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I potentially need a new computer. Please help.

Hi MollyC

If your hubby has already purchased a power supply, have him review this site: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_27"_2017

Make sure to leave the device unplugged for about 30 minutes. A week is not necessary.

From my experience as an Apple Certified Mac Technician,
I’d think the symptoms you described would indicate a failing power supply. However, some power failures will cause issues on the main logic board. That might get you into more money than it’s worth.

As for suggestions - wait for a new M1x or M2. Or, if it’s so critical, buy a refurb intel iMac.
 
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stillcrazyman said:
Hi MollyC

If your hubby has already purchase a power supply, have him review this site: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_27"_2017

Make sure to leave the device unplugged for about 30 minutes. A week is not necessary.

From my experience as an Apple Certified Mac Technician,
I’d think the symptoms you described would indicate a failing power supply. However, some power failures will cause issues on the main logic board. That might get you into more money than it’s worth.

As for suggestions - wait for a new M1x or M2. Or, if it’s so critical, buy a return intel iMac.
Click to expand...
yes he read that article this morning and ordered the psu from there as well. 🙂

unfortunately i don’t have the luxury of waiting a couple of months for the newer models to come out. even waiting a week for him to do the psu swap is time lost for me.
 
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mollyc said:
yes he read that article this morning and ordered the psu from there as well. 🙂

unfortunately i don’t have the luxury of waiting a couple of months for the newer models to come out. even waiting a week for him to do the psu swap is time lost for me.
Click to expand...
Just borrow your kids machine. I’m sure you paid for them! ;)
 
I have a 13" M1 MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD, and it's a delightful little machine that I use as a secondary machine. I have done some limited photo editing on it but did not purchase it for that purpose. My next photo editing machine will be an MBP with the appropriate number of ports (the 13" M1 MBP has only two, which is not enough for my needs when I'm working with external SSDs) and however much memory I can get in it (16 GB is fine for everyday stuff but for image editing one really does need more). That little machine IS fast, though and almost as fast as the 32 GB RAM in my other machine, which really surprised me. I also love that it remains nice and cool no matter what I am doing.

Currently for photo editing I am using a 2018 MBP with 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and Vega 20 discrete graphics. This is plugged into a 24" 4K LG Thunderbolt 3 external monitor and I use the combo as a "desktop replacement." Works for me, as I need and want portability since there is no way I can lug a heavy 27" or larger desktop machine around. I prefer the flexibility of a separate external monitor and a powerful mobile machine to an iMac. Did the iMac thing years ago and loved them at the time but there were limitations, both on my part and on the part of the machines.

I haven't actually seen the colorful new 24" M1 iMacs yet, except briefly in passing, but from everything I've read about them they're lovely little machines for the everyday consumer, but I don't think that they are powerful enough for the kind of image editing that you do, and that you would be disappointed and frustrated. Trouble is, hard to know when the next generation of M- series iMacs will be released, the ones which will be larger and presumably much more powerful. It could be in a few months, it could be as long as nearly a year....

So, yeah, you're in kind of a tough spot: buy an Intel-based machine now and carry on with it for the next several years or buy an M1 iMac and be current and up to date until the next round of M series machines is released? Rumor has it that the 14" and 16" M- series machines will be coming along later this summer or in the fall, but there hasn't been much in the way of hints about the next iMacs.

Maybe go ahead and buy the M1 iMac anyway and do what you can with it and as soon as new M- series larger iMacs are released that are more equivalent to your current machine, buy the new machine and hand down the M1 iMac to one of your kids as their personal machine (as opposed to them being restricted to a school-issued machine). ??? I think the M1 iMacs are reasonably priced even if you max the thing out -- haven't actually looked at specs or pricing, though so I may be wrong on this.

Fingers crossed that the power supply is the issue and that your husband will be able to fix it and that your current iMac will once again be purring along the way it's meant to do!
 
The M1 will run apps like Photoshop faster than the Intel because it's predominantly single threaded and the M1 is like 50% faster in that respect.

The M1 iMacs w/ 16gb of ram are ideal for photography. 4.5K on a 24" is not something you can go out and buy separately.

I have a spec'd out 2020 27" Intel iMac for reasons but still mostly use my M1 mini for 2D work. My files average 2-5 GB w/ dozens of layers, at 8-10K resolutions and I have zero issues. Most people aren't going to be working at that level.

Finally anything that uses Apple's machine learning api will see a huge speed boost on the M1's.
 
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mollyc said:
I’m on mojave still. the new m1s bring back something similar to targeted display but not sure how it works. i’ve always liked my screens and calibrate them with a spyder. my location doesn’t give me a ton of glare.
Click to expand...

Joniz said:
Is it possible to get an M1 Mac Mini and use the iMac simply as a display?
Click to expand...
Not exactly. Target Display mode, as Molly herself indicates, has not existed on iMacs for quite some time. It was taken away with the 2014 5K iMac. Before that you could use the iMac as purely a display. Since then it hasn't been possible
With macOS Monterey (regardless of M1 or not) you can use AirPlay to the iMac but it's not the same as using it as an actual display. It encodes the frames as a essentially a video stream on the source computer and sends that video stream to the iMac to display. It can essentially function as an extended display system just like if it were a display, but it is AirPlay streaming so has lower latency and potentially video compression artifacts.

