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Mac Pro or iMac 5k

I am considering the iMac.
My issue with any AIO system is the fact the innards will become outdate way faster than the monitor. I still have my two ACD displays and they are running strong. Almost 10 years of intense use. I update y computers around 3 to 4 years.
I would love to get the 5k display as stand alone and buy with a nMP once it is update.
My concern with the iMac too, is that their resale value is not as good as the MP and it seems from what I hear they give more hardware issues than the MP too.
That said, I would maybe hold off this first generation iMac 5k and wait for the V2 as a cautionary thing.
 
So I checked it out at the Apple Store. I am very impressed, honestly. The screen looks beautiful as everyone have said. The interesting things I noticed, is there is no lag. None for switching spaces, no lag in mouse movement, no lag anywhere. I wonder what it's going to be like with the 295x gfx. The mac pro is really powerful and the d700's are super powerful, but there is a noticeable lag, even in mouse movements on the Mac Pro. So I wonder if apple is doing something special with the iMac.

Going to play around with the Mac Pro a little more tonight. Upgrade to Yosemite and if the 4k doesn't improve, selling and buying the iMac. Once you go 4k, everything else looks really bad.

gugy said:
I am considering the iMac.
My issue with any AIO system is the fact the innards will become outdate way faster than the monitor. I still have my two ACD displays and they are running strong. Almost 10 years of intense use. I update y computers around 3 to 4 years.
I would love to get the 5k display as stand alone and buy with a nMP once it is update.
My concern with the iMac too, is that their resale value is not as good as the MP and it seems from what I hear they give more hardware issues than the MP too.
That said, I would maybe hold off this first generation iMac 5k and wait for the V2 as a cautionary thing.
Click to expand...

The only reason why I'm ok with AIO is because I generally switch my computers yearly. With Apple the earlier the switch, less money you lose. For instance if you are switching from last years iMac to a new one (not Retina then), between eBay, you will lose about 400-500. For me $500/year is not a big investment. Even $1000 I think is acceptable.

So going to think really really hard!!
 
brentsg said:
If you're having input lag from the Map Pro, it has to be the display.
Click to expand...

Oh it's the display no doubt. I have a TB connected right next to it, no lag. It's running 60hz, but still lags. Not sure why
 
Well it's settled. Still have the lag and now it won't wake up. Turning it off then on again, makes one side of the screen wake up and the other is still asleep. When the other side wakes up, it has a totally different color map. So one has a red tint, the other has a blueish tint.
 
aloshka said:
..., I am in need of 4k monitors or at the very least, something not so damn reflective with so much glare.

...

I do hear, that people are having issues with 4k monitors on macs. The UP2414Q looks great, but it sounds like there are weird sleep issues.

...
Click to expand...

I have a Dell UP2414Q and no wired sleep issues at all. Wired sleep issues I have with the rMBP not to wake up properly sometimes at all, and the Thunderbolt ethernet adapter also not working always an wake. In general my impression is nowadays Macs have wired sleep issues. Somehow Macs between 2004 and 2010 or so felt a bit more stable. Sigh.

But the Dell UP2414Q is a beautiful display, I use to code all day, and exactly the size 24" that I find comfortable to work at.

http://rene.rebe.de/2014-01-27/dell-ultrasharp-24-4k-up2414q-on-mac/

----------
aloshka said:
So I checked it out at the Apple Store. I am very impressed, honestly. The screen looks beautiful as everyone have said. The interesting things I noticed, is there is no lag. None for switching spaces, no lag in mouse movement, no lag anywhere. I wonder what it's going to be like with the 295x gfx. The mac pro is really powerful and the d700's are super powerful, but there is a noticeable lag, even in mouse movements on the Mac Pro. So I wonder if apple is doing something special with the iMac.

Going to play around with the Mac Pro a little more tonight. Upgrade to Yosemite and if the 4k doesn't improve, selling and buying the iMac. Once you go 4k, everything else looks really bad.

...
Click to expand...

Are you sure you run your display at 60Hz? Maybe you are on 4k@30Hz or so? 'cause otherwise input lag is really unusual, ...
 
ReneR said:
I have a Dell UP2414Q and no wired sleep issues at all. Wired sleep issues I have with the rMBP not to wake up properly sometimes at all, and the Thunderbolt ethernet adapter also not working always an wake. In general my impression is nowadays Macs have wired sleep issues. Somehow Macs between 2004 and 2010 or so felt a bit more stable. Sigh.

But the Dell UP2414Q is a beautiful display, I use to code all day, and exactly the size 24" that I find comfortable to work at.

http://rene.rebe.de/2014-01-27/dell-ultrasharp-24-4k-up2414q-on-mac/

----------



Are you sure you run your display at 60Hz? Maybe you are on 4k@30Hz or so? 'cause otherwise input lag is really unusual, ...
Click to expand...

