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After 12 + Years ... Will This iMac Be Enough ? TY :)

Jedi

Jedi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 28, 2008
184
11
Hello Everybody ,

12 + years ago I bought a MBPr and it has served me very well and is still in use today . Sadly Apple no longer supports it with up to date OS , so I fear ? it might be time to upgrade .

My very first Apple computer was the 2nd gen iMac ( 1999 ) in Lime and I ordered it with a whopping 192mb of memory !! but keeping the standard size 10 gb HDD . That lasted many years , although I became very good at swapping HD's ( LOL ) .

Then came my first Mac Mini in 2007 , then another in 2012 , and again in 2017 and that was a my last computer purchase .
I believe this speaks very well of Apple's longevity !!

So my query to you all is will the following iMac , in Green of course , be enough ?

iMac M4 with 24GB ram and 512 GB SSD and the Extended Keyboard , will it be enough to surf and post , and mild gaming ?

My internet speed is ok ? well it is comcast ( no capital out of protest ) > 900 MBPS

Thank you ,

Dreamer 
 
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I think 24/512 will be plenty for the stated use. I’ve also come to a belief that 5 to 7 years is a good run for an all in one system. I expect more than that but if I get 7 good years out of my current iMac (an M1 8/256) I’ll be happy. I’ll try to get ten out of it but I get a basic unit (for my basic needs), don’t spend too much and don’t have too high of expectations on longevity. I bought my M1 a year ago for under $1K so more than 5 years is good, seven is what I expect and ten is gravy.
 
ger19 said:
I think 24/512 will be plenty for the stated use. I’ve also come to a belief that 5 to 7 years is a good run for an all in one system. I expect more than that but if I get 7 good years out of my current iMac (an M1 8/256) I’ll be happy. I’ll try to get ten out of it but I get a basic unit (for my basic needs), don’t spend too much and don’t have too high of expectations on longevity. I bought my M1 a year ago for under $1K so more than 5 years is good, seven is what I expect and ten is gravy.
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7 - 10 years nah will be like a old dog lol
 
elmoss said:
7 - 10 years nah will be like a old dog lol
Click to expand...
Old reliable dog. Man’s best friend and all that. But seriously, given my use case, I think it will be fine. Similar to the OP, very light use case should do fine for more than 5 years and seven + seems very likely.
 
Congrats on the longevity of that mac. I think you'll be fine with a new imac. I have a blue on in my office, and it looks and plays nicely.
 
ger19 said:
Old reliable dog. Man’s best friend and all that. But seriously, given my use case, I think it will be fine. Similar to the OP, very light use case should do fine for more than 5 years and seven + seems very likely.
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My uses are similar after 3.5 years she’s slowing down. M1 8/512
 
elmoss said:
My uses are similar after 3.5 years she’s slowing down. M1 8/512
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Do you know why it’s slowing down? Is this on overhead issue (i.e. the operating system is growing in complexity)? Or, is there something else going on. Just doesn’t make sense that there would be a significant change. Also, have you measured the change or does it just seem slower. It’s hard for me to believe I’d notice the degradation. If it’s the operating system, maybe some overhead items could be shut off - like AI. I’m sure all the new AI stuff is burdening the system.
 
Jedi said:
I believe this speaks very well of Apple's longevity !!
Click to expand...
It speaks to the longevity of previous Macs, not new ones. Older Macs are far more upgradeable than the new ones are.

And for the record, Apple choosing not to support a particular model has more to do with "Best buy date" than an actual expiration date. The new M-chip Macs were designed to be replaced and replaced and replaced. The old Macs still have a lot of life left in them despite what Apple may lead you to believe.
 
If you stretch the useful life for financial reasons, while that iMac should be fine for stated purposes, you might want to go separates instead. iMac is a pretty good value going in but then terrible at the end. As you've experienced, towards about 7 years, it's about OVER. With iMac, you will have to toss all even if it's only the Mac tech guts that have (been decided to be) aged out. That perfectly good monitor, speakers, cam, etc are likely to still be perfectly good... but useless because they are married to the Mac tech guts.

Consider perhaps a similarly-configured Mac Mini and buy yourself a great monitor and separate speakers. Then when the Mini is deemed too old at about year 7, you can replace just the tech guts while carrying on with the monitor & speakers. This will be more economical over time than buying an all-in-one like iMac.

If green is a big deal, seek out skins or Colorware options. Or build all of this into a wall and paint the wall green. Or get led light strips (example of concept) for the back of the monitor and it can project a rainbow of color choices behind the monitor.

And note: there are PLENTY of monitors in the sea, so it's not an Apple Studio Display and only Apple Studio Display proposition unless you make it one. Mini works great with all monitors and there are plenty with resolutions above and below 5K and shapes other than towards Squarish like ASD. I went for a 5K2K 40" ultrawide myself... which looks like I took an iMac 27" screen and stretched it much wider. All that additional work space is very useful to me.
 
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OP wrote:
"iMac M4 with 24GB ram and 512 GB SSD and the Extended Keyboard , will it be enough to surf and post , and mild gaming ?"

If you're planning on keeping it for another 8, 9 years (or more), I would suggest more RAM and a larger SSD.

32gb and 1tb SSD ought to do.

Why?
Because... right now... although 24gb seems like "more than enough", I expect the "memory hunger" of the OS to grow substantially with each successive OS release in the future.

By 2030, I'm predicting that 32gb will become "the new baseline".

Same for SSD needs.
I'd look at 512gb as being "the baseline" today.
In five more years...??

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
 
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I can also plug for the Mac Mini setup (of any kind). I use a 2020 M1 mini with 27" LG monitor as my everyday), and I don't think I'll ever go smaller for home.
 
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