A lot of Mac Studio M2s in Apple’s Refurb store now

[nk_e]

https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/09 ... shed-store

[mikehalloran]

Thanks for the heads up!

The demos and store returns have come in. When you compare features, the M2s appear to be better deals than the M1s — strange but not unusual for Apple. Here’s the direct link:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/mac-studio

The M2 pricing is the same as EDU but these are available to ship now. I think it’s time for me to go in.

[mikehalloran]

I stand corrected: Many of these Refurbs are less expensive than the EDU Store.

I am trying to use my new Apple card to pay in interest-free installments to see how their "cash-back program" works. They gave me plenty of credit limit but Apple has thrown some flags on the play:

Refurbs don't qualify for "interest free" neither does AppleCare if purchased annually. No problem with the AppleCare but the Refurb part sucks. AppleCare in the EDU store is a little less expensive and, as long as I select 3-year, I'm good.

So tomorrow's task will be to see what CC deal with "interest free" I want to use instead. Why do they think I have time for this nonsense?

[nk_e]

Early congrats on the upcoming purchase!

[mikehalloran]

While waiting for either my iMP to be repaired (oops!) or my Studio to arrive, I am using one of my 2012 MBPs. Not being fully recovered from eye surgery, reading that non-Retina display is not fun.

That's ok, I have a pair of LG 27' 4K monitors so hook up a HDMI cable to an MDP adapter and I'm in business, right? Oh... there's only one Thunderbolt 1/2 port on the Mac and I have it hooked to my long discontinued OWC TB Drive Dock.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB2U3DRVDCKU/

Dang! USB to HDMI adapters do not work unless DisplayLink and I think that mine is too old... but wait…

If I can daisy-chain my 828mkII to that OWC with the FW–TB adapter, what happens when I plug the MDP adapter in?

Success! Ok, it's not quite as good as my 5K but without that being next door, it's not as noticeable. I can live with this for awhile. Hurry up, Apple!

[mikehalloran]

This is the one I bought

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/G180 ... 91Core-GPU

plus a Nanoglass Studio Display with this VESA mount.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074P ... UTF8&psc=1
Hopefully, I'll have the space for this and the display. If not, I'll go with one of the other displays that have built-in stands. We have a Nanoglass iMac already—standard glass just isn't an option anymore for these aging eyes.

I'm getting a new keyboard on AppleCare when I pick up my iMP after repair—we don't use TouchID on our M1 Air so not feeling the need. Likewise, I have a couple Magic Trackpad IIs in Space Grey and White so I don't really need one in black as well. That saved $348...

[James Steele]

Wow, Mike! Congrats! When I clicked the link it came up with a machine configured with 192GB of RAM and an 8TB SSD???? Yowza!!!

[mikehalloran]

Wow, Mike! Congrats! When I clicked the link it came up with a machine configured with 192GB of RAM and an 8TB SSD???? Yowza!!!

Yep! I could have paid a bit more and gotten a 76 core GPU with 128GB RAM instead of the 60 core GPU with 192GB RAM — RAM wins for me. You knew that I wasn't going to buy less than 8TB onboard.

With my iMac Pro still at Apple for another week, I have work to do now and will see the new toy (ahem... Tools) tomorrow. The iMP is now worth around $2k–3k, less than half what it was in 2021 but I will live. It ought to sell quickly with a new screen and keyboard and a tiny bit of AppleCare+ that's renewable in a few weeks.

The only thing I'm really giving up is a couple of apps that must have Mojave and I have my 2012 MBPs for that. Currently typing on one now hooked up to an LG 27" 4K. The BT keyboard and Magic Trackpad II from my iPad Pro are working fine with it. (it's so freakin' slooooow!!!!!)

I'm as certain as I can be that an M3 Studio with TB5/USB 4.2 is in the pipeline 1–2 years from now but ringing the bell on this one now is the right thing for me.

[nk_e]

Awesome machine. Congrats!

[HCMarkus]

One thing is perfectly clear: Mike don't mess around!

[joelfriedman]

Mike,

Wow. Fantastic. That is one beast of a machine! Congrats on your new "baby."

I am hoping to start looking in the next 4-8 months myself. I have a 2017 iMacPro (as do you, right?) which is getting a bit long in the tooth, and am a bit concerned about the steep and very expensive road ahead between going Silicon, losing the iMac's wonderful 27" 5K, wondering about external SSDs etc.

It got me thinking: between you and James recently going this route, is there is an existing sticky thread that covers the basics to transitioning (Mac Studio processor vs RAM vs internal vs external SSD $ trade-offs, good monitors, correct cabling....). Please direct me if it already exists, but would that be a worthy endeavor to put together?

I keep an eye on your posts and always appreciate the patience and wisdom you and James offer to this board.

Best,

Joel

[mikehalloran]

Mike,

Wow. Fantastic. That is one beast of a machine! Congrats on your new "baby."

I am hoping to start looking in the next 4-8 months myself. I have a 2017 iMacPro (as do you, right?) which is getting a bit long in the tooth, and am a bit concerned about the steep and very expensive road ahead between going Silicon, losing the iMac's wonderful 27" 5K, wondering about external SSDs etc.

It got me thinking: between you and James recently going this route, is there is an existing sticky thread that covers the basics to transitioning (Mac Studio processor vs RAM vs internal vs external SSD $ trade-offs, good monitors, correct cabling....). Please direct me if it already exists, but would that be a worthy endeavor to put together?

I keep an eye on your posts and always appreciate the patience and wisdom you and James offer to this board.

Best,

Joel

Hey, Joel,

It will probably be Saturday before I'm up and ready to give such a comparison.

