Upgrading for older iMac

[Rob0214]

Hi all,

I currently have PT 8 on a mid 2007 iMac running Snow Leopard.

I had planned to go to Mavericks/PT 11 with the new upgrade pricing (clean install of both).

But I had a few questions first.

1) Should I go to Mountain Lion instead? That way I can co-install 10 and 11. The other issue is that it appears that the latest PT version supports OS X 10.9.4, but 10.9.5 is out.
2) I assume the whole support thing being offered is useless for me (not that I've ever called PT support) since I have old hardware which isn't officially "qualified".
3) Do HUI based controllers still work with 10/11? (I have an original HUI).

Thanks in advance,
Rob

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by Rob0214

Hi all,

I currently have PT 8 on a mid 2007 iMac running Snow Leopard.

I had planned to go to Mavericks/PT 11 with the new upgrade pricing (clean install of both).

That iMac is not qualified for use with either PT 10 or PT 11. How much RAM does your iMac have? The OS needs 2 GB of RAM, and PT wants at least 4 GB of RAM. If you have less than 6 GB of RAM, this is probably going to be an unpleasant experience.

Originally Posted by Rob0214

But I had a few questions first.

1) Should I go to Mountain Lion instead? That way I can co-install 10 and 11. The other issue is that it appears that the latest PT version supports OS X 10.9.4, but 10.9.5 is out.

If you want a supported co-install configuration, then yes, go to Mountain Lion. If you have not already bought Mountain Lion from the App Store, you will probably have to call Apple and speak to a human to buy it.

Originally Posted by Rob0214

2) I assume the whole support thing being offered is useless for me (not that I've ever called PT support) since I have old hardware which isn't officially "qualified".

Your current PT 8 requires whatever hardware you bought with it. PT 10 and PT 11 can use built-in (CoreAudio) hardware or any other CoreAudio I/O device. For $199 you will have a PT11/PT10 license. You will lose your PT 8 license if you buy into support.

Originally Posted by Rob0214

3) Do HUI based controllers still work with 10/11? (I have an original HUI).

Yes.

[Rob0214]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I maxed out the memory on the iMac, but that's only 4GB. If Pro Tools requires 4GB on its own, this might be unpleasant no matter what OS version I use.

Having the coinstall is a nice to have, but not strictly necessary.

I was thinking of putting the new OS/PT on a separate partition so I could fall back to Snow Leopard/PT8 if necessary. Sounds like I definitely need to do this.

[Obsidian Dragon]

Originally Posted by Chief Technician

If you want a supported co-install configuration, then yes, go to Mountain Lion. If you have not already bought Mountain Lion from the App Store, you will probably have to call Apple and speak to a human to buy it.

You can still buy Mountain Lion on the Apple Store here.

[Obsidian Dragon]

Originally Posted by Rob0214

Thanks for getting back to me.

I maxed out the memory on the iMac, but that's only 4GB. If Pro Tools requires 4GB on its own, this might be unpleasant no matter what OS version I use.

Having the coinstall is a nice to have, but not strictly necessary.

I was thinking of putting the new OS/PT on a separate partition so I could fall back to Snow Leopard/PT8 if necessary. Sounds like I definitely need to do this.

You may consider getting a refurbished or late model mac as an upgrade in terms of processor/memory/drive etc. Just hold off on getting one that only works with Mavericks or Yosemite if you still want to use PT10.