Which Mac for a designer?

Hi,
so my faithful first gen MacBook Pro has died and I'm looking to replace it. I've pretty much narrowed it down to two possibles...
Refurbished iMac 27-inch 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
or
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Dual-core Intel i7
(and buy a large screen monitor for home)
I'm a graphic designer so will be running mostly Adobe Creative Suite software like Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign... Plus some music software like Ableton or Logic.
Any suggestions which way to go? Pro's / Cons?

If you're used to or need the portability , then the MacBook and extra monitor maybe the only solution for you.
My problem with laptops and MacBooks for doing anything that requires a lot of processing power is that even buying the high end MacBook model, everything is lesser about it than the desktop computer.
That would be my only criticism, here.
Lesser CPU, GPU and slower HD's
If, IF you can afford it right now, which ever direction you choose, consider installing custom items, now.
If both the new MBP and iMac have an option for faster GPU's and you even remote think this may come in handy forany type of video or 3D modeling work, get the faster GPU's installed at the time of purchase.
Also, if both MBP and iMac have options to add SSD's ( Solid state drives), I whole heatedly recommend getting one of these installed at the time of purchase. I know they are much more expensive per GB right now, but this is the direction data storage is going to take.
SSD have no moving parts. They are much faster at accessing data than an HD with spinning glass platters and moving read/write arm and head.
In the new design iMacs, especially,replacing and adding upgraded components later is a very difficult and labor intensive task and as long as you have AppleCare, you won't be able to touch anything inside without voiding AppleCare.
Best to install these custom components at the purchase outset, if your budget can allow.
The only exception to this advice is RAM. Apple charges waaay too much for their RAM upgrades.
If you consider an iMac, don't forget to budget, also, for extended 3 year AppleCare.
The new design iMacs, IMO, run entirely too warm/hot to be good for any of the components inside.
Heat is the enemy of all electronic components. especially those in a computer.
Heat can be a serious issue for premature failure of many components in a computer.
Especially vulnerable is the CPU and Hard Drive, as well as the GPU.
Apple engineers seemed to be more concerned with quiet operation than properly cooling and venting excessive heat out of this new iMac design. IMO, they just run waaay too warm!!!
Having 3 year extended AppleCare means Apple is on the hook for any type of hardware failures. Heat related or not!
You can buy and install RAM cheaper through third party online sources like Crucial Memory and OWC
The MBP has a smaller screen having to force you to buy a seperate larger screen.
If you go this route, if you're a serious designer, don't skimp on the outside monitor. A very good monitor is the designers' eye to accurate to semi-accurate color, depending on how much you're willing to spend on a monitor. Either buy Apple's offerings for a monitor or search for a high end monior from manufactures like ViewSonic, LaCie, LG, BenQ, Mitsubishi. I openly have banned anything from Samsung.
With the iMac, it's an all in one design and you get the big 27 inch monitor with the computer.

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Which mac for graphic designer on Ps, Ai, ID ?

Hello,
I'm looking for new mac, budget is +- ~1k pounds.
I'm confuse which one is better for me, I have some opinions for these:
MacBook Pro 13":
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Total: £999.00 incl. VAT
Mac mini:
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB Serial ATA Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Total: £964.01 incl. VAT
iMac 21.5:
3.06GHz Intel Core i3
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4670 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Total: £999.00 incl. VAT

You're going to actually do work on this? Forget the 13"
While I have one and really like it, there's no way in the world I could be productive with it.
I'd recommend you bump your budget up to a 24" iMac.
Bob

Which mac for photoshop CS6?

which mac for photoshop CS6?

"checked that, but I am not a geek, do not really understand."
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Mac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7
1GB of RAM
2GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices)
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I'm really excited to join your group...being a current user of "other" brands of PC and editors and want to switch to FCP.
Heading to the Apple store today so I can start using FCP. Which Mac is recommended for FCP to edit small features, shorts, music vids, et al.
Choices =
iMAC 24 fully config'd (great screen, but not really portable)
Macbook Pro 17 (portable but smaller screen)...and if so, the 100gb 7200 disk or is the 160gb 5400 disk ok for a boot drive.
Can't afford a Mac Pro.

