MacBook Pro to replace iMac Pro?

Mark Pilkinton wrote:

I’ve heard MacBooks will have an upgrade on the next release

My concern is the M1/2/3/4 chips are now at the 5 year mark and I don’t want to buy into another Apple product that’s on its way out like I did with the IMac Pro.

And then again if there are major changes on the next release of MacBooks, will my audio hardware be compatible?

iMac Pro, macOS 14.6

No one here can speculate on unreleased products..

ref: Apple Support Communities Use Agreement - Apple Community

See vintage and obsolete (5-7 years)

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

The current stable release of Sequoia including bug fixes, security updates is macOS 15.6

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

macOS 26 is compatible with these devices

OS - macOS Tahoe 26 - Apple

it never pays to get too far behind in the hardware or software

Mark Pilkinton wrote: … I don’t want to buy into another Apple product that’s on its way

That's the dilemma that we all face every time we look at buying a new gizmo-- will we be left out when gizmo 2.0 comes out? But waiting, we're already left out. There is really no winning to this. We always feel like we lost out, because every time we buy something, a better one comes out right after. It's like gambling-- do we bet on this hand or the next? Give it up! The house always wins!

FYI, the iMac Pro (2017) has had a very long support period. It was introduced in Dec. 2017 and only discontinued March 2021. That means this system is fully supported until March 2026 with hardware repair support available until 2028 as long as parts remain available (probably safe into 2027 at least).

As for macOS support, this system supports the current OS which is macOS 15.x Sequoia. This means OS support will be good until near the end of 2027 (for Apple security updates, Apple products & services, and also for the majority of third party developers).

That is a 10 year run. Of course if you purchased this system in 2021, then you only be seeing six or seven years of full support which is all Apple generally "guarantees" anyway (or tries to "guarantee").

Only the MacBook Pro 13" (mid-2012) laptop has had such long support history as well.

You should do your research regarding your audio equipment compatibility requirements (hardware, software, and OS). And when you select a Mac model, try to get a newly released model so you are right at the beginning of its support period. I don't know why you think the M4 is going to be obsolete as it was just release around Sept 2024 and is only a year old.

Mark Pilkinton wrote:

I’m starting to have compatibility issues with my iMac Pro since it’s Intel. I’ll be using it for audio and video, but I’m concerned about the inputs compared to my iMac Pro. I have both thunderbolt 1 and 2 for my audio interface and use a dock that handles hdmi and even a FireWire device along with several external hard drives. I’m thinking my days of purchasing top line Apple products are over and maybe something in the middle. I’ve been using Apple since mid 90’s and could get 8 to 10 years before system became obsolete. Now it’s more like 5 to 7. I’ve heard MacBooks will have an upgrade on the next release, but I’m not sure if I should wait. My concern is the M1/2/3/4 chips are now at the 5 year mark and I don’t want to buy into another Apple product that’s on its way out like I did with the IMac Pro.

Apple announced the Apple silicon transition back in 2020, and the transition finished in 2023.

This Apple silicon M-class processor uses the same AArch64 Arm processor architecture used on iPhone and iPad.

The last macOS release with Intel processor support is the upcoming macOS 26.

Here is the timeline of the M-class Apple silicon processors:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_silicon#M_series_SoCs

The most recent M-class processors, M4 Pro and M4 Max, were announced on November 8th, 2024.

Mid-range desktop now is an upper-end Mac mini or low-end Mac Studio.

An iMac M4 (base) is rather faster than that iMac Pro, too. Single-core 1283 and 18-core 9894, versus 3798 and 10-core 15026. Lower-end Mac Studio M4 Max single-core 4055 and 14-core 23772, per Geekbench.

FireWire ended long ago.

There will always be a newer, better, or faster option coming. Always.

So we can make better-educted recommendations, please tell us how much storage and how much memory your iMac Pro has.

For my new M4 Pro Macbook Pro 14", the entry point came with 24GB RAM but a 512GB . For my needs 24 GB was enough RAM, but I up-ordered to 1TB Storage.

As an aside, this is my third Macbook Pro and I support several otters for friends and family. The M4 Pro is the coolest-running of the lot. Very happy.

You can up-order the top-of-line M4 MAX with up to 128GB RAM and 8TB internal storage...if cost is no issue 😉

THe MacTracker database, is a gret research tool and has GeekBench resutls for most modene Macs. These are threr results fo r the iMac PRo and the M4 Max 16-inch;

I cannot say how those benchmarks translate to the ral world be the differences are impressive.

Mark Pilkinton wrote:

Thanks MrHoffman, I was curious as how the specs of the newer MacBooks or iMacs compared to the iMac Pro…

As you were running an Intel Xeon processor — big and very hot and with the necessary cooling and thermals to match — I posted desktops.

For other performance data, the Geekbench browser is available at the Geekbench website. Have a look.

... I have had a good run with the iMac Pro, but it was a short production run compared to other models.

iMac Pro had one of the longest runs for a Mac, roughly akin to some of the other Intel Xeon-based Macs.

For instance, from WP:

Three to five years is common replacement cycle for the servers and workstations I deal with in business environments, and five to seven years is common for home use, and repairs and parts are generally available for seven years.

Mark Pilkinton wrote:

"iMac Pro had one of the longest runs for a Mac, roughly akin to some of the other Intel Xeon-based Macs. "

When I first heard the iMac Pros were discontinued I was surprised. I purchased my first MacBook Pro around 2000 and as far as I know the MacBook Pros are still available.

MacBook Pro did not use Intel Xeon. Some Mac Pro models, and some Xserve models did use Intel Xeon. And as did iMac Pro, obviously. Xeon was and remains a higher-end processor in the Intel x86 series, with reliability, availability, and scalability features intended for use in servers and workstations.

MacBook Pro has had massive changes since it was first available in 2006, and across sixty-some different MacBook Pro models. MacBook Pro started out with Intel x86-32 processors, transitioned to Intel x86-64 processors, and now with Apple silicon processors. But no Xeon processors were used.

The MacBook Pro looked rather similar to its predecessor PowerBook series, early on. That earlier series was based on PPC processors.

Re: “Yes the FireWire is old tech. I only have one audio rack mount item that has FireWire and it’s nice that I can use it if needed, but I’m sure it’s on borrowed time.”

Apple reportedly removed “plug and play” support for FireWire audio devices in a recent version of macOS. Even if an old FireWire audio device had its own drivers, those might not work on current Macs due to the processor change and system security changes.