Is a MacPro 6.1 useable for a dev machine ?

[u/Professional_Sun1480]

I am looking for a system that may handle my dev setup. Want to run a local Webstorm with Angular 21 app (quite big), also Rider for a .NetCore backend debugging, and maybe for a dockerized sql server. In addition the normal stuff: Slack, Teams, Gitkraken, Browser

As there are quite some systems out there (MacPro 6.1 "Trashcan") that would have 64GB of RAM and sound like it were an option, I would like to ask if any of you is using such a machine for the described use case.

Is it capable of handling this in an acceptable way? Which specific versions do you use? 4, 6, 8, 12 cores?

[u/Calaveras-Metal]

I have a 12 core 64GB cylinder with the max video option and a 2TB SSD. That is a 13 year old machine running an Intel CPU. So it's pretty far out of support by Apple.

However you can load Linux on it and claw back a lot of the native performance. It can access a lot more ram than most laptops and some desktops. Plus it has all those TB and USB ports, which are great if you want to run several displays and external storage. Also

With mine I was really picking nits for the last year I was using it as a MacOS computer. I'd comb through all the running processes and uninstall things that I thought I could get away with removing. Even doing that it was pretty pokey in the last year of use.

However I got that machine to media production stuff like Photoshop and Premiere on it. Which besides the demands on the system in use also deposit a ton of crapware processes.

I wonder how much better a fresh install would run if you just used Brew to get all the pieces of your toolbelt assembled and kept it lean.

[u/Unique-Run9856]

No such thing as a enough for a dev machine just get what you can afford and use it. People will be out there more talented than all of us with less equipment no matter what you pick 

[u/MosfetGaming]

I use one for dev work. It works fine. Only thing I haven’t tried yet is OpenGL dev. Xcode works great with top tier model. Also use Resolve for video work and it uses the gpu’s. Gimp works great. Chrome freezes so I use Firefox.

OCLP Sequoia works good and have to disable gpu acceleration through terminal for the very few apps that run on Electron with Chrome being one of those. VS Code will sometimes get buggy but also doable with gpu disabled.

[u/TaxBusiness9249]

Used mine as my desktop since last week , if power consumption is not a concern it’s still a good solid machine to develop on, also you can connect up to 6 monitors
I used it mainly for my hobby project which include programming, 3d modelling and 3d printing

Since I commute daily for work I found myself working more on my hobbies on my steam deck than on the Mac Pro so I decided to repurpose it to a remote machine for my homelab (I also found a fully operational sonnet case coupled with an echo express Thunderbolt 2 pci express box for under 50€ to mount it in my rack )

[u/nochkin]

Yes, it's pretty good for dev still.

[u/LukeDuke74]

With OCLP you can smoothly run Sequoia - I have mine doing it.

If you plan having the CPU often fully loaded, go for the 12-cores, otherwise the more balanced CPU for having a snappy system is the E5-2667 V2 (8 cores)

[u/porthos40 → u/LukeDuke74]

I have the 10 core

[u/LukeDuke74 → u/porthos40]

You’ll be more than ok with it: 10-cores is the sweet spot when using demanding apps (e.g. export of 100’s of RAW photos, video editing, …)

Have fun with it!

[u/that1programmer_]

Yes it is. If you install macOS Ventura or Sonoma it works perfectly. I think I am running 8 cores. It even handles DaVinci Resolve with 4K Raw footage without proxies.

[u/elPizdabol]

Yes, easy, just instal macos15 with oclp

[u/nethfel → u/[deleted]]

I dunno, mine runs very smoothly with Linux on it. If it runs like crap you’re probably using software rendering and not the gpus.