Positive its' at 60hz. 30hz was ridiculous before i turned on dp 1.2. Also when you do info on the monitor it says 60hz and full rez. The lag is hard to notice but if you are really fast with the mouse it's very noticeable. I also noticed the delay is mostly with the magic mouse. Wires mice seem to have less of an issue. Wonder if that has anything to do with bluetooth being turned on when too much traffic is going through TB or something.

I sent the monitors back. The AG coating is annoying me a little too. I think at those resolutions, you just can't have AG coating. Ordering iMac right now...

----------

Of and forgot. To recreate the screen splitting color issue, just set a different color profile on the monitor itself. I did a little cooler tempature, since I like things to be a tad bluer. Then turn the monitor off. Turn it back on, and the colors are really screwed up. Selecting a different color profile then going back to the one you have selected works. But I'm not sure I want to do this every time the monitor goes to sleep or I turn it off.

I went through forums and seems like a ton of people are having the issue. Most of the reviewers on amazon have the issue and there doesn't seem to be a fix. Even windows users have these issues. Some people claim a new DP cable helps, but not always.
 
aloshka said:
The only reason why I'm ok with AIO is because I generally switch my computers yearly. With Apple the earlier the switch, less money you lose. For instance if you are switching from last years iMac to a new one (not Retina then), between eBay, you will lose about 400-500. For me $500/year is not a big investment. Even $1000 I think is acceptable.

So going to think really really hard!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, in this case is not bad at all. Usually I update when my Applecare is about to expire. Switching yearly is not a bad thing too.
Because MP had a longer update cycles few years back the 3 year rule worked well for me. I wonder how often the nMP cycles will be. Hopefully once a year but not holding my breath.
 
gugy said:
Yeah, in this case is not bad at all. Usually I update when my Applecare is about to expire. Switching yearly is not a bad thing too.
Because MP had a longer update cycles few years back the 3 year rule worked well for me. I wonder how often the nMP cycles will be. Hopefully once a year but not holding my breath.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking they will still have slow upgrade cycles, not necessarily all Apple's fault, Intel really lags on the Xeons. Probably won't be as slow as the Mac Mini but pretty close. But to be fair, they make the mac pros powerful enough that they keep up for 3-4 years.

I think my needs have changed and thus I'm moving unto simpler AIO. I used to run many VM's but now with Cloud computing, every client has their own dev boxes and I work off those instead. Companies feel more secure if they have assets in their control instead of a contractor's machine.

The other thing, Apple stuff works with Apple stuff. Third party support is always really flaky. These monitors as an example. I'm sure the real pros have no issues with this as they buy insanely expensive monitors and keep them for a long period of time. But I am not a professional like that and do no video or photography editing. Just needed lots of power.

I think the iMac will fit my needs and will be ordering today. Probably will post the Mac Pro on sale later today. Hoping for Craigslist to avoid fees and massive loss of money because of paypal fees. Much safer too IMO. Paypal always protects the buyer, no matter what.

Just wanted to thank everyone who participated in this forum. You guys actually all really helped. Lots of unbiased solutions, and it was nice seeing what others think.

Once I get the iMac I'll post more thoughts. Going to get the 4.0 295x and will buy memory from OWC (32gb).
 
gugy said:
Yeah, in this case is not bad at all. Usually I update when my Applecare is about to expire. Switching yearly is not a bad thing too.
Because MP had a longer update cycles few years back the 3 year rule worked well for me. I wonder how often the nMP cycles will be. Hopefully once a year but not holding my breath.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter how often Apple wants to update them. Unless we have a major technological breakthrough with (or away from) silicon, Intel (and AMD and nVidia) will only be able to offer significant upgrades every 2-3 years at best.

This Fall just happens to have seen a significant Intel upgrade in performance/value from their socket 2011-3 processors, so an early 2015 Mac Pro would be an upgrade that could make sense if they release one.
 
aloshka said:
I'm thinking they will still have slow upgrade cycles, not necessarily all Apple's fault, Intel really lags on the Xeons. Probably won't be as slow as the Mac Mini but pretty close. But to be fair, they make the mac pros powerful enough that they keep up for 3-4 years.

I think my needs have changed and thus I'm moving unto simpler AIO. I used to run many VM's but now with Cloud computing, every client has their own dev boxes and I work off those instead. Companies feel more secure if they have assets in their control instead of a contractor's machine.

The other thing, Apple stuff works with Apple stuff. Third party support is always really flaky. These monitors as an example. I'm sure the real pros have no issues with this as they buy insanely expensive monitors and keep them for a long period of time. But I am not a professional like that and do no video or photography editing. Just needed lots of power.

I think the iMac will fit my needs and will be ordering today. Probably will post the Mac Pro on sale later today. Hoping for Craigslist to avoid fees and massive loss of money because of paypal fees. Much safer too IMO. Paypal always protects the buyer, no matter what.

Just wanted to thank everyone who participated in this forum. You guys actually all really helped. Lots of unbiased solutions, and it was nice seeing what others think.

