New imac needed : wait for silicon?

Oh yes, FD is to be avoided for music purposes.

 

I used to have a Fusion Drive as my boot drive but since all my samples were streaming from other drives, it was fine.

Fusion Drive is "fine" as you put it Jay, and it's better than a HDD, it's just not as good as an SSD. Nowadays for music production you really should try to work with SSDs as much as possible.

Fusion Drive is "fine" as you put it Jay, and it's better than a HDD, it's just not as good as an SSD. Nowadays for music production you really should try to work with SSDs as much as possible.

 

Absolutely. But if you find a machine at a good price, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker to run the OS and apps from one. Streaming samples is where I found the inferiority to be most obvious.

After 30 years of buying Macs, I have learnt that Apple are pretty brutal with transitions, remember they have only promised two years of support for Intel, so don't be surprised if you can't run the latest version of LPX in a few years on Intel Macs

 

This may not be an issue for you but I like to stay on the latest version of macOS and LPX and want to buy hardware that can do this for 7+ years.

 

That's what I'm afraid of, I could not more update LPX because I'm stuck with El Capitan with my 2007 Imac. I don't want to fall in the same trap in 2/3 years after I had purchsed a 2500 $ imac which will not be able to support future LPX updates !

 

I want an Imac able to support next LPX updates for at least 7 years.

I was closed to order this 2020 Imac this evening but your post made me think twice and I probably will wait till the end of the year until silicon.

I don't want to fall in the same trap in 2/3 years after I had purchsed a 2500 $ imac which will not be able to support future LPX updates !

 

What about buying a used one in the mean time for less? Do you really wanna be the guinea for the new Apple Silicon Macs?

And nobody knows what will come out in December, which is not a typical release month for Apple. It's all just rumors.

I am not 100% sure, it is possible I had some heat throttling, there was other issues with my music configuration that might have been causing my pinwheeling. But I do now have it sitting on top of a server grade fan to force more air in to it and it has been great.

 

 

OK, I just bought one.

I've just got in touch with Apple technician.

I asked him if next OSs and softs updates will be compatible with CPU intel based mac in the next couple of years or only with silicon CPU.

Reply : nobody currently knows at Apple, not every products will be upgraded, please watch Apple newsroom and wait until silicon CPU announcement.

So Apple currently sell imac but can't tell if they will be obsolete in a couple of years !

Imagine I buy a new car, will it be possible to maintain it next year ? don't know, perhaps... or buy a new one instead next year.

Strange marketing strategy.

It's already at the point where they probably despise supplying the Intel range, they don't like it from a security perspective, cost perspective, thermal perspective, and Intel are no longer exceeding in CPU developments which is where Apple want/need to be. Particularly in small form factor desktop devices.

 

So of course they will want to isolate themselves from it as fast as possible. And a big factor for end users is that the success Apple will target for their shareholders is scored based entirely on adoption/sales rates, it's what fuels their industry. They need great numbers to display market confidence in the new line of products.

 

I'd imagine, based on past history, They will do everything possible to get people onto the new architecture, and as a hardware company they will use software as bait.

 

The other tactic may be that they are going to slowly release the ARM machines into the product lines and maintain a smooth transition with very little fanfare. If they do that then they have a great belief in Rosetta 2, and it will great for all Apple users as Intel will be active part of development for the near future and will signal a slow, more measured approach.

Reply : nobody currently knows at Apple, not every products will be upgraded, please watch Apple newsroom and wait until silicon CPU announcement.

 

This how is Apple is, has been and will be. Don't expect this to change.

If anybody knows anything concrete, they can't tell because they signed a non-disclosure agreement.

so the dilemna is :

1-buy a 2020 Intel Imac and hope it will not be obsolete too early and support next Logicpro and OS updates (at least not within the next 5 years)

sold it on the second hand market in 5 years (in hope price will not drop too much) and buy a silicon CPU Imac.

2-wait several months (or year) before a stable silicon CPU release is out, rumours says Apple will upgrade laptops and 21.5 imac first because 27" have just been upgraded but this are ... rumours

 

I would say 60 % for solution 1

 

I get a headhacke

The answers depends on your situation and whether you can afford to wait or if you need a new Mac right away. You have to make your decision based on that uncertainty though. There's no one knowing for sure whether a new 27" silicon iMac will be out any time soon, and even if it's out soon, if the first model won't have certain issues that will only be ironed out in a subsequent model, etc.

The answers depends on your situation and whether you can afford to wait or if you need a new Mac right away. You have to make your decision based on that uncertainty though. There's no one knowing for sure whether a new 27" silicon iMac will be out any time soon, and even if it's out soon, if the first model won't have certain issues that will only be ironed out in a subsequent model, etc.

 

Which I felt I did, as the one I have cannot run Big Sur without a hack. Also, it only has 32 GB and since I sold my slave PC. a year and half ago is proving on occasion to be an issue, so the Mac mini with 64 GB was a relatively inexpensive solution for now. I think it should buy me at least 3-4 years.

I think it should buy me at least 3-4 years.

And by then you'll be able to purchase one of the new 34" iMac with roll-up flexible screen, 8.4Ghz processor, 512 GB RAM and four 128 TB SSD.

I think it should buy me at least 3-4 years.

And by then you'll be able to purchase one of the new 34" iMac with roll-up flexible screen, 8.4Ghz processor, 512 GB RAM and four 128 TB SSD.

