iMac vs MacPro
The debate has raged for years. Does Apple need a mid-range tower for those power users who want more than just an iMac (which is built with the same mobile chips used in the MacBook Pros) but don’t quite need the more expensive Mac Pro?
This was my dilemma as my current computer, the first Intel iMac (2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo) was starting to show it’s three year age. (for example, rapidly clicking through my RAW photos in iPhoto would immediately hail the spinning beach ball and a several second delay)
With the latest Apple re-fresh of it’s iMac, Mini and Pro line I was hoping for a quad-core iMac based on Intel’s Nehalem processors with LED screen and the ability to add more than 4GB of RAM. This didn’t quite happen. I assume Intel’s mobile Nehalem won’t be out until summer so look for a fall re-fresh of the iMac line. Apple does now let you upgrade to 8GB of RAM in the new iMac’s, however because of space limitations, there are only two slots for RAM so you have to use pricey 4GB sticks to get up to 8GB. This will add $1000 to the price ($1200 here in Canada) bringing the price of the top-of-the-line iMac to a whopping $3799 (CAD)! That’s more than the new 2.66GHz Quad-Core Mac Pros! Because the Mac Pro has more slots for RAM you can use 2GB sticks and get yourself up to 8GB of RAM for $250 US ($300 CAD). Of course, you have to keep in mind, the Mac Pro doesn’t come with a monitor or iSight camera so you have to price those into the equation, so the Pro’s are more expensive (about $1000 more depending on the monitor you buy and other options), but I calculated that if I keep the Mac Pro for an extra year (based on keeping iMac for 3 years and Mac Pro for 4 years) the cost per year is exactly the same.
There’s no question that the Mac Pro is a little more than I need. I’m not a pro photographer or video editor, but I am a pro-sumer or power user as they say, so I find the iMac a bit limiting.
So I took the plunge and ordered my first Mac Pro…
2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8GB DDR3 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
I also picked up a Samsung SyncMaster 24″ LCD Monitor. I would have gone with the beautiful Apple 24 inch LED Cinema Display, but it’s $1000 CAD price tag is a bit much. Apple seriously needs to lower it’s monitor prices. You can get a 42 inch HD TV for that price. For $600 or $700, I’d consider an Apple monitor, but not $1000.
I will review the new Mac Pro when it arrives. I ordered on Friday so it should arrive at the end of March.
Jason, how is your mac pro working out? I’m ordering one in the next few days…I’ll be using it for graphics, multi-media design, etc.
I considered a loaded Imac and had the opportunity to work on a new one at Santa Ana College Digital Media Center while taking an Adobe Illustrator CS4 class. They certainly are nice machines however they definately lack the expandability.
Also how do you like the Monitor? I agree Apple’s dsplay prices are pretty insane. I have bee using an HP w2408h which is a 24″ wide screen. It has a nice base with a joint that actually allows you to rotate the screen from landscape to portrait.
Matt
July 18, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Matt, I’m loving the MacPro. Really glad I spent the extra money and got it over the iMac. My follow-up post is here.
http://jasonbryant.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/mac-pro-is-as-fast-as-i-am/
There’s been no issues at all, except for a few kernel panics and beach balls of death. But what Mac doesn’t get that once in awhile.
I’m running ProTools on it for audio editing and it’s very stable and snappy. I haven’t used anything other than iPhoto for my photography, but plan to get into Aperture or Adobe Lightroom in the future.
It’s very quiet and I love being able to swap new hard drives in and out. That was my biggest problem with the old iMac, the drive is virtually inaccessible and I was limited to 250GB (the biggest drive at the time). With drive capacities increasing and prices dropping this is one of the biggest reasons to get a MacPro.
I got the Quad-Core Intel Xeon, but with hyper-threading it actually shows up as 8 cores. This is great for multi-tasking, you can still watch YouTube while you render out some video. With the iMac you have to pretty much walk away and wait for some processor intensive activity to finish.
I like my 24 inch Samsung, it’s the SyncMaster 2443. Picked it up for $299. Now I’m not a graphics professional so I don’t know how accurate the colors are, but for my needs it’s great. And I could get three for the price of one Apple monitor. Samsung, for the price, offer great value. I’m sure your HP monitor is good too. I like the landscape to portrait idea, my Samsung can’t do that. I looked into Dell, but the Samsung was still cheaper by about $60 (here in Canada at least) and had better high and tilt adjustment. To get the better stand with the Dell monitors you have to get into the $600 monitors.
At the end of the day, a new iMac would probably meet my needs 85% of the time, but swapping hard drives, faster Quad-Core chips, more affordable RAM (because you have more slots and don’t have to use 4GB sticks like the iMac), more firewire and USB ports and the ability to swap out or add monitors as they get better and cheaper make the MacPro a better (albeit more expensive) choice for the power user or graphics professional.
Jason Bryant
July 18, 2009 at 2:26 pm