, in the present, so saving pieces of paper for something in the future that doesn't exist is pointless. Enjoy it.

 

[Peace]

Get the mac pro man, in the end, its just money...You are going to spend a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to earn a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to waste a whole lot more of it in your life. Live in the Now my brother, as the future never happens until it is here, in the present, so saving pieces of paper for something in the future that doesn't exist is pointless. Enjoy it.

what he said.
And. If you do photography like I do I'm sure you do video also. This is where the MacPro excels!!

I'm very happy with my 8-core beast.

 

[osin]

Get the mac pro man, in the end, its just money...You are going to spend a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to earn a whole lot more of it in your life, you are going to waste a whole lot more of it in your life. Live in the Now my brother, as the future never happens until it is here, in the present, so saving pieces of paper for something in the future that doesn't exist is pointless. Enjoy it.

Probably it doesn't seem too smart to agree with this statement, but I just maxed out my credit cards just to get MacPro
now I feel much better that I'm not the only one

 

[osin]

oh yeah
one more thing
iMac's glossy screen is only nice to show off your pictures to customers, family etc. it seems to be sharper and colors are richer, but it is horrible to work on...