Should YOU buy a 2013 MAC PRO in 2021...?

Used sales of 2013 Mac Pro are still strong. Why would anyone consider such an old machine in 2021? Surely the M1 Macs make a much better choice?

Yes, and no. In this video I share my thoughts on where the 2013 Mac Pro 6,1 Trashcan still has something to offer, and where the more modern Apple M1 machines make more sense.

PODCAST CHANNEL
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
0:36 2013 Mac Pro background
1:29 Design & reception by professionals
3:24 Price & entry-level specs
5:29 CPU options & single-threaded performance
6:14 Multi-threaded performance
6:35 Professional use cases in 2021
7:24 Upgrade options
8:52 GPU performance
10:37 Suitability for GPU-heavy workloads
13:00 Should anyone buy this in 2021?

#MacPro #AppleSilicon #2013MacPro

[videosuperhighway]

I bought 2 in 2023 they are available for under 400 dollars. Even though I have M1 Ultra Mac Studio I always wanted a trashcan model. They work great even today. Under 400 you get 256gb ssd, 64gb ram, 6 core cpu and dual d500s.
675 gets you 8 core, 1tb ssd, 64gb ram, dual d700’s I use them for Audio work in the studio. Solid workhorse and I can run some plugins that have not transitioned but still run even modern plugins so I can load up stems etc because all plugins now load. Its fast for audio no glitches etc. connected to some UAD Apollo rack units etc..

[panosb]

Imagine this EXACT mac pro design with new APPLE computer in the world by far!!!

[nycmaster]

I always wanted one since 2013, so finally bought a 12 core, D700. Thanks for your videos.

[WarzechaSoftWorks]

Apple should bring back the mac pro 2013 design with a M1x or M2 chip. I love the design. It is not practical but looks fantastic on any office desk.

[Cryo]

Bought the baseline 4core "trashcan in 2013. Loved the sleek look.
3.7GHz quad core Intel Xeon E5. 32 GB 1866 Mhz DDR3. AMD FirePro D300 2GB. 
Catalina 10.15.7.
Only upgrade was to upgrade the RAM to 32GB.
STILL...my main machine. Very happy with it. It does everything I need. But damn, those M1 Macs are really tempting!!!

[nbrunel]

I just bought a Mac Pro trash can 4 core, D300, 1TB and maxed out ram at 128GB for $700 locally from a company that was upgrading their system. I then upgraded the CPU to the 12 core for $80 (fairly easy task if you have the tools) and this machine works great for music production.

I bought the M1 mini but wanted to wait before switching to silicon as many plugins and audio interfaces are not compatible yet. Decided to give this one a chance to tide me over as it was a good deal and I will definitely keep this computer. I know the benchmark test are pretty low for today’s standards but in the real world im actually able to get many more tracks in Logic or Pro Tools than the M1 Mini whereas my 2018 mac mini i7 6 core was not doing well with VI like Omnisphere etc and was always at 100/102 degree Celsius with fans on full blast.

The mac pro is super silent so I can have it in the studio, the temps even recording lots of tracks in Logic stay at 53 Celsius with fan at 1000rpm max and idle is 41Celsius at 789rpm. It looks great too! I just do audio so D300 are totally fine for me.

Anyway hope that helps any musicians or anyone interested in music production!

[HenrikoMagnifico]

Got one maxed out for 500$... best deal ever

[SteigerMiller]

Great overview. I bought my trashcan last year because I needed multicamera video editing in HD. The dual GPUs being underutilized is an issue outside of Final Cut Pro, though. In addition, Apple moving to Metal has left some open source projects like Blender in the dust.

[ajayjonesie]

So yeah.., nice informative video.
I bought a 2013 MP this year for $900 off ebay. I had always wanted one, but could not afford when it was newer.
There were several reasons for buying this machine, which is a 8 core with 64GB DDR3 and a Firepro D700, 1TB SSD
One was to add to my mac collection (yes, I have a room full of ancient mac hardware) and to port all my info from my 2013 27 imac, because the screen is having some issues.
The imac was running Mojave, and I didn't upgrade after that, because I had a lot of apps, games, and other items I used a lot, and they would not work on the next OS upgrade.
So I bought the 2013 MP to port over all my stuff from the 2013 imac.
So now I get the best of both worlds. On one side of the TB drive I run Mojave, and the other side the modern OS Monterey.
What a difference. Overall, I think it worked out well, because I like the newest OS and using it on a daily basis, but when I want to do some old school gaming (Unreal Tournament)
I can jump back to Mojave with no problems.

[matthewTobrien]

Love that progress bar for each chapter of the video - that's a slick idea. Love my 2013 Mac Pro ... but desperately need to follow along your video on how to upgrade it to the 12-core processor. Love the channel!

[bigeasycov]

I bought a 6-core, dual D500 with 16gb ram model for £230 and a 12 core cpu separately for £70. Very good value I think.