If, despite all advice to the contrary, you still go for the MacBook Pro then I'd recommend the base 17” MacBook Pro (MBP) configuration, with 160GB 5400 RPM hard disc option, and an additional 1 GB RAM (to make 3 GB total).
Why the 17” model?
Because when editing you need as much screen space as possible. Yes, it is bigger and heavier than the 15”, but I think that it’s larger and higher resolution display is worth that sacrifice.
Why the bigger but slower 160GB 5400 RPM hard disc option?
Laptop drives already have a much smaller capacity than their desktop cousins and those little drives, inevitably, fill up quickly with all your stuff!
And of course, you're planning to get an external media drive too, right? If you don’t have one then your internal disc will be eaten up by clip media in no time (especially if you opted for the smaller faster internal disc).
Why 3 GB RAM?
Well OK, thats an expensive option, but seriously, if you can afford it the money is well spent.
I'd also strongly recommend the extended AppleCare Protection Plan.

Which mac for AutoCAD, SolidWorks & MatLAB

I am a mechanical engineering student and I want to purchase a new laptop. Which mac should I get? I want to run AutoCAD, SolidWorks and MatLAB. Are macs or which macs are sufficient for me? I don't want my laptop to be frozen or hard to run those softwares. Thanks a lot.

It depends if you want to be portable or not, iMac or Macbook Pro probably.
I would first check the software suppliers that you mention for the minimum specs that they suggest to run their software. (don't add them all up, see which required the most). AutoCad and/or Solidworks may specify particular graphics cards to work with their software too, so that may limit a few Mac models
Identify a Mac based on these. Then I would make sure I had a Mac that had at least double the min RAM they require.
Eg, OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) min RAM spec is 2GB. I wouldn't use it with less that 4GB personally.

Which mac for photography

hi mac users!
i am thinking to become mac user because of my interest about photography. the question is: which mac book will be the right choice for a photographer, considering the graphic card capabillity, screen size and resolution. I am still using PC with 27" s-pva screen, but i am expecting to get some mobility followed with quality from Mac. I never tried Mac in my life, therefore, i can not imagine what to expect from mac book pro, or mac book air.
thanks for any advice.
oblakovska

How you choose a model computer depends entirely on your priorities of the features of the different devices. Every model makes compromises in order to promote its strengths.
The MacBook Air's strength above all others is portability.In your post yo don't mention size, weight, or portability as something you would consider the Air to achieve. Your priorities, as explained, center around the primary applicability to your interest, being photography. Whether that includes a desire to carry the computer when actually taking photographs, is the only question here. As Chris indicated, for every other possible reason the MacBook Pro in the 15" or 17" size would seem to be more seriously considered here, as they possess a greater and more capable graphic card, screen size and resolution, which seems to be your primary desire.
Would the MacBook Air suffice? Possibly, but I still think the larger Pro models would be better.
Something else to consider. Some MacBook owners have been reporting some problems with the integrated video card/drivers that the MacBook Air & MacBook Pro 13" have with Adobe Photoshop. Whether similar sounding problems that I have had with PS have anything to do with this, is something I suspect. I have every confidence that these issues will be resolved. In the meantime, I would think that a new user would take this into consideration.

Which Mac for personal yes is best and affordable?

Newcomer to Mac. I need assistance on what to purchase. Don't need top of the line. Only yes for personal and monogram sewing programs. Any suggestions?

First - have you checked to make certain that there are monogram sewing applications available for the Mac operating system? I've a friend who uses a Windows notebook to do the same, but I've never looked into Mac software for same - I would be sure such an animal exists before making the Mac plunge.
Just about any Mac will work for you - I would suggest getting the sole remaining 13" non-Retina MacBook Pro for your needs. You'll find it at the online Apple Store - on the left hand side of the web page. The nice thing about the non-Retina is that you can always upgrade the hard drive and the RAM should you wish. You simply cannot replace anything on the Retina Display models.
Good luck - I really hope that the software that you're seeking is available for Macs!
Clinton

