New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

with industry Pro, Nick Batzdorf

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

Post Reply
VanGo
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:17 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

Post by VanGo » Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:35 pm

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond. I need to upgrade my computer - usually I get refurbished iMacs at macsales.com or macs4u.com at LOW prices, and the RAM is MUCH cheaper than buying from Apple. But supposedly the new M1 machines are amazing, and of course it will take longer for them to become obsolete. A concern is that the RAM in the M1 iMacs is no longer configurable, so even if I did stick it out and wait for the 30" release, chances are there would be no option but to pay through the nose for RAM.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Chris D.

MBantle
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 499
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:12 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

Post by MBantle » Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:56 am

VanGo wrote:
Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:35 pm
Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond. I need to upgrade my computer - usually I get refurbished iMacs at macsales.com or macs4u.com at LOW prices, and the RAM is MUCH cheaper than buying from Apple. But supposedly the new M1 machines are amazing, and of course it will take longer for them to become obsolete. A concern is that the RAM in the M1 iMacs is no longer configurable, so even if I did stick it out and wait for the 30" release, chances are there would be no option but to pay through the nose for RAM.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Chris D.
Hi Chris!
I know what you mean. The current M1 models (Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, Mac mini) seem to only support a maximum of 16GB RAM but from what I heard M1+16GB is a much better performing configuration over all (in simple terms) than previous models with e.g. I7 processors and a higher amount of ram. I am in the same situation as you are and I am waiting whether an M2 will be rolled out as part of a larger Imac Model (I think they only offer the 25'' right now and I am a bit sceptical whether a larger Imac will come but let's see...).
Cheers,
Matt

User avatar
tonedimension
Active
Active
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 11:19 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

Post by tonedimension » Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:38 am

I actually had to push ahead with my own upgrade ahead of schedule. My 2012 Mac Pro was giving up the ghost so I got an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. Funny thing about that RAM. My Mac Pro had 32GB and memory was never ever an issue. It was always a CPU-related shortage with my old 6 core. The only issue I have currently with the Mac Mini is the limited cores. I had to do a bit of tweaking with Logic settings but once I did I found it way faster and more responsive than my old 6 core Xeon Mac Pro.

The only downside for me is Big Sur and the fact that you are running things like Logic in Rosetta mode for compatibility of plugins. I have a fair collection of plugins from UAD, Waves, Izotope, Slate and others. They all work perfectly in Logic. So, very little downside IMHO. The RAM is a non-issue for me right now although if you run large sessions with lots of VI's and are doing more orchestral things it could potentially be an issue. If you can, I would wait for the M1X or M2 or whatever they decide to call it.

Also, I too am I big fan of buying refurbs, usually from Apple but the RAM always came from OWC, and it's just not an option anymore. That's another general downside that really applied across the Apple board now.

Anyway, I hope this helps and best of luck! I bet the new M1X iMac will be quite the screamer!
Bryan...

"Record like there is no mixing and mix like there is no mastering."

https://www.bryannicholas.com
https://soundcloud.com/tonedimension

User avatar
Paulie
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2664
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

Post by Paulie » Mon Sep 20, 2021 4:41 pm

There are some great benchmark and real world M1 tests out their for various DAWs. Mac memory usage is different than the PC world, we don't need as much. The CPU performance is stellar, but the only reason I have not pulled the trigger is the cap on internal storage at 512GB. I would like to see at least, preferably 2TB.
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." Beethoven
http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

VanGo
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:17 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: New M1 30" iMac worth the wait?

Post by VanGo » Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:56 pm

Thanks Matt, Bryan and Paul for your insightful comments. OWC is now offering a refurb 2019 iMac with 128GB RAM, 2TB storage and i9 processor for less than $3K, so I'm still kind of undecided. Please let me know of any new insights you gain and I'll do the same.

Best,

Chris

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests