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The new Mac Pro vs the new iMac?

Wow lots of helpful responses.
I'm not too concerned about the savings since a spec'd out iMac doesn't cost much less.
Monitors I have are 2x u2410 from Dell which have the h-IPS panels.
Their color accuracy is not that great because I don't have calibration equipments.
Color accuracy on iMac would be a selling point for sure.
 
propower said:
fascinating ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
that post #22 doesn't want the nMP

For me - I am a pro Audio guy and owned every Mac Tower since the Power Mac 9600 in 1998. the late 2013 i7 imac is handling everything I throw at it with no issue.

Then again... this IS the iMac forum!!!!
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I was the #22 post. What did you mean-- I didn't quite follow? Like I said, I would certainly love to have the nMP, but the iMac was the best choice for me and will perform superbly for my needs.

Were you just saying that you were surprised that I do video production for a living, and still wasn't recommending the nMP (because others like me say differently)? I was just curious since I didn't understand.
 
TheyCallMeBT said:
I was the #22 post. What did you mean-- I didn't quite follow? Like I said, I would certainly love to have the nMP, but the iMac was the best choice for me and will perform superbly for my needs.

Were you just saying that you were surprised that I do video production for a living, and still wasn't recommending the nMP (because others like me say differently)? I was just curious since I didn't understand.
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Sorry -
the latter half was the thing. I think the imac is brilliant and am pleasantly surprised to see that it even works for a video production professional. The nMP (hex and up especially ) are going to be great but my experience with the i7 imac leads me to thinking I may never need any of the extra horsepower...

Funny too since i date back to when imacs were sort of the "toy" macs :)
 
Alright. I will buy at least one iMac.
When the Mac Pro comes out I will decide on the second one then.
 
propower said:
Sorry -
the latter half was the thing. I think the imac is brilliant and am pleasantly surprised to see that it even works for a video production professional. The nMP (hex and up especially ) are going to be great but my experience with the i7 imac leads me to thinking I may never need any of the extra horsepower...

Funny too since i date back to when imacs were sort of the "toy" macs :)
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Ah, ok, cool. Haha, if I'm thinking of the correct model for the toy macs, that dates to when I was about in middle school. ;)
 
TheKnifeFight said:
I'm in the same boat but I'm leaning towards the Mac Pro. Why?


If for some reason they do a refresh in December on the iMac and brought it up to the rest of the lineup, I'd probably get it. I would love to have that big screen with TB2 ports and PCIe but I just don't see that happening in time.

r.
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You and me both!n!
 
iMacs are only color-accurate if you calibrate them. If you think they're color accurate out of the box you're kidding yourself...try measuring one and you'll find it needs help. And, as much as I love my late 2011 iMac, color uniformity is an issue. I went through two previous 2011 iMacs before getting a display I consider acceptable, but I still wouldn't trust it for production work (and mine's calibrated). In fact, I had initially wanted to upgrade to a 2013 iMac but after receiving three with severe color uniformity issues (all were warm at the bottom and cool at the top), I decided to wait to upgrade to a nMP. For me, the fact that the monitor isn't included with the nMP is a plus. Besides, I want at least a hex core.

So, if you're at all sensitive to color uniformity issues, you might be disappointed by the iMac. Now, you're going to hear a bunch of people chime in and say their displays are perfect and uniformity a non-issue. Of course, that's possible, and many people don't notice and/or don't care about color uniformity, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm extremely sensitive to it (probably to a fault), and based on the issues I've seen with the iMac displays I've had, it's my opinion that the display's quality isn't up to the level of the rest of the iMac's hardware.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Excellent reasons for choosing nMP over imac
- want better screen (more control over screen chosen)
- want at least a hex core

Makes perfect sense!
 
Money issues aside, are there any reasons to get an iMac over the Mac Pro other than the sleek design?
 
SHNXX said:
Money issues aside, are there any reasons to get an iMac over the Mac Pro other than the sleek design?
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Not that I can think of. Well, I guess if you're dying to have a Fusion drive or an a NVIDIA graphics card is better suited to your needs...
 
SHNXX said:
Money issues aside, are there any reasons to get an iMac over the Mac Pro other than the sleek design?
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Gaming. But that remains to be seen. As it looks like right now (based on assumptions, though), iMac might be way more capable in that department.
 
SHNXX said:
I guess in the past I did some programming and used windows at the same time (dedicated cores) as well as light movie conversions so I benefited from Mac Pro's hard drive expansions and ability to upgrade RAM to 16 or more.
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Well, unless you're compiling something really complex from scratch then I'm not sure programming really demands anything that an iMac can't deliver, and even then you'd have to invest in quite an expensive Mac Pro to make much of a difference in large-scale compilation times. Doing that simultaneously with Windows running under virtualisation should be fine too, as two cores gives pretty good Windows performance, especially as newer Intel chips have continued to make virtualisation improvements, and it still leaves you two cores (four hardware threads) for whatever else you're doing. RAM is more of an issue for Windows, and the iMacs can easily add quite a bit if you get it from a third party (Apple RAM is still fiendishly expensive).

I mean, to put this way; the quad core chips available for the iMac (and Mac Mini actually) are now good enough that they surpass an older Mac Pro like mine (8-core early 2008) in pretty much every way, plus you have access to faster RAM, storage and peripherals.

