Mac Pro or Mac Studio

[captainvimmes]

Hi all,

We are finally upgrading our Mac's, but we are having doubts about which way to go and would like to know if anyone has made or is going through the same deliberation.

Plan A) Mac Pro 2019 Intel, 16-core 3.2Ghz, 64gb RAM, 1TB SSD

Plan B) Mac Studio, M1 Ultra 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB RAM, 1TB SSD +Sonnet Chassis

Looking at spec, it appears to be a no brainer, especially when you factor in cost (Mac Studio will be a fair bit cheaper even with the Chassis). I know there may be some kinks to work out RE plugs/software... but is the Studio a workhorse to rival the Pro?

Really, I just want to hear any words of wisdom (or warning) that I won't get from a sales rep.

A few extra notes:
We have an external RMU, running HDX across the board, work off network storage (DDP and Nexis). Mixture of D-series & S6.

Thanks in advance, and hopefully we can consolidate some info for those in a similar position.

[LDS]

Personally, I think the Mac Pro is a much better machine. The big downside is that it be not long for this world. I would anticipate another 2 or maybe 3 versions of MacOS will be released for it, before the plug gets pulled on OS version updates. Then another few years before App developers leave it behind too. It isn't an ideal proposition given the cost.

If you need a new machine now, the Studio is probably your best bet. If you can wait a few months, Apple's original Apple Silicon roadmap has them releasing a new Mac Pro before year end, or early next year.

[smurfyou]

That's the bummer. The Pros are great machines but declared dead computer walking. If you need a machine now and it was $2k and lasted you two years that would be acceptable to me. But $6-8k for two years? Yikes. They make so much sense for studio installations except longevity.

[Cheesehead]

They really should offer Apple Silicon motherboard swap-outs for the 2019
machines. Like that's going to happen!?

They've had a very short shelf life even in computer terms, I sort of wish I hadn't bought one, but it's a great machine as it is.

[Darryl Ramm]

Leonard McCoy on the Intel Mac Pro: It’s dead, Jim.

[uptheoctave]

Originally Posted by captainvimmes

Hi all,

We are finally upgrading our Mac's, but we are having doubts about which way to go and would like to know if anyone has made or is going through the same deliberation.

Plan A) Mac Pro 2019 Intel, 16-core 3.2Ghz, 64gb RAM, 1TB SSD

Plan B) Mac Studio, M1 Ultra 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB RAM, 1TB SSD +Sonnet Chassis

Looking at spec, it appears to be a no brainer, especially when you factor in cost (Mac Studio will be a fair bit cheaper even with the Chassis). I know there may be some kinks to work out RE plugs/software... but is the Studio a workhorse to rival the Pro?

Really, I just want to hear any words of wisdom (or warning) that I won't get from a sales rep.

A few extra notes:
We have an external RMU, running HDX across the board, work off network storage (DDP and Nexis). Mixture of D-series & S6.

Thanks in advance, and hopefully we can consolidate some info for those in a similar position.

I have both (although my Mac studio is the base model).
My main machine is the 2019 Mac Pro.
Here is my take on it.

Mac Pro:
My Mac Pro spec is 16 core, 3.2Ghz, 160GB, 4TB.
It is just less fiddly than with expansion chassis stuff on the Mac Studio.

In terms of performance there is nothing that either machine cannot do at this stage.
The Mac Pro is much more expandable.
I have 160GB RAM in it, multiple OWC PCIE M.2 cards.
The Mac Pro with a HDX card is quiet enough to be in the control room.
The cooling in that thing is just incredible.
It is so silent.

I'd need two expansion chassis' to house everything I have in the Mac Pro if I was using just the Studio.

Mac Studio:

My Mac Studio is 10-Core CPU, 24-Core GPU, 32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage. I would have up specced it if I had time but I needed it for a project and the lead time for a custom one was too long.
I regret it but it was necessary.
I wouldn't bother with the Ultra myself but if you do a lot of video editing then it would be the way to go.

The expansion chassis means your have to have the chassis in a machine room.
Even the one I am using (which I cannot disclose as it is something I am beta-testing) is fairly silent but too loud for a control room.

The Corning 10m Thunderbolt cable (which is $400) makes this possible but then you will need long Digilink cables too, or put your MTRX (or other IO) in the machine room too.
My Mac Studio is in a control room on an OWC dock with a 10m Corning Thunderbolt cable running through the wall to the storage expansion (OWC Express 4M2's).

I am in the process of redesigning the studio though and it is all going in the machine room, including all the IO.

If I was buying now and couldn't wait for the Silicon Mac Pro then I'd still get the 2019 Mac Pro.
I would be inclined to wait it out though.
But how long for?
I don't know.

Tower computers are just better for studios (IMHO).

Something worth mentioning is data throughput.
The Mac Pro with its PCIE storage (OWC Accelsior 4m2) is twice as fast as the Mac Studio using OWC Express 4M2's under the same conditions (RAID 5/6 or JBOD).

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Leonard McCoy on the Intel Mac Pro: It’s dead, Jim.

"Damn it man...I'm a doctor, not Steve Jobs!"

[captainvimmes]

Thanks all for your responses so far!

A few additional details: we have an MCR (that is well ventilated) where all the machines would be housed, so machine noise isn't really an issue for us. Additionally we don't use internal storage except for the system itself as we have a DDP housing all the project media.

Agreed it would be fantastic if they offered an option to swap out the logic-board/cpu on the mac pro's when they eventually update to Silicon, but that just doesn't seem like an Apple-move.

We are keen to see what is announced in the October Apple event, but as it stands I think we are leaning towards the studios. However I am still keen to hear if any facilities have adopted Mac Studios into their mix stages, and what their experiences have been so far?

Thanks!

[LukeHoward]

Originally Posted by captainvimmes

Agreed it would be fantastic if they offered an option to swap out the logic-board/cpu on the mac pro's when they eventually update to Silicon, but that just doesn't seem like an Apple-move.

Agreed, it sounds like they will keep the same chassis, but a motherboard swap out is very un-Apple.

I'm still pretty happy with my 2019 Mac Pro, I know Rosetta is amazing, but I like that (a) it runs everything natively and (b) I can stuff it to the gills with HDX, UAD, SSD, etc cards.

I reckon it's going to take a good 12-18 months before all plugins are AAX native on M1, too, particularly the more obscure ones like GRM Tools (which still isn't native in any plugin format). Perhaps this is less an issue for post where the set of plugins is smaller.

[dr sound]

Originally Posted by LukeHoward

Perhaps this is less an issue for post where the set of plugins is smaller.

Had a good laugh Luke I guess you don't mix Post