I potentially need a new computer. Please help.

[Darmok N Jalad]

I once had a heatsink so clogged with dust that, while the fan worked, it essentially was moving no air at all over the metal. It was basically a passively cooled system at that point. If you have pets, it can be even more than just dust, but pet hair. It can definitely get pretty nasty inside.

I find edits on a 24" screen to work pretty well. 22" gets a little small. 27" is certainly great, too. From what I gather, the new 24" iMac has a really good display, which should help sweeten the deal if you end up going that route. I'm not sure I care for the thin design or all the colors (I feel like that will get dated quickly, but I digress), but that doesn't exactly affect what you're doing as long as the performance is still there. The M1 just doesn't need a lot of cooling to do its job--the MBA doesn't even have a fan, and obviously neither do the M1 2021 iPad Pros.

 

[mollyc]

Well that's good news and an easy check. Have you considered bringing it to Apple and asking for a repair estimate? It may be worth spending $250 to fix it and be able to relax and keep the computer for awhile than make a quick decision (and you're going to have to migrate everything anyway...and how will that be done if your old iMac won't turn on?).

Also, have you checked with your credit card company to see if they offer a free extended warranty on all your credit card purchases? Most credit cards do AND you do not have to file a claim the day the machine breaks. Usually you have 90 days. So if you bought the computer on June 5, 2017 (the day it was released) and you bought Applecare and got a 3 year warranty, that would expire June 5, 2020. Your credit card would extend it to June 5, 2021 which was a few weeks ago...you said your problem started several weeks ago so you could tell your credit cart company the problem began May 15, for example. They would pay for either the repair or the full price of your purchase.

Maybe you haven't read through my entire original post, but my husband is going to switch out the power supply, which I believe to be the culprit. If it isn't, we are only out $100, one week worth of wait time, and then I will move on. Sending it to Apple will take much longer than that, and I don't have weeks worth of time to wait for this.

As a household, we have purchased 20-30 Apple products over the past 20 years. We have bought Apple Care for two items, my original 2008 iMac and my current 2018 MBA because it has a butterfly keyboard. I have never had to file a claim, take anything in for repair or had any issues for a single device. The amount of money we have saved by not buying Apple Care is more than enough to buy a new device if needed. But I won't have any credit card extension of Apple Care for this computer.

I am a smart photographer and have a bootable cloned drive of my iMac from when the problem first started occurring, as well as a separate Time Machine backup. At most, I might lose 20-50 photos, none of which are of extreme importance. If the power supply does not fix the issue, my husband will just open the computer back up again and take out the hard drive for me to copy over whatever files might be missing.

I appreciate your suggestions, but they are not particularly relevant to my actual question of M1 vs Intel as a replacement.

 

[mollyc]

I once had a heatsink so clogged with dust that, while the fan worked, it essentially was moving no air at all over the metal. It was basically a passively cooled system at that point. If you have pets, it can be even more than just dust, but pet hair. It can definitely get pretty nasty inside.

I find edits on a 24" screen to work pretty well. 22" gets a little small. 27" is certainly great, too. From what I gather, the new 24" iMac has a really good display, which should help sweeten the deal if you end up going that route. I'm not sure I care for the thin design or all the colors (I feel like that will get dated quickly, but I digress), but that doesn't exactly affect what you're doing as long as the performance is still there. The M1 just doesn't need a lot of cooling to do its job--the MBA doesn't even have a fan, and obviously neither do the M1 2021 iPad Pros.

We do have a dog now, but my computer lives in my studio above the garage. This space has a separate staircase from the main house and has it's own ductless heat/ac unit. The dog doesn't come upstairs with me much, and when she does she just lies down on her bed there. Because of the separate heat/ac unit, I don't get dust blowing around like you would with a traditional vented HVAC system. I mean, I do get some dust, and in the nice weather I open windows, so outside dust gets in, but because of the way the studio is situated within the house, it really is the cleanest room in the entire house. The room also does not have carpeting, but rather a laminate flooring with just one area rug. There's really little dust to be had, although I agree that after four years there could be a build up just from life stuff. But given the locations and uses of my other iMacs, I really think the fans will be relatively clean.....but I will report back next weekend. 🙂

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

We do have a dog now, but my computer lives in my studio above the garage. This space has a separate staircase from the main house and has it's own ductless heat/ac unit. The dog doesn't come upstairs with me much, and when she does she just lies down on her bed there. Because of the separate heat/ac unit, I don't get dust blowing around like you would with a traditional vented HVAC system. I mean, I do get some dust, and in the nice weather I open windows, so outside dust gets in, but because of the way the studio is situated within the house, it really is the cleanest room in the entire house. The room also does not have carpeting, but rather a laminate flooring with just one area rug. There's really little dust to be had, although I agree that after four years there could be a build up just from life stuff. But given the locations and uses of my other iMacs, I really think the fans will be relatively clean.....but I will report back next weekend. 🙂

I think we did a great job of turning a relatively simple question into 5 pages of comments, and just think, your saga isn't even over yet!