In fact, if you already have a monitor you'd like to use then I'd recommend an iMac + Mac Mini instead of iMac + Mac Pro, but I'd recommend getting the iMac now and the Mac Mini after their next update, as it should include significant improvements to graphical performance. If you don't already have a monitor then a second iMac is a great option.

In terms of storage, the iMac, Mac Mini and new Mac Pro are on pretty level footing except that the new Mac Pro will have Thunderbolt 2, but I doubt you'd need the speed of, currently non-existent, Thunderbolt 2 storage options.

Also, RAM upgrades in the current iMacs are still easy (on the higher-end models at least, is it still upgradable on the entry level models?) so the money you save on a new Mac Pro you can easily spend on getting plenty of RAM from a third party, and still saving you a bundle. You'll save even more with the Mac Mini + existing monitor option, if you can go that route.
 
antonis said:
Gaming. But that remains to be seen. As it looks like right now (based on assumptions, though), iMac might be way more capable in that department.
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Hmmm, I doubt that. Even the D300 (which is predicted to be equivalent to the R9 270X) slots in higher than the 780M that's in the newest iMac (look on the right under Class 1). So I think it's a pretty big leap to conclude that the iMac would be "way more capable" than the nMP...and that's just comparing a single card from the nMP's base configuration to the iMac's top video card.
 
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SHNXX said:
I guess in the past I did some programming and used windows at the same time (dedicated cores) as well as light movie conversions so I benefited from Mac Pro's hard drive expansions and ability to upgrade RAM to 16 or more.

I don't think I will be doing much programming anymore except to check others codes.

Movie conversion also not a big deal.
I like Mac pros because I've never owned an iMac in the past.

Does this signal any need for a Mac Pro?
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You can put 32GB RAM in the iMac. The iMac comes with a very capable 4-core CPU and is more then sufficient for virtualisation. A Mac Pro is certainly a total overkill if you intend to use it for programming, unless you routinely have to build massive projects. Mac Pro is a media content creation tool, a heavy data parallel number cruncher.

P.S. One of the best programmers I know of (Mike Pall - the genius behind LuaJit), is still using a Core 2 Duo.
 
kfscoll said:
Hmmm, I doubt that. Even the D300 (which is predicted to be equivalent to the R9 270X) slots in higher than the 780M that's in the newest iMac (look on the right under Class 1). So I think it's a pretty big leap to conclude that the iMac would be "way more capable" than the nMP...and that's just comparing a single card from the nMP's base configuration to the iMac's top video card.
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As a potential buyer of the nMP myself, I hope you're right. But, as I said, Apple has said lots of things about nMP, without actually saying anything. For instance, if the nMP won't be able to use both cards for everything (including games), it will be a huge disappointment.
 
Outrigger said:
that isn't even a real comparison on the same level unless you consider 3TB vs. 256GB, built in 27" 2560 x 1440 screen vs. no screen an apples to apples comparison.

----------



no extreme gamer in their right mind would pay extra for workstation video cards (not built for gaming) just to play games. you wouldn't spend extra money on a sports car to tow your trailers right?
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I'd spend extra money on a truck so I could race it, though.
SdEg5Ab.gif


I'm wondering where his RAM figure comes from, as an 8GB DIMM of 1866MHz ECC RAM is $160 while a 16GB DIMM is $320.
 
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Okay I'm convinced.
I don't create media so I guess iMac should be fine.
It looks better anyway.
I do use the canon 5d mk2, and 3 occasionally but only for hobby and I don't shoot much video.
So I guess iMac will suffice.
 
SHNXX said:
Okay I'm convinced.
I don't create media so I guess iMac should be fine.
It looks better anyway.
I do use the canon 5d mk2, and 3 occasionally but only for hobby and I don't shoot much video.
So I guess iMac will suffice.
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Since you mentioned in your OP that whatever you buy is for home use, there's no doubt that the iMac would suffice. Heck, the 2013 iMac isn't that much faster than my 2011 iMac (GPUs aside) -- and, speaking personally, I'm all about upgrading this year. In other words, where's the fun in it just sufficing? I do a lot of video encoding so I want to chuck as many cores at my encodes as I can. But really, even though the octo-core nMP will finish those encodes more than twice as fast as my iMac, it's not like I'm making money off of the machine. It's a hobby/toy. My iMac is plenty fast for what I use it for, but that doesn't mean I don't want it faster.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if you can swing the nMP, even if you don't need it, you'll likely be happier in the long run if it's for a hobby you enjoy and spend considerable time with.
 
You already have two monitors. If the needs of one devise is more critical than the other, consider a mini and a pro. The new mini will likely be released at the same time as the Pro. Get the new mini first and see how it performs and wether another mini would work, or splurge on the Pro for your second machine. If you're already happy with your monitors, why replace them? I think for most people, the pro will be more of a made-in-America, cutting-edge, status symbol rather than just for professional use.
 
If you need/want or can use more CPU power than a quad core then the Hex or better nMP is the way to go.

If you need/want can use multiple graphics cards - the nMP is the way to go.

If you need/want/ can use the faster RAM and internal SSD - the nMP is the way to go

If you have a TON of peripherals and need/want can use TB2 Bandwidth - nMP is the way to go.

IF not - imac, rMBP and mini are all great machines...

THe most compelling reasons for the imac (IMO) IS price to performance + the all in one feature with a great screen. You take this out of the equation to start with but it is the MAIN thing. :) IMO of course...
 
Design is another major draw to the iMac for me, as it would look great in our computer room.
 
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