Imac M1 ram

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Level 1

9 points

Imac M1 ram

hi , I need to buy a M1 Imac soon, and I would like to ask people who already have it a question in order to choose adequately: I have tried working on a A4 300ppi Photoshop file on a Macbook pro 13" 8Go M1, which has 8 gpus, and it proved fast and flawless. So I wanna get a 8 Gpus M1 Imac that is its equivalent.

I aim to use it professionally for high quality photoshop work only, feeling better with two fans inside, and would like to know from those who know whether the 16 Go Ram option is mandatory, I find it expensive to my taste...so is it mandatory to the processor provided I use external usb-c SSDs as Photoshop scratch disks and file hosts, also, provided the screen resolution of an Imac implies more work from the processors than they have on a 13" Macbook I guess. Again, the 2020 M1 Macbook pro I tried proved flawless but I wonder about the imac with its bigger resolution...how is it regarding processor/fan/heat/ram/Gpu/SSD management, and is the 16Go option mandatory to me in your opinions, or following your own experiences, thanks a lot in advance.

Posted on Nov 22, 2021 2:56 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

210,509 points

Nov 22, 2021 12:08 PM in response to ledirlo

ledirlo wrote:

my current Imac may not last till then

What makes you think that? What model and year is your current iMac.

If you're going to use it professionally then don't go for the cheapest model you can. You get what you pay for. Since there's only two options for RAM and it can't be upgraded after purchase go for the 16 GB RAM.

ALSO you should download and run the free GO64 app to see what apps you'll have to update or upgrade or replace. Unless you're running Catalina or newer your current 32 bit apps won't work with a new M1 mac.

Then there's the M1 Mac Mini. Do't know what their prices are but probably less than a full 24" M1 iMac and monitors are pretty inexpensive.

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Answer 2

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 10:44 AM in response to Keith Barkley

Oh yeah...I have tried the Macbook pro 13" M1 8Go it is flawless and it can go much further. Well, you experience a small lag when you paint with a 5000px soft brush, the ressource taking filters noone uses take time.But if you're a serious photoshopper and know how to work it is fast and flawless.

Now the good news is, I have been retouching a photo that's between A3 and A2 sizes 300ppi, using large brushes and many layers on a 2017 entry level Imac I have revived using an SSD drive, it is pretty flawless despite the fact it's not fast. All that in 8bits though.

I have tried the M1 with a 1 meter and a half wide 8bit photo and the system froze. So I know where I'm going but I wondered about the Imac setup.

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Answer 3

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 12:59 PM in response to Old Toad

after some hours of work the video memory or cache freezes, yesterday the usb bus went mad, auto-downgraded to 480Mb/s and kept mounting and unmounting my ssd external drive while displaying black windows, it's a 2017 entry-level imac 2,3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5. It works okay fast enough with an ssd-based system actually but it has become that unstable.

Thank you for your input Old Toad, I only use photoshop, and keep the software and OS up to date.

The mac mini looks very good but it's not possible to find an affordable monitor that will let me have as much luminosity as the apple monitors, and that will be as much used by the pros, it is decisive to stay in that range of matching monitors with their matching colors etc when working in that field. I didn't keep the macbook pro for that reason that I wasn't able to find a good matching screen without selling my organs.

But yeah such entry-level computers can handle the pre-press work very well nowadays.

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Answer 4

Nov 22, 2021 5:29 PM in response to ledirlo

But, the only way to tell it is mandatory is to run up against a limit, at which point It is too late.

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Answer 5

Nov 22, 2021 6:30 AM in response to ledirlo

I don't know that it is *mandatory*, but note that you can't upgrade. So I got the 16GB option just to future proof a bit.

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Answer 6

dialabrain

Level 10

124,865 points

Nov 22, 2021 6:48 AM in response to ledirlo

I would wait to see what 2022 brings.

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Answer 7

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 6:58 AM in response to dialabrain

indeed but that's gonna be around april I guess and my current Imac may not last till then, also I'm okay with the current Imac performances but not with the price.

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Answer 8

Nov 22, 2021 7:15 AM in response to ledirlo

AFAICT, the 16GB is a $200 add, which does not seem to be all that much. Remember, the memory is also video memory on the M1 architecture.

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Answer 9

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 10:20 AM in response to Keith Barkley

oh yeah it is to me right now, I usually buy the cheapest imac "of the year" and the prices have been raised this year, from 1250 to 1450 euros here. I ask because I'm stuck with that dilemna

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Answer 10

Nov 22, 2021 10:35 AM in response to ledirlo

"I have tried working on a A4 300ppi Photoshop file "

does not seem to go with "cheapest Mac of the year".

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Answer 11

Old Toad

Level 10

210,509 points

Nov 22, 2021 4:35 PM in response to ledirlo

Have you installed or run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

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Answer 12

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2021 8:30 PM in response to Old Toad

no no no, on purpose, but I guess the processor and more had trouble processing the usb-c hard drive

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Answer 13

ledirlo Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 23, 2021 1:20 AM in response to ledirlo

yeah it's that, it's not a product we can test like when you buy a car you can drive it around, so I'm looking for people who have it and know so they can tell me

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