 

[theroaringbadger]

We do have a dog now, but my computer lives in my studio above the garage. This space has a separate staircase from the main house and has it's own ductless heat/ac unit. The dog doesn't come upstairs with me much, and when she does she just lies down on her bed there. Because of the separate heat/ac unit, I don't get dust blowing around like you would with a traditional vented HVAC system. I mean, I do get some dust, and in the nice weather I open windows, so outside dust gets in, but because of the way the studio is situated within the house, it really is the cleanest room in the entire house. The room also does not have carpeting, but rather a laminate flooring with just one area rug. There's really little dust to be had, although I agree that after four years there could be a build up just from life stuff. But given the locations and uses of my other iMacs, I really think the fans will be relatively clean.....but I will report back next weekend. 🙂

I’m going to say something completely different. Instead of going for a maxed out iMac. Go for an m1 Mac mini, which are very powerful especially for the price. Seem to be able to handle almost everything. For the monitor get the LG ultrafine 5k. An amazing monitor. Colour accurate 220 ppi just like the iMac. It’s literally the same panel. It has dci p3, 1080 webcam and thunderbolt with a usb hub. It’s a beast. Go for that. Note that the m1 mini can be configed with 10gb Ethernet too.

 

[ericinboston]

Maybe you haven't read through my entire original post, but my husband is going to switch out the power supply, which I believe to be the culprit. If it isn't, we are only out $100, one week worth of wait time, and then I will move on. Sending it to Apple will take much longer than that, and I don't have weeks worth of time to wait for this.
...

I appreciate your suggestions, but they are not particularly relevant to my actual question of M1 vs Intel as a replacement.

I have read the whole thread, but don't remember all the comments. For suggesting M1 vs. Intel here are my thoughts about immediate/very near future purchase:

• Shipping an M1 is 2-3 weeks minimum time in Connecticut. And that's the time to ship, not arrive at your door.
• Picking up an M1 in the state of Connecticut is unavailable. I do not know where you live.
• Shipping an Intel is a few days
• Picking up an Intel is immediate availability.
• The M1 restricts you to 16GB RAM while you are currently on 40GB. RAM mumble jumble (and how M1 uses it now) aside, it's a massive difference and you need to think about the future. The Intels have far more RAM choices and you could likely just need 64GB.
• The M1 restricts you to a 24" screen. That's pretty small for photography.
• The M1 has fewer ports (unless you upgrade and I think even then still fewer)
• The Intel should be just as powerful (and 100% compatible/native with your current software) as the M1 chip if not faster.

I would choose the Intel. Especially since you keep talking about your need to have a replacement ASAP and that you cannot wait weeks.

 

[iluvmacs99]

[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?

It may be a power supply issue which happens rarely, but most common culprit I suspect more so are on your RAM and your external peripherals -- hubs, drives etc.

First, disconnect all external peripherals -- your USB printer, drives, your USB hub, your Thunderbolt hub and your Thunderbolt drives if you have them. Then try starting your iMac. If it starts up, play around with it and if it doesn't shut down like it does, then plug 1 peripheral at the time starting with your USB hub or Thunderbolt hub if you have one. Usually a problematic USB 3 hub or a Thunderbolt hub can take down the whole computer. You want to ascertain that your hubs aren't the problem. If you don't have a hub, then plug 1 peripheral to the iMac one at the time and reboot until you find the culprit peripheral that causes the shut down. A defective USB 3 drive can also cause a shutdown. I had seen both happen myself with my former clients machines and iMacs I had worked on. If your machine still doesn't boot up with all external peripherals disconnected, then go to step 2.

