New Intel iMac or wait for Apple Si?

What do you think?

 

Me thinks:

Apple silicon is exciting, but also uncertain both time wise and performance wise. I’m pretty sure the current chips will handle web browsing and email perfectly. But how about lots of tracks and plugins?

 

With intel based you pretty much know what you will get on performance and you can get it today, but you also have a pretty certain death sentence for your new machine.

 

My current is the base model 27 inch from 2011. It is dead silent which I really love. I guess the move towards Apple Si is partly driven by the iPad on a stick path for iMacs. Hence you need a chip that requires less cooling, but it might sacrifice some performance? How are thermals and fan noise on the current iMacs? i5, i7 and i9?

And yes... I’m asking what you think. I do not expect facts. I guess only Apple has the facts and they’re not willing to share

 

Edit: I’m no way near a pro so if I invest >2,000 $ in a mac I need it to last and be supported for many years. I’m unfortunately NOT in the “just go get a 7,000 $ Mac pro this year and replace it next year” league

I say if you want to make music now, get the new Imac. It will serve you for years to come and when the dust settles on the new silicon, then it might be time to upgrade again. Plus, who knows if any of the software will work when it the new ones come out. I remember when Apple switched to Intel, is was disaster for some companies to update their software. I know a few freelance developers decided not to upgrade some of their plugins to Intel code.

apple has rosetta2 in place for all the apps we have now; a way to run current apps on Arm. and logic IS an apple app, and should (theoritically) adapt well to the new architecture.

 

the switch to intel was not a disaster, just a bumpy ride. and here we are...

@gkletch, get a new iMac? Tell me how that works. I have 2 big 4K monitors on a classic macPro as an extended desktop. Cool, with the iMac I will have 3. Apparently to do that I must dedicate a USB-C/TB3 port to each monitor. If I try to split one USB-C in say HDMI, they say in macOS you can only get two mirrored screens. So, ok, one monitor per USB-C. And there happen to be just 2. So I'll put my 6 external drives on the USB ports? But ... but those "USB-A Ports" are USB 2.0? What kind of a system is THAT? Any idea?

How are thermals and fan noise on the current iMacs? i5, i7 and i9?

 

We use a 2019 i9 iMac in the studio an it's a monster. Dead silent.

We have to use an OWC TB3 pro dock to connect all the peripherals and a 30-inch 2nd monitor for Final Cut stuff.

But every port on the computer is taken with USB 3 drives, TB and USB docks, Blackmagicdesign stuff and 2nd webcams. Crazy. Never seen so many things connected to an iMac, not considered "Pro".

@triplets but am I wrong that there are no USB 3 ports on these 2020 27" iMacs, that those "USB-A" ports are USB 2.0?

 

So how would you best connect 2 external 4K/60 monitors as an extended desktop, and still have connections for external USB 3 drives?

I mean practically and at reasonable cost.

@triplets but am I wrong that there are no USB 3 ports on these 2020 27" iMacs, that those "USB-A" ports are USB 2.0?

 

Apple put USB 3 on all their computers back in 2012, with the exception of the old Mac Pro, obviously.

Apple has never been hesitant to make major hardware-architecture changes: the "PowerPC" immediately comes to mind. They moved to it – creating a pathway for 680x0-based Macs but only for a limited time – and then, they moved on.

 

I simply suggest that you should buy now for your musical needs now. Don't waste time anticipating the future or second-guessing their hardware engineers. (They didn't get "PowerPC" right the first time, either. So it goes.)

 

I've bought almost every Mac that I've ever owned (and yes, I have a copy of the second model ever produced ...) from Apple's "refurbished equipment" section of their web-site, and with it I bought an AppleCare® warranty of the longest available duration. When that bumper-to-bumper warranty expires, I consider the computer "used up," and donate it anywhere I can, because I know that at that point when it dies I cannot fix it. (The entire cost of the machine was "Section 179" depreciated-off on my US Taxes the very first year.)

For some of us it's a question of how much to put into our current Intel-based machines.

 

There's no way to tell how well/fast the Nth Apple "CPU treason" will work out. Yes, we need working Intel machines now.

 

Clearly the Pro and Semi-Pro market is NOT their priority. We clamored for a mac Pro with card slots, and they threw us something so expensive it's almost funny. Even for companies that are OK with a $40k machine, they aren't all that convinced either. And, next, with Apple owning everything down to the silicon, any idea of independence, upgrades over the years, is gone anyway.

 

I have my upgraded-over-the-years, fully paid-for, classic mac Pros that only run somewhat slower than I'd get by throwing $6k for a strippy New Mac Pro. There's just not much in Apple's line-up that's all that appealing right now. Maybe the least damage Intel holdover is $3500 for that i9 iMac? Or a Mini? And then it's submit and live in the Apple hive.

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