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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rubaiyat" data-source="post: 1627261" data-attributes="member: 240393">Any current Mac including the lowest Mac mini will do the job. They all have adequate processing power and vastly more Hard Drive space, which is easy to extend with fast external drives..To make your work as easy and smooth as possible there are two things that have priority, RAM and screen real estate. Also since you are working with audio, the Mac should run as quietly as possible.The more RAM the better but 8Gb is more than adequate, but given the opportunity install the maximum possible, it is not expensive. Buy your own, not Apple's which is way over priced.A large display will let you see more work at once. Chances are your PC screen is smaller and lower resolution than an iMac's and also inferior in quality. If you purchase an iMac you can always plug in your existing display and use it to extend your desktop so you can see more work. iMacs let you use up to 2 extra displays.iMacs are generally extremely quiet but under load you may hear the fan. Mac minis are even quieter and being small can be located under the desk or elsewhere to reduce all noise. A Solid State Drive (SSD) is a good idea in your case as it eliminates a source of noise, however slight.Where I am we regularly get 10% discounts on Macs from non-Apple resellers so refurbished Macs are often not the best option, but you can work out what works best for you. Refurbished Macs are in every way, except perhaps minor cosmetic issues, as good as new Macs, with the same warranty and support.A major consideration is warranty. If you only have one year where you are, I highly recommend getting AppleCare to make it 3. Repairing a Mac can be extremely expensive and any problems usually happen in the first 2 years. After that they are usually good.We have 8 Macs here, most are much older than 5 years but all run well and would do what you want.One notable difference with Macs over PCs is what you can install on them. They must have the minimum version of OSX when they first shipped, you can not install an older system. At the other end Apple will eventually update OSX to the point where it can not be installed on your version Mac. That however is usually much longer than the 5 year life you are planning, at least 7-8 years. Also there is no compulsion to upgrade. Just as with Windows there are better versions of OSX. Currently my choices would be Snow Leopard (10.6.8) or Mavericks (10.9.4). You need to consider the requirements of the major software you use, that also will progress and eventually require either hardware or a version of OSX beyond what your Mac can handle. But I can not see that happening for a very long time.</blockquote>

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