As for the iMac's display quality for photography I'd say it's perfectly good. It may not be AdobeRGB, but DCI-P3 is still quite good and beats the pants off of all the displays that don't even cover sRGB. Plus it's 5K which is really nice. And since Molly calibrates it, it should be more than good enough for professional work I'd say
 
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Ah, that mention of Photoshop and other programs running on the M1 reminds me -- aside from Lightroom, do you use other editing software and/or apps for other purposes beyond image editing? While a lot of programs are now native to the M- series machines there are still some which are not yet, and those will run via Rosetta. Rosetta is pretty speedy, though, and invisible to the user as it does its thing, a significant improvement over the past when we made the switch from PPC to Intel machines and used Rosetta while various software programs scrambled to catch up.

If you are using something which is pretty specialized it may not run even on Rosetta, so that is something to check out before buying an M1 machine if you go that route.....
 
I use Lightroom Classic for 95% of my work and am in PS for about 5%. I used to use PS more when I did digital scrapbooking, but nothing I do in PS is very intensive. LR is my main slog.

For my class I will be making a pdf in either Keynote or Affinity Publisher, and I also have to do about 5-6 videos, some of me doing actual shooting videos and pullbacks, etc., and some screen-recordings. The screen-recordings are easy to do through Quicktime (a big reason I want a larger screen than a laptop is that laptop screens don't show nearly enough panels when doing an editing video). I otherwise don't know much about video editing but assume I will use something like iMovie. I'm not making cinematic movies, just how-to videos.
 
Definitely you will need a larger screen than what is provided with a laptop.....hence if one chooses a laptop they need to also add in an external monitor, which can be plugged into it as needed. I don't tote my 15" MBP around much so it's pretty much connected to the external monitor most of the time, but if I needed to take it somewhere it would simply be a matter of unplugging from the port and away we'd go.

It sounds as though you'll definitely need a computer which is reliable and dependable for this project, and something up to date. Hopefully that new power supply will take care of the situation for you and you'll be able to update your current machine to Big Sur now. If not...... I'm not sure that an M1 iMac, even maxed-out, would be the best solution, but then again I haven't used one or even laid eyes and hands on one. Now that the Apple stores are really fully open for business again it will be possible to go over there to the closest one and have a look and play with one, ask questions of the person assisting you, etc.
 
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have you actually run HW diagnostics on you iMac?

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

Apple Diagnostics, formerly known as Apple Hardware Test, can check your Mac for hardware issues.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

we are at technology crossroads right now, and for what you are doing, I do not believe you will be happy with 16GB in the long run, as I said before, I would not go with a M1 but chose and Intel one if it comes to that.
But I would try to prolong the iMacs life if that is feasible
 
jz0309 said:
have you actually run HW diagnostics on you iMac?

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

Apple Diagnostics, formerly known as Apple Hardware Test, can check your Mac for hardware issues.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

we are at technology crossroads right now, and for what you are doing, I do not believe you will be happy with 16GB in the long run, as I said before, I would not go with a M1 but chose and Intel one if it comes to that.
But I would try to prolong the iMacs life if that is feasible
Click to expand...
I think I did do that one when the problem first occurred and everything checked out fine from it. Which wasn't overly helpful.

Looking at the M1 iMacs, none of the top tier models seem to be in stock near me and they all have a 2-3 week lead time for shipping. When I start customizing to 16GB they move to August shipping. So it might all be a moot point with me having to get an Intel one regardless.
 
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mollyc said:
Thank you for answering my actual question. 🙂

Also, this was my original plan until mine stopped working, to let others test the M chips for awhile. I didn't have computer envy, wanting the newest....but now I just need something that stays on. And you can see from my previous computers, I do tend to hang on to them for a number of years.
Click to expand...
I have to say I disagree, strongly: at this point I would not buy any Intel Mac unless there is an absolute requirement (like Windows/Bootcamp) for it.
Not only is Apple Silicon vastly superior, its also Apple‘s future platform
 
Molly,

If you have a spare monitor around, you could possible buy an M1 Mini. They’re just as ‘powerful’ as the iMacs / notebooks. Just an option to consider.
 
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New me would let Apple repair the current iMac, (rent an iMac during repair if necessary) and then buy the biggest most awesome Apple Silicon iMac once its released. (And do other cool stuff during the time saved)

Old me would do a temperature check and detailed memory (ram) check.
And waste a lot more time on it (basically making the time cost of this solution more expensive than the repair option). 🥲

And then buy that upcoming Apple Silicon iMac 🤩
 
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stillcrazyman said:
Molly,

If you have a spare monitor around, you could possible buy an M1 Mini. They’re just as ‘powerful’ as the iMacs / notebooks. Just an option to consider.
Click to expand...

