Help me with a new system purchase, been away from Mac for several years.

[Resqu2]

I’m wanting a new system, looking at a 21” iMac 4K with the fusion drive. I just can’t/wont pay what Apple wants for even a 512gb SSD. The only two uses for this system will be to run Quicken for the Wife and Adobe Lightroom for my side photography business. The most photos I will process will be 500 or less but I’m wondering how would a 1TB external SSD usb 3.1 work if I installed all my Adobe programs in it and just worked off it it and left the Mac OS on the fusion drive? I don’t store photos long term, usually load onto my system, edit, convert to JPG, post online and copy to a usb stick and deliver. After that they are deleted.

Guess my main questions is will the external SSD do ok for its task? Or do you think the fusion drive will be ok?
Will the $1499 system be good enough to last me several years? Will the 8gb ram be ok for my intended uses considering the $1499 model has 4gb memory on the video card?

Im not a full time photographer so I don’t have to have the fastest machine for turn around time but I don’t want way underpowered either.

Thanks for any and all advice, as for budget, I really like the $1499 system and going more is hard/impossible But can put this off if I’m convinced this system isn’t good enough.

 

[zedsdead]

I strongly advise only getting the SSD, Fusion is flaky and HDD is a NO GO.

 

[Resqu2]

I strongly advise only getting the SSD, Fusion is flaky and HDD is a NO GO.

Hate to hear this but do appreciate the reply, Apple just adds so much cost to the system for an SSD. It makes me really want to keep looking at a windows system. Decisions decisions

 

[JacobHarvey]

It is possible for a user to replace both parts of the fusion drive (both the PCIe and SATA connected drives) with larger/faster SSDs, but this requires careful disassembly. I would recommend following the guides posted here closely and to only attempt this after your warranty runs out (you can try the external SSD idea in the mean-time)

 

[JacobHarvey]

The RAM is also upgradeable but requires the same significant disassembly (no easy access door like the 27 inch iMac).

If you don't want to ever disassemble the computer for a DIY upgrade in the future it might be worth just going for 16GB RAM and a smaller SSD (to keep the OS and most used programs on) while using external drives to store all your photos and other media

 

[Fishrrman]

If you can't afford the 512gb SSD, get the 256gb SSD and add external USB3 storage.

If you get only a 1tb fusion drive, I predict that you're going to regret the purchase sooner rather than later. They just can't compare in ANY way to the speed and longevity that the SSD provides.

Also, I would get the 27" model. You will NEVER regret it once you have it sitting in front of you.

 

[Resqu2]

Update, started watching the refurbished site that Apple runs and found their top tier 21” IMac with a 512gb SSD and 16gb ram for $400 less than the exact same new one, ordered yesterday and delivered today. Could not be happier with the way Lightroom is running and the way my photos look at 4K. I’d loved to had the 27” but $$$ and room just didn’t allow it.

 

[roadkill401]

I don't want to be the ney sayer but I would be careful with the built-in screen iMac's. I bought one of the first series of 5K versions and the screen is not the least bit colour accurate. It has a known issue of image retention. Now there will be those who say they fixed it with later releases of the iMac, but as they have not been around for long enough, there is no way of knowing even if the "fixed" screens won't just exhibit the same problems after 3-4 years like the 2014~2015 versions of the iMac have.

Just giving a heads up as I've ended up having to connect a second monitor to my iMac to get a good enough reliable picture. Had I have known the screen issues, I would have bought a Windows PC as the amount spent on this mac clearly hasn't been worth it.