New Shop Macs-Need Advice

Started by Slappy, May 30, 2022, 04:35:40 PM

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iMac 27" or Mini with Monitor(s)?

Mac Mini-M1 Chip
5 (50%)
Mac Mini-Intel
1 (10%)
iMac 27" i5
1 (10%)
Mac Studio-Base Model
3 (30%)

Total Members Voted: 10

Slappy

lol, almost 4 months later and I've made NO progress towards getting new hardware.

:donotlook:
A little diddie 'bout black 'n cyan...two reflective colors doin' the best they can.

Foozball

I should of thought harder, before asking about NEW hardware in a Printing forum! ;)

RMPrepress

Besides being prepress manager here at our medium sized shop, I handle all the IT too.
This has allowed me lots of leeway on decision making on this matter.
That doesn't mean i just go wasting money though.
I made our 2010 - 2012 Mac Pro's last as long as possible by updating them all with Metal capable GPU's and RAM upgrades...almost all of which i bought used.  I also used Open Core on two of the MP's to allow them to run Big Sur.
I am still using a loaded 2010 Mac Pro running Monterey 12.6 by using Martin Lo's method of OpenCore.
Here is a link to Martin's posts on the mac rumors forum.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/activate-amd-hardware-acceleration.2180095/page-53?post=28255048#post-28255048

However that is not feasible for a whole prepress dept. as it can be time consuming to keep these old MP's running.
So, we finally replaced 4 Mac Pros over about a year and half by buying the maxed out 2018 Mac Mini's used from ebay and OWC.  Sometimes if you are watching you can snatch one of those Mac Minis for around $1,000 or so.  New they are almost 2,000.
I tried to time all that with Kodak finally releasing Prinergy 9.5 because as we know we could not run Monterey and for a long time Big Sur anyway so a new Mac was kinda useless.

It might be an easier sell to ownership to spread the purchasing of new (or used) Mac's over a period of time rather than all at once.  This also allows for easier and gradual installment and troubleshooting too.
Manager/Default IT Guy - 2022 Mac Studio, Apple M1 Max, 64 GB - Ventura 13.6
Kodak Prinergy 10.0, Kodak Insite 9.5 and Kodak Proofing System 10.0
Epson SureColor P9000 w/XRite Spectroproofer - G7 Master Printer
Heidelberg Prinect 2022 + Suprasetter 106 CTP

DigiCorn

Quote from: Slappy on September 13, 2022, 07:31:10 PMlol, almost 4 months later and I've made NO progress towards getting new hardware.

:donotlook:
Probably for the best. The stuff you bought then would be obsolete now. Hell, the stuff you buy today is obsolete by the afternoon. I recommend going for the brass ring because if it takes them 4 months to pull the trigger, then it's 4 months more they'll get out of the latest and greatest when it's time to upgrade.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

RMPrepress

Those maxed out 2018 Mac mini's are fantastic and are still sold on Apple's website and they will run the next two versions of Mac OS at least.
Also knowing that Kodak takes a full year or longer to keep up with Apple leaves another year or so before we would worry about updating the OS anyway.
So thats at least 3 - 4 years plus the year we have had them running.
So we should get five years (maybe longer) total usage time for 4 used mac mini's at a total cost of just under $5,000 dollars!
I would think any owner of a company looking at hardware expenditures would be thrilled with that.
Manager/Default IT Guy - 2022 Mac Studio, Apple M1 Max, 64 GB - Ventura 13.6
Kodak Prinergy 10.0, Kodak Insite 9.5 and Kodak Proofing System 10.0
Epson SureColor P9000 w/XRite Spectroproofer - G7 Master Printer
Heidelberg Prinect 2022 + Suprasetter 106 CTP

Tracy

Apple doesn't make the 27" iMac anymore, you can get it from resellers I guess

I'm looking into this, Joeeee! can you please look?  :-*

looking into the cheaper one if it's good enough


Joe

Tracy, you do realize the Mac Studio has the M1 CPU right? Is your software (XMF and any other software? - Adobe Creative Cloud will run on the M1 system) compatible with the M1 CPU? If so the $1,999 one should be OK for prepress. That comes out to $3,598 with the Studio Display ($1,599) and the Mac Studio ($1,999)! :o

You can still get 27" iMacs from Apple on the refurb store: Apple Refurbished 27" iMacs. They have Intel CPU's...which is eventually a dead end. (I wound not buy one with the i5 CPU though. I would insist on either the i7 or i9.)
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Tracy

ok, thanks for looking I have no clue what the m1 cpu is, but I will look into it.
besides creative cloud will everything else work? pitstop etc? whew! glad I asked
I really want to get it if it will work, I have another 27imac that has my XMF plus the server itself
I don't have a license so not worried about it going on the new Mac.
I will look into the m1 I'm sure I will have more questions
Thanks Joe!!

Joe

#53
The M1, and soon the M2, are Apple processors. Your old iMacs have Intel processors. Adobe Creative Cloud and Pitstop 2022 both work on M1 processors. Not sure what else software you use so I don't know if it will run on the M1 chip or not. Apple does have 24" iMac's with the M1 chip. And you can get them in select colors. Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Purple, Blue, and Silver.  iMac 24"
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Tracy

#54
I will try and make sure all my programs will work, Kind of want the new since they will pay for it!
Thank you, Thank you! I would not have known what to look for.

sheesh I may need to reconsider this, I will see if there are any other intel options
I really need a 27" monitor, I can't see going with a smaller monitor

Joe

Well the Mac Studio with the 27" Studio Display will get you there since money is not a problem. ;D And since money is not a problem go for the 32" Pro Display XDR for only $4,999.00 plus the $1,999.00 for the Mac Studio. Get two of each! :rotf:
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Tracy

;D They are allowing about $4000
which I'm really in shock about!

Joe

You can get a really good 27" iMac on the Apple refurb site with an i9 Intel CPU for under 3K. Just remember they are a dead end eventually but would be good for a few years.

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/27-inch-imac

Note: Refurbished iMacs from Apple carry a full one year warranty and you can get AppleCare for 3 years on it if you prefer.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Joe

Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Tracy

Since I'm always going the way of the do do I think I may bite the bullet and try the M1, Yikes
I don't want to get anything that is a dead end!
I was checking out my computer the only thing I see that might not be compatible is command workstation 
and Office, and I think Office is coming out with a compatible version too.

Thanks for showing me what to look for
I'm scared!  ;D  :-*