Mac Project? Not sure what to do

[mbryant]

I find myself missing Mac OS a little. My first computer was a Mac Book back in 2008 and it carried me through to my senior year of High School. I made the switch to Windows about 6 years ago and I've largely never looked back. However I DO miss some things. The biggest one would be Logic Pro. It's such a complete DAW (Digital Audio Work Station) and I love it. I also miss the old Final Cut suite but I'm not sure how easy it'd be to legally obtain that again. Plus time machine was sooooo easy to use. 

 

I initially considered buying a Mac Mini but they've not been refreshed since 2014 and they only have dual core i5's. I also thought about buying a Mac Pro (tower) from eBay but people seem to think their 8 - 10 year old Macs are still worth 70% + of their original price. It infuriates me. I also don't know where to start in terms of work on something like that. I know I could replace the processors but I'm afraid I'd screw something up by doing that. 

 

Beyond Logic and audio tracking I might use it for some light video editing, but it's not a need since I've got my desktop. I might consider making the Mac an HTPC but "eh" 

 

So does anyone have any suggestions? I've resorted to also checking municipal and university auctions lol. 

[JaimeAOC]

You might want to wait for the rumoured Mac Mini and iMac refresh coming later this year. 

 

Macbook's get really hot (At least my old 2014 15'' Pro used to) when you use them with a closed lit and with a external monitor. If that issue is fixed then yeah that could work.

[D13H4RD]

I think the reason the old Mac Pro towers command a hefty premium is due to the "Trashcan" Mac Pro released in 2013, which IIRC, is loathed by the professional community over its inability to be upgraded over time and laughably outdated specs by today's standards 

[mbryant]

7 hours ago, TimsTips said:

Yeah. Same problem here. Apple pretends to care about people and then only sells products at premium prices, like Disney. 

 

Personally, I would get the 13” macbook pro and get an external monitor and external storage.

I would but the point was to kinda stay below the $500 mark haha. I mean I would maybe be willing to spend up to $600 but I better be getting a pretty good machine out of that. 

[mbryant]

3 hours ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

I think the reason the old Mac Pro towers command a hefty premium is due to the "Trashcan" Mac Pro released in 2013, which IIRC, is loathed by the professional community over its inability to be upgraded over time and laughably outdated specs by today's standards 

That makes sense. it's not just the Mac Pros though! I was shopping for iMacs a year ago and people were selling 2010 models for 800+ Even some 2008 - 2009 models up to 500. People are nuts. The Apple tax is so real.

[ljeo332]

If you are looking for modern and more than two cores and at a relatively low price I think would be tough to reach, but look for 2012 15" unibody MacBook pros, if I remember right I think its a quad core and it allows light upgrades (ram, SSD) and the price should be where you are looking at (between $450-650).

This vid show tell you how much each MacBook pro is worth and which ones to avoid, because of common issues

[Crunchy Dragon]

-Moved to Laptops and Pre-Built Systems-