Print Sale Update / Ctein's Thoughts on Mac Studio

I'm still working on the Baker's Dozen, I haven't forgotten. Very wrapped up in this piece I'm trying to put together for that other outlet. I might submit it tomorrow, so that'll be that one done.

Ctein wrote to say that all the infrared prints from the sale have shipped. If you haven't gotten either your print(s) or a notification from USPS that it's on the way, please contact Ctein at [email protected]

I invited him to write a column giving us his thoughts about the new Mac Studio, and below is what he replied—written as a casual email, mind you. I have his permission to share.

Ctein: "I wouldn't mind writing something about the Mac Studio, but at this point I have nothing coherent nor useful to say. My thoughts are too muddled. I need to straighten them out before I'll have anything worth adding to the chatter.

"The two things that are most messing with my head (there are others) is that, first, I have little interest in the M[x] chips. The switchover, in fact, will cause me problems when I'm forced into it. Which is, hopefully, not going to happen any time soon.

"The second is that I am unreasonably fond of the 27" 5K iMac. And I do think it's unreasonable. My last-year's 16" MacBook Pro runs rings around my now-ancient (2014) iMac, along with providing me with a dual monitor setup (I have the LG 5K 27" monitor), which has better color and a larger gamut. Plus having twice as much RAM as my maxed-out iMac. There is no sensible reason why I should prefer working on the iMac. Well, I'm allowed to have my idiosyncrasies, but I don't understand this one and it makes it hard to write usefully about the New Apple Order.

"The likely reality is that if my iMac were to give up the ghost tomorrow, I'd go out and buy the final-generation 27" iMac, either refurbished from Apple or used from one of the reputable dealers, in the minimum RAM configuration, populate it with RAM from Other World Computing, and I'd be spending half as much as a Mac Studio would cost me. And that would likely carry me for another 6–8 years... or until Apple decides to stop supporting the Intel chips entirely."

Note that Ctein does professional printing and restoration, so he falls into the pro user category. I believe he paid top dollar for his 5K 27" iMac when it was the very latest thing, so it's nice to hear that he got his money's worth out of it, both in terms of years of use and his positive feelings for it.

By the way, I'm far from an expert on computers—actually more the opposite—but I read enough of Daring Fireball yesterday to find out that it's pretty well accepted that the 27" iMac is now dead. I had two of them, the second being a 2011 that's still sitting here looking for a home. The only reason I went to a separate CPU and monitor was that I work on a porch, surrounded on three sides by windows, and I needed a monitor that could cope with glare better. I still can't do critical work on photos in the daytime. But my NEC MultiSync PA272W solved the glare problem—it has a non-glare surface and a hood.

And in local news...
It's like mid-Winter here today—five or six inches of fresh snow and 17°F (–8°C). The difference is that we're due for a warm-up tomorrow. The anti-icing wires on the pool table shed are working nicely, so no ice dams! Personally, I count today as the first day of Spring, despite the weather. With Daylight Savings Time newly returned, it should be light till 7:00 or even a little later, and don't think I'm not grateful. Those dark Winter evenings can feel awfully lonely. The seven Temperate Months (capitalized out of reverence), roughly April through October, are the reason to live in the Finger Lakes. Bring it on!

27-inch 5K iMac new at B&H Photo: i5, 8 GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $1,799; i9, 32 GB RAM, 2TB SSD, $3,699 (that's the low end and high end; there are other configurations in the middle).

Mike
(Thanks to Ctein)

Book of Interest this Week

Gregory Crewdson: Alone Street. "Filmic" seems the best single adjective to describe Gregory Crewdson's work; his directed and carefully managed tableau are the still photography version of scenes in movies. As such they are hyper-real; more beautiful than life and more poetic, and more concerted. They're also very easy to enjoy and a pleasure to look at.

This book link is a portal to Amazon.

Today at B&H Photo

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Thom Hogan: "I'm with Ctein for the most part. A recent 27" iMac 5K Retina configured properly is an excellent tool that should be long-lived (though Apple's yearly macOS updates have many of us living behind the times intentionally).

