Best Imac for Protools 2019

[Bruce Paine]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Just buy a computer that has i7 CPU and at least 16GB memory... storage is secondary to that. If you have the budget, go all SSD and buy as much as you can afford. Simple as that.

Lars, from what you wrote earlier, your MacBook Pro has an i7 CPU already, but only 4GB RAM.

If I were in your situation, I would definitely start with increasing your RAM as others have suggested. 4GB is not enough memory for many more recent applications, including Pro Tools.

You can max out your RAM with 16GB from OWC for $98.88:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/1600DDR3S16P/
Or from Crucial for $125.99:
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/macbo...2%29/CT3373650
Although I usually buy my RAM from Crucial, in your case I would be fine with the cheaper cost from OWC and save the $30.

You can check out the other options for RAM and SSD drives for your laptop from Crucial here:
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compa...2C-mid-2012%29


To find your computer's "Model Identifier" or "Model ID", follow the instructions here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201581

My guess is that your Model ID will be something like this:
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,1

...which is compatible with the 16GB RAM modules linked above from either OWC or Crucial:

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro9,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz

Start with the 16GB RAM upgrade, and you should see better overall performance on your MacBook Pro.

You will also be able to upgrade your MacOS to a newer version, all the way up to the most recent version of Mojave if you choose to do so:
https://support.apple.com/macos

Mac OS upgrade info:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475

As Darryl has recommended emphatically, you should back up your existing hard drive before doing any upgrade(s). If you need more info/advice about cloning your internal drive to an external drive, just ask.

Even if you end up getting another computer, spending just $100 to upgrade your MacBook Pro's performance will allow you to use it when you are away from your desktop computer. Or if you choose to sell it, the value will be more with maxed out RAM.

If you have extra money, then look into upgrading your hard drive to an SSD or at the least a 7200 rpm internal drive if the one you have now is a 5400 rpm.

Just take it one step at a time and you'll find it easier to do and progress will ensue.

[musicman691]

Something to keep in mind Lars if you decide to go to a new computer and keep the old one is to use the old one as part of a chain in VEPro 6. Upgrade the old one, get a new machine on which to do the major PT work and offload some of the vi load onto the current MBP. VEPro is one of those programs that can really help things to fly like crazy.

[larsongs]

I watched the How To videos for upgrading my MBP on OWC. They look pretty straight forward & I think I could do them.

The idea of upgrading my MBP makes sense whether I use it for PT 2018 or as a stand alone Computer in the event I ultimately get a new/refurbished IMac. Which will no doubt be the case as my MBP is only upgradeable to 16 GB Ram..

I stopped by Best Buy today to look at iMacs & get pricing. It was busy! The Guy that helped me didn't know anything about ProTools. They didn't have any 16 GB or higher GB IMacs in stock to look at. Not much accomplished there.

I hope to get to the Apple Store this week & see what's available & go from there.

If I do the upgrade on my MBP I can do that anytime.. Getting the IMac probably won't happen til January when & if they go on Sale as mentioned by some of you.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by larsongs

I watched the How To videos for upgrading my MBP on OWC. They look pretty straight forward & I think I could do them.

The idea of upgrading my MBP makes sense whether I use it for PT 2018 or as a stand alone Computer in the event I ultimately get a new/refurbished IMac. Which will no doubt be the case as my MBP is only upgradeable to 16 GB Ram..

I stopped by Best Buy today to look at iMacs & get pricing. It was busy! The Guy that helped me didn't know anything about ProTools. They didn't have any 16 GB or higher GB IMacs in stock to look at. Not much accomplished there.

I hope to get to the Apple Store this week & see what's available & go from there.

If I do the upgrade on my MBP I can do that anytime.. Getting the IMac probably won't happen til January when & if they go on Sale as mentioned by some of you.

If you're looking at 27 inch iMacs DO NOT buy more ram from Apple elsewise you overpay for ram. Get it from OWC. Neat thing with OWC is they will do a trade for your existing ram if you so choose.

