Which 2017 27" iMac to buy ?

Fellow music makers,

 

I am getting ready to replace my trusty old iMac desktop (spec below) with a 27" iMac.  I currently use Logic Express so will switch to LPro.

 

My computer is a general workhorse and not solely for Logic music production.

 

Questions I have;

 

1. Buy what they have in store, or spec up differently. Go for standard Fusion drive offering, or consider 512 SSD ?

 

2.  Store Logic project files on a separate drive ?

 

3.  If i go with option 2., how do I easily back up files ?  At the moment Time machine takes care of my back-ups.   i don't want to have to start copying Logic files back to iMac so Time machine can find them.

 

4.  Should i fit more RAM 8 to 16, 32 ?  what difference will this make.

 

5.  "I don't know what i don't know".....what else should i be thinking about ?

 

I am a guitar player.  i use logic everyday while practising songs, isolating parts etc.

 

Apologies if these are dumb questions.  I will be using this new computer for 5-10 years, so want to make the correct decision.

 

looking forward to your comments

A lot depends on what you're willing to spend.

 

SSD drives are expensive, and for everyday work on a computer you need 1TB and that's a lot of money on an iMac.

I would go with the 3TB Fusion drive.

Ram go for 16 gigs, if you do a lot of sampled music and video 32 gigs is better.

Always have a separate drive for your projects. USB 3, 7200 rpm drive at least.

Use other generic drives for backups.

16gigs should be good, but go for an i7 processor, a significantly better investment than the i5. you can get a smaller hard drive, and record to an external thunderbolt or usb 3 drive (for example). the processor, and ram, are the most important things...

'triplets' and 'fisherking'; thank you  for taking the time to answer my questions. Very helpful info.

 

The spec I am iterating towards now looks like;

 

27" screen

i7 processor

16 GB RAM

3TB fusion drive

additional thunderbolt or USB3 drive for logic project files

 

 

Questions;

1. Will latest version Time-machine do automatic back-ups on logic files stored on external drives ?  or will i have to do additional back-up house keeping ?

 

2.  okay to keep Logic operating files on Fusion drive ?  i have seen YouTube clips recommending transferring some of the large operating files to external drives.  Looks a bit scary requiring careful coding.

 

Hopefully this thread will be useful to other folks setting up a new Logic system.

Keep the Logic files on the system drive. Don't move anything.

Use your external USB 3 HD (7200 rpm very important) for the projects.

 

I would use Time Machine manually at the end of the day. 

Don't have it running automatically otherwise it will do a backup every hour!

Use a separate HD for Time Machine.

You might also think about going with less RAM initially as it is cheaper (than buying direct from apple) and possible to user upgrade the RAM in the 27" models, but upgrading anything else is difficult/impossible.

You might also think about going with less RAM initially as it is cheaper

I second this. You'll save a lot of money if you buy the RAM yourself. It's very easy to install more RAM in the 27" iMac. I just bought a new iMac as well (still waiting for it to arrive) and already have 32GB of extra RAM waiting at home.

Glad you're leaning towards the i7 - the hyperthreading makes a difference.

 

How much internal storage space you need depends on your usage of the Mac. I have a 512GB SSD in my 2015 iMac and am nowhere near its capacity (under 50% used). I store pretty much everything (documents, photos and iTunes music, etc) on this internal SSD - only my video projects from iMovie (and soon FCPX) and Logic projects go on an external. That said, you may require more depending on your usage. Another option is to store your Docs, music, etc on an external drive & only use your internal drive for Apps and System stuff. Again, it all depends on your usage. Doing this greatly reduces your need for internal drive space but you lose the advantage of the SSD speed when opening these files. Then again you could always get an external SSD & the difference would be negligible for all but very large files.

 

If you can get away with less internal storage then I'd strongly advise going with an SSD. The difference is huge. I have no experience with the Fusion drives but I read years ago about Logic users having issues with them - perhaps these have been ironed out? I dunno.

 

Definitely go with Apple's base RAM amount (8gb) - their upcharge for additional RAM is pretty ridiculous - then just order however much additional RAM you want/require from Crucial or OWC. I added 16gb (for a total of 24gb) from OWC when I initially bought my iMac & for me that's plenty. I haven't really done any video work so I dunno how it'd work for that, but for my Logic needs the machine hums along nicely! On the 27" iMac it's extremely simple to add more RAM and takes about a minute.

 

Either way, be sure to have an external drive for your Logic projects and another one for sample libraries (if you use any). I use a Glyph 4TB USB 3 drive for my recording drive. It also has a front power button which, for me, is an advantage because when I'm not using it I like to turn it off - no need to be wasting drive life spinning when it's not in use.

 

Time Machine will back up external drives just fine - been doing it for years.

