Mac guys, help me out

[Steinmetzify]

So I bought this for P 7-8 years ago, 2012 iMac with the optical drive...



pretty minimalist as far as RAM/processing go as she's not a power user....and looking it up on eBay even the maxed out ones go for like $500. Se doesn't use it and wants it either gone or included into my setup.

She's in FULL ON 'redo the house mode' and that includes my office. Cables and shit bugging her; I told her if I could get it upgraded and working fast enough to use as a DAW I'd switch to Mac/Logic and just use my PC for gaming (minimal cables).

Question is, how much would this cost to get it up to SSO/my recording standards? Currently I'm using a decent gaming laptop for everything....i7, 16 GB of RAM, 2.8 GHz, 512 SSD, external 1 TB SSD for samples/VSTs/Kontakt. Shit works great, no complaints and I'd want it at least this fast if not faster.

Cost?

And also, am I going to have to fuckin REBUY everything (amp sims, VST samples, Kontakt, etc) or can the licenses just switch over? Figure I already own the license, right? Just a matter or logging in and DLing stuff again, or no? I mean I straight up have thousands of dollars invested in plugins, if that doesn't work then this thing can go in the trash; I'm not spending that again just to have the shit I already own.

Thanks fellas.

 

[TedEH]

I was under the impression that Mac stuff generally isn't very upgradeable, especially the older you go with them. Someone who's more a Mac user can jump in if I'm wrong, but I think getting that machine to the spec of the laptop is going to be impossible. If you somehow managed it, I assume you'd be good with your existing licenses though.

IMO resale on Mac stuff is sometimes weirdly high just because of the proprietary nature of that stuff. You could probably sell it to someone who specifically needs a Mac.

 

[Choop]

Not sure what the cost would be, but you should be able to upgrade RAM and hard drive on this at least...doubt the processor would be upgradeable though. Depending on which processor is in it, it may be worth it. If the processor is no longer up to snuff, I'd personally sell it instead while it still has some resale value.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Mid 2012 and earlier are the easily upgradeable laptops; not sure about iMacs though. I swapped ram and grabbed a 1TB SSD for under $200 for my MacBook Pro and it works great with Logic and pretty heavy plugin use, when necessary.

 

[Hollowway]

You could run an older version of logic on it. I wouldn’t update the OS, though. You could have the HDD swapped out, but it’s not super cheap because it’s not easily accessible. There are videos online if you want to try it yourself, or you could pay a repair shop to do it. I have a 2011 iMac, and I recorded on the one I had BEFORE that, with no difficulty. But you’ll need an audio interface, and may need completely different plug-ins to match what the older version of logic will run.

 

[p0ke]

I have the same exact iMac - swapping the Ram is a piece of cake, you just open a hatch at the bottom and stick them in. I swapped the initial 4gb for 16gb, cost roughly 100€. Then I've also swapped the HDD for an SSD, that's a major PITA! It involves removing the display panel etc, I managed to break my camera and some other stuff while doing it. Machine runs fine though and I haven't had any issues recording with it.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I think my iMac is from around then. It still works great. I have a project running 2 instances of Superior Drummer, 7 tracks of amp sims, 2 bass VST, lots of sample tracks and tons of processing plug-ins. Running no problems. I only run into issues working with HD video but you need a powerhouse to get around that.

 

[ElRay]

Check-out OWC/Mac Sales: http://www.macslaes.com they've got a good selector to match available upgrades to the Mac you have.

 

[p0ke]

Oh and as for swapping the processor etc: I wouldn't even consider that. Taking the machine apart is such a pain that I would pretty much try to sell it instead and buy a more powerful mac if I needed more power. Also, the parts inside are essentially customised laptop parts, so good luck finding replacements too.
But as has been said already, running slightly older versions of apps works totally fine. I'm using Logic 9 (and macOS Mavericks I think, I guess even older might be better) on mine, and I have the weakest processor alternative - working just fine.
As a benchmark, Photoshop for example starts and runs waaaaaay faster than on my 2015 built PC (which is maybe ten times more powerful on paper).

 

[ElRay]

Oh and as for swapping the processor etc: I wouldn't even consider that. ...

Macs haven't had swappable processors for quite some time (pre-Intel?). There's also variations between the models. E.g. the current mini has the SSD built into the board, but you can upgrade RAM, but the previous model Mini was the opposite.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Guys this was over a month ago; I didn’t really see anything available that would match my current PC build so I just junked it. Thanks for the recs though, appreciated.