Step 2. You said you have 40Gb of RAM. Are all these Apple stock RAM? If they are not, I would take out the non-Apple stock RAM and keep the stock RAM or re-install the stock RAM. Then try booting it up. If it boots up and works without shutting down for awhile, then put one non-stock Apple RAM into your iMac one stick at the time and reboot. Make sure that when you install or remove the RAM stick, you should work on a static free environment and you should be static free with the power OFF on the iMac and disconnected! If it shuts down or crashes after each RAM stick installation, then you know which RAM stick is defective. Purchase a new RAM stick to replace the defective one(s). The same applies also if you have all Apple stock RAM sticks installed in your iMac. You want to find out with RAM stick causes the shutdown or refusal to boot.

If either of these 2 steps plus a new power supply do not resolve your shutdown issue, then you may be looking at a logic board problem. However, external peripherals and or non-Apple stock RAM are commonly the culprit to the shutdown problems you are experiencing. At least in my experience and also in the Apple diagnostic procedure as well.

In regards to which iMac works for you. You have a 5K 27" screen and I doubt, with your photography skillset and expectations that you will accept anything less than a 5K 27" screen especially if you are editing more than a 15MP image at roughly full screen with full layers. The M1 iMac doesn't yet come with the same screen size and resolution to replace your Intel mac 27" just yet. Maybe in the fall, but if you need 40Gb of RAM, then you would be looking at the M1 with something closer to 40Gb of RAM with your Intel and that's not yet available with the current M1 iMac platform. And btw, 16Gb is not a replacement for 40Gb of RAM or otherwise Apple wouldn't plan the next Apple Silicon Macs to have a memory ceiling higher than 16Gb of RAM. So you need to keep that in mind when you upgrade your Mac if it has the ability to take more memory.

Hope this helps.

 

[ipsedixit]

I have read the whole thread, but don't remember all the comments. For suggesting M1 vs. Intel here are my thoughts about immediate/very near future purchase:

• Shipping an M1 is 2-3 weeks minimum time. And that's the time to ship, not arrive at your door.
• Picking up an M1 in the state of Connecticut is unavailable. I do not know where you live.
• Shipping an Intel is a few days
• Picking up an Intel is immediate availability.
• The M1 restricts you to 16GB RAM while you are currently on 40GB. RAM mumble jumble (and how M1 uses it now) aside, it's a massive difference and you need to think about the future. The Intels have far more RAM choices and you could likely just need 64GB.
• The M1 restricts you to a 24" screen. That's pretty small for photography.
• The M1 has fewer ports (unless you upgrade and I think even then still fewer)
• The Intel should be just as powerful (and 100% compatible/native with your current software) as the M1 chip if not faster.

I would choose the Intel. Especially since you keep talking about your need to have a replacement ASAP and that you cannot wait weeks.

Really? That's odd. At least here in CA, I can pick it up at any Apple store and at Costco.

 

[mollyc]

Well after being unplugged for the past few days, I took out my after market RAM and started it up. It always starts up after being unplugged overnight, so this is neither good nor bad news.

I am running my backup script to hopefully get a new clone copy. If that finishes, then I will try to use it for some light surfing/editing to see if it stays on, but I am letting the backup run without anything to interrupt it.

 

[mollyc]

Really? That's odd. At least here in CA, I can pick it up at any Apple store and at Costco.

The 16GB RAM models are really hard to find in stock anywhere, even for a Mini. Costco doesn't even carry 16gb versions online.

 

[jwolf6589]

I have read the whole thread, but don't remember all the comments. For suggesting M1 vs. Intel here are my thoughts about immediate/very near future purchase:

• Shipping an M1 is 2-3 weeks minimum time. And that's the time to ship, not arrive at your door.
• Picking up an M1 in the state of Connecticut is unavailable. I do not know where you live.
• Shipping an Intel is a few days
• Picking up an Intel is immediate availability.
• The M1 restricts you to 16GB RAM while you are currently on 40GB. RAM mumble jumble (and how M1 uses it now) aside, it's a massive difference and you need to think about the future. The Intels have far more RAM choices and you could likely just need 64GB.
• The M1 restricts you to a 24" screen. That's pretty small for photography.
• The M1 has fewer ports (unless you upgrade and I think even then still fewer)
• The Intel should be just as powerful (and 100% compatible/native with your current software) as the M1 chip if not faster.

I would choose the Intel. Especially since you keep talking about your need to have a replacement ASAP and that you cannot wait weeks.

