Dear community,
I would be very happy to get your advice on how to move forward with my computing gear. A little bit of background: I am a researcher and teacher and affiliated with a college. In addition, I do a bit of consulting and training.
I've always worked 2-3 days from home, but since March I am more or less only working from home. My main machine is a 2017 27" iMac (3,5 GHz 4-core i5, Radeon Pro 575, 24 GB RAM, 512GB SSD). In addition, I have a 2018 MBP (Quad-Core i5, 32GB RAM, 1 GB SSD) that I got from the college. The MBP is collecting dust, as I (if this even happens) use my 12" iPad Pro when on the road.
A lot of my day is in email and the MS Office Suite, as well as on Zoom or MS Teams in meetings. I also teach via Zoom, and since March, I have been giving courses from my iMac via Zoom. I also have been recording videos with a Sony a7iii that I then cut and process in FinalCut. This works ok, but more speed would be nice, and also occasionally need to run regressions in a software called STATA (but I only have the single core version).
The iMac works, but I am getting increasingly annoyed with some of its shortcomings. First, the 512 GB SSD is way too small. I have a total of three TB3 SSD dangling around and constantly need to shift stuff back and forth between the four disks and then to my Synology. Having a larger internal SSD (at least 2GB) would be a nice convenience.
Second, the camera in the iMac (the same is in the MBP) is less than optimal at 720p. This has never been a big issue, but since I now spend a lot of time in Zoom or Teams, plus teaching with this computer, I have started to recognize the poor quality. I always told myself that with Zoom compression it would not matter, but most of my colleagues with Windows laptops have better video. I have been playing around with external webcams, but as I already have an external microphone, plus the three SSDs, plus other stuff, my iMac looks like a Christmas tree. I prefer the simplicity of the internal cam, so I threw out the external camera.
Third, the lack of hight adjustment of the iMac is sooooo annoying. There are so many videos and articles about this on the web. Why doesn't Apple fix this? Why? I have neck pain from looking down at my iMac. Have been playing around with stands on my desk and settled on a book as a stand (which works when sitting, but is not optimal when standing (standing desk)).
Forth, 27" is often too small for me, in particular when in Zoom, as I cannot see all participants in lectures and often have to move across three or more screens. So having an external 32" screen would be nice
What are my options?
1. Get the 2020 version of the iMac with a VESA mount and the Humanscale VESA arm. This solves some of my problems (hight adjustment, camera, bigger SSD), but I still have the size "problem".
2. Get an external monitor and use it with the MBP. I very much would like to have a seamless experience and the only thing Apple offers is the Pro Display XDR, which seems like more than overkill for my needs. I would also need an external (Logitech) webcam. Plus, I would need to get an eGPU to take full advantage of it. This would again solve most of my problems, but would come with frictions (eGPU, plus the price that leaves a somewhat sour taste in my mouth).
3. Leave things as they are (which is always an option), but this does not really solve any of my problems and wait for an updated version of the iMac with Apple Silicone, hopefully hight adjustment, etc.
Option three seems like a long shot to me. I would not be willing to use the first iteration of an Apple Silicone iMac (my setup needs to be super stable, I never use a first version of anything, operating systems not before a .3). In addition, these things are business expenses for me, meaning that the computer is fully depreciated after 3 years.
I feel like I am part of this blank spot in Apples product line. I'd need a desktop computer with the internals of an iMac (the MacPro is overkill). I'd even be willing to shell out $6000 for an Apple monitor, but how do I drive it? Again, 6k yes, but not 12k-13k which is what I'd need with a MacPro as a companion. A MacMini would not help me much.
Right now, option 1 seems like the way to go for me. Would be happy to get your thoughts.
I would be very happy to get your advice on how to move forward with my computing gear. A little bit of background: I am a researcher and teacher and affiliated with a college. In addition, I do a bit of consulting and training.
I've always worked 2-3 days from home, but since March I am more or less only working from home. My main machine is a 2017 27" iMac (3,5 GHz 4-core i5, Radeon Pro 575, 24 GB RAM, 512GB SSD). In addition, I have a 2018 MBP (Quad-Core i5, 32GB RAM, 1 GB SSD) that I got from the college. The MBP is collecting dust, as I (if this even happens) use my 12" iPad Pro when on the road.
A lot of my day is in email and the MS Office Suite, as well as on Zoom or MS Teams in meetings. I also teach via Zoom, and since March, I have been giving courses from my iMac via Zoom. I also have been recording videos with a Sony a7iii that I then cut and process in FinalCut. This works ok, but more speed would be nice, and also occasionally need to run regressions in a software called STATA (but I only have the single core version).
The iMac works, but I am getting increasingly annoyed with some of its shortcomings. First, the 512 GB SSD is way too small. I have a total of three TB3 SSD dangling around and constantly need to shift stuff back and forth between the four disks and then to my Synology. Having a larger internal SSD (at least 2GB) would be a nice convenience.
Second, the camera in the iMac (the same is in the MBP) is less than optimal at 720p. This has never been a big issue, but since I now spend a lot of time in Zoom or Teams, plus teaching with this computer, I have started to recognize the poor quality. I always told myself that with Zoom compression it would not matter, but most of my colleagues with Windows laptops have better video. I have been playing around with external webcams, but as I already have an external microphone, plus the three SSDs, plus other stuff, my iMac looks like a Christmas tree. I prefer the simplicity of the internal cam, so I threw out the external camera.
Third, the lack of hight adjustment of the iMac is sooooo annoying. There are so many videos and articles about this on the web. Why doesn't Apple fix this? Why? I have neck pain from looking down at my iMac. Have been playing around with stands on my desk and settled on a book as a stand (which works when sitting, but is not optimal when standing (standing desk)).
Forth, 27" is often too small for me, in particular when in Zoom, as I cannot see all participants in lectures and often have to move across three or more screens. So having an external 32" screen would be nice
What are my options?
1. Get the 2020 version of the iMac with a VESA mount and the Humanscale VESA arm. This solves some of my problems (hight adjustment, camera, bigger SSD), but I still have the size "problem".
2. Get an external monitor and use it with the MBP. I very much would like to have a seamless experience and the only thing Apple offers is the Pro Display XDR, which seems like more than overkill for my needs. I would also need an external (Logitech) webcam. Plus, I would need to get an eGPU to take full advantage of it. This would again solve most of my problems, but would come with frictions (eGPU, plus the price that leaves a somewhat sour taste in my mouth).
3. Leave things as they are (which is always an option), but this does not really solve any of my problems and wait for an updated version of the iMac with Apple Silicone, hopefully hight adjustment, etc.
Option three seems like a long shot to me. I would not be willing to use the first iteration of an Apple Silicone iMac (my setup needs to be super stable, I never use a first version of anything, operating systems not before a .3). In addition, these things are business expenses for me, meaning that the computer is fully depreciated after 3 years.
I feel like I am part of this blank spot in Apples product line. I'd need a desktop computer with the internals of an iMac (the MacPro is overkill). I'd even be willing to shell out $6000 for an Apple monitor, but how do I drive it? Again, 6k yes, but not 12k-13k which is what I'd need with a MacPro as a companion. A MacMini would not help me much.
Right now, option 1 seems like the way to go for me. Would be happy to get your thoughts.
