Buying advice I'm stuck, needed for future proofing

[DrWho]

Hi All,

I still have my battleaxe, my 2015 iMac, that I am convinced is on it's last legs.

Since 2015, of course, my wages have not gone up, despite Apple's profits, they still charge a fortune, and all I can really afford is to keep my iMac on life support.

It has survived every single "hybrid/fusion drive" it ever had (3) and I swapped it for a 4TB SSD, in 2018 before my Apple Warranty expired, I have also maxed out the RAM. I have also had to buy a wired keyboard and mouse, as the Bluetooth randomly disconnects, a Lenovo tablet because watching videos while multitasking causes it to shut down/restart, I had to install Forklift as copying anything normally takes ages, I can only use the internet with Firefox, as both Chrome and Brave cause it to stutter, this is despite me disabling/removing extensions. But it can still torrent anything, rip anything, download anything and convert anything, but like me (being autistic) every so often it has a meltdown/shutdowns, requiring multiple restarts and then it takes two weeks max before it goes through this dance all over again.

I have my eye on the new iMac's but the thing that worries me is the space, I already said I have 4TB SSD, and I know that can't fit onto a Max 2TB drive. I mean I could probably restore from Time Machine only my applications and no data, but I really don't know for sure if that would work or not.

I know the mini's exist, but then I would need to buy a monitor for that, or use my existing iMac as a monitor.
I have also seen that there are NVME adapters for the new Mini's but despite all the YouTube videos I still am not convinced that would work, and would hate to put in all that effort for it to backfire on me.

What should I do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[picpicmac]

What should I do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If you need 4TB internal and want a desktop then you need to get a Mini with a Pro SoC, or a Studio.

It's that straightforward.

Monitors are always the challenge. The ASD is currently $1299 at the discount places.

Mac Mini with M4 Pro w/ 4TB internal and staying at 24GB RAM is $2,379.00 at the discount price.

Combine that with the ASD (say from Amazon) and you're at $3678. You will have a beautiful system... and an empty wallet.

Why not look at a TB enclosure? Keep all your photos, projects, etc. on an external storage unit. Save yourself several hundred dollars.

And you might be fine with a $300 27" 4K display instead of the ASD.

 

[ubinko]

My advice:

If you can find a used LG Ultrafine 24" 4k monitor, in good condition for around $150-$250, grab it and then buy the mac mini of your choice. Those displays are outstanding for the money.

 

[Basic75]

When is the last time you wiped your Mac and installed the operating system from scratch?

I believe you can't use your iMac as monitor as retina iMacs don't support target display mode.

New 27" 1440p IPS displays are the cheapest workable solution though of course they won't look as nice as a retina display. There are many threads on here with discussions and recommendations on displays.

I don't see why you can't put some of your stuff on external drives, with Apple's upgrade pricing that's what most people do.

 

[benwiggy]

I agree that on a desktop, you can always add more external storage. Just make sure you've got backup drives in addition.

Also: No Mac is future-proof. They are future-resistant, to a depth of 7 years.

 

[picpicmac]

If you can find a used LG Ultrafine 24" 4k monitor

That was my plan, to buy it new last year while LG still had it on their website... and then it disappeared.

Used ones are not that common.

 

[wonderings]

I would think going with a Mac mini and an external drive for all the storage you need. You can get small NVME externals, or just traditional based on your budget. Takes up little space and you could probably even velcro an external drive to the back of a monitor and just have the cables running.

It is a shame Apple is not actually a green company when it comes to their computers. All those 5K iMacs would make amazing displays, but of course that would eat into Apple's monitor market. Same with all the proprietary parts and non upgradeability.

I also wonder if you have done a clean install. I have the original 5K iMac, the first model that came out and that thing runs solid. It was fully spaced out with SSD and all upgrades, but still a usable machine other than not getting OS updates so can't run the latest Adobe software.

 

[Fishrrman]

Consider a Mini.
DON'T cheap out on RAM or SSD.
Sounds like you might need at least a 2tb SSD. I wouldn't pay extra for more.
You might do alright with 1tb (see below).

Get a 4tb EXTERNAL SSD.
USB3.1 gen2 should do.
Move about 3+tb of "stuff" onto it.
Things like
Music
Videos
Pics

Move forward with the goal of keeping your internal SSD (on the new Mac) "lean and clean".
"Lean and clean" means
OS
Apps
Basic accounts (with the "large libraries" existing on an external SSD).

GET ENOUGH RAM.
I reckon 32gb if you plan on keeping it for another 7, 8 years (or more).
The "RAM needs" of the Mac OS are going to be GROWING in the future.
You can't expand RAM later on, so you have to get it now.

For a display...
Well, displays are very subjective things.
You may want 5k. The choices are somewhat limited (and pricey).
Or if 4k will do, there are PLENTY of choices.
Ultrawide and curved displays never did anything for me.

 

[BigBlur]

I agree with the above. Go with the Mac mini for several reasons:

• If the display fails, you just need a new (cheaper) monitor. If the Mac mini fails, you just need a new (cheaper) Mac mini. Whereas with the iMac...if either fails, the other thing is useless and you need to get a whole new (expensive) iMac again.
• In the future, when you need to upgrade again, your monitor will likely still be fine and would just need to get a (cheaper) Mac mini...rather than spending thousands of dollars on an iMac when your old iMac's display is still perfectly fine (but can't be used as a standalone monitor).
• You can upgrade your monitor on a different schedule. Maybe you'll want a bigger/smaller one in the future, or an ultrawide.
• If you ever need to use a Windows or Linux PC in the future, you'll already have a monitor to use.
• Lastly, but most importantly... There's really no such thing as future proofing when it comes to computers. Get something that will support you for the next 3-5 years and do smaller upgrades to get more bang for your buck.
  • Why spend $2,000+ on a maxed out computer just so that it'll hopefully last you 10 years, when you could be getting the latest Mac mini every 3-5+ years for $600 and still end up spending less in the long run? The base Mac mini will knock the socks off what you're using now.

 

[picpicmac]

that would eat into Apple's monitor market.

The ASD is already a small market and there is reason to believe Apple intended it to be a high volume device (just look at the price.) I highly doubt Apple sat around and thought about how to keep an iMac from being reused as a display, especially since with the latest versions of MacOS one can indeed wire (or use wireless) an iMac to another Mac/iPad to be used as a display.

 

[M.Brane]

In computers there is no such thing as "future proofing". Anything you buy now will immediately depreciate.

Just do the best you can with what is currently available vs what you can afford. I just went from a 2015 15" MBP to a M3 15" MBA as my daily, and other than the port options I'm pretty happy so far. Both are refurbs.

Never been an iMac fan, but the lack of a 27" makes that even more so.

 

[JamesMay82]

I went from iMac to to Mac Studio and its great but i miss the iMac.. if i could change i would get the iMac over a mini. I’m not a fan of externals on laptops but I don’t mind them on a desktop as they don’t need to be moved etc

 

[ForkHandles]

The stumbling block here is your 4TB hard drive!
I can’t fathom what you’re storing and working on that demands immediate access to 4 terabytes of data.

It would be a lot cheaper if you could convince your autistic brain to categorise your data into two tiers. Perhaps a “working tier” and a “project back up tier“

For example I run a 1Tb drive and use Final Cut Pro a lot.

My working tier demands that all video files live on the Mac. Then I create the movie and that file stays on the Mac.
The whole FCPX project file then gets moved to external storage, despite my rational brain knowing that I don’t need it anymore, and my SSD breathes a sigh of relief.

This way you could save a fortune on a Mac mini which you could invest in a display that is as good as your iMac 2015