This is partly true. When I ordered my 2020 MacBook Pro in 2020 it took more than a few days to ship. It took a week or two.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I waited about a week to get the M1 MBA. Not terrible, really. M1 iPad Pro 12.9 is still a month's wait. Custom configs can take longer since they come straight from the factory overseas.

 

[pmiles]

LOL, you start off by stating you aren't looking for repair advice and you get 5 pages of it.

I was recently at an Apple Store waiting for something and I perused the new 24" M1 iMacs. I have a Mac Pro 5,1 with a 27" Apple Cinema Display. I can tell you, the smaller display was a real negative for me. To make matters worse I am forced to use two smaller displays at work... so screen real estate to me is a very big thing. A very big thing. So ask yourself how you feel about screen size. If 24" is smaller than you have now, don't downsize and convince yourself that the higher resolution is a good trade off. I have two higher resolution postage stamps at work that beg to differ with you.

Next up. Storage. Yeah, like that really is a big thing and people seem to like downplaying it. My computer has 4 internal bays. I currently have 7TBs of storage. What's nice about my tower is that it sits on the floor out of the way, so in essence I have just a display, keyboard and a mouse on my desk. From looking at my desk, you'd think I had an iMac. Now I know you aren't looking for a tower, I'm just illustrating the fact that I have a clean desk space plus ample storage. Funny thing is, these new Macs have very little storage, you essentially HAVE TO get external storage for them... and with that comes... desktop clutter. Are you looking for desktop clutter or a clean desktop. How much storage do you use. I would suspect in photography, a lot. So much that you have to have external storage not matter what. So are you looking to add to that storage to make up for what's missing in these new Macs?

I'm not even going to go into the lack of ports on them. In a nutshell, you need to realistically look at your needs. Don't settle for less because you can get it now. If an INTEL iMac makes more sense because it already comes with a larger display, decent storage and RAM (both of which are upgradeable), plus sufficient number of ports, why consider an M1 iMac? If you don't care about those things, the an M1 Mac is just fine. Notice how I say it's just fine. Because that's what these new entry level machines are... just fine. The prosumer versions (which have yet to be revealed) will show everyone just how much they settled in due time.

Hopefully your machine will be fixed with the new power supply and all this will be moot. Basically an INTEL Mac is obsolete technology... but there are use cases for it. If you know you will be getting another computer down the road anyways, get the one that closer meets your needs in the meantime as opposed to the one that just has ARM in it's DNA. You've been running an older Mac as it is under an older OS for a while. You obviously aren't in the habit of replacing something merely because Apple's media blitz tells you to do so.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[jz0309]

Well after being unplugged for the past few days, I took out my after market RAM and started it up. It always starts up after being unplugged overnight, so this is neither good nor bad news.

I am running my backup script to hopefully get a new clone copy. If that finishes, then I will try to use it for some light surfing/editing to see if it stays on, but I am letting the backup run without anything to interrupt it.

you've gotten plenty advice/opinions here, so at this point I'm sharing my current thought process on my future computing plans, because you and I have some similarities:
. almost identical iMac spec
. like to keep our computers for a long time (my iMac replaced a 2008 MacPro ...)
. we use LR/PS - though I believe from your photos and some of your posts you are a "heavier" user than I am ...

I just in the last few weeks upgraded my iMac from Mojave to Big Sur, part of that was to replace my 1 TB external SSD (that's where I keep my photos) with a 2 TB one (Sandisk with similar to T7 specs) and a new backup strategy. This way I am hoping to get another 2 or so years out of my iMac ...
one of the key takeaways from the above was the recognition that external SSDs are FAST, eg copying 740 GB of photos onto the new SSD took ~ 20 min, and it's not TB3, it's USB 3.2 (whatever spec #).
Buying a new high-end iMac 27 (or whatever the new model will be) will set you back ~3-3.5k$, my eyesight is not getting better with age, I will never go back to a smaller monitor ...
Technology is evolving very fast and we are at crossroads now with Apple's M silicon ...
So here is where my head for my future computer needs is right now: most of my data will continue to live on external drives (photos, music, movies, currently totaling 3+ TB), my "documents" take up less than 50GB, my LR index/preview currently takes up ~150GB. So an internal SSD of 1 TB will be sufficient, might even do 512 depending on cost.
Get an excellent monitor, 27" or larger, at least 5k - ~ 2k
Get a high end Mac mini M2 (or whatever name) with min 32GB and max 1 TB SSD, at least 4 TB3 ports ~ 1k

Going down that path will enable me to "upgrade" the computer rather sooner, if it ever fails, it's going to be simpler/cheaper than an iMac. Performance even with external storage will be much much better than what I have today.

