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Is it dumb to buy a used 2013 Mac Pro in 2019?

Matt Riley

Active Member
I have a 2013 3.5 Ghz iMac quad-core with 32Gig Ram and a 1TB Fusion drive. I run some Logic X templates with several hundred tracks with VIs hosted in VEP6 on my 6-core PC server machine. I have an Apollo Twin thunderbolt interface. Performance seems to suffer when I use 50 or more of my tracks. Raising the buffer in Logic and the number of buffers in VEP helps but I often still have bad performance with the disk and I get the overload message from Logic which stops the audio.

I’m thinking about selling my iMac and buying a used 2013 Mac Pro. I’ve noticed that the prices are coming down quite a bit on eBay. Is this a dumb idea? If not, how many cores would you recommend?
 
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I've considered those but not anymore. They are 6 years old and it won't be long before you can't upgrade the OS. I would go for a 2019 iMac. The top tier is 8 core i9 3.6 GHz, up to 5.0 turbo boost. If you get it with the stock 8 gigs of ram it's like $2700. You'd have to add the price of 3rd party ram to that as well.

That's the computer I'm considering right now. It's new, it's way powerful and while not cheap, it's not out of control expensive either.
 
I'd go for a new Mac Mini with the 8700k processor or an iMac. I use the 9900k cpu that's in the top tier iMac on my Windows build with Cubase and it's pretty amazingly hard to choke it. The iMac might throttle it a bit due to heat but it should still be good.
 
I’m thinking about selling my iMac and buying a used 2013 Mac Pro. I’ve noticed that the prices are coming down quite a bit on eBay. Is this a dumb idea? If not, how many cores would you recommend?

Depends on the price its still a great computer. But Apple will probably pull the plug on compatibility, which means as long as you can live with about 3-5 more years out of it for the price you're paying, then why not?

I have a 2012 MacPro, still going strong, those are good value too.
 
Depends on the price its still a great computer. But Apple will probably pull the plug on compatibility, which means as long as you can live with about 3-5 more years out of it for the price you're paying, then why not?

I have a 2012 MacPro, still going strong, those are good value too.
If they pull the plug on compatibility, wouldn’t that affect the macs that they are currently selling?
 
somewhat. They already announced that the 5,1 MacPros would not be supported in Catalina but the truth is that a lot of people don't care yet and they are about the same price now as they were a couple years ago. These 2012 machines are still highly usable and still demand a price. The price is not going to plummet any time soon. Eventually it will. With the new MacPros being so expensive a lot of people are still finding value with these, which keeps the price up. When nobody wants them anymore the price will come down and you probably won't yours anymore either by then.
 
I'd go for a new Mac Mini with the 8700k processor or an iMac. I use the 9900k cpu that's in the top tier iMac on my Windows build with Cubase and it's pretty amazingly hard to choke it. The iMac might throttle it a bit due to heat but it should still be good.

A number of studios seem to be going this way -- Mac Mini.
 
It's not dumb as long as there's no way that you can afford the new Mac Pros coming out very soon. Even if you can get the entry model of the new Mac Pro, it's still worth it because you can upgrade it over the years. Otherwise, you're going to be buying an MP 2013, and then an MP 2019. I would consolidate your purchases and your money into getting one machine that's going to last you 7-10 years...especially since you can upgrade it.
 
If I got the new Mac mini, wouldn’t I take a hit from the lower clock speed? My current iMac is 3.5 Ghz and the Mac mini is 3.2 Ghz.
 
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I realize that. They are next in line for Apple to throw off a cliff. I still don’t see that as a problem if the price is right
 
Is it worth it to upgrade the mac mini to 10-gigabit ethernet? Right now I'm using a 1 gigabit connection to my PC.
 
I am not a HD music person, just play around the edges. Apple abandoned my 2012 Mac Mini with Catalina, so in 2018 I bought a 6 core 2013 MacPro for $1850 480GB SSD, 32 GB RAM...and it is luggable. I do some development work on the side, otherwise a power user, but, I hate portables and all-in-one iMacs - the monitor is about the weakest part of computing hardware, and if it goes out on your iMac or portable, you are stuffed till it is fixed. I have been a Mac guy since 1984 and I used to work at Apple. My research suggests the 2013 MacPro will have a longer life by a lot compared to previous MacPros because it supports Metal and Apple will not want to p...s off all those folks that liked the idea of the 2103 MacPro even though it was not a block buster, a lot of people bought some very expensive hardware. Or wait till the first few years of Mac Pro 2019 hit the used market at much lower prices, then go for it.
 
I think Mac Pro 2013 (trashcan) is a beautifully designed computer, if only there could be option for 1 graphic card only, more USB ports, thunderbolt 3, etc. If you can get it for a good price, it still can be good (still supports Catalina).

I am having hard time recommending it to my friend - i somehow still like it, but there are way more powerful Mac computers now. The problem I have with Mac Mini and iMac is cooling. I read so many reviews and insights about thermals and fan noise etc, and the fact that it is all-in-one design. Better option for cooling is iMac Pro, but again all-in-one design.

So, 1 option is to wait for the new Mac Pro 2019, and see what the prices for certain configurations will be :-D Oh, I know, insanely pricey :-D
 
If I got the new Mac mini, wouldn’t I take a hit from the lower clock speed? My current iMac is 3.5 Ghz and the Mac mini is 3.2 Ghz.

It would run circles around your current Mac, the processor is 6 years newer. You could at least try one out and return it within 14 days if you don't like it.
 
You are right about the number of USB ports and lack of THB 3...You definately want bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Monitor connections no issue, plenty of adapter cables avaiable so you can use the TB2 ports as well a the HDMI. External cheap USB drives need a $80 adapter to use the THB2 ports for more USB support.
 
Nooo pls.

Clock speeds are not a good way to look at a processor. A newer comparable processor will almost always be better. Not to mention better I/O, new software updates, faster RAM, ect. ect.
 
On the 2013 Mac Pro you also don't have (and can't upgrade to) HDMI 2.0 - which is bad news for those who want to use TVs as computer screens. And no TB3/USB-C either.

That said the 2013 Mac Pro is decent - if you get it for a good price. Mac Minis cap out at 64GB RAM - you might hit that ceiling sooner than facing Apple dropping MacOS compatibility on the 2013 Pro's. Those all-in-one iMacs out-date themselves even faster by not being serviceable and upgradable. But in the end it all depends on what you need personally. Workflows have become more and more an individual thing, so a blanket statement of what machine is good right now can only help so far.
Personally, I think whoever can't afford the new Mac Pro might want to look at a Windows solution. You get so much more bang for the buck in the middle and lower price ranges.
 
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