please, crash course on Apple Macs?
Mistara
Posts: 38,675
i know nuthin about the Apple Macs (but i do know i don't want Win10)
Like to run Final Cut Pro X (requirements says 'Compatibility: macOS 10.12 Sierra.')
Render my carrara animations,
an occastional iray
Don't think Sierra is the latest OS, El Captain?
hardware stats should be the same as win pcs
uses intel cpu? can it use amd?
does the OS require online activation?
is it risky, dangers from malwares
will new apple computers push me into the cloud (xbox1 cloud horrors)
is there a non-microsoft, non-googleap office suite for it?
TY
.
been giving thought to trying to finance 1 of those cylinder desktops, but they out a while, are they obsolete now?
seeing apple tvs on bestbuy, looks like the all the hardware is in the monitor
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Comments
Sierra is the current Mac OS (10.12.5)
The current Mac Pro (aka 'trashcan Mac') is 4 years out of date; I wouldn't buy a new one just now, although second hand might get a bargain. But bear in mind that Macs hold their value much better than Windows PCs.
You do have to set up an account on iCloud in order to get it going (plus side to that is you don't need an OS disc - it'll download the current OS right off the BIOS boot screen. Latest OS is alwayys free from Apple.)
My 27" iMac is an i5 @3.2 24GB RAM. I prefer it over my i7Skylake 4.0GHz Win 10 box for most things (except Iray), and the win 10 box works fine as a Carrara render node ;)
Not much malware on MacOS, compared to Win, which isn't to say it doesn't exist, but most Windows malware won't touch a Mac.
Apple have there own office apps, but to be honest, I personally run MS Office on mine.
Apple TV is a set top box, similar to Roku etc for streaming (although it runs a version of iOS). Macs can always stream to an Apple TV on the local net.
i fear rendering nodes, read stuff about flickering in animation?
TY
An iMac is basically a souped-up laptop with a giant screen. And Apple doesn't like for the user to crack the case to make modifications. So it's a good idea to have a clear idea of what you want before ordering one. There are a pretty fair number of different configurations on offer.
I think new models tend to be announced around June, and new OS versions around October, but I could be out of date about that.
air mac, imac, oh boy.
could use any hdmi monitor with it?
thinking the xtra wide monitor be coolest for editing video
21:9 2560 x 1080 pixels
memorial day weekend sales. though i think is the uhd monitors driving down the prices on 1080s
My iMac is 2560 x 1440 (29"). Newer ones are 5K displays. Even so, the screen is gorgeous. I was looking at getting a 34" 21x9 curved for the win box - https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-34UC98-W-Ultrawide-3440x1440-Speakers/dp/B01BFH1AIM/ It has Thunderbolt in for the Mac, and will display both computers side by side. Sadly I ran out of cash, but it's still on my want list. (when I already have a 1440 high screen, the 25 in version is going to feel too small in comparison)
Once upon a time, iMacs could be run in dumb screen mode and used as a monitor via the DP/Thunderbolt port. Sadly that no longer works.
My motto is, never scrimp on the screen: your eyesight is irreplaceable.
Oh, and get a machine with an SSD. Big as you can afford and then some. Macs and spindle drives are like pulling teeth.
Apple displays are often some of the best on the market and cost it.. they're likely going to enter the actual TV market with a TV with builtin AppleTV
My imac has it's own NVIDIA video card (might have been the last model offered with it..can't recall)...but it doesn't have near enough VRAM for me to use it for iray (I'd get overheating and crashes and I started to get real worried about the long term health of the iMac). Despite my multi-threaded i7 processors, iray renders, like ones I do for promos for the store, take hours.
For Daz particularly, I do find a lot of UI glitches.. I don't know if they're the same on windows, mind you.
As TangoAlpha said, there is malware out there that can affect a Mac. BUT, the only way they work is if you're stupid. There aren't (at least yet) auto executing malware, so largely they're trojan files, trying to get you to open things you shouldn't...and by default, the Mac OS will stop you from doing it. (You can disable that kind of stuff if you know what you're doing...a BIG problem Apple has is they work to make things very easy for those who DON'T know what they're doing...which makes it more annoying for those of us who do).
