Help me choose a new Mac & PT license. (Yeah, one of those threads. sighhhh...)

[moshuajusic]

It's between a Macbook Pro and iMac. I noticed the iMac with i7 quad core can be had with up to 4.0GHz (4.4GHz with "turbo boost") and SSD flash storage, while MBP can be had with up to 2.8GHz (4.0GHz with "turbo boost") and PCIe flash storage. So... higher CPU + SSD, or lower CPU + PCIe?

Or is it irrelevant?

And as far as PT 12 is concerned, is this a fair summary of the options:

"Perpetual" license = $600 up-front + $100/year for upgrades; ability to use PT whenever.

Subscription = $30/month or $300/year; can only use PT while subscribed.

[Drew Mazurek]

Do you need portability? If so, buy the laptop, if not, iMac.

Licensing? Yeah, that's about it.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by jscomposer

It's between a Macbook Pro and iMac. I noticed the iMac with i7 quad core can be had with up to 4.0GHz (4.4GHz with "turbo boost") and SSD flash storage, while MBP can be had with up to 2.8GHz (4.0GHz with "turbo boost") and PCIe flash storage. So... higher CPU + SSD, or lower CPU + PCIe?

The SSD storage in both current iMac and MacBook Pro utilize PCIe based (M.2 form factor) SSDs. IIRC the ~2015 iMacs M.2 SSD slots are only 2 x PCIe 2.0 lanes while the latest MacBook Pro are 4 x PCIe 3.0 lanes. So while PCIe based, there is quite a need for a technology refresh on those iMac. But still if you go iMac order it with the largest SSD option it has, and definitely no fusion drives (unless you deliberately want that to split the SSD and HDD into separate parts)--they are still believed to cause audio/DAW problems and are just a bad idea in any case.

[VRW]

Originally Posted by jscomposer

It's between a Macbook Pro and iMac. I noticed the iMac with i7 quad core can be had with up to 4.0GHz (4.4GHz with "turbo boost") and SSD flash storage, while MBP can be had with up to 2.8GHz (4.0GHz with "turbo boost") and PCIe flash storage. So... higher CPU + SSD, or lower CPU + PCIe?

Or is it irrelevant?

And as far as PT 12 is concerned, is this a fair summary of the options:

"Perpetual" license = $600 up-front + $100/year for upgrades; ability to use PT whenever.

Subscription = $30/month or $300/year; can only use PT while subscribed.

If you are working with large sessions and/or a large amount of virtual instruments (which use a lot of Ram) you may go for the iMac as you can put up to 32GB Ram
memory into it (which is very cool ) unlike with the MBPs where 16GB will be the max.

If you don´t need that much memory actually the MBPs might be the more flexible and (as mentioned by Darryl) even faster and more recent machines technical-wise.

The MBPs (the 15" 2,5GHz and 2,8GHz) are widely proven to work well with the latest versions of Pro Tools (11/12) and Mac OS X (Yosemite). This combination rocks!

Btw you better may go for the 2,5GHz or the 2,8GHz MBP models (skip the 2,2GHz) because those offer a better graphic engine than the 2,2GHz which finally influences
the performance of Pro Tools as well.

Finally you could add an external display to the MBP at home and connect it to the MBP via HDMI or Thunderbolt which will give you kinda feel of an iMac while still being
able to take your PT system on the road if necessary (which you can´t do with an iMac).

If money isn´t an issue the original Apple Thunderbolt display actually does look and feel like an iMac. Cool stuff .
http://www.apple.com/displays/

If you are on a budget, an affordable yet fast responding HD monitor like this one for example will do the job.
http://www.amazon.com/VE248H-1920x10...sus+hd+monitor

But once again, if you are using tons of VIs and other memory loving stuff the available 32GB Ram for the iMac may be a good reason as well!
And as mentioned by all others as well already...do not buy any Fusion drive! Doesn´t work with Pro Tools!

The very best to you, have lots of fun!

[musicman691]

All good advice.

