# Being "forced" to upgrade



## Mike Fox (Aug 4, 2020)

So my main machine is a 2008 Mac Pro with 8 cores/xeon processor, 64gb of ram, and 4 SSD's. It's a solid system, and i rarely run into CPU issues. The only caveat is that I'm stuck on El Cap, which means no Kontakt 6 for me, which also means missing out on a lot of newer sample libraries. 

I understand the fact that you have to eventually upgrade soon or later (nature of the technology beast, right?), but when you have a machine that's perfectly capable?

....It feels a bit like a slap in the face. 

Now I'm thinking about buying a 2012 Mac Pro with 12 cores that can be had used for around 1K, but that only makes me wonder when Apple will drop support for that as well. It's a vicious cycle, but again, nature of the beast.

Just venting.


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## JohnG (Aug 4, 2020)

I hear you.

If you live in Los Angeles, there's a guy who refurbishes / upgrades Macs. He's worked on mine and at least one other guy who is a full time composer. If you want, PM me and I'll put you in touch. 

My Mac Pro is pretty similar: Early 2009, also 64 GB and 12 core; I'm up to Sierra, but I don't know if I can push my rig any further than that.


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## motomotomoto (Aug 4, 2020)

If you want a longer cycle get a brand new ARM Mac (as soon as they release an iMac or whatever) and you won't have to upgrade for 10 years or more.


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## jcrosby (Aug 5, 2020)

motomotomoto said:


> If you want a longer cycle get a brand new ARM Mac (as soon as they release an iMac or whatever) and you won't have to upgrade for 10 years or more.


Apple's term limit for device support is 7 years. they stick to it like clockwork... The 2009 for example is technically only supported up to 10.11. The 2012 Doesn't technically support past 10.14.6. And while you can flash the 2009's to work as a 2012 it is _technically_ knee-capped by Apple at 10.11.

Although I'm not crazy about the cylinder Mac Pro, a last generation one _should _get you support through 10.15, if not if not beyond before Apple drops support..

Check everymac to see the "Maximum Macos" at the bottom of any mac model's page...





__





All Apple Mac Pro Tech Specs (2006-Present): EveryMac.com


Tech specs for all Apple Mac Pro models from the original to current. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, prices and more.




everymac.com


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## Morning Coffee (Aug 5, 2020)

An option could be to try the dosdude1 patcher tool on a separate boot drive or partition, and give it a test run. Apparently the MP 3,1 can run OS X Sierra, High Sierra or even Mojave (if you have a compatible GPU that supports metal)


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## jcrosby (Aug 5, 2020)

Morning Coffee said:


> An option could be to try the dosdude1 patcher tool on a separate boot drive or partition, and give it a test run. Apparently the MP 3,1 can run OS X Sierra, High Sierra or even Mojave (if you have a compatible GPU that supports metal)


Good point. I actually assumed the OP had tried that. (Never had a 3,1 so assumed he'd looked into it.) If you can go past 10.11 check to see if your machine can run a Sapphire RX580. It's cheap, works straight out of the box, and is fully compatible with 10.13+









Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 PCI-E Dual HDMI / DVI-D / Dual DP OC w/ Backplate (UEFI), 100411P8GOCL - Newegg.com


Buy Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 PCI-E Dual HDMI / DVI-D / Dual DP OC w/ Backplate (UEFI), 100411P8GOCL with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!




www.newegg.com


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## Morning Coffee (Aug 6, 2020)

jcrosby said:


> Good point. I actually assumed the OP had tried that. (Never had a 3,1 so assumed he'd looked into it.) If you can go past 10.11 check to see if your machine can run a Sapphire RX580. It's cheap, works straight out of the box, and is fully compatible with 10.13+
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks.

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 and was only considering doing the Mojave update because I wanted to use the DaVinci Resolve video editor software. From memory, I'm pretty sure the RX series was not compatible with the MP 3,1, but were ok for the 4,1 and 5,1. The safest card for the MP 3,1/ Mojave upgrade path would have been the official Mac Edition of the GTX 680 graphics card, which is rare and expensive card for its age. In the end, I bought an old version of Final Cut Pro for peanuts to do the video stuff, and stayed on OS X El Capitan and Kontakt 5.8. If I find genuine Mac Edition of the GTX 680 at a good price, I might reconsider the OS X Seirra, High Sierra, Mojave options.


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## Michael Antrum (Aug 8, 2020)

JohnG said:


> I hear you.
> 
> If you live in Los Angeles, there's a guy who refurbishes / upgrades Macs. He's worked on mine and at least one other guy who is a full time composer. If you want, PM me and I'll put you in touch.
> 
> My Mac Pro is pretty similar: Early 2009, also 64 GB and 12 core; I'm up to Sierra, but I don't know if I can push my rig any further than that.


I put an Amd RX 580 in mine and running Mojave with no issues at all...


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## Rv5 (Aug 8, 2020)

Mike Fox said:


> So my main machine is a 2008 Mac Pro with 8 cores/xeon processor, 64gb of ram, and 4 SSD's. It's a solid system, and i rarely run into CPU issues. The only caveat is that I'm stuck on El Cap, which means no Kontakt 6 for me, which also means missing out on a lot of newer sample libraries.
> 
> I understand the fact that you have to eventually upgrade soon or later (nature of the technology beast, right?), but when you have a machine that's perfectly capable?
> 
> ...



I had the same thing recently... It stings and especially frustrating when the system is good. But some good things to note: going back to the days processors were breaching the 1ghz mark, tech was moving so fast a computer was outdated pretty much every other month. We've hit an amazing plateau where we're talking about upgrading machines that are over 10 years old. Apple have also made it possible to get a lot out of your MacPro 2009-2012 (the remarkable point there being it's Apple allowing more use of 'old tech', which should be status quo).

First port of call is a graphics card upgrade as you'll need a Metal compatible one for Mojave, here's the list from Apple:





Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012)


Learn how to prepare your Mac Pro (Mid 2010) or Mac Pro (Mid 2012) for macOS Mojave.



support.apple.com





I went with a Radeon Pulse 580 RX and it's working great. With the right GFx it's pretty straight forward to get Mojave on 4,1 (after flashing up to 5,1) and 5,1 systems.

Also recommend upgrading dual CPUs (if you get them) to x5690. Am enjoying the extra boost they give the system.

NVMe drive - will get you 1500 Mbs read/write. An SSD on a PCIe adapter getting 450-500ish.

And of course a USB 3 PCIe card, always a good option.

Official support is an issue depending why you feel it's necessary... as long as there are security updates, which there most likely will be for years to come, they are some worthy (relatively in-expensive) upgrades to get a few more solid years out of your system.


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