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It's madness - someone talk me out of it

wayne_rowley

wayne_rowley

Active Member
Okay the title is a little click-bait, but...

In this day of Apple Silicon, un-upgradable, increasingly expensive Macs, has anyone noticed how ridiculously cheap the Mac Pro trash cans are?

I couldn't believe it when I looked at the used prices of these. Compared with how much they cost new...

I'm currently on a Mac mini i5 2018, which I know, from a single core perspective out-performs the Mac Pro 6,1. But is it wrong to seriously consider an 8 or 12 core Mac Pro 6,1 as my next computer?

They are upgradable to 128 GB of RAM, replaceable SSD, and supports Monterey, which I'm currently running on my Mini, or Sonoma with Open Core.

I know it has nowhere near the performance of an Mx series chip, but those are 8-10 times the price, or more!

Am I nuts to be even thinking about this?

Wayne
Click to read more...
 
Remember that Apple doesn't warrant compatibility between their own software and their own computers if the computer is more than a few years old. Even the 2020 iMac, which has the fastest single core processor of all Intel Macs, is 5 years old next year. Since compatibility should be a concern when buying old/used computers, I'd rather buy a used Apple Silicon Mac over a used Intel Mac, but if you are OK with the power, RAM etc in the last generation of Macs, you could probably save some money (and avoid certain frustrations) by going for the last generation of i7/i9 Macs.

 
Vik said:
Remember that Apple doesn't warrant compatibility between their own software and their own computers if the computer is more than a few years old. Even the 2020 iMac, which has the fastest single core processor of all Intel Macs, is 5 years old next year. Since compatibility should be a concern when buying old/used computers, I'd rather buy a used Apple Silicon Mac over a used Intel Mac, but if you are OK with the power, RAM etc in the last generation of Macs, you could probably save some money (and avoid certain frustrations) by going for the last generation of i7/i9 Macs.

Click to expand...
As someone who’s using a 2012 Cheesegrater MP I don’t think getting a Trashcan is such a bad idea considering it has USB3,Thunderbolt can be upgraded to Monterey not to mention they are incredibly inexpensive.
Earlier I priced a 12 core with 96gig and a 2tb SSD boot drive at OWC and it was in the $800 range.
Even a used Mac Studio first version with similar specs will cost several times the price. As a stopgap @wayne_rowley has me seriously thinking about this……….
 
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I have a 5,1 12 core with 128 GB and 5 SSDs sitting here. I thought I would slave it to my Mac Studio, but the Studio is just so powerful that I haven't needed to do it. Knowing what I know now, there's no way I'd invest in tech that old. I'd be on the look out for a refurbished M1 Studio.
 
Old Macs are stuck to an older OS so sooner or later (probably sooner) it's limited to older Kontakt or other plugins versions so you can't load new libraries...

It's ok if you need a separate ProTools machine or if you are happy with an older frozen system. I switched away from the trash can six years ago. Newer MacStudios or Minis are also more energy efficient so they might be even cheaper in the long term.
 
Spend a little time moseying about here: https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

Note that the 10 core 2023 Mini scores just shy of three times the multicore score for the 12 core Trash Can. $1,700 with 32GB RAM. The 8 core 2023 with 24GB RAM is an even $1000. It will run circles around any Trash Can. OK, add a little internal storage if you don't want to fight it, the price will be $1200. Either will remain at least relatively current for years.

Unless you simply love tinkering and need tons of RAM for whatever you are doing in music, buy Apple Silicon... it will provide a much better experience.
 
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