One thing to be aware of is the new machines might come with ElCapitan and a number of developers are having issues with that version of OSX.

[bradch00]

Originally Posted by musicman691

All good advice.

One thing to be aware of is the new machines might come with ElCapitan and a number of developers are having issues with that version of OSX.

Really good and relevant point there. I would check with Apple as to what OS is shipping today, or whenever you order it.
I use a late 2014 5K iMac (4Ghz to 4.4Ghz Turbo; with a 1TB internal flash drive and 32GB of RAM. I ordered the machine with 8GB (I think you have to order it with some, I could be wrong though). Picked 32GB RAM from Crucial and it works great. Currently I am running 2 other OS X images (for testing) on external SSDs through Thunderbolt and have had no problems. I really dig the machine.
My $.02 (And that's Canadian.... so whatever it's worth)

[moshuajusic]

Originally Posted by VRW

Btw you better may go for the 2,5GHz or the 2,8GHz MBP models (skip the 2,2GHz) because those offer a better graphic engine than the 2,2GHz which finally influences
the performance of Pro Tools as well.

I never thought of PT as graphics-intensive. Is it? I'll watch a movie here and there. I don't play video games. You think the 2.5GHz model is worth the extra $$$ just for the graphics engine? (fwiw, both 2.2GHz & 2.5GHz models can be outfitted with the 2.8GHz chip.)

Thanks for the detailed reply, btw.

[nst7]

One thing about the standalone Apple Thunderbolt display - I had previously bought the older non-thunderbolt version of this, and to my surprise, it had a fan in it. A ridiculously loud fan that would interfere with anything audio related. I promptly returned it and bought an HP display.

I would double check if the Thunderbolt version has the same issue before buying it.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by jscomposer

I never thought of PT as graphics-intensive. Is it? I'll watch a movie here and there. I don't play video games. You think the 2.5GHz model is worth the extra $$$ just for the graphics engine? (fwiw, both 2.2GHz & 2.5GHz models can be outfitted with the 2.8GHz chip.)

Thanks for the detailed reply, btw.

PT isn't graphics intensive, but it appears to be that OSX is so since Snow Leopard. It is a bad thing if your GPU isn't up to the task but a good thing if it is.

Point being; you could easily use 2005 (first intel) hardware with Snow Leopard and PT8 but if you want to use the latest and greatest PT with the most modern OSX you will want to have a 2015 computer.

[VRW]

Originally Posted by jscomposer

I never thought of PT as graphics-intensive. Is it? I'll watch a movie here and there. I don't play video games. You think the 2.5GHz model is worth the extra $$$ just for the graphics engine? (fwiw, both 2.2GHz & 2.5GHz models can be outfitted with the 2.8GHz chip.)

Thanks for the detailed reply, btw.

Yeah, as stated by JF it´s not directly Pro Tools but it affects Pro Tools in a way that, yes, it is worth the extra $$$.
It will be more worth than the upgrade from the 2,5GHz to the 2,8GHz processor at the end of the day.

If you do not want to throw in all your money for the computer only (and you do not need the 32GB Ram of the iMac)
let me just suggest you the standard 2015 15" Retina MacBook Pro 2,5GHz which originally comes with 16GB Ram and
1 super fast 512GB internal Flash drive.
This is the most powerful "standard" MacBook Pro available and really offers a fantastic performance with PT 11/12
and the latest versions of Mac OSX.
No doubt about it that it would be really cool if you could afford the custom 2,8GHz model with the 1TB Flash drive but
it is not necessary to achieve a grand Pro Tools performance finally. The standard 2,5Ghz has got everything to be able
to do a really great job!

As for the display there are of course more affordable options and obviously (like mentioned by Nst) there even may
occur issues with the original, beautiful and expensive Apple Thunderbolt display. Anyway, whichever display you may
consider, just make sure it´s got a fast response time (1-3ms are the right stuff) because this again will affect Pro Tools´
performance in a way via the OS X.

The very best to you!