I need some advice on purchasing a Mac. I’m planning on using Unity for a FPS. I have a high end PC which will be my primary testing platform, but since I cant get OSX installed on it I’m going to purchase a Mac.
The question I have is since I don’t want to shell out a ton of cash for the latest Mac Pro; do any of the older Mac’s allow you to install video cards, such as the 7000 or 8000 Nvidia series? I rather not have anything integrated with a monitor.
Also, is Apple planning on launching a new model of the iMac this year or is that just a rumor?
After watching Apple’s technology (and willingly buying a lot of it) since the late 1970s, I’d wager YES to this one. The rumours have two new iMac models coming soon (at least by mid-August). Regardless of the form redesign you can be assured, I think, of the Santa Rosa Intel chip (the next gen of the Core 2 Duo) and better graphics cards (nVidia 8000 series I’d guess). The product cycle is about right for new hardware.
Older machines have varying degrees of ease and card swapping availability … you usually need to buy a video card straight from an Apple reseller as the ROM/firmware on standard PC video cards is different and won’t work in a Mac. Did you have specific machines in mind?
The only specifics I have is that Im going to use Windows for development; XSI, Z-Brush and BodyPaint. I need a Mac system powerful enough for development/testing, using the latest shaders supported by current video cards. I rather not shell out 3,000+ for a Mac Pro. So my though is network both the PC and Mac, and use a USB hard drive to save the dev files too.
When v2 of Unity comes out, how will you be able to preview DirectX shaders on a Mac? Will you have to compile to a Windows machine or run XP on the Mac?
Unity comes with a fully integrated CG compiler. That means you write high level CG shaders and Unity behind the scene generates all the pixel/vertex shaders for DirectX and OpenGL at the same time. So you can test your shaders on the mac and then just deploy to Windows.
They will look identical. Unless of course you do some crazy stuff that just happens to be very different on D3D vs. GL. For all the built-in Unity shaders, they all come from the same Cg source, and they actually look the same on both.
If that’s the new keyboard… I’m keeping my old one. Seriously, They messed up the button layout (Put my Volume Control and Eject button back in the upper right corner damnit!), and its all flat-like. Bad move if its not a hoax.
If you haven’t used a MacBook keyboard for more than a week, I suggest you keep an open mind. It’s my favourite keyboard ever, and I’ve seen a lot of people express disgust initially (as I did) and quickly grow to love it.
I also feel the industrial design behind both the MacBook keyboard and this one is a perfect segue into a virtual touchpad/screen-based keyboard. And Apple knows it.
To save on the cost of a Mac, one option you may wish to consider is to buy a superceded run out model from your local Mac shop.
Another option, depending on your employment situation and the Tax rules, you may be able to Salary Sacrifice a Mac Book Pro - that’s what I did. Doing this means that you get a discount that is equivalent to your current tax bracket. Furthermore, you might also be able to claim depreciation against the laptop at the end of your financial year. Doing this will decrease your taxable income and result in a bigger tax return (further discounting the price). Of course you should check whether either of these options are available to you by contacting your employer’s personnel section, accountant or financial advisor.
You can also get around a 20% education discount off the price of a Mac if you (or someone you know who is willing to purchase it on your behalf) is a student.
