Making the move to Mac

[Jase]

I'm thinking of making the move from PC (Windows) to Mac but having had little experience of Macs I'm not 100% sure it's the best route.

A few years ago I wouldn't have considered a Mac as I used the PC for gaming etc. These days I mainly use the PC for Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects but do have a couple of games that I like such as Assetto Corsa.

The first thing on my list is a laptop and I'm pretty much decided that if I go the Mac route I'll get a 15" MacBook Pro with Retina display and luckily my folks have said they'd buy it as a Christmas present.

Where I'm undecided is a computer for home. I had a look at the iMac 5K today and was amazed by the quality of the screen but unfortunately I couldn't see anything running on it. I really don't understand the performance on Mac's so how would this compare to my present computer with an Intel i7 @ 3.2Ghz and GTX 780Ti?

Also what is the main difference between this and the Mac Pro which is much more expensive and doesn't come with a monitor etc?

The other thing is I presently pay monthly for Lightroom and Photoshop CC, I guess I can use the same agreement if I swap to Mac? The other issue for me is I have the Adobe CS6 Master Collection which I purchased for the PC and I guess that is then not usable on the Mac? this could be the sticking point as I can't afford to buy that again (due to losing my job a few weeks ago).

On top of this how easy will the transition from Windows to Mac be? are there disadvantages (other than listed above) to making the move?

Thanks

 

[Jase]

To be honest I don't see a reason to purchase the iMac. It seems like a very expensive investment into something that you're not sure about, especially seeing as you've just lost your job. Upgrading your current machine's processor, motherboard and buying a new display would be the more sensible choice IMO.

Then again, the rMBP would be a fair bit more powerful than your current machine (in terms of CPU performance). So it really depends on which you are going to use as your primary machine. The only issue with the rMBP would be for playing games at higher settings (quite a step down of course from a GTX780Ti).

Thanks, I really don't use my PC for gaming very often these days apart from Assetto Corsa occasionally so this is really for photo/video editing etc. I'm 99.9% decided on the MacBook Pro as I need a good laptop while travelling and I figured for ease of workflow it would be a good idea to work on the same systems at home and away.

My current computer in terms of power does what I need it to although I need a new monitor and I don't want to go down the upgrade path on this PC.

I guess a good idea would be to get the MacBook Pro now and see how I get on with it, I have the option of dual boot into windows also I think. After using it for a while I'll be in a better position to judge the need/want to change the home PC.

With reference the MacBook Pro, is it worth upgrading the "2.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz" to a "2.8GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz"?? the difference is £150

 

[Jase]

MacBook Pro ordered

 

[Jase]

Well Santa delivered as promised

I'm more than happy with it and really impressed by the quality of the laptop and screen. It's going to take some getting used to but I love it!

I am now 99% sure I'm going to get a desktop Mac just need to decide if it's going to be an iMac for Mac Pro.


May as well ask now as I'm not sure, how do you uninstall stuff? is it just a case of deleting it??

Also what good antivirus software is there on the Mac?? on the PC I use NOD32 which I think is great.

 

[Jase]

Thanks for the info guys.

Having worked a few things out I've decided that I am definitely going to get a Desktop Mac.

A couple of questions :

1) If I got the Mac Pro is it at all upgradable in the future ie Memory and Storage?
2) What would be the ideal monitor to get with it (27 inch).. I am quite surprised there is no apple 4K/Retina type monitor

 

[Jase]

1) Upgradable officially, RAM only. Unofficially, basically everything apart from the graphics cards (so that's CPUs, RAM, SSD). The latter two are easy to do.
2) We'll likely see a 5K monitor from Apple once official support arrives for such a resolution (DisplayPort), however right now that doesn't exist (and the 5K iMac is the only 5K display you can get).

OK, How far off do you think that new apple monitor is? also is it then usable with the present Mac Pro? what I'm thinking is getting the Mac Pro now and using my current monitor and then buy the new one when it comes out.

I've got a few things lined up from the start of the year and that's why I want to get settled now and not swap everything in the middle of projects etc.

Fallen God: Mainly going to be used for Lightroom/Photoshop but also Premiere Pro/After Effects just not sure how much of the later 2 and they're the ones that need the power usually.

 

[Jase]

I had pretty much decided on the iMac 5K last night but then I spotted something which I'm not sure if it's a concern or not. That something is the colour gamut. Although it has 100% sRGB it only covers 78% Adobe RGB.

How much difference that makes in the real world of photo editing etc I'm not sure. I'm really happy with the MacBook Pro's screen but haven't done a side by side comparison between it and my Dell monitor for colour reproduction.

I don't want to get the iMac only to find out that I need to buy another monitor, if that was the case maybe I am better off getting a Mac Pro.

Any advise would be welcome!

 

[Jase]

I'm not huge into photography but from my understand almost everything is based on sRGB and Adobe RGB is wider but since its rarely used its a bit of loss, I used to work in a professional printing company at some point and they used to calibrate it once a month to 100% sRGB.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbzXqqeC5vc

From what I've read everything is sRGB so you might as well use sRGB for shooting etc etc. My main concern would be with the iMac is that where close to 20nm GPUs and that really should improve things but I have no idea if Apple care about that.

Cheers, I think there's arguments for either way but it's true most things are sRGB so I guess it does make things easier keeping the workflow that way.

 

[Jase]

why don't you just get a large monitor and just run it out of your macbook pro. I do that all the time and it works an absolute treat, don't see why you would bother buying another mac. especially when you don't have a job

I ordered an adaptor today so I can use the Macbook with my current monitor for a trial. I've always had a PC and Laptop and found it to be ideal as I always had a backup if something went wrong or I could set up a process on one and continue to work with the other etc. That and I have my mind set on one now so that's not going to change