Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

Looks like 6 or 7 quid a time :(

Grateful for some advice - looking at buying a refurbed iMac 27” - this model seems like a good deal. Any howling pitfalls I should be aware of? It’s for mainly word processing, watching vids etc. No gaming or heavy stuff. Obviously it’s a bit slower than the current generation and only has USB2.0 .... I store most stuff in the cloud.
Thank you kind people!

https://macbank.co.uk/product/apple-27%e2%80%b3-imac-quad-core-i7-293ghz-mc784ll-a/

Choosing the SSD option will make a big difference to how fast things load/run. If you use the cloud (or a USB HDD) for other storage and backups, I’d go for 120GB SSD and 8GB RAM will be plenty for what you've said.

Thanks! Yeah SSD seems like a plan.

What do the keys look like again? Or rather what clasps and version etc they are. We most certainly don't have like for like, but we probably have some compatible broken keyboards and parts hidding at the bottom of the cupboard at work. I can have a look this week.

Do you need the actual keys or do you just need the butterfly clasps (or whatever it was called before)?

OK, MBP is working fine... I think what happened was that the OS thought it was still plugged in to a monitor and was displaying as a secondary screen, if that makes sense... Good as gold right now, but I will start setting aside some cash for a new one starting right away...

So... Best value eGPU (including enclosure, as plug and play as possible) suitable for a late 2011 MBP?

For macOS usage? I’d sell you my Sonnet if you’re interested?
New- I’d get a Zotac amp box mini and mitx 570. You’ll need a script to enable TB1/2 and an adapter but that’ll be a decent plug and play set up in macOS. Windows will have different challenges.

Yeah, for Mac OS... Just weighing up if it's a silly idea or I put that money towards a new laptop... Can't find that GPU online, is that model number right?

I can bore the hell out of you on the subject of egpus. What’s your use case and budget?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapphire-radeon-rx-570-pulse-itx-4096mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-37u-sp.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp46J6rS-2gIVS77tCh03Vgd9EAQYASABEgLrFPD_BwE

And...

https://www.zotac.com/product/accessories/amp-box-mini

I'm just holding off on the inevitable, wanted to get a bit more life out of the machine I have now if it isn't too expensive to do so... Adobe CC for design and I'll be doing some video stuff too, Logic X for music... I wouldn't want to spend much more than AUD$600 (£350) all in, any more than that and it'll go into the new machine fund instead... This probably isn't a very realistic budget...

Hmmmm that is a pretty small budget to play with but doable. Maybe go 560 over 570 and it’ll come in at that. A desktop 560 is notably more powerful than the 560 pros in the bigger machines so you could upgrade to a 13 inch when the time comes and save money over the 15. FCP X uses egpu power but not sure about CC. Oh, more importantly I don’t think your monitors will work with an egpu.

Oh, more importantly I don’t think your monitors will work with an egpu.

Ugh, really? I was originally looking at getting the Nvidia GTX 1060 and an Akitio Node plus a TB3>TB1 adaptor, a few forums were pushing me in that direction and budget is close to what I'd be willing to spend...

Well... I’m not 100% on that but no Gpus come with thunderbolt ports and I’m not sure about converters. I’ll do some reading.
I’d stick with AMD for macOS as it’s natievly supported and the Nvidia drivers are pretty bad (underperform). Node isn’t a bad choice, no frills but reliable.

I need to do a bit more research, I'm not convinced I'll get much benefit if I'm throttling TB3 down to TB1... And Mac OS support, is there any in High Sierra yet? I'm not gonna game on my machine so my use case may not be strong enough if I'm only gonna get a modest speed bump and can't even use my big sexy monitors... :)

What's considered a good alternative for the thunderbolt display? Don't want to pay the mad money for them, just want some more screen (27"-30") -- my shit one at work doesn't really have a good enough resolution to support it.

Egpu is official in 10.13.4.
I’m not entirely convinced you’re use case will see much benefit.
Just checked, you can’t drive your displays in macOS.

In theory a modular solution with an eGPU is the way to go, but in practice, OSX may not be capable of the blistering performance that an eGPU can deliver and especially not over TB1. Give me a chance to play with my set up and I'll report back.

Honestly there's not point going modular and scrimping on every component - you should overspec the housing so that later you can upgrade the card, otherwise upgrading will be a massive compatibility PITA

Also @chrisbmx116 is right, check which cards will drive TB1 monitors and how?

For your needs I'd be temtpted to get a Mac Pro from the refurb store, they were massively discounted by Apple recently so are very good value right now

I wouldn't want to spend much more than AUD$600 (£350) all in

you will end up spending this much in TB1 > TB3 adapters which you'll throw away when you upgrade.

Yeah thats a very good option... a quick google tells me no GPU can power any thunderbolt screen as mini display > tb1/2 adapters dont work.

Have you tried any benchmarking in W10 yet? Because I bet you'll see massive improvements compared to your macOS scores.

I will do and I'm expecting huge results. The thing is I really don't want to use W10, I'd much rather figure out why OSX isn't playing nicely. I suspect it's the TB2 connection - remind me your setup?

I’m not sure. I think it’s the Nvidia drivers to be honest, super under perform. I only use mine to game in Windows - 2017 13 and a 1070, and it performs great.

You may be better off with an AMD card for macOS, I keep meaning to test out my 580 from my Hack.

Yeah it's silly, but cheaper than a new keyboard

Will take a picture need everything as they are gone.