iMac Pro 10 cores vs 18 cores

[Tyranor]

Hello,

I have a chance to get iMac Pro in 2 different specs and not sure which one to choose.

1st spec

2.3Ghz 18 Core Intel Xeon W processor
128GB of DDR memory
4TB of SSD storage
Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB of Video memory

2nd spec

Intel Xeon W 10-Core 3GHz
64GB DDR4 Ram
Radeon Pro Vega 64 16GB video memory
1TB Flash Drive (PCIe SSD)

2nd spec is cheaper than 1st one by $1600nzd which is about $1050 usd.

I'm currently running iMac late 2013 with i7 and 32Gb of Ram. PT 2012.12 HD Native.

It's ok and does the job but I noticed that it started to struggle a lot more, fans started to get loud way more often + audiosuite processing eg Clarity Vx Pro etc. + any RX work, especially Dialogue Isolate + offline bouncing takes quite a lot longer than even iMac 2019 with i5 and 16Gb of Ram.

When I just edit dialogue it's ok but I'm getting into dialogue premixing + do SFX/Sound Design as well so want to have something more powerful which can handle bigger sessions and with more plugins.

And a lot of work I do has very tight schedules so I need to be able to run my processing faster.

Seems like either of these iMac Pro will be a nice improvement over my current iMac. Which one to get I'm not sure though.

10 core has a higher single core speed and that's good for editing/audiosuite. But judging by the geekbench, single core performance of 18 core Xeon is very close to 10 core, pretty much identical but is significantly faster in multi core performance, it actually competes with Mac Studio with M1 Max, it's that fast. And that's good for big sessions and mixing.

The big question mark or me though is how well can PT utilize these 18 cores?Looks like it that PT is more designed for single core performance. I could be wrong here though.

I'm also getting latest MacBook Pro with M1 Max.

Basically, if I buy any of the iMac Pro + MacBook Pro with M1 Max it will cost me the same as Mac Studio with the config I want and I will get 2 powerful machines to work with instead of one. And iMac Pro will easily last till 2027.

Does anyone here uses iMac Pro? Should I spend a bit more and get 18 cores as it also has more RAM. Will PT benefit from 18 cores?

Thanks in advance.

[Darryl Ramm]

Do you need to do this right now? How long will it take to pay for itself?

Apple will be announcing new Apple silicon macs at WWDC, I'd sure be waiting to see what they are before buying anything right now.

PT 2012.12 HD Native.

There is no such thing. Do you mean 2021.12? 2012.12 Ultimate? using a HD Native interface???? You will want to be on at least 2020.5 on the Apple Silicon MBP, and today you can also be on 2022.5 on the Intel Mac Pro, how long you can keep them in sync, well that's an open question.

If you are running a HD Native Interface is that Thunderbolt or a PCIe card in a dock? Be cautious of some folks having HD Native PCIe and expansion chassis issues, posts on DUC.

Are you buying separate Pro Tools licenses for each of these computers or relying on moving an iLok?

iMac Pro will easily last till 2027.

What do you mean by that? I expect Apple to stop putting out macOS updates for this mac well before 2027 and I expect Avid to stop releasing Pro Tools Intel binaries well before then as well. Like I'd be more inclined to think both might happen in the next 2-3 years. But yes if you can stay on old macOS and Pro Tools versions and not need to upgrade then great. But if your work needs new features/new plugins etc. then they will stop being available on Intel systems.

The two configs have different SSD space, I'd try to instal enough SSD internally to run sessions and samples off the internal SSD drive(s).

My take on the Mac Pro is it's still a thermally underdesigned system, yet another a poor packaging choice, that Apple seems to have abandoned with the Studio packaging, which I feel much more comfortable with. The Mac Pro is quite likely to be thermally limited at the high end if you get to load it up well.

How well stuff will scale at large number of cores is highly dependent on your sessions/workflow/plugins used etc. Chains of plugins still need to execute on a single core. Your whole systems scaling may be limited by minor flakiness on one critical plugin. So the real answer is you need to test it for yourself... make sure you can return whatever you get. If you put a gun to my head and force me to buy an iMac Pro I'd save money and go 10-core. But it's your money. And more so I am past the point where I'd buy another Intel Mac. If you have critical work bringing in money now and need Intel today and that work would pay of the system in a few years then sure, different question.

So my real answer... Intel nope. I'd consider a Studio, after looking at new announcements at WWDC, maybe even consider a new Mac Pro expected to be announced at WWDC.

[Tyranor]

2021.12 Ultimate. I'm on the current support plan so can go to 2022.5 no problem.

HD Native Thunderbolt.

Not buying separate licences, will be moving iLoks.

Good point about WWDC, thanks!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Tyranor

2012.12 Ultimate.

I'm guessing you mean 2021.12 Ultimate?

As Avid releases a Apple silicon version of Pro Tools and then eventually stops updating the Intel product I hope they will be good about provide perpetual licenses and access to binaries for the Intel product for ever and ever. Including folks that buy new licenses/subscriptions *after* Avid stops providing updates to the Intel product.