2014 or 2015 IMAC

[Cwalker173]

Question... I am currently debating between a refurbished 2014 imac and newer one with similar specs.

Refurbished one is

2014 MODEL
27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology; 5120‑by‑2880 resolution
4.0 quad core i7
32GB memory
1TB Flash Storage1
AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics processor with 4GB of GDDR5 memory

The other option for almost same price is

2015 MODEL
27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology;
4.0 quad core i7
16Gb memory
AMD Radeon R9 M395x graphics processor with 4GB
512GB flash storage

I THINK THERE WAS $100 difference and I also get new track pad thrown in for free on refurbished one.

Just want to know opinions on which one to get. I was not sure if the 2014 one had different operating system or what the differences are between it and the newer 2015 models. I also am not sure if the graphics card is a lot better on the newer version (295x vs 395x). I do some video editing but not crazy amounts, I do use Photo shop and LR though often. I am fairly new to Mac, only have had my MBP for under 1 year so Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[macmee]

2015 for sure IMO because it runs cooler. The 2014 with i7 will eventually throttle.

I would buy the one with as little RAM as possible and just manually upgrade that on the cheapz since its really easy.

 

[Cwalker173]

Thanks for that info macmee, I did not realize they had a overheating issue, something to consider for sure

 

[varian55zx]

2015 for sure IMO because it runs cooler. The 2014 with i7 will eventually throttle

exactly. That and the fact that the 2014 is on an older chipset are the primary differences. The screen in the '15 was also improved... (something like more colours?), but I'm not sure how noticeable it is.

The throttling issue was pretty well documented so that is why I didn't even think to look at a '14 when I was purchasing mine. I say go '15 years down the line I think you will thank yourself

 

[maflynn]

I like the 2015 model, because you have 512GB of SSD storage, a nice GPU and my experience a cooler running machine. I hardly see my iMac get above 50c

 

[Taz Mangus]

• Thanks for that info macmee, I did not realize they had a overheating issue, something to consider for sure

2 other things to consider:

1. The 2015 iMac has a much faster SSD option because it uses very fast m.2 pcie SSD.
2. If you don't need the i7 CPU get the iMac with the i5 CPU. The i5 runs a lot cooler then the i7. The i5 with the m395 will be the configuration to get and have the computer really stay the least hot.

There are 2 versions of the 2015 iMac, the mid-2015 and the late-2015. The mid-2015 is pretty much the same as a 2014 iMac. You want the late-2015 (released October) version.

 

[Cwalker173]

2 other things to consider:

1. The 2015 iMac has a much faster SSD option because it uses very fast m.2 pcie SSD.
2. If you don't need the i7 CPU get the iMac with the i5 CPU. The i5 runs a lot cooler then the i7. The i5 with the m395 will be the configuration to get and have the computer really stay the least hot.

There are 2 versions of the 2015 iMac, the mid-2015 and the late-2015. The mid-2015 is pretty much the same as a 2014 iMac. You want the late-2015 (released October) version.

Thank you all for the information, it will definitely help my decision, I feel like I have a better idea of which way to go now, appreciate your feedback
[doublepost=1480012212][/doublepost]

exactly. That and the fact that the 2014 is on an older chipset are the primary differences. The screen in the '15 was also improved... (something like more colours?), but I'm not sure how noticeable it is.

The throttling issue was pretty well documented so that is why I didn't even think to look at a '14 when I was purchasing mine. I say go '15 years down the line I think you will thank yourself

Thanks for info