Once I get the iMac I'll post more thoughts. Going to get the 4.0 295x and will buy memory from OWC (32gb).
Click to expand...


I am a designer and work mostly with Adobe apps. The MacPro is a solid choice but for awhile I have been considering the iMac as an option. I like the idea of upgrading every 18/24 months so I can still get a great resale value out of iMac.
Truth is this is a business expense so in the end I'll get tax benefits and upgrading it often won't be a financial issue.
What really drives me more than ever to the iMac is the 5k display that is a must for a designer. I do a lot of storyboarding design and been able to see 1920x1080 frames in sequence on that huge res display is a great benefit.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Dell is about to release a 5K monitor that will work with any computer with two DisplayPort 1.2 ports. Both the iMac and the Mac Pro have this. (So, yes, you could have a 5K iMac, with a second 5K display right next to it.).
Click to expand...


Perhaps not

https://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/specs/

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display
 
Larry-K said:
Then the choice is made.
Click to expand...

I'm having such a tough time letting go of the mac pro. Just such a beautiful perfect machine. Really want to cancel the iMac now. There has got to be good monitors out there. Now I'm starting to think 4k or not, as long as they are not glare glass like the TB's are.
 
ElectronGuru said:
Perhaps not

https://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/specs/

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Dell display appears as *TWO* external displays, since the proper version of DisplayPort to handle a 5K display isn't available yet.

And the iMac 5K does support two Thunderbolt Displays along with the internal display.
18. How many Apple Thunderbolt Displays can I use with my Mac in OS X?

Plus:
5 If you connect a 60Hz multi-stream transport (MST) 4K display to an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) computer, only one additional Thunderbolt display is supported.
Click to expand...
So if you really want to go whole-hog, the iMac 5K supports its internal 5K display, an external 60 Hz 4K display, *and* a Thunderbolt Display. (Although I'd rather just have the internal 5K plus an external 5K.)

The total external number of pixels in that case comes extremely close to a 5K display. It might be restricted to 30 Hz instead of 60 Hz, but it should work.
 
aloshka said:
I'm having such a tough time letting go of the mac pro. Just such a beautiful perfect machine. Really want to cancel the iMac now. There has got to be good monitors out there. Now I'm starting to think 4k or not, as long as they are not glare glass like the TB's are.
Click to expand...
I use the NECs and am very happy with them, resolution is not a concern for me, just color accuracy.
 
I found Marco Arment's analysis pretty convincing (he of Tumblr, Instapaper):

http://www.marco.org/2014/10/16/retina-imac-vs-mac-pro

I can live with an occasional beachball. In fact, sometimes it's the needed impetus for a break. But I stare at that screen a LOT. Slow movement on the screen, or fuzziness, or jaggedy text, and basically anything else wrong with it bugs me even more.
 
robgendreau said:
I found Marco Arment's analysis pretty convincing (he of Tumblr, Instapaper):

http://www.marco.org/2014/10/16/retina-imac-vs-mac-pro

I can live with an occasional beachball. In fact, sometimes it's the needed impetus for a break. But I stare at that screen a LOT. Slow movement on the screen, or fuzziness, or jaggedy text, and basically anything else wrong with it bugs me even more.
Click to expand...

See I'm the same way which is why I ordered the imac. And I think the beachball is more likely on the Mac pro since slower single core processing will cause it.

I think pretty much anything on the Mac would feel faster with higher clock speed as opposed to more cores. Rendering, zipping, exporting might be slower, but nothing else really.

And screen is everything. I just wish I could have a good screen right next to the iMac. Once I get it, I'll post thoughts, etc. not selling the Mac pro just yet. While it will all be a matter of opinion, at least I'll have both the Mac pro and imac next to each other to compare performance, etc.
 
Got the imac will write thoughts and review etc. All compare to the Mac pro.

I don't do editing outside of photoshop so sorry if you wanted me to test that
 
aloshka said:
Got the imac will write thoughts and review etc. All compare to the Mac pro.

I don't do editing outside of photoshop so sorry if you wanted me to test that
Click to expand...

Could you also try the Geekbench Stress Tests (requires licensed version)? It may not be representative of your workflow anymore, but it is pertinent to mine. I'm curious how Apple's thermal implementation of the i7 4790K is - does it throttle after 10 minutes, or are the results an hour later as good as the first few iterations? (If you haven't used it before, it simply loops back-to-back Geekbench tests.) I know the 4790K can handle bursts OK, but I'm not so sure about a constant load. As I've said before, I just don't think the 4790K is as robust as the Mac Pro CPUs.

I hope Apple adds the new i7 socket 2011-3 processors next year. They could add two extra cores for the same price as the current 4- and 6-core models. And I'm sure the updated Xeons would prove to be worthwhile upgrades as well. Many applications are platform agnostic, so it wouldn't pay to intentionally fall behind the Windows options again.
 
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