Mac Pro buying advice for Graphic Design

I am going to be purchasing a Mac Pro and was hoping I could get some advice on the right set-up for what I do. I use CS4 heavily on the Mac for graphic design spending a good amount of time in Photoshop working with files that can easily go over a few gigs (when working on convention booth displays, etc.). I also use my Mac for casual video editing in iMovie, and use Apple's other great offerings like iWeb, iPhoto, etc.
My main questions are:
- I'm leaning towards the Quad. I keep my Macs for at least 5 years. Is that a good decision?
- If I do go with the Quad should I opt for the 2.66 or 2.93?
- At the moment I am running 8 Gig on my current Mac, should I configure this new one with 8 Gig?
- Is the Radeon the correct card choice for a heavy Photoshop user?
I hope these questions aren't ones that have been asked a thousand times. It's a lot of money to spend (especially right now) and I want to make sure I configure it correctly for what I do.
Thank you in advance for your input.

Hi hatter,
Thank you again for your responses. That really helps clear up the RAM situation. I think that is part of what swayed me towards the 8-Core as opposed to the Quad. Please correct me if I am wrong, but looking at prices of RAM on Crucial I see that if I wanted today to put 16 Gigs of RAM in a Quad-Core it would cost me $1200 (for 4 4-Gig chips using all slots). However if I was going to put 16 in the 8-Core I could do it for $400 (8 2-Gig chips using all slots. Actually it would only be $200 more since I configured my Mac with 4 2-Gig chips from Apple for an extra $100). Seems like having more slots open will save me money when I want to upgrade ram since I don't have to go for the 4-Gig chips. That coupled with the theory that Snow Leopard is around the corner and will take advantage of the 8-Core it seems like opting for a low end 8-Core vs a high end Quad is worth the $300 difference.
Side note: Are there any reports that say running more 2GB chips is worse than running fewer 4GB chips? Just curious.
Even though I understand that the processor speed makes a difference I am hoping that the advantages of more RAM slots and future benefits of Snow Leopard, CS5 and other apps that will take advantage of the 8-Core in the near future will make it the right decision. If I could afford a faster 8-Core obviously I would opt for that but with a jump of $1,400 to the next processor speed I am afraid it is out of my reach.
Regardless I'm sure I will feel very spoiled as soon as I unwrap this beast and get it up and running. Then in a year I'll give into the temptation of slipping a SSD in for the boot drive and I'll have to find a way to contain my excitement. I have a SSD on my laptop and WOW what an amazing difference it really is.
Wow, these forums are great. I can't believe how helpful all of your responses have been. I feel much more informed and was able to order my Mac today not feeling like I was shopping in the dark.
Thank you all again!

Which Mac Pro? More cores=slower speeds? And most of us know the speed matters or FPU for music and I don't understand the faster is for the least amount of procs. And while I get the whole rendering thing and why it makes sense.

Which Mac Pro? More cores=slower speeds? And most of us know the speed matters or FPU for music and I don't understand the faster is for the least amount of procs. And while I get the whole rendering thing and why it makes sense.
The above is what the bar says. It's been a while and wondered, maybe Apple changed the format for forums. Then got this nice big blank canvas to air my concerns. Went to school for Computer Science, BSEE, even worked at Analog Devices in Newton Massachusetts, where they make something for apple.
The bottom line is fast CPU = more FPU = more headroom and still can't figure out why the more cores= the slower it gets unless it's to get us in to a 6 core then come out with faster cores down the road or a newer Mac that uses the GPU. Also. Few. I'm the guy who said a few years ago Mac has an FCP that looks like iMovie on Steroids. Having said that I called the campus one day to ask them something and while I used to work for Apple, I think she thought I still did as she asked me, "HOW ARE THE 32 CORES/1DYE COMING ALONG? Not wanting to embarrass her I said fine, fine and then hung up. Makes the most sense as I never quite got the 2,6,12 cores when for years everything from memory to CPU's have been, in sets of 2 to the 2nd power. 2,4,8,16,32,64,120,256,512, 1024, 2048,4196,8192, 72,768. Wow. W-O-W and will be using whatever I get with Apollo Quad.
Peace to all and hope someone can point us in THE RIGHT DIRECTION. THANK YOU

