Considering a Mac - How well does Logos 5 run on one?

I've wanted to switch to a mac for years, but each time I've needed to purchase a new computer, I went PC because of needing to run Logos. The time is now near for a new computer. If I go mac, how will it handle Logos 5? Anything major differences to be aware of? What kind of specs would I need to run Logos well on it?

Thanks for any feedback.

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toughski

I've been a card-carrying MAC hater for years, that is until I bought a iPhone 5S last year and things drastically changed since then.

My new system is 15" MBP retina late 2013 model. Logos is extremely fast on this. Coming from Logos5 PC I had ZERO issues and I use Logos nearly every day for Sermon/lesson preparation.

What really makes a difference is an SSD and 8+Gb of RAM. Last year's top-of-the-line processor is helpful (for Logos), but maybe only when indexing. Dedicated videocard of 1GB probably makes no difference.

Now you should probably hear from 13" MBP and even from MacBook Air owners about their experiences as far as hardware, but as far as Logos5 itself, it has near parity between PC and MAC.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

If I go mac, how will it handle Logos 5? Anything major differences to be aware of?

Thankful for substantial Logos 5 and Verbum feature parity between OS X and Windows. Logos 5.3 and newer will need OS X 10.9 Mavericks or newer =>http://community.logos.com/forums/p/86933/610448.aspx#610448

Wiki => https://wiki.logos.com/Mac_and_PC_User_Interface_Differences#Feature_Parity with differences culled from forum discussions.

What kind of specs would I need to run Logos well on it?

Logos 5 and Verbum are resource intensive applications on Mac & PC – benefit from fast processor, graphics, and quick storage along with adequate memory; Solid State Disk (SSD) is noticeably faster than hard disk.

Processor benchmarks => http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks provide relative speed differences with Intel fourth and third generation i7 and i5 dominating top of chart.

Mac benchmarks => http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

Buyer's Guide => http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac shows days since model was last refreshed by Apple

Apple refurbished => http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac that have same warranty as new (appears to have more models before 9.9.2014 Apple Event)

Keep Smiling [:)]

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/625852#Comment_625852

My 2012 MBP with SSD and mac benchmark score of 3011, runs Logos beautifully. I had a chance to try out Logos 4 back in January 2012 on a 2011 MBA with a benchmark score 1775 and I was blown away by how well it worked. At that time I was using a 2010 MBP 7200RPM HDD with a benchmark score 2360, I found Logos 4 to be far from acceptable on it. Seeing it had an over all better score than the MBA, I can confirm SSD makes all the difference. If you are buying a new Macbook be it Air or Pro you will be getting a SSD. The cheapest mini is a standard 5200RPM HDD. iMacs by default have HDD. The minis/iMacs can be configured to come with SSD.

-Dan

Rich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/625911#Comment_625911

I have a 2014 13" MBA, 512, i7, 8 RAM and could not be happier.

Mike W

Also a long time windows user who switched to Mac (It used to be hard to find reliable information due to the Mac fans but over time I felt OS X got good enough and I couldn't stand windows 8) I use a late 2013 13" retina Mac Pro with 8gb ram and a 512 ssd. Logos runs well for me. Testing on similar windows computer I find that a pc would be about 20% faster on searches but any normal search completes in 2 or three second at most (with over 10000 books). I also use an iPad and and iPod touch and I like the way that the mac seamlessly integrates with these.

Paul-C

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626015#Comment_626015

I have a 2014 13" MBA, 512, i7, 8 RAM and could not be happier.

I have the same spec, but with the mid-2013 model, and Logos runs great on my MBA!

Martin Folley

Someone in the windows world might correct me in this ... Mac has one massive advantage (IMHO) ... The trackpad. You can scroll through resources in the different panels so much easier than using the scroll bars in windows. I cannot confirm this. Macs can run full versions of windows within their OS (using software such as parallels) which allows you to use any windows software but with the hardware advantage of the trackpad, so even if I booted my windows 7 virtual machine, I get the full mac experience!

Don Awalt

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626048#Comment_626048

Mac has one massive advantage (IMHO) ... The trackpad.

Martin, I am a relatively new MBPr owner, how do I do this in Logos on my Mac? I am not familiar with it. Thanks!

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626067#Comment_626067

Martin, I am a relatively new MBPr owner, how do I do this in Logos on my Mac? I am not familiar with it.

If you have columns in a resource set to "none," (not one!) then you use two fingers dragged up or down to scroll.

Don Awalt

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626079#Comment_626079

Ah that works nicely, thanks! I figured out on the trackpad - I tried scrolling on the display first - that didn't work so well :-)

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626090#Comment_626090

Just some smudges for your efforts. [:D]

Grigsy

Running Logos 5 on a i5 MBP with retina, 8 gig ram. It runs great.