We don't, but I'm sure I could get one. I just don't want to research monitors on top of computers. :/ But I do think I'll have better luck finding a mini than an iMac at this point. I'll think about this option a little harder. I just have always loved my iMacs.


hellosil said:
New me would let Apple repair the current iMac, (rent an iMac during repair if necessary) and then buy the biggest most awesome Apple Silicon iMac once its released. (And do other cool stuff during the time saved)

Old me would do a temperature check and detailed memory (ram) check.
And waste a lot more time on it (basically making the time cost of this solution more expensive than the repair option). 🥲

And then buy that upcoming Apple Silicon iMac 🤩
Click to expand...
My iMac is out of warranty and four years old, so I'm not paying for repair fees. And I need a computer immediately, not when the new ones come out, which may well be a year away from now.
 
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mollyc said:
[tl;dr: M1 iMac or 2020 Intel iMac for replacement computer for photography?]

Dear Photo Friends,

I currently use a 2017 4.2 Ghz i7 27" iMac with 40GB RAM. I previously used a 2012 iMac and before that a 2008 iMac. The 2008 we kept around for a kids' computer for quite a long time and finally recycled it, and the 2012 is still here, occasionally used by my son. Neither ever gave me any issues, I just upgraded when needed due to new cameras, more storage, etc.

In the past two months or so, I have had a lot of trouble keeping my current 2017 iMac on. I just goes to a black, fully off screen for no reason. Sometimes I can leave it on overnight with no issues, and sometimes it shuts down while booting up. Yesterday I tried to use it and the longest it stayed on was about 4 minutes, enough to import a handful of photos, and after that I couldn't even get it to fully boot again.

I haven't worked in nearly 20 years, and the summer I sign up to write a photography class is the time when the stupid thing stops working. :(

My husband ordered a new power supply this morning and will attempt to fix my computer whenever it comes. He's quite handy with computers and I'm sure he's more than capable of fixing it, but I do not know if the power supply is the actual issue. (I've tried other options and I'm not asking you all to diagnose the stupid thing, just giving you background).

All that said, if the power supply does not fix the issue, then I will need to buy a new computer. I am having a hard time figuring out if I should go with the smaller but new M1 or stick with the Intel 2020 27". I am not interested in a laptop as a main computer (I have an 2018 MBA that I am currently using as a backup, which I typically use in the manner of an iPad), nor do I want to have to research monitors with a Mac Mini. Despite my current issues, I do like iMacs in general. But I worry that the M1 iMac isn't powerful enough with a max of 16GB RAM, and then I worry that the 2020 iMac will be basically out of date in the next six months or so. I have five local Apple stores, so I should be able to find something in stock at one of them, even if I would prefer a custom configuration.

What would you do in my position if I have to get something new?
Click to expand...

I bought an M1 Mac mini in the Spring to replace my 6 year old Intel iMac and I wish I hadn't. The M1 Mac mini is fast, no doubt. But is it more productive? Sometimes. I have lost a lot of productivity because of numerous glitches. Most of my problems have been with Photoshop and Lightroom though many other things are just kind of funky. As a photographer, it is frustrating to have these mission critical apps flop about like a fish on dry land. I have used a Mac in nearly every iteration from a 68K to PowerPC to Intel. The transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X was bumpier, for sure, but this current transition has cost me a lot of time and money. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought the cheapest Intel Mac available and then waited to buy an Apple Silicon Mac in a few years. It would have saved money and headache in the long run.
 
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mollyc said:
I think I did do that one when the problem first occurred and everything checked out fine from it. Which wasn't overly helpful.

Looking at the M1 iMacs, none of the top tier models seem to be in stock near me and they all have a 2-3 week lead time for shipping. When I start customizing to 16GB they move to August shipping. So it might all be a moot point with me having to get an Intel one regardless.
Click to expand...
come to think of RAM, in my old MacPro a RAM module failed after ~ 6 years of use, I honestly cannot recall the symptoms as it is 5-6 years ago, but, since you have 40GB I would pull the 32GB modules and see what happens.
just another thing to check, won't take much time/effort ... because I really think you should do whatever possible to keep this iMac going until Apple has a suitable replacement in the future ...
 
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P.S. If you are used to working on a 27” iMac the current 24” M1 iMac will probably be too small for your liking.

I didn’t realize how small 24” was until I sat behind one. No way I’m ever going to purchase that. I so hope the new iMac will be 30”.

Curious about what decision you’ll make, let us know please. 😀

Also: value your time and productivity, it may help in your decision.
 
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I was in a similar position.

My intel 27" iMac just all of sudden went kaput.

Looked at the 24 iMac, and was not impressed with screen size.

Instead of waiting I decided to get an Mac Mini, and first hooked it up to a LG Ultrafine 27" 5K. Then broke down and got a Samsung 49" ultrawide.

So far, very happy.

I would suggest looking at a Mac Mini, and if you're interested in a LG 27" 5K let me know.... 😄
 
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