If you're not satisfied with the current lineup, don't forget about buying used...

[spaceballl]

My parents keep their computers for LONG times... They're still rocking a 2007 iMac, but with it not getting OS updates and being pretty slow, it's tough for me to troubleshoot. They don't need the fastest Mac on the planet, but we often have a lot of simultaneous users logged in at the same time, they take a lot of photos, and I refuse to get them a machine with a spinning hard drive (I upgraded their 2007 iMac to an SSD + 6GB of RAM a long time ago). The current lineup doesn't do it for me... If I go non-4K, I can't get a 512GB SSD. Even with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM, the price comes out to $1499. The 4K model with 512GB of SSD and 16GB of RAM comes out to $1899.

I just bought a 2011 iMac with 512GB of SSD and 16GB of RAM on eBay for $538 and free shipping. I know this isn't an ultra long term solution, but I can sell their iMac for probably $150, bringing the out of pocket cost to $388. For that money, we've got a 2.5ghz i5 that should perform just fine, plenty of memory, and an SSD. In a few years when Apple has 16GB of RAM and SSD standardized across the line, then we can upgrade. This machine will more than suffice until then, and it'll also Run High Sierra, and hopefully the next OS release, but TBD on that.

So yeah - just a friendly reminder that if you're not finding the perfect computer out there, don't forget to check out used models. You might find something great that will get you 90% of what you want at 30% of the price.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I just replaced my 27" iMac mid-2011, 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM with a 27" iMac 5K mid-2017, 512GB SSD, 3.5GHz CPU, 575 Radeon GPU and 24GB RAM. My old iMac is running Mac OS High Sierra and it works super fast. I gave it to my daughters. I did the upgrade just because I wanted, not because I needed it.

 

[YanniDepp]

The 21-inch quad-core 2011 iMac still has a lot going for it.

I recently picked one up from eBay. It was $526 with 16GB ram and a 2TB hard drive, which I replaced with a 500GB SSD. It's a bit more than what you paid, but used Mac prices are higher in Scotland than they are in the US, so it's still a good price. Also, mine is a 2.7GHz.

I also have a late 2015 4K iMac, with 16GB ram and a 500GB SSD (although it's obviously PCIe SSD rather than SATA). Honestly, the only time I notice a difference is when I'm running a big batch of videos through Handbrake. The 2015 model does them a bit faster.

Also, I installed Mavericks on mine. I'm trying to build "The Ultimate Non-Retina Mavericks Mac". I could put 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD in it, but that just seems obnoxious.

Don't forget that these machines used proprietary hard disk connectors with thermal sensors in them, so if you ever change the hard drive for an SSD, or wipe and re-install an iMac with a non-original disk, the fans will run full-speed. There's an app called HDD Fan Control that fixes it, but they charge 30 bucks. Download SSD Fan Control instead - it's free.

 

[thestickman]

I always buy used these days when it comes to Mac. Just installed a 2012 i7 21.5" iMac in my recording studio & moved my 2009 Mac Pro to the emergency only position. This 2012 iMac is getting the job done for me & I no longer have to look at the CPU meter while working.

 

[spaceballl]

Don't forget that these machines used proprietary hard disk connectors with thermal sensors in them, so if you ever change the hard drive for an SSD, or wipe and re-install an iMac with a non-original disk, the fans will run full-speed. There's an app called HDD Fan Control that fixes it, but they charge 30 bucks. Download SSD Fan Control instead - it's free.

THANK YOU for this advice! I can't wait to get this machine set up!