I needed a new computer. My setup was a 2017 MacBook Pro (16 GB ram) and a 5,1 MacPro (with Open Core, 96 GB ram, and 4x NVMe drives on a Sonnet 4x4 + 8 GB gfx card).

I’m a professional video editor and ever since Adobe Premiere required the avx chip to upgrade, I knew I’d have to move on from the 2010 5,1. But I hoped to squeeze every last day I could out of the old rig.

This summer I found myself collaborating with other editors on multiple projects and, of course, they were all on newer versions of Premiere than I could access on the 5,1. I had to move most of my work to the MBP but with only 16 gigs of ram, it was a slog.

H.264 / MP4 codecs were a no go. All effects had to be rendered. If I worked too hard for too long the fans would start blasting and everything would slow to a crawl until it cooled down.

Now my trustee 5,1 shared some of these problems (like major trouble with non ProRes codecs). But the internal drive speed on the Sonnet 4x4 and the large amount of ram (even though only 1333 mhz) allowed me to pretend everything was ok.

But the collaborating was making the tower pretty much useless.

So I started researching a replacement in August. I longed for a new MacPro but wasn’t going to be able to afford a new model or even a used one on eBay (which were all at least $5k).

I entertained a 7,1 as the prices were right, but was turned off by the possibility of still needing to avoid h264 / mp4 codecs. I had spent the last few years making concessions for the sake of my 5,1 and didn’t want to have to keep doing that.

So I set my sights on a refurbished M2 Ultra Studio from the Apple Store (priced at $3,300). I had worked on a souped up Stidio M2 Ultra at an agency (76 core GPU, 196 GB ram) and I couldn’t do anything to make it blink. The model in my price range was only 64 GB ram, of course, but I still figured it would be a good upgrade.

My only hesitation was storage space. I was going to have to either scrap my sonnet 4x4 card and buy / build a NAS or buy a thunderbolt to PCIe expansion card (for anywhere from $400-$1000) to house the 4x4. Even if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to maximize the speed of those drives as I’d be capped at 40Gbps.

So I was excited to get my Studio but not over the moon. Then everything changed when I saw a post in this group about a sale at Microcenter.

They were selling MacPro M2 Ultra base models for $3600. The location in my town was sold out. The next nearest location was a St Louis or Chicago suburb - both 6-8 hour drives one way.

Not impossible but not super realistic with my family life and work schedule. But the time commitment paired with the fact that Microcenter doesn’t ship and doesn’t take payment over the phone made it a bit complicated.

I mentioned this awesome sale to my wife and she was on board with me exploring a way to get it done. Then I mentioned the predicament to my good friend. Out of nowhere he mentioned he would ask his friend who lives in St Louis if he’d be up for helping me out by picking up the computer for me.

Before I could do that I needed to see about the St Louis store. The only MacPro they had was an open box item and it listed at over $4500, even though brand new items at the chain were way less.

So I eventually got a hold of a manager at the store via phone. I asked him if the open box price on the MacPro was indeed $4500. To my surprise, he said the out the door price would be….

$3,049.74 including sales tax.

I called my friend back and setup a call with his friend. My friend of a friend got his little brother to help me out. I Zelle’d him $3500 the night before he went to Microcenter which was to cover the purchase and shipping via UPS plus a little extra for his trouble.

The glorious package arrived at my house two days later.

And that’s how I got my “new” MacPro M2 Ultra for LESS than I was about to pay for a refurbished Studio with the same specs.

I’m over the moon.