Also, this week I got a new MBA M1 with 16GB, 8core CPU, 8 core GPU and 512GB to replace my MBP (got a great trade in offer that I did not want to miss out on, initial impression is that LR/PS are pretty fast ...

Current M1 based Macs are Apple's "entry level" Macs, Adobe did not create LR/PS for "entry level" computers, they created them for professional and high-end users and that will NOT change, they happen to perform decent enough on Apple's new "entry level" computers.

Sorry for the long post, and I am going to end here hoping that I left you with some food for thought ...
Good luck with the iMac, I really hope you can get it back to work so that you don't have to make a "rush" decision on replacing it eventually.

 

[ericinboston]

This is partly true. When I ordered my 2020 MacBook Pro in 2020 it took more than a few days to ship. It took a week or two.

Sorry. I edited my post to be more clear...in the state of Connecticut, it is several weeks to ship an M1 iMac.

 

[kallisti]

@mollyc

Hi Molly,

I know you specifically stated in your OP that you don’t want either a laptop or mini and then having to research/buy an external monitor. I get it.

However, I will throw out an external monitor that I bought earlier this year for use with my MPB:

EIZO ColorEdge CG279X 27" 16:9 Hardware Calibration HDR IPS Monitor

Buy EIZO ColorEdge CG279X 27" 16:9 Hardware Calibration HDR IPS Monitor featuring 27" In-Plane Switching (IPS) Panel, DisplayPort | HDMI | DVI-D | USB Type-C, 2560 x 1440 Native Resolution, 1300:1 Typical Contrast Ratio, 350 cd/m² Brightness, 178°/178° Viewing Angles, 13 ms Response Time (GtG)...

www.bhphotovideo.com

It was a game changer for me. It’s pricey. But it is an absolutely fantastic monitor for photo editing. It has a built in hardware color calibration tool. So the monitor is always accurately calibrated. It is a matte screen. It comes with a detachable hood to block stray light (easy to take off or put on, and it folds up when off). Most importantly for photo work it *isn’t* a Retina display.

This may sound counterintuitive, but Retina displays aren’t ideal for photo editing. They are awesome for viewing content, but the increased pixel density can “hide” fine details, especially if you don’t have perfect vision.

Sharing a link from Lloyd Chambers’ site (the site itself is behind a paywall, but I’m hoping this one post can be viewed for free):

Too-High Pixel Density on 5K, 8K, Retina Displays Impedes Image Sharpn

diglloyd.com

I have aging eyes and I’ve found from personal experience that the non-retina display is a benefit when editing photos (I have the monitor connected to my MBP and have the screens mirrored, so I can see them both side-by-side).

You could use your existing MBP plugged into an external display to get working immediately. An external monitor can also be plugged into a mini or even an iMac if you go that route. If connected to a laptop or iMac you then have much more screen real estate which can be useful in many situations (like teaching on-line classes where one screen could be for zoom and the other for PS, LR, etc.).

Just a thought.

 

[ericinboston]

Basically an INTEL Mac is obsolete technology...

I highly disagree. What is obselete about the Intel iMac? Heck, the M1 chip was released in November, 2020 and the Intel iMac (with 10th gen chips which were the latest and greatest at the time releasing May, 2020) was released in August, 2020.

If anything, the M1 is an "early adopter" product as it is not 100% compatible/native with the software that's been running on Macs for decades. The M1 is also only available in the smaller iMacs, less configurable iMacs, and iMacs with fewer ports. The display on the Intel iMac is also better and larger display. The M1 and Intel chips are almost the same age, regardless of their capabilities. Part of "obselete" is age.

 

[Marshall73]

And once a processor is thermal faults, and the flag is set, it's not going anywhere... I had a system 'thermal', and neither the motherboard, or the processor were usable after that. Ouch...

Nah, works fine. Had many thermal faults on PC’s and servers. Never an issue once the cooling is fixed.

 

[mollyc]

LOL, you start off by stating you aren't looking for repair advice and you get 5 pages of it.