My iMac has a second monitor that's hooked up thru HDMI/Thunderbolt.
The Mac Mini is basically an imac with out a monitor (if you have a good one already). BUT It likely wouldn't be great for iray because of the lack of a seperate video card.
(I'm slowly looking into solutions for external video cards, but it's a slow process I don't have much time to dive into yet).
I was a mac user for 20 years, I don't like Windows 10 either, but I made the transition to Windows 7 Pro last year so I could build an animaton rig for iray. Best decision I ever made. Mac has gone way down hill since they devote all their time to the latest iphone garbage, and with Jobs gone their is no innovation. Its the worst time ever to move to mac, no reason whatsoever unless you like spending more money for inferior build quality and old technology. Way back when I had a Mac G5 tower, those things were built like tanks. That was the heyday of Mac. But the last couple macs I had were in the Apple store multiple times. My Mac Mini had to have the logicboard replaced 3 times, thank God I had Applecare on it. Complete garbage. Everything they make is disposable now. And I did love Final Cut, it was the only thing holding me back, but there are plenty of other options on the windows side. Stay away from mac you'll seriously regret it.
I DO sorely miss my 68k 9600...lol. That thing just ran and ran ;).
Laurie
You could custom build a hackintosh, which is way way cheaper than a mac and ... you have all the advantages of windows (including multiple GPU for rendering DAZ stuff) running on the mac OS. If you google this, you can find sites that give full intructions how to make one. Then ... after you have done everything you need to do (installed all the software, downloaded things you need and updated the OS), you can unhook your desktop from the internet and keep it that way .... meaning whatever backdoors there might be, your system will remain secure and private. I know many people that have one machine that never sees the light of day on the internet.
I think the current generation of iMacs is AMD and that on board NVidia isn't an option, but my info may be out of date. Apple has a history of switching that allegiance every few years. My Mac has a couple of decent Nvidias but the bad news there is that GPU rendering is a tad unstable, at least from IRay. I don't know if AMD even has a GPU solution so, much as I like apple, if I were shopping today I'd probably look at a Windows box just because of that.
The current Mac Pro is very sexy looking but was, as Apple execs have recently publicly confessed, an overly ambitious exercise in design. Apple is planning a serious rework of the Pro in 2018 so unless I could get a current model at a fire sale I'd pass it by.
Speaking as a Mac user; if 3D is a high percentage of what you use a computer for, you are probably better off sticking with Wintel. There are *loads* of very attractive 3D programs and utilities (in a wide range of price points) which flatly do not run on a Mac, and never will.
3D appears to be about the only graphics category where the Mac is not the leading technology. And it's not. Forget that a lot of the programs were originally developed on/for the Mac. Mac users are fortunate that most of them still even run on our Macs.
Office software, sure. Graphics software, definitely. Retail apps for stores, kinda-sorta. Same for a lot of proprietary apps for other special purposes like teachers and what all. 3D... maybe about 60%
I think Apple have stated they're not entering the telly market, even though they had a number of prototypes. (they also admitted they screwed up with the trashcan Mac Pro, since any kind of internal expansion/upgrade makes it cook in its own juices. Beware of fire sales - they might be literal!). Next year they're promising a new design, and possibly a return to Nvidia.
I have a Wintel box for Iray, and Windows 10 really is as horrid as I imagined. But good at doing Iray. Plus the lack of monitor (mentioned above) means I remote desktop into it from the iMac, and that's a bit of a PITA.
The sofware I most miss not being able to run on MacOS are the external UV mappers (oh, and Microsoft Flight Sim!). Pretty much everything else I need to use day to day runs fine on my Mac.
I was an Exclusive Mac user from the early 1990s
until about 2014.
Largely because of my 20 year career as a Professional
Graphic Designer in the washington DC Metro area
where all the design shops used macs.
