What to expect from Apple to the end of 2022

[KevWind]

This just showed up in my e-mail
An article on what is likely going to happen with Apple going to the end of this year
Likely to be at least announced (if not delivered) by the end of 2022
#1 M2 Mac Mini--- But possibly no Mini Pro (because of the Mac Studio)
#2 at long last a M2 series powered Mac Pro

But it looks like no new iMac until into 2023

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...%20-%208764439

[Joseph Hanna]

It's a bummer that a new iMac isn't imminent. Work is work and I can let the IT department continue to do what they do configuring something hi-end. But for me, and for a home machine (and on a soon-to-be-retired budget) the iMacs have always split the difference between pretty decent performance and that hard to ignore and beautiful iMac screen and resolution.

My two favorite home passions are music production and photos. The iMacs fit nicely in that dual role. Unfortunately, my current iMac is showin' signs it would prefer to be replaced. I guess it's gonna have to be a Mac Mini M2 and an Apple Studio Display.

[FrankHudson]

We'll see what comes. The Mac Studio has already answered a lot of questions I'd pose if I was buying. Even an M2 Mini with at least as many ports as my 2018 (Intel CPU) Mac Mini and enough RAM and disk space would likely bump into shouting distance of the base Mac Studio.

I'll be an interested spectator at what they do with the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. Pricing on those will likely be a mooted point since I no longer work for a non-profit, but for my own "non-revenue" Project.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

It's a bummer that a new iMac isn't imminent. Work is work and I can let the IT department continue to do what they do configuring something hi-end. But for me, and for a home machine (and on a soon-to-be-retired budget) the iMacs have always split the difference between pretty decent performance and that hard to ignore and beautiful iMac screen and resolution.

My two favorite home passions are music production and photos. The iMacs fit nicely in that dual role. Unfortunately, my current iMac is showin' signs it would prefer to be replaced. I guess it's gonna have to be a Mac Mini M2 and an Apple Studio Display.

Personally I think the M1 or M2 Mac Mini will be a real contender for audio applications for most users ...
I do have a late 2020 27" iMac Intel Mac that has worked very well (other than the noticeable fan noise apparently because of the 10th generation i7 chip). But when I decide to replace it ,.the Mini will definitely be on my consideration list

The Mac Studio display is definitely a nice unit but if Budget is real concern, you might consider an Asus Pro Art series which are very popular among photo and video editing folks as a considerably less expensive alternative and you could get two of for about a 3rd less than the Mac Studio Display

[DupleMeter]

My home mix room is an iMac Pro, which is handling all my projects just fine.

At the studio we have an M1 Max Mac Studio with an Asus ROG superwide curved gaming display. It's a rocket...and when Pro Tools finally goes ARM native it will be even better.

At some point in the future I will need to replace the iMac Pro, but by then there will be M3 or M4 iMacs.

I have a few friends who went mac mini for their home setups (these are guys who routinely record in major studios), and they were all disappointed with the system. It feels like they're keeping the mac mini as a "home" system, which makes sense. For hobbyists, that's probably more than fine...but if you're doing huge sessions you just need a lot more power & expandability.

Right now, for serious production work, it's the Mac Studio. There just isn't a better option, IMO. We'll have to see what the new Pro brings, but I have heard rumors it's going to be geared for video post houses, much like the current Pro is.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Personally I think the M1 or M2 Mac Mini will be a real contender for audio applications for most users ...
I do have a late 2020 27" iMac Intel Mac that has worked very well (other than the noticeable fan noise apparently because of the 10th generation i7 chip). But when I decide to replace the Mini will definitely be on my consideration list

The Mac Studio display is definitely a nice unit but if Budget is real concern, you might consider an Asus Pro Art series which are very popular among photo and video editing folks as a considerably less expensive alternative and you could get two of for about a 3rd less than the Mac Studio Display

Well ya know when Covid hit they sent all the audio folk at work home with a 3Ghz, i5 Mac Mini with 8 gig of ram. It of course wasn't meant to be a long term solution but I must say, I still work from home 2 days a week and although that thing heats up like an oven, it's never really let me down. I'm in fairly deep everyday and it whirls along just fine.