"Thing is, the 24" M1 iMac fills the need for those who want a lithe all-in-one, and as Mike has noted with his need for a separate monitor to get glare/positioning benefits, a Mac mini or lower Mac Studio model with the proper 4K/5K monitor is probably a perfect replacement for the 27" iMac.

"Those of us with iMac 5K's almost certainly have a small farm of peripherals hanging out on the desk (mine are about 3x the area of a Mac Studio), so the notion of a separate box really isn't an issue. Macsales.com has some very nice boxes that would stack under a Mac Studio and actually take up less space than my current drive boxes when all is said and done.

"As far as I'm concerned, Apple has done a good job of rationalizing the M1 Macs. Portables in 13, 14, 16" sizes, mini, Studio, iMac 24", and later this year a Pro. This is the best set of choices we've had in a long time. I'm not sure that a 27" iMac M1 adds much to the lineup. Indeed, if Apple were to provide one, I'm pretty sure that it would have to be Max/Ultra and the 24" would have to remain plain M1, which is what the mini/Studio distinction is right now."

John Krumm: "My Sierra Juniper just arrived and it looks fantastic. Off to the frame shop."

Bill Beebe: "I certainly understand a strong attachment to any technology or tool, especially if that tool has served you well and allowed you to make a living in your chosen profession. I have experienced the same, but from a pure engineering viewpoint. (I use a camera, and my output can be charitably described as hobbyist).

"What Ctein might be reacting to is the cost of the new M1 variant Mac minis. Let me speak to cost from my perspective.

"I'm fortunate enough that I have a 2019 16" MBP fully equipped with an i9, max memory, and 4TB SSD. That cost $6K. It's a workhorse given to me in 2020 to help complete a contract, and believe me I put it to very good use. Later, I was able to pick up a 2020 13" MPB with the basic M1 (i.e. just 8 cores), on sale for $1.5K. That became my field computer because the idea of carrying $6K of computer out of the house became untenable.

"I can say, without exaggeration, that the 13" will keep up with the 16" with 1/4 the memory, even if the 13" has to hit swap. There are use cases for which the 16" has to be used due to its 64GB memory. But for a lot of other basic use cases, I can't tell the difference in performance.

"But I can certainly tell the difference in battery life. What makes the 13" such a keeper is the speed combined with its very long battery life while out testing in the field. I can run at least eight hours of solid work before I even have to think of hitting the charger. The 16" by comparison sucks down a battery like it's going out of style.

"I understand and appreciate why Ctein uses what he uses, but I hope in the future he'll see that the Apple Silicon based Macs will benefit him even more than Intel based Macs, especially when mobile."

Comments

[Trevor Johnson]

An excellent and very nuanced reply from Ctein, as expected.

The 27inch iMac with 5k monitor, the monitor was essentially given away. And whilst the medisaphere tie themselves in knots, the real-life benefits of the M1 Ultra, etc., melt away in the the seconds it takes to take the card out, insert, backup etc......

[John Krill]

I use a 16GB MacMini M1. I'll be damed if I can keep up with it. I swear it is mocking me for being so slow.

[James]

Let me clarify what I had said earlier about the new Mac Studio. Here is what I think has happened. The Mac Pro has gone so far upscale and so far up in price that it has achieved orbit. The new Mac Studio is only a "midrange" computer compared to that. Back on Earth, it occupies the place the higher end macs used to. A better computer for those who have some extra money, whether they need a better computer or not.

And for those who prefer not to get the last gasp Intel machines, why not wait for the new Mac Minis later this year? Macbook pros have SD card slots, maybe it will too.

[Rick in CO]

Three cheers for my 27" iMac 2017 with 40 GB Ram! Enough workarounds to get my older peripherals to work with Big Sur that I may never upgrade again. Bought my daughters old iBook to use CS6!

[John McMillin]

My 2020 Intel IMac came with the anti--glare screen option, and it's been a godsend. My home office is no dingy basement, but a sunny room formerly used as a potting shed. Now I can work any time of the day.

[Markus Fischer]

Ctein may as well use his iMac as the monitor for a Mac Studio. Gives him the best of both worlds plus the FRONT SD slot which is the only reason to buy the Mac Studio after all.