But really you have to make up your mind as to what you want to do and stick with it. Look at your finances and technical ability to do the MBP upgrades versus what you'll be paying for a new computer. Also keep in mind that any new Mac you buy will come with the latest version of Mojave and right now Avid hasn't qualified that OSX for PT use. Another thing to keep in mind is that, unless Apple has corrected it, there's a cpu speed throttling issue with the current iMacs.

[larsongs]

Originally Posted by musicman691

If you're looking at 27 inch iMacs DO NOT buy more ram from Apple elsewise you overpay for ram. Get it from OWC. Neat thing with OWC is they will do a trade for your existing ram if you so choose.

But really you have to make up your mind as to what you want to do and stick with it. Look at your finances and technical ability to do the MBP upgrades versus what you'll be paying for a new computer. Also keep in mind that any new Mac you buy will come with the latest version of Mojave and right now Avid hasn't qualified that OSX for PT use. Another thing to keep in mind is that, unless Apple has corrected it, there's a cpu speed throttling issue with the current iMacs.

So it would be a better idea to buy a 16 GB Ram IMac then upgrade to 64 GB with OWC Components??

I'm concerned about the Mojave & throttling issue? If I bought a new IMac is there a workaround to be able to use PT 2018?

Thanks

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by larsongs

So it would be a better idea to buy a 16 GB Ram IMac then upgrade to 64 GB with OWC Components?

Yes.

CPU throttling issue is much less of an issue with Mojave

[Righty27]

Hi Lars - just going to add another 2c to this discussion, especially as it would be a shame if you took away a poor impression of this community and because I feel it reflects more general behaviours, character types, etc. ... :)

Bruce has now drilled down and clarified the main steps to upgrade your current MacBook, in stages that would allow you to better assess this situation for yourself, with changes that would increase the resale value of your laptop, thus may end up costing you very little.

You've been advised to first 'clone' your system so, unless you rely only on Apple's free Time Machine for your backups, you would need to factor-in the cost of something like Carbon Copy Cloner software ($40) and an external hard drive for this backup (if you don't already have one ... but backups should be considered essential whatever you do regardless of Pro Tools, Mac upgrade, etc.)

https://sites.fastspring.com/bombich/product/ccc5

The approach recommended by Bruce coincides with what others have suggested i.e. to upgrade your current laptop. However, you've since returned to the apparently inevitable iMac purchase, as your MacBook can only take 16MB RAM. I don't think anyone has recommended an upgrade to an iMac in your circumstances ... and I suspect that the majority of Pro Tools 2018 users have systems that work fine with 16MB RAM or less, so unless you know that you will need more than 16MB (lots of big VIs, huge sessions, ... ?), I don't understand why you feel this is so important (at least in a Pro Tools context).

So, here's the thing ... :)

You have broadly described an issue, provided information on what you've currently got and revealed a little on where you would like to get. Whilst some people (in general ... business, Internet forums, etc.) may articulate every stage of their consideration/journey as they look to work out a problem, others tend to be more analytical, consider all the facts/scenarios/configurations/pros/cons like chess moves (!), maybe making allowances based on their experience but otherwise without guesses or assumptions - they process these thoughts, balancing risks/benefits/costs ... and only then respond.

This is the nature of advice you've received on this forum and what Darryl is renowned for with Pro Tools (and I dare say other) computer systems. I hope he doesn't mind me making this observation but Darryl's manner can appear somewhat abrupt (maybe even a bit rude if you choose to engage him and subsequently disregard or don't follow his process?!), especially if you're more accustomed to the endless and often less-informed debates more typical of other 'gear' forums.

My guess is that you were not expecting such an informed analysis and recommendation, or were hoping for a longer debate where each possibility is explored and either supported or shot down by contributors, ... or (most likely) you just would like to justify a new iMac (which is fine BTW - this is not the place to solely discuss reasonable expenditure either!) e.g. maybe the big display? If so, the question would be more along the lines of 'I'm buying an iMac - any tips to optimise for Pro Tools?' ... and you would have heard the usual about getting the best processor you can afford, avoiding Fusion drives, not paying Apple prices for RAM/SSD but otherwise getting as much as you can afford of both, etc.