I was recently at an Apple Store waiting for something and I perused the new 24" M1 iMacs. I have a Mac Pro 5,1 with a 27" Apple Cinema Display. I can tell you, the smaller display was a real negative for me. To make matters worse I am forced to use two smaller displays at work... so screen real estate to me is a very big thing. A very big thing. So ask yourself how you feel about screen size. If 24" is smaller than you have now, don't downsize and convince yourself that the higher resolution is a good trade off. I have two higher resolution postage stamps at work that beg to differ with you.

Next up. Storage. Yeah, like that really is a big thing and people seem to like downplaying it. My computer has 4 internal bays. I currently have 7TBs of storage. What's nice about my tower is that it sits on the floor out of the way, so in essence I have just a display, keyboard and a mouse on my desk. From looking at my desk, you'd think I had an iMac. Now I know you aren't looking for a tower, I'm just illustrating the fact that I have a clean desk space plus ample storage. Funny thing is, these new Macs have very little storage, you essentially HAVE TO get external storage for them... and with that comes... desktop clutter. Are you looking for desktop clutter or a clean desktop. How much storage do you use. I would suspect in photography, a lot. So much that you have to have external storage not matter what. So are you looking to add to that storage to make up for what's missing in these new Macs?

I'm not even going to go into the lack of ports on them. In a nutshell, you need to realistically look at your needs. Don't settle for less because you can get it now. If an INTEL iMac makes more sense because it already comes with a larger display, decent storage and RAM (both of which are upgradeable), plus sufficient number of ports, why consider an M1 iMac? If you don't care about those things, the an M1 Mac is just fine. Notice how I say it's just fine. Because that's what these new entry level machines are... just fine. The prosumer versions (which have yet to be revealed) will show everyone just how much they settled in due time.

Hopefully your machine will be fixed with the new power supply and all this will be moot. Basically an INTEL Mac is obsolete technology... but there are use cases for it. If you know you will be getting another computer down the road anyways, get the one that closer meets your needs in the meantime as opposed to the one that just has ARM in it's DNA. You've been running an older Mac as it is under an older OS for a while. You obviously aren't in the habit of replacing something merely because Apple's media blitz tells you to do so.

Sorry for the long post.

Storage wise I'm okay. I have a NAS where I keep the bulk of my files. On my local hard drive I only keep photos since January. And I back up my NAS to a separate hard drive (both of my NAS drives failed independent of each other a year apart, but since I keep a second backup I didn't lose any data). And I clone my local hard drive about once a month or so (more often lately, and I got a brand new clone today) manually and have one of my NAS drives as Time Machine. So while I would possibly lose LR edits in a catastrophe, I am unlikely to lose major files. And I back up before I do any updates, etc.

@mollyc

Hi Molly,

I know you specifically stated in your OP that you don’t want either a laptop or mini and then having to research/buy an external monitor. I get it.

However, I will throw out an external monitor that I bought earlier this year for use with my MPB:

EIZO ColorEdge CG279X 27" 16:9 Hardware Calibration HDR IPS Monitor

Buy EIZO ColorEdge CG279X 27" 16:9 Hardware Calibration HDR IPS Monitor featuring 27" In-Plane Switching (IPS) Panel, DisplayPort | HDMI | DVI-D | USB Type-C, 2560 x 1440 Native Resolution, 1300:1 Typical Contrast Ratio, 350 cd/m² Brightness, 178°/178° Viewing Angles, 13 ms Response Time (GtG)...

www.bhphotovideo.com

It was a game changer for me. It’s pricey. But it is an absolutely fantastic monitor for photo editing. It has a built in hardware color calibration tool. So the monitor is always accurately calibrated. It is a matte screen. It comes with a detachable hood to block stray light (easy to take off or put on, and it folds up when off). Most importantly for photo work it *isn’t* a Retina display.

This may sound counterintuitive, but Retina displays aren’t ideal for photo editing. They are awesome for viewing content, but the increased pixel density can “hide” fine details, especially if you don’t have perfect vision.

Sharing a link from Lloyd Chambers’ site (the site itself is behind a paywall, but I’m hoping this one post can be viewed for free):

Too-High Pixel Density on 5K, 8K, Retina Displays Impedes Image Sharpn

diglloyd.com

I have aging eyes and I’ve found from personal experience that the non-retina display is a benefit when editing photos (I have the monitor connected to my MBP and have the screens mirrored, so I can see them both side-by-side).

You could use your existing MBP plugged into an external display to get working immediately. An external monitor can also be plugged into a mini or even an iMac if you go that route. If connected to a laptop or iMac you then have much more screen real estate which can be useful in many situations (like teaching on-line classes where one screen could be for zoom and the other for PS, LR, etc.).