[jasonpeacock]

Mine is 6 core / 12 thread with dual D500s. I run and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 in an eGPU. Performance is still awesome (general office plus photo and some music editing). The best upgrade was adding a 1TB NVMe drive. This has dual boot into macOS 10.15 (Big Sur) and Windows 10 Pro (latest build). I can game on this rig at Ultra settings in all games. I'm keeping it.

[jjdigitalvideosolutionsllc]

I'm happy with our 6, 1 MacPro (12core + dual D700). Works fine for video editing with FCP. One note regarding internal SSD upgrades though. When I upgraded to Monterey, a required firmware update would not install because the installer refused to use a non Apple OEM SSD. I had to swap out my Aura Pro X2 for an Apple SSD, do the firmware update, then I could swap back to the Auro Pro X2 and complete the Monterey upgrade. Still being able to use the latest mac OS is another plue for this older Mac Pro.

[nukenoly]

2022: I run Logic Pro X on my 12Core with 6 thunderbolt displays. My M1 MacBook can’t do that. Great machine

[PeterWargo]

First off, my complements on this video series. I stumbled across this video by accident, and enjoyed it so much that I went back to the beginning of the series. It's refreshing to watch intelligent, well-thought-out videos that aren't full of errors or "ummm... wait..." every other word. As a long-time IT professional, I'm not a huge fan of videos that waste my time. As someone who is also visually-impaired, I *really* appreciate someone talking clearly and not just flashing a bunch of words on the screen over horrible music. I rarely subscribe to channels, but I've done so in this case.

Now that the compliments are out of the way: I bought a 2013 Mac Pro a couple of weeks ago to sit next to my M1 Mini. (Oddly enough, connected to a 32" 4K Dell monitor, which I find to be a hilarious coincidence.) Why? Well, the M1 Mini replaced my 2018 i7, and while it's insanely fast and fun to use, one of the things I do both professionally and personally is run a bunch of VMs. My original plan was to build an AMD-based mini server, but one day my spouse (bless her soul!) suggested looking at a Mac, partly because the assistive tools work so well for me. But what to get? Not another Mini, and I don't want an iMac, as I have a monitor that works well for me. And, face it, the 2019 Mac Pro is drool-worthy, but rather pricy.

Then I remembered the 2013 Pro. I had one on my desk a few years back when I worked for an arts organization, and I liked it. I've a fondness for "misunderstood" Macs; I still own a number of G4 Cubes. Face it, the trashcan is pretty. With a 12-core Xeon, 128G RAM, and a 1T SSD, it's also a decent machine for virtualization. Ideal? No. But much more fun than yet another Linux server. Got enough of those at work, thanks. I was lucky enough to score a "new" open-box unit with the above specs and D500 graphics (plenty for my needs) for a reasonable price. A bit above my original budget, but I have no regrets. I've already beaten the hell out of it, and it's taken all the loads I can throw at it just fine. Did I mention it's pretty?

In the end, it's a reminder that shiny and new is great, but if a computer does what you need, then it's all you need.

[MacSociety]

Still loving mine and I still need to get Final Cut Pro so I can enjoy the 12 cores.. or DaVinci... But still happy with my 12 core I purchased in 2020.

[PBUK]

I'm seriously thinking of buying the 12 core one, now they are going cheap .. for music production .. I currently still use my Mac Pro 2008 so this should be a huge step forward

[Cyberjjc]

Very comprehensive. Between you and Luke Miani, I am actually quite satisfied on my decision to dump money into a Mac Pro 2013. Being a music producer, I am looking forward to using my Mac Pro 2013 for future albums. Thanks.

[joealberti]

Good morning. Thank you for the videos you do. I find the very informative, and look forward to them. I especially like your videos about the 2013 Mac Pro.
I've been a Mac Pro user since I bought my first used 2007 Cheese grater model, and later upgraded to a mid 2010 model. I wanted a 2013 machine because I really liked the look and size of it, but the cost didn't make sense, because the 2010 was running so strong, and I really couldn't afford the 2013. Well, the 2010 finally gave up the ghost last year, and I found a really good buy on a used 2013. The machine I bought came with an 8 core Xeon processor, 64 GB of RAM, a 1 TB SSD, and dual D500 GPUs. I got the machine for less than $1, 000, and I really love it. I run a lot of VMs for work and personal use, and this machine is great for that. I've seen a lot of videos on Youtube where people love to berate this machine, but I am happy I bought mine, and am looking forward to may yárs of use from it.

[teemuntubetus]

Great video! I agree with you. BUT one thing which you forgot(?) to mention: MULTIPLE DISPLAYS. 
M1 Mac Mini supports only 2 external displays. 
I have 3 displays -> my choice (in 2022) was either 3500€ Mac Studio or used Mac Pro for 500€ (baseline, 4-core, D300). 
I went with Mac Pro: stability, software support, etc. And I have a principle that one who has a business, should rarely buy the first generation product of anything - unless you are willing to coop with the problems and hiccups what comes with the new products.