I hope this helps focus your deliberations ... but most importantly keeps you feeling welcomed on DUC and maybe understand the context for some of the responses :)

[larsongs]

I called Apple Tech Support last night. I asked if it was possible to upgrade my MBP at Apple Store to 16 GB Ram? He said, because it is now considered Vintage probably not. But, 3rd parties more than likely could. I asked, would I still be able to consult Apple a Tech Support? He said, once you go off the Reservation no.

I asked, what if I had Best Buy upgrade it? They are an Apple dealer? He said, Yes I could still call Apple a tech Support since they are an official Aplle dealer.

Not being as sophisticated on Computers as most of you. It would most likely be afvantageous for me to be able to call Apple Tech Support if a problem or questions occur.

Does the above information seem accurate? Anyone have experience related to Geek Squad, Upgrades & being able to still have Apple Tech Support?

Thanks

[Righty27]

If your Mac is now classified as vintage, I believe they might consider upgrades if they have the parts, however they have no requirement to hold such parts after a certain period of time (I believe this is 5 years in Europe but stand to be corrected).

Either way, an Apple Store would only use original Apple RAM (much more expensive, thus throws out many aspects of the preceding arguments in favour of upgrading your MacBook, even of only a temporary solution) and I don’t believe they would replace a spinning hard disk with an SSD that was not part of the original specification or options.

If you don’t fancy doing this yourself or don’t know anyone who would do it without adding a hefty hourly rate (see above re. cost justification), your best bet is probably an independent Apple Approved shop.

However, there is a lot to be said for doing it yourself - for example, OWC upgrade kits generally come with all required tools and excellent video instructions (which you could check out in advance/now) ... and if you need specific help with cloning your system before starting (+ maybe booting off the backup drive to ensure all OK), there are lots of resources online and I suspect you could return here for some further help :)

I’m not sure about availability of Apple tech support but maybe someone else can advise ... however, they wouldn’t help with the clone, Pro Tools or issues related to swapping any hardware components.

[Darryl Ramm]

We’ve given you the advice, multiple people here, multiple times, and you keep frittering around the edge chasing phantoms. Buy the 16GB OWC upgrade and just install it. And certainly stop trying to shop or get advice from idiots like BestBuy, and Apple retail stores are just as bad except for logistics/inventory type advice if you know the model/BPO configuration you want.

Apple support will not provide you useful hardware support for this laptop anyhow. If you have any serious hardware issue you will likely need to take it to a third party repair provider-many of who provide fantastic long term support. Apple will likely not do significant repairs on it even if you would be prepared to pay exorbitant charges and they may not be able to source major repair components. You have a question about the DRAM upgrade you contact OWC. That’s what they do, provide long term upgrades (and good support) for Mac owners that Apple does not provide or seem to care about. You have some software question you just contact Apple support as usual, and you don’t advertise you changed the DRAM and they won’t normally ask you. You have some question related to advice you got here, you ask here.

And to back into why do this... it’s for *you* to learn. All the issues you describe in this thread point to your administration of your Mac as the issue, and are likely just solvable with cleaning up your operating system install, but you need to do a memory upgrade to get there. And you are lucky you have a nice unibody i7 MBP that still supports the latest MacOS... so rushing to buy an iMac is not really going to help you, except being a very expensive way of getting an OS upgrade you could/should do yourself. And if you don’t learn to do things that iMac will eventually suffer from problems as well. So even if you do eventually get an iMac... take the opportunity *now* to get your MBP all clean, set up and running properly so you learn this stuff.

All the questioning, calls to Apple support, visits to BestBuy I suspect are nervous indecision on on your part. You don’t have the knowledge to untangle what anybody is telling you, which is why you keep coming back here to ask basic questions about what other people are telling you. But here is the thing, and everybody here was there once, the way to learn is to start doing stuff. You will not get dangerous advice here or suggestions to buy a bad upgrade/component without other folks shouting loudly, so get started... back up your computer with CCC (my number one concern from this whole thread is I am guessing you are not making effective backups today), install the OWC DRAM upgrade and then do a new full clean macOS install (ideally in a new external SSD initially as already described). As you get to any specific point you can ask for technical help but you have to make a decision and actually get started.