Charles

Hi Aaron:

I'll throw my 2 cents in along with the other Mac users. I'm running Logos 5 on a 27" 2013 iMac with 16 GB of memory and a 1 TB HDD. What I love about it for sermon prep is I can display three pages of my sermon at a time (using MS Word for the Mac) for edit. I usually keep Logos 5 open at the same time along with other helps. Of course if you decide on a desktop model, it's strictly for office use - kind of difficult to lug around an iMac. [:P]

Whatever you decide on, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

In Christ,

Charles

Erik Eggleston

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626606#Comment_626606

I can tell you from frist hand exceperince that the Logos 5 software running much better on OSX than win7._ So if you think it runs well on win 7 when you change to a mac you will end up even more impressed.

I have had to change to win7 from OSX. And although Logos5 runs well on win7, Its just runs better on OSX. My Win7 System out specs the Airbook I did have. However in win 7 it is still a bit chunky.

I guess apple products just spoil you.And this is a classic case of that, IMO. I rememeber I choose Logos5 because it was one of the few bible software available to run on OSx at the time.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627038#Comment_627038

I have had to change to win7 from OSX. And although Logos5 runs well on win7, Its just runs better on OSX. My Win7 System out specs the Airbook I did have. However in win 7 it is still a bit chunky.

I would be hesitant to make that claim. You won't find a bigger Apple/Mac fan than me, but I think the best answer is that "it depends." One question I have for you Erik: You say that your Win7 system "out specs" the MacBook Air. I know your Mac has an SSD drive in it... what about the PC?

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627062#Comment_627062

I have had to change to win7 from OSX. And although Logos5 runs well on win7, Its just runs better on OSX. My Win7 System out specs the Airbook I did have. However in win 7 it is still a bit chunky.

I would be hesitant to make that claim. You won't find a bigger Apple/Mac fan than me, but I think the best answer is that "it depends." One question I have for you Erik: You say that your Win7 system "out specs" the MacBook Air. I know your Mac has an SSD drive in it... what about the PC?

It most likely is the SSD that is making all the difference there. But I think it should be safe enough to say Logos 5 Mac works nearly as fast as Logos Windows. It would shock me if the OSX was better but in some cases like the above it may seem to be much better. And for most people I think it is probably safe enough to say Logos performs well on on a Mac.

-Dan

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627071#Comment_627071

I agree... as long as you preface it by "new mac, with sufficient ram and an SSD." Of course, the same would be true with someone using a PC.

Wild Eagle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627038#Comment_627038

sorry to be negative here, but I want to give an honest experience. To me Mac was a big disappointment for logos. I used MacBook Air (2012) and it was very slow... almost a year ago, I gave up and sold it. Maybe Logos works better now, but I am afraid that it is not. The only Mac I would probably use would be Mac Pro but $$$. iMac with 5400rpm don't even count as an option. I have it in my office and it is really slow. I currently have 2600k, Windows 8, 840ssd pro, and gtx660 graphic and logos with other programs work extremely fast. MacBook Air and IMac are just fancy but when you get in touch with them, they are big disappointment. I did not have experience with MacBook Pro. I hope it is better though.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627089#Comment_627089

To me Mac was a big disappointment for logos. I used MacBook Air (2012) and it was very slow...

Specs?

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627097#Comment_627097

A friend recently upgraded from 2011 model Mac Book Air running 1.7 GHz i5 with 4 GB Ram and 128 GB SSD to a refurbished 2013 MBA running 1.7 GHz i7 with 8 GB Ram and 256 GB SSD, which noticeably improved Logos 5 responsiveness.

Noticed refurbished April 2014 MBA models now available => http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air

Keep Smiling [:)]

GregW

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/627089#Comment_627089

I am quite a heavy Logos user (every day, Reading Plans, original language work, sermon and teaching prep, etc.) I switched from a PC to a Mac a year ago. I got a Macbook Pro 13" with SSD and 8GB RAM and have not had any performance issues or crashes at all. I believe the current beta is 64-bit and should enhance performance further. The only issues I encountered were Logos preventing the Macbook from going to sleep (which seems to have been fixed now) and the rather annoying minimising-to-the bottom-left-of-the-screen-on-loading problem, which still occurs occasionally. I haven't noticed any loss of functionality, and morph and syntax searches don't seem any worse than the Windows version. I'd also say that the paste Bible verses function works better on the Mac than on WIndows as it uses an underlying OS service.

I think the answer is that you're probably fine with a Mac so long as you have plenty of RAM, and preferably an SSD (but I wouldn't buy a laptop without an SSD nowadays anyway). I also don't miss having to reboot my computer every time it downloads significant updates and have come to appreciate the speed of booting up and waking from sleep. They alone have made me more productive.

Aaron Brockmeier

Thanks for all the help. With the assurance I found in this post, I bought a used MacBookPro (2012 - Retina - 8MB Ram). I'm loving it! Wow, I think I've missed out these past years on the PC. If you all would be so kind, any other Mac only advice/techniques/tips to running Logos even more effectively would be appreciated. I'm enjoying the different desktops and the scroll feature!

Thanks again,

Aaron

Mike

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/626048#Comment_626048

My Dell XPS 15z running windows 7 allows me to scroll individually on each window using the touch pad