With that I'm sure an M2 Mini would probably do me personally just fine. I'll see if I can check out the Asus monitors in person. If it can replicate the iMac that would definitely change the equation a bit

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Well ya know when Covid hit they sent all the audio folk at work home with a 3Ghz, i5 Mac Mini with 8 gig of ram. It of course wasn't meant to be a long term solution but I must say, I still work from home 2 days a week and although that thing heats up like an oven, it's never really let me down. I'm in fairly deep everyday and it whirls along just fine.

With that I'm sure an M2 Mini would probably do me personally just fine. I'll see if I can check out the Asus monitors in person. If it can replicate the iMac that would definitely change the equation a bit

Hi JH…
I just replaced a 2016 MacMini which gave up the ghost in 2021 with an M1 MacMini, with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and it runs circles around my iMac (2017 G3 with 24GB RAM and 1TB internal drive).

They'd have to have some pretty big improvements over the M1 version to get me to hold out for an M2 version. The M1 is blazing when it comes to editing video, photos, audio, and for general surfing and streaming video. I've never heard the fan, and it never even gets warm.

I have both a 15.2" LED monitor (which travels with the M1 in a backpack when we go on trips), and a 27" 4K monitor for at-home semi-long term projects so I don't tie up the iMac.

I added a USB-C hub the same dimensions as the MacMini, which sits on top of it (but is only ½" thick), that adds a pair of USB-2 and a pair of USB-3 inputs, plus it houses a 1TB SATA drive and has both SD and SD-mini inputs (all ports face me).

Keep us posted as to what you decide. Im interested in equipment progressing as long as it doesn't disable a lot of 'current' and useful gear.

[jim1960]

I'm still planning on getting an Mac Studio Ultra. That's a tremendous upgrade from my 2017 iMac and I don't see any need to wait for an M2 version. There's just not a big enough divide between the M1 and M2 for that to be a consideration, imo.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

. I'll see if I can check out the Asus monitors in person. If it can replicate the iMac that would definitely change the equation a bit

ASUS is seemingly every bit as good..if not better than my previous Imac screen.

Color accuracy is spot on. The matte screen is easy on the eyes. Brightness, color accuracy is good edge to edge with no fall off. I am sure you will also be pleasantly surprised.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi JH…
I just replaced a 2016 MacMini which gave up the ghost in 2021 with an M1 MacMini, with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and it runs circles around my iMac (2017 G3 with 24GB RAM and 1TB internal drive).

They'd have to have some pretty big improvements over the M1 version to get me to hold out for an M2 version. The M1 is blazing when it comes to editing video, photos, audio, and for general surfing and streaming video. I've never heard the fan, and it never even gets warm.

I have both a 15.2" LED monitor (which travels with the M1 in a backpack when we go on trips), and a 27" 4K monitor for at-home semi-long term projects so I don't tie up the iMac.

I added a USB-C hub the same dimensions as the MacMini, which sits on top of it (but is only ½" thick), that adds a pair of USB-2 and a pair of USB-3 inputs, plus it houses a 1TB SATA drive and has both SD and SD-mini inputs (all ports face me).

Keep us posted as to what you decide. Im interested in equipment progressing as long as it doesn't disable a lot of 'current' and useful gear.

Yep, I'll let everyone know as I maneuver through these waters.

Kev's and Knives&Guitars suggestion regarding the Asus monitor would really change the game if it can compete with an iMac monitor, and my gut says it probably will. The iMac monitor had me kinda backed into a corner.

An M1 Mac Mini and a great monitor I think would do me just swell. Memory could be a real wild card though.