However once I got serious about 3D/CG animation I quickly realized that I needed to be on windows.
The best plugins for every 3D application from poser/Daz to C4D,Lightwave are windows only.
Apple is no longer interested in Professional Graphic production.
maybe coding but not CG production.
They are now a consumer "smart device" manufacturer.
On the matter of final cut pro for video
yeah, I have version 5 over on my old macbook and never actually use it.
Frankly it is not designed for the single operator
it is designed for team of editors working on full feature length movies.
This free open source video editor seems to handle all of the pro codecs of final cut
https://www.shotcut.org/
I recommend staying on windows.
Apple will (accoring to their info) release a new Pro Mac sometimes early next year. It will have expansion cards (like the old 2004-2012 alu cases but will be smaller (I guess less space for disks and using SSDs instead. Until then, the best Mac for rendering is an 2012 (with CPU upgrades) from stores like Other World Computing.
I got my first iMac in 2007. I held onto some PCs for awhile, then dumped them, gladly. My biggest grips with Apple: You can't easily upgrade any of their desktops. I can upgrade the RAM on my 2014 27" iMac. I think newer iMacs have soldered-in RAM?! That means you need to choose what you want when you buy it! I've connected my 50" LCD TV to the iMac as a 2nd screen. It worked great for me, at 1080p. But the light from the screen was pretty overwhelming. I've actually run two 24" monitors connected to the iMac. They worked fine. Apple doesn't like nVidia cards these days. That rules out iRay rendering.
do you think the refurbs are safe?
looking at this one - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883104415&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=apple-_-83-104-415-_-Product
lowering my expectations. not for rendering,
just to run final cut pro, video and soundtrack editing.
I don't know about NewEgg. I suggest looking for refurb deals directly on Apple's web site. The units they refurbish receive the best care--and I believe they are tested more thoroughly than the new computers. You are unlikely to get a lemon buying a refurb from Apple.
I've been a Mac addict for 17 years and only recently bought a Win 10 workstation for NVidia rendering. (I studied Apple's site closely because I really wanted to buy a new Mac of some sort, but for 3D stuff they really aren't worth the money right now.) But if you gotta have one for FCP, that's that.
ty
what does Joss Whedon use to edit his movies? lol
A post-production house, I imagine.
Joss whedan is not stting in front of a desktop
packag like FCP
Just to give you some perspective
look at the number of companies involved in
his "Avengers" movie just for the special effects
Cantina Creative (visual effects)
Digital Domain
Evil Eye Pictures (visual effects)
Fuel VFX
Hydraulx
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
Kidz Korner Studio
Legacy Effects (live action suit and practical effects)
Lidar Services (visual effects)
Lola Visual Effects (visual effects)
Luma Pictures (visual effects)
Modus Fx
Mova (facial motion capture)
New Deal Studios
Perception (visual effects)
ScanlineVFX
Stereo D
The Base Studio
The M Group (uncredited)
Third Floor, The (previsualization)
Weta Digital
Whiskytree
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/companycredits ;
Refurbished computers not purchased directly from Apple will not carry an Apple warranty in any way shape or form.
Apple does not discuss time tables for release dates or features you can or cant expect in further generations of Apple devices until they are released. Anyone telling you otherwise is stating rumor, not any facts from Apple.
There are currently no Virus for OS X (as of 10.12 it called Mac OS) reported by any credible Securities Lab in the world. Do not run any commercial anti-virus on Mac unless you want software to conflict with the OS (this includes software sold on Apples "App Store").
Macs are prone to Adware and Malware, but not anywhere near what Windows users can expect. Two products that will remove adware or malware when found are Malwarebytes for Mac (www.malwarebytes.com) and Etrecheck (www.etrecheck.com), neither of these products will protect you from getting malware and the findings on the Apple forums are the current lineup of 3rd party AV does an abominable job of finding them when TSR AV products are not interfering with Mac OS's securities. Keeping your Mac up-to-date with patches from Apple is currently the best software protection to use on Apple Computers.
