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Mac Pro: worth it in the long run?

N

necropunk

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 2, 2006
76
0
London
Hi all,

I occasionally do some video and photo editing. Not as a professional, but as a "commited creative". I'm about to start a PhD in contemporary art; it's mainly theory but I plan on invest more time and energy on my side projects.

I'm thinking about getting a desktop. For the time being, I don't even need a maxed out Imac but software is always evolving. I'm wondering to what extent could a Mac Pro be more future proof.
For instance, if I buy an Imac I'm pretty sure that within a 3/4 year period I would need to consider a new buy.
My reasoning here is that, maybe, it would make more sense to invest in the upgrade of the Mac Pro instead of buying a new machine.

Does it make some sense or would this just by way too expensive and not really worth considering?
 
Last edited:
For my perspective the main advantage of the MacPro was the Xeon processors and its expansion capability, including GPU replacement.

With the new MacPros storage expansion got much more expensive, buying external thunderbolt storage is much more $$ then buying a drive to slap into the computer.

The GPU doesn't seem replaceable as well, though I could be incorrect on that.
 
Until we know pricing, it's very difficult to say.

I do a decent amount of video work — which has bogged down my Early 2008 Mac Pro. I had planned to upgrade in 2012 on my normal cycle, but found the lackluster upgrade not worth the money.

I'm in a position of being able to do a Mac Pro every four or so years or an iMac every two years.

Based on the announcements this week, I'm leaning top of the line iMac right now, but am wondering whether the current models will be tweaked by the fall to include new processors, 802.11A/C and Thunderbolt 2.

By moving the Mac Pro to more of an external upgrade path, the iMac becomes a lot more viable for what I do.
 
necropunk said:
Hi all,

I occasionally do some video and photo editing. Not as a professional, but as a "commited creative". I'm about to start a PhD in contemporary art; it's mainly theory but I plan on invest more time and energy on my side projects.

I'm thinking about getting a desktop. For the time being, I don't even need a maxed out Imac but software is always evolving. I'm wondering to what extent could a Mac Pro be more future proof.
For instance, if I buy an Imac I'm pretty sure that within a 3/4 year period I would need to consider a new buy.
My reasoning here is that, maybe, it would make more sense to invest in the upgrade of the Mac Pro instead of buying a new machine.

Does it make some sense or would this just by way too expensive and not really worth considering?
Click to expand...

A lot of this is what you specifically want in a computer. Unless you already have a good monitor I'd really recommend the iMac 4k/5k it's a nice product. My big question is how much do you really want to do? If you only plan to do minor on the side projects I don't see why a Mac Pro 1,1 which can be had for cheap. While reliability on something that old is questionable, if it's a minor project ~$100 isn't bad even if it only lasts you a year or so. I'd only really recommend this if you plan on doing small time minor video production. I don't believe I'm allowed to link but if you search "old mac pro worth it." That should give you a good idea of what you could do with this machine.

If I were you I'd probably jump at a 4k/5k iMac. You can likely get significant discounts through your university, or a minor discount through Apple. This with Apple care would probably be the best option. The current Mac Pro is an overpriced over polished trashcan. If you don't plan on doing a ton of 4k video editing this system should be fine.
 
necropunk said:
to what extent could a Mac Pro be more future proof.
Click to expand...

I don't see a MacPro as being any more future proof than any other current Mac, other than the fact that the available extra capacity (more memory, more cpus, two graphics cards) gives you more room for growth until you hit the system's limits, maybe when 8K video becomes the norm. As discussed in various places right now the MacPro is not a great performance value unless you need some of it's special features (12 cpus, tons of memory, 2 somewhat slow graphics processors).

necropunk said:
make more sense to invest in the upgrade of the Mac Pro
Click to expand...

Not sure your intent is here. If you are talking about upgrading the MacPro as time goes on and your needs change, you can upgrade the memory relatively easily. For cpu or graphics upgrades (if they even exist) you're talking 3rd party. If you want to have the ability to upgrade all system components then Windows would be a better choice for you.

And then there is the connector issue. We had Firewire. Then Lightning. Then USB-C (?). Systems in the future may become outdated just because of the connectors or buses.

There's also the issue of convenience. You have to buy all of the darn peripherals for the MacPro (mouse, keyboard, monitor, external hard disks, optical media, etc.), so there's a lot of extra expense for an already expensive machine.
 
ownagetechgeek said:
A lot of this is what you specifically want in a computer. Unless you already have a good monitor I'd really recommend the iMac 4k/5k it's a nice product. My big question is how much do you really want to do? If you only plan to do minor on the side projects I don't see why a Mac Pro 1,1 which can be had for cheap. While reliability on something that old is questionable, if it's a minor project ~$100 isn't bad even if it only lasts you a year or so. I'd only really recommend this if you plan on doing small time minor video production. I don't believe I'm allowed to link but if you search "old mac pro worth it." That should give you a good idea of what you could do with this machine.

If I were you I'd probably jump at a 4k/5k iMac. You can likely get significant discounts through your university, or a minor discount through Apple. This with Apple care would probably be the best option. The current Mac Pro is an overpriced over polished trashcan. If you don't plan on doing a ton of 4k video editing this system should be fine.
Click to expand...


You realize the thread creator posted this in 2013, right?
 
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USB Type C is officially basically dead with less and less devices being made for it, we can basically consider it a failed standard at this point. USB 3 is better just because of backwards compatibility.

As to moving into the future anything you buy now should manage at least 3-4 years. Im sticking with my late 2015 iMac till at least 2020.

Then I'm going to get whatever apple has released at that time.
 
purpletalon55 said:
USB Type C is officially basically dead with less and less devices being made for it, we can basically consider it a failed standard at this point. USB 3 is better just because of backwards compatibility.
Click to expand...

Really? The sentiment in the cellular phone space is that USB-C (which is really a form-factor rather than a protocol) moved from being an annoying novelty (dongles, new cables) to being the standard in less than a year. Micro-USB is the one that is "officially" dead, and rightfully so due to how fiddly it is. Laptops are likely to be USB-C from here on out too.

For desktops, which are also almost dead for common users, but which have few space constraints, I can see USB 3 having some staying power.
 
Ph.D. said:
Really? The sentiment in the cellular phone space is that USB-C (which is really a form-factor rather than a protocol) moved from being an annoying novelty (dongles, new cables) to being the standard in less than a year. Micro-USB is the one that is "officially" dead, and rightfully so due to how fiddly it is. Laptops are likely to be USB-C from here on out too.

For desktops, which are also almost dead for common users, but which have few space constraints, I can see USB 3 having some staying power.
Click to expand...
Desktops are not dead recent reports say that tablets are dying slowly and people are buying more desktops, you can't play high end video games on anything but a high end desktop pc, desktop pc's are just better for everything. I can agree with laptops having a place but feel that we don't need smartphones or tablets. They are slow bulky and they don't perform tasks as well as a desktop or laptop.
 
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