Honestly, as of now, I think my photo applications (Luminar and Capture One) are more consumptive, and I probably use them more often, than my music stuff (Studio One and Pro Tools). Honestly and only because I still make my living in Pro Tools and sometimes I need to just stay away from audio. Photo editing provides a nice retreat. That's why I was leaning toward the solution with a better monitor.

Great suggestions gents...I'll let you know.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

The Mac Studio display is definitely a nice unit but if Budget is real concern, you might consider an Asus Pro Art series which are very popular among photo and video editing folks as a considerably less expensive alternative and you could get two of for about a 3rd less than the Mac Studio Display

The ASUS ProArt PA329C looks to be quite a good buy for about $1100. It covers 100% of both the Adobe RGB and sRGB palettes. I don't think even Apple's top monitor covers the Adobe palette (I looked for confirmation that it does on the product page and found none). I paid $1K for my BenQ monitor and it's only 27". I'd have shelled out an extra hundred to go up to 32" had I known about it. It may be a good option when I get the Mac Studio and go to a two monitor setup though.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Yep, I'll let everyone know as I maneuver through these waters.

Kev's and Knives&Guitars suggestion regarding the Asus monitor would really change the game if it can compete with an iMac monitor, and my gut says it probably will. The iMac monitor had me kinda backed into a corner.

An M1 Mac Mini and a great monitor I think would do me just swell. Memory could be a real wild card though.

Honestly, as of now, I think my photo applications (Luminar and Capture One) are more consumptive, and I probably use them more often, than my music stuff (Studio One and Pro Tools). Honestly and only because I still make my living in Pro Tools and sometimes I need to just stay away from audio. Photo editing provides a nice retreat. That's why I was leaning toward the solution with a better monitor.

Great suggestions gents...I'll let you know.

Hi JH…
I run On1, and PhotoshopCC, plus all my add-ins (Imagenomic plug-ins,Topaz plugins, etc) and it doesn't even 'blink'. Actually they work great on my iMac, but when I click on 'apply' the iMac thinks about it, and the MacMini is done right now.

I understand good monitors. I shoot, sort and edit between 10,000-15,000 frames per year. A lot of portraits, and landscapes.

[lkingston]

I use an iPad Pro M1 with 16GB RAM and 2TB storage. When it came out all the reviews were going on and on about how that was overkill for an iPad and how those specs were just wasted on a tablet and nobody needs that for the kind of things you can do with apps.

Fast forward to the other day: I was just editing some 5.7K footage from my Panasonic GH6. That video format has 4 embed 24bit audio tracks. I was editing it in Luma Fusion and trying to add a little EQ, compression, and light reverb to the tracks. Nope…not enough power!

Fortunately there is an M2 iPad Pro coming…

No, the critics are always wrong when they talk about overkill! Always!

They are also wrong when they talk about the limitations of the iPad as a platform.

There are always solutions to the problems they mention! It is VERY workable for serious audio and video editing!

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I paid $1K for my BenQ monitor and it's only 27"

I paid just over 10x less for a 22"-or-so BenQ 1080p monitor a few years back which at that price is perfect for me.

I'll keep my trap shut about how much I care about what Apple does or doesn't before or after the end of the year (since they surely wouldn't announce a suitable equivalent of my "vintage" MBP 8.1).

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by RJVB

I paid just over 10x less for a 22"-or-so BenQ 1080p monitor a few years back which at that price is perfect for me.

Not sure what your point is.
Since your monitor doesn't provide 100% of the Adobe RGB palette, we're not talking about simply a difference in size or resolution.

Originally Posted by lkingston

I use an iPad Pro M1 with 16GB RAM and 2TB storage. When it came out all the reviews were going on and on about how that was overkill for an iPad and how those specs were just wasted on a tablet and nobody needs that for the kind of things you can do with apps....There are always solutions to the problems they mention! It is VERY workable for serious audio and video editing!

I'm glad it works for you but for most people who are serious about audio and video, an iPad is not a viable option. The size of the screen alone would make it a no-go for me.