I replaced my 2007 with my current late 2012 (21"). I had been thinking about upgrading to a new 27" sometime around the middle of next year to coincide with some other changes. But, (touch wood), the current model appears to be coping well enough with its current workload, so I may hand on a little longer.
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How often do you upgrade your iMac?
- Thread starter EvanEiga
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I’m still running a 2009 27”iMac. I’ve replaced both the HD and Optical with SSDs,so it is still running strong. Hoping it will last until a 6-core coffee Lake is available.
You already have 2 macbook pro and based on what you said you don't need the extra power of the imac. I would try to sell the old iMac and use the Macbook pro connected to a monitor + dock so you would only need to connect 1 cable to it.
Then when you would need to change the macbook pro you can replace it with an iMac, but again I don't see a reason to do it now.
Then when you would need to change the macbook pro you can replace it with an iMac, but again I don't see a reason to do it now.
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I bought my iMac in January 2011. it‘s a i3 @3.06GHz/12/500, price paid €1150. Fast forward to Jan 2018, for the ~same amount of money one can buy an iMac with a dual-core mobile i5 processor, 8GB/1TB which machine is more or less the same as mine, the biggest upgrade being the bigger internal hdd and the 8GB of stock RAM (mine came with 4) and the new ports, USB3 and Thunderbolt. I am not sure if this justifies an upgrade to the new iMac, or rather, if this is an upgrade at all.
Surely, a better technology does exist. The upgrade to a decent i5 processor with a 4k monitor is only €200 (justifyable) but the upgrade to an all-SSD system still comes at atrocious prices. Given that that is gonna be my computer for the next 7 years (not a heavy user here) I am not sure if I would put up aggain with a HDD solution. And the so called Fusion drive looks like just a costly intermediate step.
So, if my iMac gets broken/stolen, I’d most probably go for the mid-range 21” unless somebody convinces me that faster processor and more VRAM of the top-model justify the additional €200 expence.
The ideal upgrade AFAIC is the base 27” with 1GB SSD - but the price is “a little” too high for a home computer for the occasional usage. I guess I am keeping my iMac forever...
Surely, a better technology does exist. The upgrade to a decent i5 processor with a 4k monitor is only €200 (justifyable) but the upgrade to an all-SSD system still comes at atrocious prices. Given that that is gonna be my computer for the next 7 years (not a heavy user here) I am not sure if I would put up aggain with a HDD solution. And the so called Fusion drive looks like just a costly intermediate step.
So, if my iMac gets broken/stolen, I’d most probably go for the mid-range 21” unless somebody convinces me that faster processor and more VRAM of the top-model justify the additional €200 expence.
The ideal upgrade AFAIC is the base 27” with 1GB SSD - but the price is “a little” too high for a home computer for the occasional usage. I guess I am keeping my iMac forever...
Technology doesn't progress at a fixed rate, so answering "how often do you upgrade" is not going to predict the future very well. We still have an early 2009 iMac with SSD upgrade, which does home computing just fine and has maybe another year in it unless something dies. That machine was purchased to upgrade from an iMac G4, a big tech switch. Processors and storage were stagnant for a few years although with NVMe / PCI SSD's we're finally moving past SATA 3, and it looks like AMD might have pushed Intel out of the doldrums with the upcoming Coffee Lake and successors.
I'd suggest that GPU's, displays, and to a lesser extent USB, have changed the most since the 2011 iMac.
I'd suggest that GPU's, displays, and to a lesser extent USB, have changed the most since the 2011 iMac.
Very true. Until recently, the CPU world had been dominated by Intel with mainstream quad-core designs for almost a decade with incremental architecture updates about every year. AMD's aggressive implementation of Ryzen forced Intel to start offering more competitive solutions, namely mainstream six-core processors and doubling of CPU cores on "U" series of mobile products. If the rumors are true, Ryzen 2 will offer 50% increase in core count -- 12C/24T chips priced the same as previous Ryzen 7 1000-series products. That, factored in with collaborations between Intel and RTG to provide a "H" series SoC with Radeon graphics and HBM2, the future of computing looks exciting.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple decided to use this chip architecture in future MBPs. Intel CPU and Radeon GPU with HBM2 memory on the same package.