 

Sure I will, right after you give me your credit card information:)

The answers depends on your situation and whether you can afford to wait or if you need a new Mac right away. You have to make your decision based on that uncertainty though. There's no one knowing for sure whether a new 27" silicon iMac will be out any time soon, and even if it's out soon, if the first model won't have certain issues that will only be ironed out in a subsequent model, etc.

 

I can wait because my old 2007 imac is still fit but mac OS and LPX has not been upgraded for years now, of course.

Music is my hobby and I don't make money out of it so a new mac it is not mandatory.

I would like to replace it because Logic 10.5 is so sexy...and more and more plugins and Daws could no more be updated.

Waiting 1 or 2 years before silicon CPU are available and reliable for imac 27 " is too long in fact (4 more years is long but 2 more years also )

And wait... I received a pre order from Apple, they give me an airpod + 10 % student rebate for a 2020 Imac.

The deal is tempting even if Mac are more expensive in France than in the USA.

Reading your last post, I can predict you'll get a new iMac soon! It's written jn the sky! You want to wait and at the same time you can't wait to use all Logic Pro 10.5 exiting new features. You can't stand this position for a very long time.

 

Do yourself a favour and enjoy the life now!

Reading your last post, I can predict you'll get a new iMac soon! It's written jn the sky! You want to wait and at the same time you can't wait to use all Logic Pro 10.5 exiting new features. You can't stand this position for a very long time.

 

Do yourself a favour and enjoy the life now!

 

You are right and I think I will order this Imac tomorrow after a good night

You can't go wrong. You do the right thing. Sleep well!

I don’t think Apple went through all the trouble of designing a whole new Mac Pro to have it be obsolete in 5 years. The intel os will be with us for a while.

My 2 cents:

Computers could not be sold without software running on it... And by software, I don't mean only the OS...

At this point in time, I really doubt that Apple different software teams are at par with the eventual silicon chip.

My 2 cents:

Computers could not be sold without software running on it... And by software, I don't mean only the OS...

At this point in time, I really doubt that Apple different software teams are at par with the eventual silicon chip.

 

Logic pro is already silicon ready, so that's frightening will they still update logic for Intel cpu, 2 versions of the same soft ?

Ordered !!!

Thanks all for your advices

 

27‑inch iMac with Retina 5K display.

Standard glass

3.8GHz 8-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz

8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory

Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8GB of GDDR6 memory

512GB SSD storage

Gigabit Ethernet

Magic Mouse 2

Magic Keyboard - US English

Congrats! That should last you a little while!!

Congrats! That should last you a little while!!

Thanks, fingers crossed

Man, that's a powerful machine

...

Logic pro is already silicon ready, so that's frightening will they still update logic for Intel cpu, 2 versions of the same soft ?

Where did you see that?

Apple has plenty of experience changing the hardware platform of their computers – from 680x0 to PowerPC to Intel to Silicon. Their "XCode" development system already has the requisite new support. With few exceptions, you just flip the architecture switch and hit "build."

 

I basically treat a computer as a "three-year asset." About the time the extended warranty runs out, I go back to the "refurbished equipment" section of Apple.com and order a new machine, disposing of the old one any way I can.

My 2 cents:

Computers could not be sold without software running on it... And by software, I don't mean only the OS...

At this point in time, I really doubt that Apple different software teams are at par with the eventual silicon chip.

It's done already, They've said that ALL their default MacOS apps are running natively on ARM, that includes Final Cut and Logic. Can you not remember Tim Cook showing demos of FCP rendering multiple 4k streams on ARM based machines?

 

If you missed that info, then just google for it - it's everywhere.

 

Plus, the entire iOS eco system is based around the same architecture, Apple have vast knowledge in development since the A4 - well over a decade. The biggest problem they'll have is supporting Intel users, not moving to ARM. Everything is in place already, and even other DAWs are running development versions on ARM already if you read their forums.

 

If you're an apple user, Intel is dead in the water. They will be entirely focused on making native ARM apps perform faster and more efficient, Rosetta 2 will be filling in the gaps for everything else. They have no interest in progressing Intel products other than for ARM users running the emulation layers.

 

People need to remember that Apple are inherently hardware driven, all decisions are based on moving the largest number of users to the latest/greatest hardware.

Ordered !!!

Thanks all for your advices

 

27‑inch iMac with Retina 5K display.

Standard glass

3.8GHz 8-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz

8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory

Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8GB of GDDR6 memory

512GB SSD storage

Gigabit Ethernet

Magic Mouse 2

Magic Keyboard - US English

 

 

Hi Dupont, thats's the one I'm heading for, too. (Of course upgrading 64 GB Ram after-buy, and thinking about the 1 or 2 B internal disk. Although I have several external SSD, the speed seems to be amazing fast of the internal, so maybe I put some extra money in here)

 

Are you happy with it using LPX? Beside video, graphics and animation (my main job) I'm a lot about music and composing, too. As I'm going more and more for some bigger line ups, e.g. orchestration with SPitfire's BBC SO Gold and lot of Kontakt instruments, I would appreciate your experiences after playing with your new baby for a couple of months now.

 

Of course I'd love to read everyone's opinion here. One last thing for me is the question of processor: i7 3,8 8-core, or i9 3,6 10-core... Any recommendations or experience...?

 

Cheers, greets from Spain, and stay tuned,

Phil

My baby works fine, I can finish full projects with LPX with and CPU rarely goes above 15 %.

No more need to render tracks to spare CPU power.

Note that I don't use large samples library but mainly plugins : alchemy, spire, pigment and native LP effects.

Currently, No plugins managed to put my mac on it's knees