Migrating from a Time Machine backup is painfully slow—and then I'll be doing a clean install of my applications. If Apple calls and says that my iMP is ready, I'd stop this, grab my Mac and start over with a TB3 cable. RT to/from the Los Gatos Apple store should take about 45 minutes and they got the new screen on Monday.

There are a number of threads where external storage options are discussed. I am adamant that it should over Thunderbolt or USB 4 but there are some 2-Lane TB solutions — not as fast or as expensive but equally robust. I'm still using SATA III SSDs over TB2 through the adapter but that will change in the next few weeks.

I bought the 8TB Studio rather than spend $3,300 to upgrade my iMP to 8TB with the MacPro 7.1 upgrade NAND kit from Apple. Although iFixIt and others have confirmed this can be done, would it have added even a grand to the value? I doubt it. Also, Apple Silicon is the future; why spend that kind of scratch on the past?

I'll leave the benefits of doing everything internally to other threads. TB3 external is fast enough for most of us. Few of us will ever experience rjbishop's issue:
https://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73486

That, however, is not the reason I'm still singing the same tune. With Monterey 12.2, Cloud storage sharing of files can only be to a Mac's internal drive—and only if there's enough space. The MacOS no longer allows these files to be stored on external drives. This is true for iCloud, Dropbox, GoogleDrive etc. Example: I have a number of projects that I share with other DP and PL users so they're in a Dropbox folder shared to my drive. Although I can work on those files in the cloud (it does work), my internet connection is over copper and there's no optical available. So, I work on the copies stored on my Mac and they sync with the actual files in Dropbox whenever the internet connection is robust enough—all seamless to me. Same with AV files that I do in FCPx or Premiere. In addition, the files back up to Time Machine and Backblaze, something that cloud storage cannot. Despite all of the MacRumors and Facebook "this cannot be", "Apple must fix", "I will never..." threads, this is the new order and it requires internal storage. Having less than great internet, I can vouch that it works really well but 4TB is not enough internal storage for me. If you are not sharing files, not doing large AV file rendering and/or don't have rjbishop's setup, then TB3/4 external for your work files should be ok.

Do remember that all apps along with their support files must be on the System drive, even if your VIs and work files (Documents etc,) are not. My 1/2T Apple Music library might make it back onto my System drive but it's fine on an external. No rush.

[joelfriedman]

Thanks as always Mike. rjbishop's thread was fascinating, albeit a bit above my pay grade (concert composer who "dabbles" in audio). Fascinating about recording internally and moving to external SSDs for post. Most of what I do is actually with VIs, only once in a while do I do any live/acoustic recording - partly the projects, partly that my "studio" isn't setup for actual good audio recording (and 2 parrots in the next room ALWAYS get excited by noise, so there's that. Somewhere there's an old adage to the effect "you can't shut up a family parrot."), and part that I'm not experienced enough in actual audio recording to feel I could do a good job..

Like I said, the expense of the next transition is daunting, like when we all went to Intel. I doubt I can swing an 8TB internal, but maybe a 2 or 4 TB. I'd keep my samples on externals (I currently have 2 of them and my projects drive on 1 TB Samsung T5s) but perhaps record on my internal.

I have 2 monitors, the lovely iMac 5K and a lesser Dell U2414H. I will not be able to afford a pair of Apple Studios, so maybe one ASM as my main plus some sort of comparable 27", and that's a whole mystery (there currently aren't a lot of other 5K options). I'm guessing some sort of 4K, but what type, resolution, what cabling etc. Endless, eh?

I've been starting to look around in off hours, but I think when it becomes a reality I'll return and ask more specifics instead of speculations. For all I know by the time I can do it it will be an M4 with TB5....

Best,
Joel

[mikehalloran]

Thanks as always Mike.

Sure.

Here's where I am so far...

I did but the Studio Display with the Nanoglass option — my wife's 2020 iMac has it and the screen really is that much easier for me. The regular glass Studio Display is no different than my iMacPro or any other 27" iMac made since 2017. Otherwise, it has a great webcam and decentish speakers (not that any/many of us would use them, right?). Those versions that come with the way expensive, built in stands … well, I can't recommend those with good VESA stands beginning around $22 or so.

LG makes the Studio Display but also has their own version (no Nanoglass) and you can chose whether to mount it on the included stand or a VESA mount. Has webcam & speakers but not the level of the Studio, same ports but mounted in the center of the back... anyway, no Nanoglass made it a dealbreaker for me.
https://www.amazon.com/LG-27MD5KB-B-Ult ... B0852QDNN9

The Studio and the LG above can be rotated to portrait mode if VESA mounted on a stand with enough clearance. The stand that I bought doesn't support that but it's heavy and stable so I have 25 days or so to decide if I want that functionality. Thank goodness for Amazon 30 day returns.

My iMac Pro is in the shop for a new display because I knocked against it and it fell over backwards. Neither King Kong nor the 1906 San Francisco earthquake will be able to knock it over mounted on this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074P7Y9ZG?ps ... ct_details

I had it assembled one-handed in about 15 minutes and getting the gas cylinder pressure right took a few more. Full up is almost iMac height but it can rest a fraction of an inch above my desk which is where I want it normally. It only offers a few degrees of rotation, however. Editing some pdf files made me think that Portrait mode would be nice so this may get exchanged. Clamp-on mounts offer a lot more freedom of movement and full rotation but I'll need a helper who can crawl under my desk to help me install one as that's something I can no longer do.

Otherwise, I'm still updating and installing apps and plug-ins which will take another week or so at the rate I'm going. DP, Logic, Word, Adobe etc. are all behaving and I'm enjoying the extra speed. Having to go through verifying every license with a web log-in the first time I fire it up is annoying. At least that happens only once.

I had a "Network Sharing" error with iLok and couldn't fing a solution anywhere so I downloaded the installer, ran the Uninstaller, re-ran the Installer and that appears to have done the trick — I hope.