iMac to Mac Pro

Marlie · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:34

Hi guys I'm selling my imac due to converting my office in house to a nursery for the new addition. So I'm buying a Mac Pro instead. I know there is limited space in a Mac Pro so is it possible to run iTunes and apperture via an external HD?

Darryn · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:38

The MacPro gives you 4 internal HDD bays, so you can easily add extra HDDs and yes you could also run your iTunes or Aperture library from an external USB,Firewire or NAS HDD.

Marlie · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:40

Thanks, didn't know about the 4 internal HDD. What is the maximum hd you can put in each internal then?

bloodiedathame · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:40

You can also put an SSD in the spare superdrive space

3TB drives in each bay.

Nexus · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:40

Do you mean a MacBook Pro?

As a Mac Pro doesn't really seem like much of a space saver given your reason for selling an iMac, as you need a monitor and somewhere to put the tower, not to mention a Mac Pro is expensive.

As said above, it has four harddrive bays internally on a Mac Pro.

Marlie · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:44

Oops sorry I meant MacBook Pro retina

bloodiedathame · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:46

Well first off don't get a retina unless you do lots of text work a foot away from the screen.

Secondly I believe the non-retina 15inch has a superdrive which you can take out, so you could in a 1TB 2.5" in that, and have another in the other HDD bay or put an SSD in, whatever tickles your fancy.

Marlie · 27 Feb 2013 at 21:49

What's wrong with the retina? Yes would like more space instead of using an external hardrive. My main use is photos/web browsing/ download movies and big iTunes libary

bloodiedathame · 27 Feb 2013 at 22:03

I'm sure it's good for certain things (as I said type on screen, code, books etc) but paying extra for a screen that is inconceivably better for anything else is daft in my opinion. Also I hate the fact that you cannot upgrade the retina version yourself, it's glued together, you'd have to pay Apple to upgrade it for you and thus use expensive Apple drives/RAM etc.

MagicBoy · 27 Feb 2013 at 22:48

Glued together? No. Battery and display assembly might be glued but that's about it. The bottom of the machine still uses screws.

The Retina MacBooks are essentially not upgradeable. The SSD is a proprietary apple type and the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Buy the spec you want at the time of purchase and live with it.

Me? I bought a late 2011 model before they banjaxed them. It's got lovely Ethernet built in, and I've just chucked my own choice of SSD in.

bloodiedathame · 27 Feb 2013 at 23:26

MagicBoy said:
Buy the spec you want at the time of purchase and live with it.

Spoken like a true Dictator.

Likewise, 2011 MBP and 2008 MBP here.

joebingo · 28 Feb 2013 at 01:53

bloodiedathame said:
I'm sure it's good for certain things (as I said type on screen, code, books etc) but paying extra for a screen that is inconceivably better for anything else is daft in my opinion. Also I hate the fact that you cannot upgrade the retina version yourself, it's glued together, you'd have to pay Apple to upgrade it for you and thus use expensive Apple drives/RAM etc.

Retina is nice, but yes, not particularly good value for what it achieves.

AbsenceJam · 28 Feb 2013 at 05:28

bloodiedathame said:
Well first off don't get a retina unless you do lots of text work a foot away from the screen.

What? The screen is fantastic, to the point that I actually use it over a much larger external display much of the time now, and I don't even have great eyesight...

Alpherah · 28 Feb 2013 at 09:51

You can store your iTunes and iPhoto/Lightroom/Aperture lib's on an external drive, I do it

works great - so dont fret too much over space.

bloodiedathame · 28 Feb 2013 at 09:55

AbsenceJam said:
What? The screen is fantastic, to the point that I actually use it over a much larger external display much of the time now, and I don't even have great eyesight...

I'm sure you think it is. And that's fine.

MagicBoy · 28 Feb 2013 at 10:18

I just thought - it's not like the iMac is a hulking great beast of a gaming PC with lots of separate parts strewn all over the place that would drive the Mrs spare. Surely if you can find somewhere other than a sofa that you would use a laptop you can put the existing iMac there. Corner of the living room/bedroom etc?

AbsenceJam · 28 Feb 2013 at 22:04

bloodiedathame said:
I'm sure you think it is. And that's fine.

What a stupid response. Really?

bloodiedathame · 1 Mar 2013 at 10:23

AbsenceJam said:
What a stupid response. Really?

Nope, if you're happy with your purchase, that's fine.

But if I start telling you that you've spent a great deal of money on something that in all honesty is pointless, you're not going to like it. I could send you a number of links to research regarding resolutions the retina can detect at given distances but I don't want to make you feel bad.

Overall it wasn't a stupid response really was it? Because this response will just provoke an argument I can't be bothered to repeat.

Leezy · 1 Mar 2013 at 11:19

+1 for Late 2011 model Macbook Pro 15.

Bought mine about 10 months ago, swapped the 500gb mechanical standard hdd with a crucial M4 256gb after about a month and its rapid. Never see the loading rainbow ball at all.
Im glad I went for this one and not the retina, yes the screen is nice but the lack of customisable parts Im just not a fan of.
Even though my macbook loads stuff instantly, I'm still on the standard 4gb of Ram and can easily double that to 8gb with the kit from Crucial in the future, but at this moment It just doesn't need it.

AbsenceJam · 3 Mar 2013 at 21:29

bloodiedathame said:
Nope, if you're happy with your purchase, that's fine.

But if I start telling you that you've spent a great deal of money on something that in all honesty is pointless, you're not going to like it. I could send you a number of links to research regarding resolutions the retina can detect at given distances but I don't want to make you feel bad.

Overall it wasn't a stupid response really was it? Because this response will just provoke an argument I can't be bothered to repeat.

Oh please do share them with us.