Buy M1 iMac now or wait for the larger (30"? M1X? M2?) iMac?

[EvanEiga]

So I have been thinking of getting an iMac since I am in need of having a secondary computer that is separated from the one I use for work-related stuff. (personal entertainment, side gigs, etc).

I thought about getting a Mac Mini with a third-party display, however, getting a third party display with matching performance with that of the iMac cost just about the same if not more, but without the tight integration and apple design.

The question comes down to, should I, or would you get the M1 iMac now, or would you wait for a larger, perhaps even speedier version? or should I just take the 24inch today.

I had the 27 inch iMac from 2011 and the extra real estate was really sweet lol.

 

[coso]

If you need it today you won’t regret it (I needed for work asap, love it and plenty fast and big)

If you can wait until may 2022 for the M1X version (maybe even on the 24”) then maybe you should

 

[leifp]

As coso stated: if you need it now, buy something available now… I have a mini to tide me through until Apple releases a 30”+ iMac. I love the integration and the image quality on my 7 year old iMac 5K is way better than what I get from the LG 31.5” 4K that I use with the mini…

 

[3Rock]

Hopefully, we don’t have that much longer to wait. A few short months perhaps and getting something that you really really like will satisfy you more in the long run then getting something that you may except but don’t like as much.

 

[Fishrrman]

Option 1
Wait until late Oct/early Nov when the new m1x Mini is released. It will probably be much nicer than the current m1 Mini.

Option 2
Keep using what you have and wait until Dec/Jan/Feb when new large-screen iMac is expected to be announced/released. Again, it will be much nicer than the current m1 iMac.

Prognostication:
Buy something NOW, and I predict you'll be an unhappy owner by February 2022...

 

[J Osborne]

We haven’t seen what an M1X or an M2 would be yet.

A rough guess is either would support more RAM mostly based off of Apple having Intel products supporting more RAM then the M1 & also that in theory this isn’t technically difficult. Do you think you would buy more RAM if it was an option?

Just based off of past naming conventions a M1X would have the same CPU/GPU cores as the M1, but maybe more of either/both. Does that sound like something that would make your life better?

A M2 would almost for sure be based on the A15, and produced in the same 5nm process. So it would likely only be a little faster then the M1 in most cases. Call it 5% to 10% faster and less power hungry, which is also less hot…so runs flat out longer before thermal throttling?

So nice but small upgrades. Are they worth waiting for? Maybe, if you already have a computer that does the job you need waiting a bit longer for a slightly better one can be a fine idea. If your current computer doesn’t cut it, it probably worth waiting for a “only slightly” better one.

(note “more RAM” can vary from “who cares” to “vital” depending on your work load)