Just a thought.

I, too, have aging eyes, but as I've worn glasses on and off since preschool, I just live with glasses. 🙂 I've only used iMac screens since 2008. My husband has two LG monitors for his PC. I don't think they are particularly high quality and he jacks up the screen brightness so my eyes bleed when I have to use it. But that is the only non-Apple screen I have any comparison to and I definitely wouldn't want to edit on his setup. But there have been a few monitors thrown out within this thread that I would consider with a Mac Mini. Not the Apple Pro Display at $5k. I'm sure it's a great monitor, but I'm just a hobbyist. I'll look at the Eizo you linked, and I also looked at the monitors that @Apple fanboy mentioned.

I'm warming to the idea of a Mac Mini/monitor setup but we'll see how the next week goes with my existing iMac. Has stayed on for about two hours now with the extra ram removed! (I really don't think it's the ram, but it's a good troubleshooting step.)

 

[jz0309]

I'm warming to the idea of a Mac Mini/monitor setup but we'll see how the next week goes with my existing iMac. Has stayed on for about two hours now with the extra ram removed! (I really don't think it's the ram, but it's a good troubleshooting step.)

I have always used OWC RAM, when the module in my Mac Pro failed after ~ 7 yers, it was replaced no question asked, OWC offers lifetime warranty and I think others do too ...

 

[mollyc]

I have always used OWC RAM, when the module in my Mac Pro failed after ~ 7 yers, it was replaced no question asked, OWC offers lifetime warranty and I think others do too ...

oh, interesting, this is owc ram.

 

[smirking]

LOL, you start off by stating you aren't looking for repair advice and you get 5 pages of it.

Kinda wacky how this plays out. Meanwhile there's another thread where someone is asking almost the same thing but its 2 random replies and then crickets.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Kinda wacky how this plays out. Meanwhile there's another thread where someone is asking almost the same thing but its 2 random replies and then crickets.

Don't look at me, I replied there, too! I didn't even see this thread until late yesterday and it already had 4 pages of replies. Sounds like in the other thread, OP made their choice, so not as much commotion and mystery. Over here, mollyc specifically said she didn't need diagnosing advice, so naturally, she got a lot of it. Next time she should tell everyone that she doesn't want their money!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Storage wise I'm okay. I have a NAS where I keep the bulk of my files. On my local hard drive I only keep photos since January. And I back up my NAS to a separate hard drive (both of my NAS drives failed independent of each other a year apart, but since I keep a second backup I didn't lose any data). And I clone my local hard drive about once a month or so (more often lately, and I got a brand new clone today) manually and have one of my NAS drives as Time Machine. So while I would possibly lose LR edits in a catastrophe, I am unlikely to lose major files. And I back up before I do any updates, etc.



I, too, have aging eyes, but as I've worn glasses on and off since preschool, I just live with glasses. 🙂 I've only used iMac screens since 2008. My husband has two LG monitors for his PC. I don't think they are particularly high quality and he jacks up the screen brightness so my eyes bleed when I have to use it. But that is the only non-Apple screen I have any comparison to and I definitely wouldn't want to edit on his setup. But there have been a few monitors thrown out within this thread that I would consider with a Mac Mini. Not the Apple Pro Display at $5k. I'm sure it's a great monitor, but I'm just a hobbyist. I'll look at the Eizo you linked, and I also looked at the monitors that @Apple fanboy mentioned.

I'm warming to the idea of a Mac Mini/monitor setup but we'll see how the next week goes with my existing iMac. Has stayed on for about two hours now with the extra ram removed! (I really don't think it's the ram, but it's a good troubleshooting step.)

We also sell Eizo screens. They will blow that Apple Pro Display out of the water. CG2730 if you want to stick to a 27 inch. Their 32 inch starts to get expensive, but the CG316 is pretty nice.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Nah, works fine. Had many thermal faults on PC’s and servers. Never an issue once the cooling is fixed.

I thought so too, but new chassis, new fans and I got nothing. New processor, nothing. Thought, why not - new motherboard, same processor, nothing. New processor, old board, nothing. It just didn't work. I could not get a BIOS tone to save my life. I even tried different wiring, and different speaker, and nothing. Even swapped power supplies, still nothing.

They were 'recycled'. The processor was opened up, and a small white came up, and I felt somewhat guilty...