# IMac & iMac Pro



## fraz (Jul 14, 2021)

Hi,

Don't wish to spark a major debate but - If some of the members here have used both iMac 2020 & iMac Pro with their home / pro studio - I'd like to hear your views on the above.

iMac Pro is akin to HEDT or X299 / 2066 - But are Xeon CPU's W-2140 8C/16, W-2150 10C/16, W-2170 14C/28 & W-2191 18C/36.

iMac 2020 is I suppose the mainstream equivalent with the i7 & i9's such as i7 10700 K 8C/16 & i9 10910 10C/20.

Single thread goes to the iMac with 3100 approx Passmark points whilst the Xeons in the iMac Pro are around the 2500-2600 mark for single threaded which isn't bad at all.

Cooling is better on the iMac Pro whilst graphics may be better on the iMac but neither is a slouch.

With Intel Macs on the way out for the most part it would be good to hear other peoples real user experiences on these machines especially for low latency real-time recording - And how far you've managed to push them without a failing core etc........

Thanks


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## rnb_2 (Jul 14, 2021)

While I haven't used either, my impression from owners here is that the 2019/2020 27" iMacs largely solved the excessive fan noise issue that plagued earlier iterations, so I don't see much point in going with the iMac Pro any more (especially since it was discontinued without ever being updated). The iMac Pro was a holdover from a time when Apple had decided not to produce a new Mac Pro; once they went back on that decision, the iMac Pro's days were numbered.

On top of the faster single core performance (and multi-core that is at least in the ballpark of the 8-core and 10-core iMac Pro), the regular iMac has user-serviceable RAM, which is a big cost savings for those dealing with very large templates.


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## ScarletJerry (Jul 14, 2021)

I have a 27" 2019 iMac (32 GB of RAM) and I've had no problems using Logic, Kontakt, or any other audio applications. I rarely record more than a 12+ tracks at a time (film score/orchestral ensemble stuff) as point of reference. I haven't really pushed it with a full orchestra template.

Scarlet Jerry


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## jbuhler (Jul 14, 2021)

I have the 2020 i9 iMac with 128GB of RAM and haven't had any issues. It's very quiet, the fan rarely comes on while working with audio programs. (Really the only time I hear it is when I'm rendering or converting video.) I run a full set of tracks on it, one machine (no VEP with sample machines). The only issues I've had are where you'd expect, so I still can't run lots of simultaneous instances of something like SF's Symphonic Motions.

My 2015 iMac i7 quad core 4Ghz with 64GB ran usually with a 512 buffer, and I can reliably run the i9 with a 128 buffer. So that's nice. And the fan comes on with the i7 far sooner and louder than with the i9. But the 2015 machine is still pretty capable, and the i9 was purchased to speed up video work not for the audio improvements, though the latter are very real.


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## khollister (Jul 14, 2021)

I have a 10 core iMac Pro. I have been very happy with it running Logic and Cubase. If I had to buy an Intel Mac today, it would obviously be the iMac i7/i9. While the iMP has the advantages of better cooling and 2 TB controllers, the iMac isn't discontinued, is probably slightly faster and has much cheaper RAM options. 

I also have a M1 MBP as a travel system, and I'm pretty impressed with Logic on it. I'm looking forward to an eventual iMP replacement with either a large AS iMac or Mac Pro "lite" sometime next year (no rush until NI and iLok go native). Amazingly, the little M1 running Logic and Omnisphere natively comes very close to matching the number of tracks I can run on the iMac Pro. The native Diva beta or Kontakt under Rosetta doesn't fare nearly as well - the laptop gets about half the tracks I can manage with the bigger Intel machine.

I'm glad I don't have to purchase a high end Mac right now.


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## Fizzlewig (Jul 15, 2021)

I have an iMac Pro 14 cores with 128gb memory and 4TB SSD since 2017 that replaced a 2012 4 core i7 Mac mini. It’s been a Stella work horse and really reliable. It is a thing of beauty especially with the 5k screen. It’s super quite even when under load. I have an interesting story to tell (not composing) I was working with a developer on a graphics / web application. His application was only using a single core when rendering and exporting so I asked if he could re-write the code to take advantage of the 14 cores. Before the re-write it took 5 hours on a project to render / export that I had created, after he had loaned an iMac Pro and re-coded to use all cores and optimisations the project exported in 11 minutes!!! I was laughing so much when I had activity monitor open and pressed the render button. ALL 14 cores kicked in at max speed, and it is the only time that the fans kicked it!!! As far as composing it has been a wonderful experience, and I have no regrets with the purchase.


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## fraz (Jul 15, 2021)

Hi,

I found these regarding the CPU's for X299 which are virtually the same (as far as I know) - It shows the 14 core has the lowest clock speed on all cores for non_AVX & AVX2 & AVX 512 - So to hear this is not a problem is really good.

People say fewer cores and higher clocks for multi-channel record.

Some people claim the iMac Pro or similar "coughs and splutters" when recording due to lower clocks on all cores.

I've checked out single threaded and the scores are fantastic if they are accurate - In this example below please ignore the 5820K score, I feel this is not correct - as it is better than suggested



Intel Xeon W-2140B @ 3.20GHz vs Intel Xeon W-2150B @ 3.00GHz vs Intel Xeon W-2170B @ 2.50GHz vs Intel Xeon W-2191B @ 2.30GHz vs Intel Core i7-5820K @ 3.30GHz [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software



With Intel Macs on the way out, surely people will miss not being able to use all the apps in years gone by.

I'll leave it there for now so thanks for the feedbacks!


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