I need a new—ugh—computer

[Doug Robinson]

I’ve have an iMac for almost 10 years and OS is Yosemite 10.10 something. Fir the past year certain programs refused to

open unless I upgraded the OS which I could not, and safari started having problems. I switched to Firefox and that worked until I foolishly updated it—now it won’t open either!

 

to make things worse, I live in central Mexico—my retail options are Costco and stores like Liverpool which is similar to a Macy’s.

 

ordering by mail from the US is way too expensive due to duties and import taxes.

 

i record and mix in logic. I’m not a power user but sometimes I’m mixing album projects with lots of audio tracks. Other than that, it’s Facebook and documents and photos.
 

any thoughts?
 

 

[cphollis]

At one level, just about any modern computer you find via retail would do, or consider the iPad which some are doing.  Given you are on Apple, I'd stay there.  Going back and forth between MacOS and Windows can be more confusing that I would like.  I've seen a guy doing mobile recording on an iPad, and then mixdown on a Mac, which struck me as an interesting combination.

[Motif88]

I finally had to put my late 2014 27" 5k iMac out to pasture. Since I needed 64GB RAM, I went with a Mac Studio. I'm sure it will last me at least 6-7 years.

 

[Bill H.]

If you have Costco at your disposal, I think you're in a pretty good spot. I picked up an HP Pavilion at Costco last week for hundreds less than anywhere else. Right now here in the States they have MacBook Airs on sale for under $800 - not sure if a 13.3" screen and 256G SSD would work for you though. Least expensive MacBook Pro with 16" screen and 512G SSD is $1800 - which would be my minimum. But I'm a PC guy, so don't have anything to add other than that. 

[Biggles]

Go to NAMM and go Shopping

[KuruPrionz]

See what Costco can do for you. 

My 2014 MacBook Pro took a hit while moving and it's more or less done. 

A while back I picked up an Apple refurbished M1 Mac mini with 16gb RAM and a 512gb SSD. It's plenty fast for recording. I do use external drives for storage.

You'll need a monitor but most any HDMI monitor will work fine. 

You should be able to use your keyboard and mouse, you will probably want a USB hub. 

This one is probably too small but it's also cheap. Maybe go to your Costco and order something with more RAM and storage.

https://www.costco.com/mac-mini-–-apple-m1-chip-8-core-cpu%2C-8-core-gpu-–-8gb-memory-–-256gb-ssd-–--silver.product.100694159.html

[Doug Robinson]

Thanks, all. Sounds like I’m on my way to Costco soon. I can’t believe how quickly things go bad. I can’t open SoundCloud now with my browser. I can’t empty my cache— I give it the command, and it just stares at me.

[cphollis]

You can get a very inexpensive computer (e.g. Mac) if you're willing to live with external storage for your recordings, which is what I do on my ancient Macbook Air.  There is more than enough CPU and memory on all the Mac models for what you want to do.  Storage, not so much.

[Docbop]

Since you're a Logic user I would say look at one of the new Mac Mini M2's the prices aren't too bad.   You'll need a monitor, mouse, and keyboard but they should be easy to find at good price where you're at.   If you can make to quick trip across the border you can easily fit the mini in your suitcase coming home.   Could get a friend in US buy one, then "technically" sell it to you as used that usually lowers fees and etc. 

[RABid]

If going with a Mac you really need to get one with an upgrade to the storage. The newly designed M chips have dual access to storage for increased speed, but base models with small ssd’s use single ssd’s which slow them down. Even one step up in ssd size gives you a dual drive for faster access. I got mine from Amazon but you can buy direct from Apple.

[o0Ampy0o]

The OP said buying online and having it shipped is extra expensive because he is outside the US.

 

"...ordering by mail from the US is way too expensive due to duties and import taxes."

 

That rules out Apple Certified Refurbished and custom upgrade options.

 

Increasing storage can be handled externally.

 

I have not seen the M chip equipped iMacs at my local Costco yet even though iMacs were offered until they ran out of Intel chip equipped inventory. They are offered online at Costco.com so Costco has access to inventory if none are on display and at your local warehouse yet, (of course your location will be a factor as they are not yet available at all Costcos even in the U.S.).

 

[Docbop]

Interesting comparison of the Mac Mini M2 Pro  versus  Mac Studio  with the M1 Max chip.     They test both audio and video.   The two were pretty similar until they test video then the Mac Studio M1 Max and it's boatload of GPU cores won big.     So for audio the little Mac Mini's are worth looking at. 

 

 

[D. Gauss]

9 hours ago, Doug Robinson said:

any thoughts?
 

 

yes.  in the future, once you get your recording computer set up and working properly for music:  Disable your wifi/ethernet and never let your computer be online again!  Buy a crappy, cheap com-pu-tor for email/interwebs, etc.

[Mark Schmieder]

I can relate as I was about to switch to Windows (once I'm out of my financial hole) until getting brave enough to upgrade from Monterey to Ventura yesterday. It fixed most of my issues, such as Apple Mail not showing email contents for 90 minutes or more; a killer when you're constantly involved in time-sensitive communications. Browser issues as well, mostly better after the upgrade.

