Intel iMac 3.06 GHz not "Officially Qualified"

[Vogger]

Hello,

I am considering buying an iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (and Pro Tools LE 7.3/Digi 003) to replace my Quicksilver G4 (ProTools LE 6.4/ Digi 001).

Digidesign's site refers to this 3.06 GHz iMac as "Not Tested," whereas a lot of other iMacs are referred to as "Officially Qualified Intel-based iMac Models."

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...4&itemid=24155

Does this mean that the 3.06 GHz iMac is NOT recommended for Pro Tools use for some specific reason? Or is it merely that Digidesign hasn't gotten around to testing it with Pro Tools yet, and that Pro Tools can't test every Mac under the sun, etc.? Has anyone been using such an iMac with Pro Tools, and if so, what is your experience?

Thanks!!

[albee1952]

Being a new computer, it will likely ship with Leopard installed. The newest pre-release version of PT will only work on OSX10.5.3 AFAIK. It will probably work fine once PT and Apple get together but no one seems to know when this will happen. Maybe just drag your feet for a few more weeks. I am waiting and thinking about the very same iMac.

[Vogger]

Albee1952, Thanks very much.

I specifically am concerned not so much about the operating system, but about that particular iMac model not having been "officially qualified" by Digidesign. Is it possible that some Mac models are not fit for Pro Tools, because there's something incompatible about the processor, etc.?

Thanks!

[Slim Shady]

No, it's just that those models just came out a month ago. It usually takes at least a month, often longer, for a new computer model to get officially approved by Digi, and with the Leopard patch taking precedent they probably haven't even started on it yet. I wouldn't be concerned about it.

[Vogger]

SlimShady, Albee1952 and other friends,

I am still a bit too freaked out to pull the trigger and buy the iMac 3.06. I went to a store in NYC today to buy an iMac, and even the sales guy, who is a Pro Tools Mac specialist, was like, "Are you SURE you want to get an iMac?" His point was that most customers opt for laptops or Mac Pro, and that iMac is generally not the best mix with Pro Tools software and hardware....

I tried calling Digidesign to ask them about this but it seems that you cannot just "call" Digidesign.

Has Digidesign ever come out and said, "The so-and-so model Mac is just not suitable for Pro Tools"? And, is it possible they'll simply never test the 3.06 GHz iMac (and other models) with Pro Tools??

I just don't want to take a chance and go home with the wrong model, you know?

Thanks for reading, please let me know if you have any additional thoughts, warnings, or assurances.

[Matt Darcy]

re-read what's been said.

1.) the machine is new - it's not been officially tested with pro-tools yet, hence not "certified" It should work as it's only the processor speed that changed....so if you OS supports it you should be fine

2.) Pro-tools is not support/has issues on Lepord - which your mac will come with, this should concern you more than a processor upgrade. There are pre-release versions of pro-tools that still have issues and you still can't use the latest Mac OS software updates, this SHOULD concern you much more.

3.) The sales guy suggested a mac book as it's light/small/portable most people tend to go for these (from what I've read) over imacs. There are some minor hardware differences but all in all an imac should work just as good as a macbook - or the specialist guy you saw should have said " this won't work as well as a macbook"

[Slim Shady]

Has Digidesign ever come out and said, "The so-and-so model Mac is just not suitable for Pro Tools"?

Yes. There have been problems with USB and Firewire implementation in some *much* older model desktop and laptop macs (G4/G5 models). Those models never got qualified for use with some PT interfaces, or alternately required extra hardware add-ons in order to overcome the deficiencies in those models.

And, is it possible they'll simply never test the 3.06 GHz iMac (and other models) with Pro Tools??

No. They test every single model Apple releases. Since there has been no major architecture change from the several previous revisions of the iMac, you can be assured the chances of the new models somehow having some major flaw that keeps PT from running on them are pretty much next to nothing.

Now, as far as the Mac Pro vs. iMac thing, keep in mind your salesperson makes more money off you if you buy the Mac Pro. That being said, I'm a Tower user, and always will be, but that's because I NEED the extra internal expansion the tower models give you. I add PCI cards, hard drives and upgrade memory often, which is not really possible with the iMacs. However from a processing perspective, you get a lot of horsepower for your money (and a nice screen) from the iMacs, and if you don't need all the internal expansion options of the towers, the iMacs are mighty fine machines for using with PTLE as long as you give yourself a decent amount of RAM to work with and have a good external firewire drive to run your sessions on.

[Vogger]

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone in the DUC has been using an iMac 3.06GHz to make Pro Tools music, and if so, whether they'd be willing to share their 3.06GHz/ProTools experience.

Thanks!

Vogger

[Tomas Chinchilla]

I have had a 24" 2.4ghz with a 003 and I've had nothing but problems, replaced a 003 once thinking it was the interface and even went as far as getting a replacement 24" iMac, NOTHING, same CPU issues and same 003 disconnects. Even with a fresh OS install and just PT on it it will still do it.

A couple of guys at GC PRO and ATL Pro Audio did say it wasn't the first issue they had with this setup and as a matter of fact another guy walked into the store with the same issue as me while I was there, so please if you have not run into this then my suggestion is don't assume based on how good you experiences have been. I have a feeling that whatever is happening has something to do with the Firewire Bus on these iMacs.

Keep in mind there is also the possibility I could have gotten two machines of a bad batch or something.

I called it in twice and I will tell you, I much rather just save money and get a MacPro than to deal with the aggravation.

My 2 cents.

[DigiTechSupt]

We haven't specifically tested that model yet, so we don't know if there are issues.

First question - were you using the FW cable that came with the 003? Or did anyone test with a shorter cable?

We have seen some cases where the cable that came with the 003 didn't work will on certain systems - no particular rhyme or reason to it. Changing to a shorter cable seemed to fix the problem.

Also - one BIG thing to watch out for is that most new Macs come with FW networking enabled. You MUST disable this from the Network control panel, otherwise there will most definitely be problems.