Used to upgrade every year but I think I'll keep this Late 2015 model one until my mum's old 2009 model dies and pass this one to her.
There's just been no real compelling reason to upgrade these past few years
There's just been no real compelling reason to upgrade these past few years
Pretty much the same here. And not because of failing hardware (all previous equipment as far back as the original flat-panel 'lampshade' iMac [2002] still works), but for the upgraded hardware, the AppleCare and the excellent telephone support that comes with that. For the latter alone I believe I get my APP money's worth.
I was doing a new one every 2 years but my experience with the 2014 iMac has been so horrible with respect to image retention and heating issues that I will never buy another iMac again.
They continue to use image retention prone (LG) screens, and run each new iteration at higher and higher temperatures... they've took a piece of s*** and covered it in icing and it shows.
I feel incredibly bad for whoever buys the iMac Pro because after a year they'll be left with a 5k panel with horrible image retention and a machine that throttles itself 50% of the time.
They continue to use image retention prone (LG) screens, and run each new iteration at higher and higher temperatures... they've took a piece of s*** and covered it in icing and it shows.
I feel incredibly bad for whoever buys the iMac Pro because after a year they'll be left with a 5k panel with horrible image retention and a machine that throttles itself 50% of the time.
If you have Apple Care get the screen replaced, I just had a new screen 3 months ago on my Late 2012 iMac because of dust swirl marks in the bottoms corners, even though it was out of warranty and Apple Care had finished (ran out march 2016). Speak to a Manger and they should sort it out for you.
Im on the 3rd or 4th screen now. They also replaced the logic board including cpu and gpu. It keeps running at 99C and the screens develop retention. The iMac is a massive engineering failure and we have all been tricked into paying thousands of dollars for a very poorly designed machine. I will never buy another one again.
When it comes to desktops Apple has completely failed us. The iMac has been crippled by poor engineering, the Mac Pro and Mac Mini do not exist. I have no other choice but to build a hackintosh.
I kind of agree with you. My 2010 model suffered from yellow tint. The display was changed several times until the guy in the repairs said the last display was “acceptable” and I shouldn’t expect a top quality in a 21.5” model as it was “not a professional computer”. Later on the display developed grey colouring in the top left corner - I read here on MacRumours it was dust coming from the ventilation that was baked on the rear of the display. As the current market resale value of my iMac is around €150 I don’t worry too much but that’s just another reason why I do not want to spend too much money on a new iMac.
I upgrade all of my equipment on a three year cycle. Mostly because it is my job. If I had an extra iMac that was for pleasure, I'd probably update it as you've stated every 6-7 years.
I'd say every 5 years is probably the best answer.
Although, my mid 2011 iMac is still trucking along. It isn't without it's own issues though (i.e. LED Screen, Disc Drive, etc.)
Although, my mid 2011 iMac is still trucking along. It isn't without it's own issues though (i.e. LED Screen, Disc Drive, etc.)
Actually, this late 2015 5K 27" model barely gets warm at all compared to my mother's early 2009 24"
Final cut rendering does warm it up but I don't use that too often.
I have a 2006 design white Intel iMac that is now 10 years old.
It still starts up and runs well enough.
It's -not- my "main machine" -- I use it occasionally for audio production, and not that much these days. But it still runs when asked.
The only upgrade was the RAM, and it's never given me any trouble.
Too bad Apple didn't make -all- their iMacs as sturdy as this one!
It still starts up and runs well enough.
It's -not- my "main machine" -- I use it occasionally for audio production, and not that much these days. But it still runs when asked.
The only upgrade was the RAM, and it's never given me any trouble.
Too bad Apple didn't make -all- their iMacs as sturdy as this one!
once they come out with new mac pros then yes for no other reason than if theres a problem with the display you dont have to lose the entire computer.