This morning, we ordered a machine for much less than a current Mac Mini, which in any case wouldn’t be able to handle our workload, would be limited in RAM, and non-upgradable. A Mac Studio is also out of the question because it’s too closed a system. So, we ordered a 2013 Mac Pro, equipped with a 6-core Xeon clocked at 3.5 GHz, 64 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD, and an AMD Fire 500 graphics card.

Some might think we’re crazy, but that’s not the case. We know both the flaws and strengths of this machine. Its main flaw is its design, which makes it impossible to add 2, 3, or 4 SSDs internally, so we’ll be stacking external cases… The lack of a CD burner will also be compensated with an external one. Otherwise, this machine is far from obsolete. Even though it can’t upgrade beyond Monterey, it has two DisplayPorts, USB 3 ports, and Thunderbolt, and in terms of speed, it holds its own against current Core i7s thanks to its Xeon architecture, Level 2 cache, and Turbo Boost mode at 3.9 GHz.

To be honest, given the outrageous prices Apple is charging nowadays, second-hand equipment is an excellent choice for professionals. Moreover, OWC offered to add the AMD Fire500 card for free. We’re also happy to return to AMD cards. Our current big PC has an Nvidia card, which, like all Nvidia cards, is perfect for gaming but leans too much towards green, which is tricky for photo or video editing.

As for our current big PC, it will continue to be used but without Windows 11 Pro, because of too many crashes when using heavy audio or photo applications. We’ll switch it to Ubuntu Studio, where it will be twice as fast and much more useful, because it’s a very good machine overall.