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Hello Serif Staff,

I am currently looking into purchasing a new desktop computer, more specifically an iMac 21.5 inch With Retina 4k Display.

My question goes as follows before I make a purchase:

  • What iOS version does the Affinity suite (Photo, Designer and Publisher) require to run on an Apple machine?
  • Is the Affinity suite compatible with Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 (Late 2013)3.5 GHz 6 Core Xeon E5-1650v2?
  • Will the Affinity suite upgrades be compatible with a Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 (Late 2013)3.5 GHz 6 Core Xeon E5-1650v2?
  • What specifications do I need to know before I settle on a permanent purchase?

I have ruled any Windows software out of the equation for my investment, and as soon as I have an answer, I plan on purchasing all three desktop in one go. I currently run the mobile app on an iPad (6th Gen).

 

Thank you for your responses.

Edited by LastGrasp
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  • Staff

You can find our system specs for Affinity Photo here, they are the same for Designer and Publisher, it also includes the support versions of macOS. It will be worth finding out the exact model, this will then help when checking the system specs.

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9 minutes ago, Lee D said:

You can find our system specs for Affinity Photo here, they are the same for Designer and Publisher, it also includes the support versions of macOS. It will be worth finding out the exact model, this will then help when checking the system specs.

Isn’t ‘Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 (Late 2013)3.5 GHz 6 Core Xeon E5-1650v2’ exact enough, Lee? It’s hard to imagine it being anything other than this one.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Should work on all above named systems, though the OS is MacOS and not iOS for the Apple desktop computers here.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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6 minutes ago, LastGrasp said:

iOS is for mobile devices?

iPads and Phones.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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59 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:
1 hour ago, LastGrasp said:

iOS is for mobile devices?

iPads and Phones.

And shortly there will be an iPadOS strictly for iPads.

Plus, for Macs running Catalina there is a "sidecar" function that works with iPadOS (currently still in beta) to use the two screens together. Watch Affinity Designer 1.7 Sidecar Preview to get an idea of the possibilities.

BTW, any of the current iMac models should not just meet the Affinity app specs but run them very well. My tired old 2012 iMac runs them decently but a current model should run rings around it. :) 

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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One additional comment, purchase your Memory separately, if you plan on upgrading from the standard 8 GB.  Much cheaper and install in five minutes. Amazon or B&H has special prices, check both, before purchasing. Good luck, enjoy your new iMac.  

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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2 hours ago, Cecil said:

One additional comment, purchase your Memory separately, if you plan on upgrading from the standard 8 GB.  Much cheaper and install in five minutes.

Not true for the 21.5" iMacs. To install memory in them requires almost complete disassembly, replacement gaskets, & special tools.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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7 hours ago, R C-R said:

Not true for the 21.5" iMacs. To install memory in them requires almost complete disassembly, replacement gaskets, & special tools.

Stand corrected, I failed to notice or recall, 21” iMac.  

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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29 minutes ago, Cecil said:

Stand corrected, I failed to notice or recall, 21” iMac.  

Apple's iMac Technical Specifications page does not make this very clear. For the 21.5" models, it just says the memory is "Configurable to 16GB." For the 27" models it says the same thing but adds that the four SO-DIMM slots are user accessible.

FWIW & somewhat surprisingly, the very expensive iMac Pro models also do not have user accessible memory slots. I suppose this is because the more elaborate & bulky cooling system those models require does not leave room for the nifty little door & pop out slots of the regular 27" models that make installing more memory so easy.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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On 8/18/2019 at 6:57 AM, R C-R said:

Apple's iMac Technical Specifications page does not make this very clear. For the 21.5" models, it just says the memory is "Configurable to 16GB." For the 27" models it says the same thing but adds that the four SO-DIMM slots are user accessible.

FWIW & somewhat surprisingly, the very expensive iMac Pro models also do not have user accessible memory slots. I suppose this is because the more elaborate & bulky cooling system those models require does not leave room for the nifty little door & pop out slots of the regular 27" models that make installing more memory so easy.

21.5” iMac requires the removal of glass display.  My personal preference is 27” with upgrade of Memory to assist future macOS upgrades system resources requirements, if budget allows.  I upgraded mine to 40 GB, overkill yes, less than $400.  Affinity beach ball nonexistent.

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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18 minutes ago, Cecil said:

21.5” iMac requires the removal of glass display.

It also requires removal of the motherboard because the RAM is on the side of the board facing the back of the case, inaccessible from the front after removing the display. That in turn requires removal of other parts. From the iFixit teardown article for the 2019 retina 4K 21.5" model, it looks like this is where they are:

h26BExYeqYNotSpY.medium.jpeg.cdf318fd8776bca74bfd54fe6283aacc.jpeg

This is not something I think most users should attempt -- the chances of breaking something are much to high to make that advisable. :(

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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1 hour ago, R C-R said:

 

 

This is not something I think most users should attempt -- the chances of breaking something are much to high to make that advisable. :(

Agree 100%.  I did not want to go in detail, removing screen should deter most from considering DYI.  

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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Honestly fellas, this discussion is way above my head... I'm considering just investing in an iPad Pro 12"

My only concern is wether or not text or fonts can be manipulated in the iPad version or even the desktop version of Designer.

 

Is there ANYTHING I would be missing out on if I decide on the iPad Pro over the desktop version? I think my main concern is typography, also considering that I was told by an Apple employee that works in graphic design, that Adobe is coming out with a full fledged iPad version of Photoshop and Illustrator....

