Advice please on cheap iMac purchase

[g35]

I am somewhat familiar with low end macs as I use a 2011 MacBook Air 13" base model running 10.9.5, I bought it used for $649 CAD 4 years ago and it serves my basic needs fine (web browsing, Office, Netflix, Google Sketchup).

My brother has similarly minor demands of his computer except he wants a) desktop, or laptop connected to a TV b) new or Apple refurb c) under $1500 CAD, but the cheaper the better.

I know some Macs sold by Apple are to be avoided, like the 2012 non-retina MBP which costs a fair bit but for very old specs.

Can anyone comment on the refurbished Apple Canada models listed below, considering my brothers use case? I am hoping to find him something that can do the above without hiccuping on High Sierra.

* late 2014 Mac Mini (4GB / 500 GB) - $499 CAD (he already has a new 1080p TV to connect this to)
* mid 2015 MacBook Air (8 GB / 256 GB) - $1169 CAD (again he has TV but would need to buy external keyboard/mouse as well)
* late 2015 iMac (8 GB / 1 TB) - $1299 CAD
* late 2015 iMac 4K (8 GB / 1 TB) - $1349 CAD

Any thoughts on those, or other suggestions? He is also open to a laptop connected to the TV in clamshell mode, but I don't know if that's a convenient solution. To him specs are less important, e.g. He won't be doing anything that requires a lot of RAM, CPU power or Hard drive space, but I don't want him to overspend either. Thank you

 

[redheeler]

That iMac will feel as slow as a 2012 non-Retina MacBook Pro, the reason being both have 5400 RPM HDDs and modern versions of MacOS are more optimized for SSDs. The slowness can be felt even when doing something as simple as booting up the Mac or launching Microsoft Office.

I recommend you either plan on attaching an external SSD boot drive using USB or Thunderbolt, or getting a higher-end model that comes with an SSD or Fusion drive.

 

[g35]

That iMac will feel as slow as a 2012 non-Retina MacBook Pro, the reason being both have 5400 RPM HDDs and modern versions of MacOS are more optimized for SSDs. The slowness can be felt even when doing something as simple as booting up the Mac or launching Microsoft Office.

I recommend you either plan on attaching an external SSD boot drive using USB or Thunderbolt, or getting a higher-end model that comes with an SSD or Fusion drive.

Thanks for your reply and the recommendation, makes sense.

 

[Fishrrman]

The choice is easy:
Late 2015 iMac 4k -- if he can spend that much.

To get more speed, he can plug in a USB3 SSD, which will yield read speeds around 430mbps and writes 250-350mbps. Either a 240 or 480gb drive will do, depending on what he feels like spending.

Set it up with accounts, apps, and data on the SSD.
Keep large libraries on the internal HDD.

This may not be "the latest and greatest", but it WILL be a very adequate performer that keeps going fine for years.

 

[HippyRabbitFish]

I know some Macs sold by Apple are to be avoided, like the 2012 non-retina MBP which costs a fair bit but for very old specs.

Avoided? Depends on your viewpoint. The non-Retina MBP models are very old, perhaps, but the pros they deliver should not be understated. They are very durable, easily upgraded, and user serviceable.

For me, my refurb mid-2012 13" MBP is covered under AppleCare+ until 2020. It has 16GB and a 480GB SSD and handles Sierra quite well. Worth every penny.

 

[g35]

The choice is easy:
Late 2015 iMac 4k -- if he can spend that much.

To get more speed, he can plug in a USB3 SSD, which will yield read speeds around 430mbps and writes 250-350mbps. Either a 240 or 480gb drive will do, depending on what he feels like spending.

Set it up with accounts, apps, and data on the SSD.
Keep large libraries on the internal HDD.

This may not be "the latest and greatest", but it WILL be a very adequate performer that keeps going fine for years.

That's great advice, thanks. Apple released a new refurbished 2017 4K model for $110 CAD more so will look at that too.