Back in March, I posted about how the era of my Mac Pro desktop came to an end with the purchase of a Mac Studio and Studio Display. With a good 3 months of use under my belt, I thought I’d collect some of what I’ve experienced in an update post. However, I am quite aware that some of these experiences are perhaps more related to having a modern computer and display vs. a desktop system considered quite ancient by today’s standards. However, much of the transition just emphasized again my preferences for Apple and the Mac – and the Mac Studio and Studio Display just provide more evidence.
The Transfer
While it has been a while since I’ve had to do a major migration to a new computer, I still held some anxiety expecting some major hiccup to happen. I was pleasantly surprised I had very few issues. I simply used Apple’s Migration assistant which recognized my Triassic Period MacPro and it moved everything on the boot drive over to the Mac Studio. All of my email, applications, and even my Lightroom catalog, were transferred over with no issues.
My MacPro was loaded with 5 internal drives (SSD and HDD), mostly to store my image library. This presented a need to invest in an external enclosure, ending my use of internal storage for my images. Configuring a Mac Studio with the max 8 TB of internal storage would have cost me a whopping $2400 and my existing drives are mostly new.
OWC Thunderbay 4
I’ve been an OWC customer in upgrading my MacPro for more than a decade. I never had any issue with their service or products, so it put them on the shortlist for external storage options. I simply wanted an enclosure for my existing drives out of my Mac Pro, with a Thunderbolt connection. So I went with the ThunderBay 4. The only issue I had with it was the fan noise, which seems to be a common one from the various users on the interwebs. Especially when paired with a Mac Studio – which is dead silent, having it on my desktop made it really stand out. However, some users mitigated part of the noise level by swapping out the stock fan.
So I ordered a Noctua NF-A9 FLX which seemed to be a common recommendation for noisy fans. However, upon getting the fan and installing it, I didn’t notice any significant difference to the OWC stock fan. What ultimately made a difference was swapping out the wire harness (aka “Low-Noise adapters” included with the Noctua fan) which actually lowered the fan speed a little. My initial concern was drive temperatures – so I went with the middle ground adapter. It’s NOT silent, just a little better.
Popping drives in and out of the Thunderbay 4 is pretty easy – so as my HDD drives age, SSD prices keep coming down, I’ll eventually have 4 SSD’s inside it, and probably be able to have minimal fan needs.
Apple Silicon
With my old computer, I also hadn’t felt the need to upgrade any of my Photoshop Plugins for a while. I was even locked out of using the latest Photoshop version because of hardware limitations in the CPU of my MacPro. So I only did cursory research on what was going to work with the new Apple M1 chip series, and I knew Apple had a backup to run things on a converter if something wasn’t updated yet. What I didn’t know at the time was that the latest Photoshop would automatically exclude any plugins that were not updated to run on Apple Silicon.
Then I discovered Photoshop can run in an “Intel Mode” – where the older plugins show up. However, once you see the speed difference of running M1-updated software like Topaz Sharpen AI in Apple mode vs. Intel Mode – you never want to use Intel Mode unless absolutely necessary. While Sharpen AI would take upwards of 15 minutes on my old machine, it runs in less than 15 seconds in Apple M1-compatible mode compared to about 2-3 minutes in Intel mode.
So for right now, this is a bit of a hassle until I either jettison the use of some older plugins completely or decide if they are worthy of an upgrade. A big hit is Nik Silver Efex, a favorite for working black and white. Since DXO only points to compatibility using Rosetta (even with the latest V5!) and cannot run M1-native, I would still be stuck switching modes in Photoshop if I upgraded to the latest version. (I still run the old Google version of Silver Efex!). So for the time being, if I want to work in Silver Efex, I will do some work there first, close, and then open the image in Photoshop M1 mode to do everything else (all the edits still show up). Or maybe I should just take the hint that DXO has never offered anything worth paying for to upgrade my Google version (RIP Nik).
Updating to a 5K Display
The Mac Studio Display is quite beautiful. I ran it through a color calibration and there was little change from the default. But I updated from a HD 1920px display to this 5K Retina, and I noted some differences in my workflow. For one, viewing images at 100% magnification doesn’t seem so big anymore. Looking at website JPEGs I previously sized in the 800-1000px range in Lightroom using the Fit Screen is rather ugly and 100% unsatisfying. However, looking at the images in my web galleries on a 5K display doesn’t seem to be too much of an issue via browser.
This is a huge relief to me as I don’t want to embark on redoing every image on my site. I am still undecided if I will start upping the resolution of images on my site. But it is a great joy to see so much vibrant detail in working on images like these sea stars.
A Smaller Footprint Overall
In addition to the physically smaller footprint on my desk, I am still just amazed at the low power consumption of the Mac Studio and Studio Display together. As I type this, the wattage reading on my UPS where both devices are plugged into reads 39 Watts. That’s just amazing. I really think this is an aspect that isn’t discussed enough when it comes to desktop computers. For sure in laptops, lower power use results in longer battery life. But it is also a welcome change in reducing power consumption on a desktop. Imagine the impact such technology can have if implemented across all the power-hungry servers in use.
A Perfect Fit
So there you have it – an update on my experience using the Mac Studio for a few months. So far it has been the perfect fit for my needs. Coming from a very old machine, it is certainly nice being able to use all the latest technology that comes with newer Apple products. My Topaz plugins run so much faster. TK Panel 8 has a lot of nice features. I guess we’ll see if it carries me through the next decade plus. 🙂
Thanks, Mark. You may have sold me. My iMac isn’t that old but because I went low on RAM it’s becoming slower with each software or app upgrade. Thanks again for the review and notes on your experience. Very useful.
I don’t know a lot about iMacs – are you sure no memory upgrades are out there? OWC would have info. You are welcome though – I am quite happy with it.
for some reason they decided to not allow this version to be customer upgradeable. I’ve upgraded memory in previous models and I’m familiar with OWC but right now I’m kinda stuck.
That is one concern with the Mac Studio also. It remains in the configuration you ordered it in. And it is always difficult to know how long that configuration will last you into the future. However, I figured with Apple’s trade-in program, I may be able to utilize that should that situation come up in the next 5 years or so.
Triassic Period MacPro? Dang had no idea you were that old, my friend! Glad you are satisfied with the upgrade. I have no experience with desktop computers as I’ve owned one, always used the laptops. I now have a 27 inch monitor I use to edit images but for years I just used my laptop. I probably give up some editing because of that. I also use Silver Efex for my black and white conversion and am quite pleased with it. And, of course with laptops only I’ve been using external drives for years.
Ya know, it was much harder to find power back in those days. 🙂 It would be difficult for me to work solely on a laptop, perhaps because I have just grown so used to a larger display (23, now 27) – and even then I am always jumping between windows.
I guess the good think about an external box is it would be easy to grab and take with you in case of fire or some other disaster (knocks wood).
I’m happy to read how well the Mac Studio has proven for you, Mark. Your patience in upgrading seems well rewarded with Apple’s release of this system. Good things do come to those who wait! 😉
I hope you and Bonnie are doing well, Earl! I have to say my patience was certainly tested, and my experience in front of a screen improved. The dogs have a tendency to remind me when I have been in front of it too long. 🙂
I also have an older computer from approximately 2016 and also store images on internal drives. When I get a new machine I will have to look into the ThunderBay you described.
I have the older machine plus a laptop with a high res screen that I had gotten for work. I have to admit I like the older screen better than my high res screen for processing. Maybe it’s just that I’m used to it?
What about your old screen, in particular, do you like?