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28 minutes ago, LastGrasp said:

I think my main concern is typography

Off the top of my head I can’t think of any major omissions relating to typography. Here’s a screenshot from Affinity Designer on iPad:

64F0D71A-9093-49A0-870E-86C3B2DCA9D6.jpeg

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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12 minutes ago, Alfred said:

Off the top of my head I can’t think of any major omissions relating to typography. Here’s a screenshot from Affinity Designer on iPad:

64F0D71A-9093-49A0-870E-86C3B2DCA9D6.jpeg

Well, I saw the tutorial on typography in Designer but, how much can I manipulate text? Is it possible to take a font and apply nodes to it in order to stretch or change it, or can I just apply these options?

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12 minutes ago, LastGrasp said:

Well, I saw the tutorial on typography in Designer but, how much can I manipulate text? Is it possible to take a font and apply nodes to it in order to stretch or change it, or can I just apply these options?

The iPad version includes the controls shown on the right in this screenshot:10EFE469-B697-4750-B092-DC5005A77C93.thumb.jpeg.fadbe7c305718a2ffca48110c353e852.jpeg

If you wanted to tweak the nodes you would need to convert to curves (as in the desktop version).

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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12 minutes ago, LastGrasp said:

Actually, I don't even see those options, all I see is the "Capitals"

The available options depend on the particular font. In the screenshot below, the two instances of ‘a’ in the top copy of ‘Caveat’ are the same because the ‘Contextual Alternates’ feature has been switched off, but in the bottom copy they’re slightly different.E9FD279C-725D-4CB0-8859-3A69002DE9C6.thumb.jpeg.0a0addaefecdc8d656e18960fa2196f3.jpeg

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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30 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The iPad version includes the controls shown on the right in this screenshot:10EFE469-B697-4750-B092-DC5005A77C93.thumb.jpeg.fadbe7c305718a2ffca48110c353e852.jpeg

If you wanted to tweak the nodes you would need to convert to curves (as in the desktop version).

So in order to accomplish the modification of fonts, I would only be able to do that on the desktop version?

If so, on the desktop version, how customizable are the fonts or text? Can I manipulate any font with nodes like a vector shape or not?

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39 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The available options depend on the particular font. In the screenshot below, the two instances of ‘a’ in the top copy of ‘Caveat’ are the same because the ‘Contextual Alternates’ feature has been switched off, but in the bottom copy they’re slightly different.E9FD279C-725D-4CB0-8859-3A69002DE9C6.thumb.jpeg.0a0addaefecdc8d656e18960fa2196f3.jpeg

Can this kind of work be accomplished on an iPad Pro or is this only possible on a desktop version of Designer?

 

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1 hour ago, LastGrasp said:

Can this kind of work be accomplished on an iPad Pro or is this only possible on a desktop version of Designer?

 

I didn’t spot anything there that you couldn’t do in the iPad version of Designer. If you don’t have a physical keyboard it’s tedious to power duplicate (as a substitute for the blend steps that AD can’t do yet) but all the tools and commands you need are available in both the desktop and the iPad version of the app.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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I hope someone here with a background in professional graphic design work (i am not interested in digital painting or drawing) can help me make a decision on this matter.

I am at a loss as to what to invest in. I want to migrate from traditional to digital work vector graphics and typography professionally and I am unsure as to which hardware to invest in.

I am not sure if AD/AP (and Publisher [will it come out on iPad]) will be all I need or if I will require other programs.

Will the iPad pro be sufficient? Or will I need a desktop? I ask because I had someone tell me that in order to create professional grade typography and text customization and manipulation, I would require a desktop, but any and everything else is capable on the iPad Pro... but I am not sure if he was referring to digital drawing or what.

Perhaps, if I explain what it is I am doing, it may help:

I am NOT graphic designer in the sense that I paint and draw or whatever, digitally. I am a traditional illustrator (pen and ink). My interests are solely in logo creation (which I know that AD allows me to create vector images already) but I was told I would also need typographical abilities. I don't know what the hell that means since I never worked in digital. I don't know where to go, I am really winging my way around which is really my fault for not getting a long with the times. My main focus is brand management and advertising, so I will definitely be working with photo manipulation and illustration with vectors, as for any other kind of raster based work, I would create in AD as well, as I assume it is capable of this, or Procreate (apologies for dropping the name of another company's product), which is why I am not concerned about digital illustration and painting.

I know this is a long post...

Anyway, I have downloaded and installed fonts for use in AD but I it seems there is no way to convert them into a vector image so I can just manipulate them, not even sure if that is available in other programs, honestly. I am completely new to this world. I have never used any Mac products until this iPad that was given to me as a gift. I have never used Windows. I have never used Adobe anything except Reader for PDF files. All I know is GIMP and INKSCAPE and MyPaint from using Linux for the past 12 years.

My focus has been traditional illustration for 26 years. I want to migrate into digital and do not know how to start. I have definitely fallen in love with AP and AD on this iPad. But even working on a tablet is new to me. I am used to mouse and keyboard. Also, if APublisher is coming out for the iPad, and the iPad Pro can handle all of what the desktop can as well as typographical work, then I know what I will purchase. But I have not gotten an answer to this so I figured I'd try to be as specific as possible.

I plan on working freelance, which I was told the software I know is irrelevant but, if I want to work corporate, I would need knowledge of other software, so...

can ANYONE here help me with this specific conundrum. I would much appreciate it. I am trying to get on with my work. In the meanwhile, I am teaching myself AD in this 9" 6th Gen iPad....but it's too small to work on as long as I do.

 

Thank you.

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13 minutes ago, LastGrasp said:

... In the meanwhile, I am teaching myself AD in this 9" 6th Gen iPad....but it's too small to work on as long as I do.

I think you will find that a desktop Mac, particularly either the 21.5" or 27" iMac, will be much better suited to your needs in the long term, regardless of if you use Affinity or Adobe products.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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