Best regards
Markus Fischer

[Alex Mercado]

I'm not usually the conspiratorial type, but the quiet removal of Target Display Mode from Mojave and on suddenly makes sense.

[Joe]

Ctein wrote "The switchover, in fact, will cause me problems when I'm forced into it. Which is, hopefully, not going to happen any time soon."

What problems?

My daughter just switched to an M1 MacBook for her video work. We used Apple's Migration Assistant to move to the new machine and she was up and running in something like an hour or two. No problems.

[Carl Weese]

Was there something special about 2014? Like Ctein's iMac, my MacBook Pro, usually docked to a 27" Apple thunderbolt display, is running perfectly going on 8 years of service. I've never gotten that many years out of any previous computer. The only issue is that it is now ophaned at Big Sur OS and may be in trouble if Apple stops issuing security updates for Big Sur.

[Ctein]

Dear folks,

Well, since people have asked...

The iMac I bought in 2014, upgraded to 32 GB of RAM, cost only about 5% less than the Mac Studio + 5K monitor in the 64 GB configuration. So, yeah, I'm used to spending in that range for a computer. Money isn't the issue.**

The Apple silicon compatibility issues I have are that I'm dealing with a lesser version of John Camp's problem — a certain amount of Windows software I need to be running — which I can currently do in Parallels running the versions of Windows that I own already. Which will NOT run on an Mx processor! Windows 11 on ARM won't handle my particular needs. Other's mileage will differ.

** ((On the other hand... if I had to buy new tomorrow and I bought a most-recent-model (2020) 27" 5K iMac, I'd go for this configuration: mid-range CPU, best GPU, 1 TB SSD, 8 GB RAM:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1582169-REG/apple_z0zx_mxwv_56_bh_imac_27_3_8g_8c_10g_i7_8gb_1tb_rp_5700_xt.html

plus 32x2 GB of RAM from Other World Computing:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/2666DDR4S64P/

and it would be a grand less than the Mac Studio. If I bought a used/refurbished 2020 27" 5K iMac, even less. Plus I'd have the option of pushing it up to 128 GB.))

- pax \ Ctein
[ Please excuse any word-salad. Dragon Dictate in training! ]
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-- Ctein's Online Gallery. http://ctein.com 
-- Digital Restorations. http://photo-repair.com 
======================================

[Neil]

My 2019 iMac turned to near junk after moving to Big Sur. Slow as
Can be. Even multiple calls couldn’t provide a solution. Why didn’t they tell me the Hybrid or whatever they called their HD was worthless now. I watched YouTube and added a Samsung T5 SSD external Boot drive. Ya Dah!! Not junk anymore. It’s back to a great tool.

[Matt O'Brien]

I could never understand why Apple did not offer a medium to high end standalone desktop offering (ie non integrated screen). I think the Studio Mac fixes that major gap. For some, the migration to this device is a double whammy, as they need to purchase a screen as well as a desktop. I am glad that Apple have also released a screen. I am mainly a Windows user, but I like to see the Apple ecosystem prosper and if I had not built a top of the range PC myself in the last little while I would seriously consider migrating from Windows to the Mac Studio.

[Kirk]

Still very happy with my iMac Pro (2017) with a 3.2GHz 8-Core Intel Xeon W processor, 64 GB of 2666 MHz DDR4 memory, Two Terabyte SSD, and Radeon Pro Vega 56 8GB.

No wait time for even large raw files and very good with 4K video. It's a nice machine for daily professional work and the 5K monitor is lovely.

I've already gotten more than my money's worth and if I felt the need to upgrade it would probably be to one of the new M1 Max 16 inch laptops and the new monitor.

This stuff just works and works and works. No I.T. staff needed.

[Earl Dunbar]

I bought a late 2015 iMac 5K 27” several years ago and eventually populated it with a bunch of OWC memory (40GB total) added a Thunderbolt RAID enclosure with drives, connected an existing 24” HDMI monitor, and I’m set for my desktop needs. For portable I use a 10.7” IPad Pro with a Logi keyboard case. Once the Files app was added to iOS/iPadOS devices, I no longer had a need for a MacBook for what I do.