OS 10.12.5 is the most current version of Mac OS. Previous versions are only available if you owned them at the time they were released with the exception of OS 10.6.8 and 10.7.5 whcih can be ordered on DVD from Apple but will not run on Mac Computers built after the dates when those OS's were in lifecycle.
Apple Computers no longer come with the option for an Nvidia GPU, they use AMD GPU's or Intel Iris Integrated Graphics which share system Memory. Nvidia GPU's can be purchased aftermarket with 3rd party support and inflated price tags as the Chips will need to be flashed and modified to work with Apple hardware (e.g. you can not buy a Nvidia 1080Ti off the shelf and expect it to work even when you have the HW to connect to your TB2 port)
all current 21" iMacs and all current laptop Apple Computers can not be given RAM upgrades after they are purchase. RAM is soldered to the Logic Board and a RAM or GPU/Integrated Graphics repair will require a replacement of the Logic Board so Apple Care is highly suggested.
If you have Mac questions I suggest you also ask the Apple volunteer forum, also if you or anyone else has any doubt about the virus comment or anything else I've stated so far.
support.apple.com
I've used macs for the last 20-something years for graphic design at work, and I have grown to despise them with a passion.
But that's just like my opinion man.
I too worked for over 20 years as Graphic designer for print.
I dont "despise" Macs.
I have just accepted the reality that I need to be on windows
to do any serious 3D work particularly Character Animation.
I've done production on them, and on Windows devices. I support Macs and Windows in a corporate environment for direct to print and video editing. I use a Mac and Windows system at home for 3D and gaming, both platforms have their strong points and weaknesses. Overall for life of a system and minimal replacement and maintenance I find the Mac runs circles around any Windows specific device short of an enterprise server. While there are exceptions to this I find there are very few in corporate deployment. Windows has more options meaning more flexibility, but with far more potential points of failure both HW and especially SW.
The fact you can run Windows on a Mac natively or virtualized and you cant (legally) run OS X on anything but an Apple Computer without compromising the OS to begin with allows for software flexibility on Mac, but unless you go with a 3rd party GPU upgrade you are limited to whatever Apple uses. Right now it's AMD and Intel Iris. The RAM limits on all but the 27" iMac and the Mac Pros is also a concern but while the 20" iMac comes soldered with 8 or 16GB RAM the 27" will accommodate 64 GB RAM, the Mac Pros will accommodate 128GB RAM. Apple has sated they will revisit the Mac Pro line in 2017, which does not mean we can or cant expect a new Mac Pro before Q4, and what HW platform we will see. Apple historically has had issues with Nvidia so I personally would be surprised ot see Apple configure the next generation of computers with anything but AMD cards, but again, total conjecture on my part.
I still use My Older mac for video Editing( Imovie ,FCP)
My C4D is on the Mac and so is my Adobe after effects and Adobe Creative suite.
I bought a PC specifically run the Windows only
Iclone Pro& Natural Motion Endorphin for my character animation work using Daz genesis models.
Totally agree; I've been using Macs since 1984 and for personal use I rely on them; at work, I spend 30-50 hours a week under Windows an roughly the same under Mac, and for the last 15 years I've consistently better software and hardware experiences with the Macs.
-- Walt Sterdan
A longtime Mac user, I now feel I should have a Windows workstation to take advantage of Iray. I am very disappointed in Apple's offerings in recent years. Putting together a proper Windows workstation, however, is very challenging, and a moving target (1080ti rolls along, then the Ryzen processors, etc.) It's pretty frustrating.
You can put a 1080ti in a Mac one of two ways, provided you have a Mac that supports this tech. Newer Macs support the second method I posted. I think the recall/repair issues on the some of the Nvidia equiped MacBook/Pros were the nail on the coffin for Apple and Nvidia but that's just my guess.
http://barefeats.com/cmp_pascal.html
https://9to5mac.com/2017/04/19/akitio-node-gtx-1080-ti-gpu-macbook-pro-gaming-egpu/