08-27-2011, 01:38 PM

I confess that I am excited to purchase my first Mac. But I am hesitant. There are rumors that a new line of Macs might be coming out. The Mac Pros have been out for a long time now. Here's my question: Am I coming to the party too late? Do you think that a machine as powerful and as customizable as the Mac Pro will come out later this year?

08-27-2011, 02:34 PM

When to buy your Mac: See this LINK.

08-27-2011, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by iamtherealandy

I confess that I am excited to purchase my first Mac. But I am hesitant. There are rumors that a new line of Macs might be coming out. The Mac Pros have been out for a long time now. Here's my question: Am I coming to the party too late? Do you think that a machine as powerful and as customizable as the Mac Pro will come out later this year?

Looks like your too late unless you just have to have one.

I bought mine a few months ago but I don't feel like I missed anything.

Regards,

Pat

08-27-2011, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by chscag

When to buy your Mac: See this LINK.

Wow... that was eye opening. Thanks for the link.

I loved the idea of getting a machine expandable to 32 gigs of ram. That was sort of fueling my dreams. And then I loved the idea of being able to go from the Quad Core to the 8 or 12 core when I needed to or wanted to.

So... I will likely suffer on with my dying Win XP that can BARELY push iTunes anymore. But how long will I have to suffer?

Or are there current options at the Apple store that will allow me the kind of future options that the Mac Pro seems to promise?

08-27-2011, 03:38 PM

I don't think so. Otherwise the document would not be worth anything right?

I guess what it all boils down to is this. Will you use the added features when available and how bad do you need a computer now? 32 gigs of ram clearly is not needed to push iTunes. What other memory hog programs do you have or will use? Macs typically are much more efficient with the ram they have compared with a Win 7 machine.

Regards,

Pat

08-27-2011, 04:09 PM

Well... I've maxed out my 2003 Win XP box -- and it's just wrecked. I do a lot of video editing... just simple stuff... and it's completely bogged down. But the weirdest thing is if I open up iTunes on it with even one other application open... well... that's the end. It can literally take over two hours to sync one of my iPod Touches. For some reason my classics sync easily but the iPod Touches with iTunes make everything rotten.

I know that even the basic Mac Mini would blow what I'm using out of the park. I get that. But as you can see, if I have held onto my piece of junk XP machine for this long, I want a machine that I can keep a long time breathe new life into after a while. I would love to be able to hit it with 4 or 6 extra gigs of ram in about four or five years and breathe new life into it. Or be able to bump it up to the 8 core from the Quad -- Would a move like that cost less than buying a brand new computer?

08-27-2011, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by iamtherealandy

I loved the idea of getting a machine expandable to 32 gigs of ram.

This is just the "official" Apple max ram spec. Depending on which current selling Mac Pro model is looked at...the actual max. ram is anywhere from 48 to 96 gigs!!!

- Nick

08-27-2011, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

This is just the "official" Apple max ram spec. Depending on which current selling Mac Pro model is looked at...the actual max. ram is anywhere from 48 to 96 gigs!!!

- Nick

Well, do you think I go with what's at the store today Nick, or should I wait as the Mac Rumors website recommends?

What kind of performance enhancement have you seem on Mac Pros that push the upper limits of their RAM capacity? Have you seen the getting close to the 90 gigs of ram?

08-27-2011, 10:51 PM

The vast majority of Mac Pro owners don't need 32GB of RAM. 8-16 GB seems to be the sweet spot for most people. Now if you're doing major video rendering jobs or even large-format photo editing, that's a different matter altogether. With the Mac Pros running Xeons, you'll get years of use out of them whether you buy now or later. As far as the slow syncing with the iPod Touch on your current machine goes, my guess is that the computer only has USB 1.1 on it, whereas the iPod Touch is designed to use USB 2.0.

08-27-2011, 11:12 PM

Originally Posted by iamtherealandy

Well, do you think I go with what's at the store today Nick, or should I wait as the Mac Rumors website recommends?

Rumor has it that Apple will be releasing new Mac Pros soon...so maybe you are best to wait if you're seriously considering a Mac Pro (but who knows how accurate rumors are).

If you can wait...then you can either choose between a new Mac Pro model...or purchase a previous generation refurbished Mac Pro.

Originally Posted by iamtherealandy

What kind of performance enhancement have you seem on Mac Pros that push the upper limits of their RAM capacity? Have you seen the getting close to the 90 gigs of ram?

More ram does not necessarily mean better performance. If you have one application open (let's say Photoshop)...and let's say Photoshop runs perfectly well with 16 gig of ram...having 90 gig won't do a bit of good (make things any faster). But with 90 gig you would be able to have MANY apps open at the same time without any ram issues.

On the other hand...if you have a Mac Pro with 4 gig of ram (and Photoshop would run much better with 16gig)...then increasing the ram from 4gig to 16 gig would certainly improve performance.

HTH,

- Nick

08-28-2011, 06:07 AM

I haven't heard ANYTHING in this thread so far that suggests the OP would need anything more than a Mac mini or iMac. Not a thing.

I mean, if he's got money to burn that's great, go nuts. Otherwise, I'd suggest that waiting for a possible Mac Pro revamp (which does seem likely but who knows when?) so that you can spent a ton MORE money to put 32 GB of RAM into it so you can do ... Facebook, email, iTunes and light video editing?? -- seems a little silly to me.

Must be nice to be that rich ...

08-28-2011, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by iamtherealandy

I know that even the basic Mac Mini would blow what I'm using out of the park. I get that. But as you can see, if I have held onto my piece of junk XP machine for this long, I want a machine that I can keep a long time breathe new life into after a while. I would love to be able to hit it with 4 or 6 extra gigs of ram in about four or five years and breathe new life into it. Or be able to bump it up to the 8 core from the Quad -- Would a move like that cost less than buying a brand new computer?

Originally Posted by chas_m

I haven't heard ANYTHING in this thread so far that suggests the OP would need anything more than a Mac mini or iMac.

Must be nice to be that rich ...

I hear ya chas_m...OP mentioned just that back in post #6. Of course some folks like having a Ferrari when a Ford Focus will do!

@iamtherealandy:

Building on what "chas_m" mentioned. If you really only need a Mac-Mini or an iMac (versus getting a Mac Pro). A Mac Pro (depending on the model) can cost you around $2500-$3000 (and can cost a lot more depending on upgrades). A Mac-mini will cost you $599, and a low-end iMac will cost $1199.

I know that one of your concerns is "longevity". If you were to spend $2500-$3000 on a Mac Pro...for the same money...you could buy 4-5 Mac-Mini's...that's 4-5 Mac-mini's...or 3 low-end iMac's. You could buy a new Mac-Mini every 3-4 years for the next 20 years before you would exceed the cost of one Mac Pro.

That's a lot of longevity!!! Of course Apple will come out with lots of new stuff in the next 20 years...so you would probably be buying something else other than 4-5 Mac-mini's over the next 20 years.

Just trying to give you some perspective on the cost/longevity relationship if a Mac-mini (or iMac) would be fine for your current computing needs.

- Nick

08-28-2011, 05:55 PM

Well based on OP argument, do not buy an iMac as they have been around since last century!

08-29-2011, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by chas_m

Must be nice to be that rich ...

I agree don't buy if you don't have the application need. Instead refresh it more often if you have enough dough lying somewhere....