Thanks for your reply via email/msg. He wrote:
If you are interested in the actual design data for the Xeon processor, go to the Intel site and the actual CPU part numbers are:
Xeon 4 core - E5.1620v2
Xeon 6 core - E5.1650v2
Xeon 8 core - E5.1680v2
Xeon 12 core - E5.2697v2
I read that the CPU is easy to swap out but am sure something goes wrong at a certain point - even if solderedon they make material to absorb the solder, making your work area VERY clean.
My Question now is this, get an 8 core, then replace with 2 3.7 QUAD CHIPS, what would happen?
I also noticed that the 8 core Mac Pro is 3.0 when in fact they do have a 3.4 8 core chip, so 2 =16? Or if correct, wouldn't you be able to replace a QUAD CHIP WITH THAT? I;M SURE THEY ARE UO TO SOMETHING AS 1) WE HAVE SEEN NO AUDIO FPU OR PERHAPS I SHOULD CHECK OUT PC MAKERS WINDOWS machines for Sisoft Sandra "B-E-N-C-H-M-A-R-K-S" -
SOMETHINGS UP AND AM SURE WE'LL ALL BE PLEASED, AS the mac pro was announced Last year, barely made the December mark, then pushed to January, then February and now April.
Would rather wait and have it done correct than released to early only to have it benchmarked in audio and found to be slower in a few areas- - - the logical part of my brain is wondering what else I would have to swap out as I am sure it would run, and fine for a while, then, poof....
PEACE===AM SURE APPLE WILL BLOW US AWAY - they have to figure out how to increase the power for 150 watts or make the GPU work which in regard to FPU, I thought was NVIDIA?

Which imac would work best for Graphic Design?

I am a Graphic Designer, currently using Creative Suite 2 (soon to be upgraded to CS3) and I need a new Mac for home. A Powermac takes up too much space, so I'm thinking about an imac with a 24" monitor and I have a few questions for the experts:)
Which imac would work best for graphics?
Is the monitor acurate for Pantone color matching?
Is the 24"monitor on the imac clear and bright?
Is Leopard a stable OS?
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Thanks a bunch!
Suzi (Machead since the beginning of Mac history)

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
The 24" iMac uses a superior LCD panel to the 20" model and so is certainly better suited to your purposes. I don't know how badly having a piece of glass in front of the display would affect you as a designer though.
The display certainly is clear and bright. I use it on it's lowest brightness setting.
Leopard is stable but it's worth checking that drivers for any devices that you currently rely on are available. For example I have to go back to my 10.4.11 iMac G4 to use my scanner. Personally I can't get iCal to alarm in Leopard but that's a fairly minor gripe.
As this is the forum for much older iMacs I'd suggest re-posting in the Intel iMac forum and even Mac OS 10.5 Printing forums for better informed opinion:
<hr width="200">
G4 (aka Flat Panel): Intel:
Click image to go to correct forum.
cheers
mrtotes

Which is better for a designer/developer?

Hello, I do the following :
Graphic Design
Web Design/Development
Programming (Windows)
Amateur video editor (hoping to be more advanced)
I use nearly all of the Adobe programs all the time
Going to use all the advanced and basic programs I can on Mac OS X (from iMovie to Final Cut)
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Arsan

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Which mac pc is good for iPad development in between mac mini or mac book pro

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Which upgrade for Late 2009 Mac Pro Currently Running 10.6.8?

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My system:
Model Name:
Mac Pro
Model Identifier:
MacPro4,1
Processor Name:
Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:
2.66 GHz
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1
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4
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256 KB
L3 Cache:
8 MB
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12 GB
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I don't have a clue about PPC programs? I tried to google the term and it says something about pay per click??? No idea so perhaps they don't exist for me.
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I have just started to use Muse for our design agency and learning how to build ourselves a new site, I have manged to create a basic lightbox which contains sliding images, what I need to do now is have a pop up window which goes into detail about the pr

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David

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open an app and click help>activate.
if you try to open an app and see a 'your trial has expired" window, click license this software and enter your serial number.
if you can't do either, run the cleaner and make sure cc is cleaned from your computer, Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6

Which Mac for a designer?

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