Suggestions for a new Mac

Bakerman · March 18, 2015, 01:17:53 PM

Hello,

I work in an all Mac prepress department and have been assigned the task of getting an additional Mac. We run Prinergy 4.0 as of this writing. That is supposed to change ( hopefully soon). I am currently working from a 2008 Mac Pro Intel tower ( 10.9.5 ) which handles almost everything I throw at it with little trouble. Since I can only find these Macs used and or re-furbished I was hoping for some help in making a wise choice for our new Mac.

I used to own (personally) a few iMacs and was not impressed by them, that was 10 years ago. I was curious if anyone here is running Creative Cloud 2014 / Quark 10 / and Prinergy on a current Mac or iMac. I am seeking guidance because the newest Mac looks like a black trashcan plus the cost is fairly high, and I was considering either a new iMac or a re-furbished Intel Mac Pro. The OS on my current Mac is Maverick, I am wondering if I should wait until Kodak releases a Yosemite friendly version of Prinergy ( April2015 I think ), before taking the plunge. I do not want to purchase again knowing how Apple like to evolve without any thought for the older machines, so that is also a considerable factor.

Any suggestions? Any warnings? Your help is sincerely appreciated.

Thanks!

SB

Possum · March 18, 2015, 01:27:18 PM

Those new Mac Pros have two expensive GPUs in them. Unless you're regularly using a program that can take advantage of the GPU processing power, you'd do better with your money to get a newer refurb Mac Pro of the old design. They should hold up well for at least a few more OS revisions. Plus you won't have to spend a lot of money on all the peripherals that you might need with a new Mac Pro, such as external hard drives, specialty cards, etc.

Joe · March 18, 2015, 01:27:23 PM

We use all 27" iMacs. Refurbished from Apple. We usually buy the i5 to save a few bucks. Kodak has already released Prinergy 6.1.1/Preps 7.1 that is Yosemite capable which I plan to install in the next week or two. I've been running Workshop (6.1 that is not Yosemite certified) on my Yosemite iMac for 6 months now. We also run Creative Cloud on them but kicked Quark to the curb long ago.

Stay away from the last version of iMac that has the DVD drive. They have heat issues. Not for everyone it seems but if you Google it you will see plenty of complaints about it. After I submitted my 4th AppleCare claim on mine at home Apple finally replaced it with the late 2013 iMac.

wonderings · March 18, 2015, 02:09:38 PM

We have 2 27" iMacs in our prepress. They are great all in one machines. You just need to be content with the specs you get. The only thing that is user upgradeable is the RAM (only on the 27" models). My iMac is a maxed out 5K iMac. At the moment I would not recommend it for prepress use, not until Adobe updates their software to run well on this amazing display. I upgraded from a 15" Retina MacBook Pro, 2.6 i7 with 16 gigs of ram and a 1 gig GPU. The iMac that it replaced is a 4ghz i7, 24 gigs of RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4096 M and a 1 T flash drive. With indesign, it is only marginally faster, in most things, and some things it is actually slower. The older 27" iMac, none retina runs great with Adobe CC. I do have Quark 10, but I never run it. Who uses Quark anymore anyways??

Farabomb · March 18, 2015, 02:31:45 PM

Quote from: wonderings on March 18, 2015, 02:09:38 PMWho uses Quark anymore anyways??

The people that are still running Quadras.

Ear · March 18, 2015, 02:41:27 PM

Quote from: Farabomb on March 18, 2015, 02:31:45 PM
Quote from: wonderings on March 18, 2015, 02:09:38 PMWho uses Quark anymore anyways??

The people that are still running Quadras.

And Beermonster. :cheesy:

Syphon · March 18, 2015, 06:59:55 PM

We have all iMacs here too and two are running Creative Cloud 2014.

Bakerman · March 19, 2015, 06:28:38 AM

We still do about 50% of our work using Quark. Thankfully most of the work is still in Quark 9, I personally do not care for Quark 10 but that is another story.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I think I will push for an iMac instead of a Mac Pro ( the older one). The newer Mac Pro's are way too costly for my managers to swallow.

DCurry · March 19, 2015, 08:26:27 AM

All iMacs here - not much point in getting a Mac Pro for prepress work.

Joe · March 19, 2015, 09:00:58 AM

Quote from: DCurry on March 19, 2015, 08:26:27 AMAll iMacs here - not much point in getting a Mac Pro for prepress work.

At least until Adobe allows us to print live video on paper.

Ear · March 19, 2015, 10:20:40 AM

Quote from: DCurry on March 19, 2015, 08:26:27 AMAll iMacs here - not much point in getting a Mac Pro for prepress work.

Indeed. Same here.

Farabomb · March 19, 2015, 10:58:28 AM

Shhhhhh...

I still have the boss convinced.

Actually I sold him on the upgradability rather than the power.

mwc · March 19, 2015, 12:24:13 PM

Don't overlook the MacMini line.
OK, I have 2 - 27" imacs the operation, but the remaining 20+ macs are mini's (and they do work for prepress)
I used to like the imac line, but after being burned by a few models with bad capacitors or powersupplied...I gave up on them. It's sad when you have a mac with a built-in display that becomes a doorstop when bad stuff happens. (also, apple now uses glues, welds, tapes, and voodoo to keep the new imacs about as UNFRIENDLY a computer to open up...fix...tinker...)
I like to be able to use/re-use monitors...and the minis just rock..

Farabomb · March 19, 2015, 01:03:11 PM

Minis are the only apple product I would consider buying for myself.

Joe · March 19, 2015, 01:07:48 PM

Mini's are fine too but after buying everything you need to go with them they are not terribly cheaper than an iMac. The only iMac I had a capacitor problem with were the old white G5's. Applecare really pays for itself though for the iMacs. One support call and you are money ahead by paying that $169 up front.

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Suggestions for a new Mac