 

I am on a 2017 iMac, and Ventura is the final macOS upgrade that will work on this computer, according to previously published information from Apple, so I can see how you'd be in an even worse bind. I still think my next computer will be an HP vs. Apple, but Ventura has given me a bit of a lifeline on macOS for now.

 

The newer square desktop macs (I forget the name: Mac Studio? or even recent versions of the Mac mini) might be good options for you, then you can buy a cheap or used monitor. Try to aim for one that has enough connectivity, or add a quality (relatively speaking; they're all trash and fail easily) USB hub from OWC.

[Mark Schmieder]

Unfortunately, the advice about not being on-line is almost impossible to meet anymore, as more and more vendors require internet handshake to verify legitimate license, even if only at the start of a session. I wish this was not the case. The worst is when the "user manual" menu item or keyboard shortcut brings up the browser, which you just closed due to it being a resource hog.

[Bill H.]

53 minutes ago, Mark Schmieder said:

I still think my next computer will be an HP vs. Apple, but Ventura has given me a bit of a lifeline on macOS for now.

Not to derail this thread too much, but the three HP Pavilion laptops I've purchased over the last 12 years are all still running strong. Because they're reasonably priced, I move on to the current model every 4 years or so rather than try to upgrade. The one I purchased last week is blazing fast with much more solid Bluetooth. The previous one had problems dropping connections at times. E-mail has been instantaneous on all of them, but for family and club I use Google Voice. That way I only have to open my e-mail once a day. 

 

All came with a numpad which is important to me. In Traktor Pro I use the numbers as hot keys to various functions, which is a huge help when DJing clubs. 

 

Purchased a Lenovo somewhere in there, but it only lasted two years - ribbon connector issues. Just personal experience - I don't mean to imply anything other than that. 

[stoken6]

I'm enjoying working at a x86 desktop computer - 2 big monitors, ergonomic keyboard, vertical mouse and I've upgraded the RAM and added a second SSD myself.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Doug Robinson]

I checked some kind of chart online and it seems I can still go up to Ventura on this model, although I might just go to Catalina or vice versa.

 

I imagine that upgrading an entire operating system can be quite a pain in the butt, right?

[David Emm]

6 hours ago, Doug Robinson said:

I checked some kind of chart online and it seems I can still go up to Ventura on this model, although I might just go to Catalina or vice versa.

I imagine that upgrading an entire operating system can be quite a pain in the butt, right?

 

That depends on how many apps you have to upgrade. Some software houses jump right on these things; others languish for ages. If you're committed to something with a top-heavy subscription format or complex licensing, you could be in limbo for some time. Be prepared to pay semi-dearly when they get around to the next version. I know some Adobe users have their tales to tell. 

 

For musical purposes, its at least somewhat easier. All of my Logic data walked casually onto the M1 platform intact. Most of my 3rd-party instruments came from companies who were surprisingly prompt about the conversions. There's a lot to be said for freezing a system at a certain point. I semi-freeze, because I was by Gawd going to have some Cherry Audio offerings. There's a decent time frame during which you can build your best overall system, but you have to be mindful of some things falling to the side.   

 

Its not the OS aspect that's a PITA; its the hangnails of software you want to maintain that are lagging behind or which stop cold at version X.uh-oh.  

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Surprisingly, the Ventura upgrade only took a few hours; whereas every Monterey incremental update took around 18 hours! My computer performance issues of the past year or so, are now mostly gone, so I will stick with macOS until my current setup is obsolete, at which time I likely will switch to Windows as I don't like the direction Apple has been going in but Windows 10 is pretty good (everyone I know hates Windows 11 so far though). If I switch from DP to Bitwig, I could go Linux, I suppose. 🙂

 

I tend to do incremental updates/upgrades even when I "leap" ahead, which is something I've done a few times. Some of my expert friends at Apple say it is safer to "pass through" each OS on the way to the target update than to skip ahead by two or more versions. I even did the final Monterey update Sunday morning before doing the Ventura upgrade that afternoon. I didn't even use Migration Assistant this time, and had less trouble afterwards than any upgrade I've ever done on a Mac!

[Michael W]

Late to the conversation here, but I needed a new computer a couple of years ago and chose the Mac Mini M1.  Bought a gorgeous LG QHD 27" monitor and a 1TB Samsung SSD for my sound libraries.  

 

No doubt the M2 machines are faster, but to be honest the M1 just screams compared to my old iMac.  Can run a half-dozen software instruments simultaneously with ease (I don't typically use more than that at one time).  Gobs of audio tracks with a video playing and the whole thing streaming online via OBS with no issues.  No complaints.

 

 

[Old Music Guy]

OP: Did you make a "rescue" disk for your Mac before you upgraded? Try running that. 

I'm right now in the middle of resurrecting an old Acer w/ Win10 for a friend. I dropped in an SSD and cloned the HDD, put in a new CD ROM  and a memory upgrade.

Had I made a rescue disk when I started, my life would be so much easier now.