 

iMacs are not cheap machines - might as well get as much performance as you can afford now so this machine'll last as long as possible before requiring an upgrade.

For what it's worth, I have the base 2017 27" iMac with no upgrades and it has been working great with LPX. I do plan on upgrading the RAM eventually, but right now I just have 8GB. I know the i7 and 3TB fusion drive would be better, but my machine is very quick and hasn't had any performance issues even with larger projects.

 

I also just use a USB 2 drive for my projects, but getting a USB 3 enclosure is also on my future upgrades list.

 

You may need/want the more powerful options, but I just wanted to let it be known that even the base model can be a great machine for music production.

Thank you for all the feedback.  I will go with 8GB RAM and do the upgrade myself at much lower cost.

 

Knoxhole - thanks for info.  I maybe happy with base model?

 

I am still puzzled about the actual details of how to direct TimeMachine software to also backup logic files stored on an external hard drive.  I have done some Googling and also spoke with Apple staff in a big store.  I am none the wiser.  I would appreciate if someone could suggest a link to information on how to set this up.

 

thanks!

In Time Machine Preferences you can choose which drives to include/exclude when they're all hooked up.

Always use a dedicated external HD for backups.

i7, definitely. 16gb ram (even if you upgrade it yourself). i think a smaller HD is ok, especially if you're keeping projects on an external drive. mostly, you want power, and ram. i have a 512gb SSD on my macbook pro, and do my work mostly ON the machine (i keep older projects archived on an external); this works fine (for me)...

You might also think about going with less RAM initially as it is cheaper

i7, definitely. 16gb ram (even if you upgrade it yourself). i think a smaller HD is ok, especially if you're keeping projects on an external drive. mostly, you want power, and ram. i have a 512gb SSD on my macbook pro, and do my work mostly ON the machine (i keep older projects archived on an external); this works fine (for me)...

Do you think 16gb of ram is enough?

Edited November 9, 2021 by MarshallNill

Do you think 16gb of ram is enough?

For basic Logic use of course.

If you're using humongous sample plugins like Kontakt and East West libraries, might wanna go to 32.

As for me, I always assume that "they can 'spec-it-out' just the way I like it" before delivery.  I can tell them how much RAM I want, what kind and what size of internal disk drive I want, and so forth, and they can accommodate me quite effortlessly.

 

The single thing that I specify ... is RAM!

 

"Basically, that's it." ... "Just how much RAM can this thing hold, anyway? Sell it to me."

 

And here's why:  "why should I care if my Ferrari has one engine or eight, or if those engines have four cylinders or thirty-two," if I have a choice of highways?  If my super-duper-car is "stuck in traffic" alongside a Yugo, then my "super-duper-car" is actually no more "super-duper" than it is.

 

"Available memory" is a-l-w-a-y-s an "over-arching(!) ruling constraint," in any computer system ... most-especially a "real-time" one such as Logic Pro (X).

The single thing that I specify ... is RAM!

 

(X).

YES! I also can't stress enough how important Ram is these days, especially for anyone who works with virtual instruments. I've had this argument many times, with users claiming they can score to picture with as little a 4GB. These days, you need a minimum 16GB. If not, you must be just using stock synth plugins or something. Ram is expensive right now, but worth every single penny. Pack in as much as you can from the get-go, you won't regret it.

I've been running a late 2009 iMac i7 2.8GHz since Jan 2010 (7 yrs+ now).  No upgrade made the difference compared to maxing out ram to 32GB.  I just finished a 63 track project (all software instruments).  18 of those soft instruments are Orchestra samples mostly using Kontakt 5's expansion libraries such as Symphobia/LASS/Garriton and I also have Philharmonic in there as well (IK Multimedia doesn't have the most efficient soft synths.)  I have 3 separate instances of grand pianos, 4 drum sets, 5 acoustic guitar emulations, 3 electrics and a bunch of synths...pads.  I have been merciless to my iMac from day one, and it has been an absolute tank.  This probably isn't news to most of you, but here's what you need to know:

1. if you're doing LIVE audio recording (multi-track or otherwise), and require higher bit rate, lower latency, you will definitely benefit from more cores, more so than you will from a higher CPU frequency.  If you're like me, who does all his work ITB using software instruments, go for the max frequency/memory you can afford.  And if you want Logic itself and instrument libraries to load fast get a huge SSD too.  Keep your projects stored on an external drive instead and back them up!!!  I set up a decent FreeNAS box in my garage with a RAIDZ2, and offloaded my backups to it (i.e. I have the FreeNAS box doing all the work in managing the backups).  And if you're extra paranoid, back your most precious work to the cloud.  Sorry about rambling on, but I can't stress enough that setting up my workflow to eliminate any surprises, allowed me to focus on my art.

Oh, I'm planning to upgrade my Late-2009 iMac....to Mid-2011 iMac