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MikkelAD

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 17, 2018
188
33
I began using Apple computers 10 years ago. First it was the MacBook Air. Not a powerful machine but portable and great for university. At the end I wanted a bigger screen and didn’t need the portability as much so I bought an iMac 2013. Three years ago I took a decision to buy a Mac Pro 5,1. I didn’t really need it, but I missed experimenting with hardware like when I was younger and gamed on PCs. I upgraded the machine quite a lot and later sold it to an architect without loosing any real money. It was a fun project :)

The Mac Pro 6,1 has always been beautiful to me and a kind of art, but since I’m not a professional in video editing, music production etc. I of course couldn’t justify the expensive machine for a long time. Nevertheless I had to own it and I have for the last year. It has been great but not a 100% Apple experience. I had to combine it with a display from a different manufacture(Dell). A good display but not Apple in terms of sleek matching design.

I’m writing this from my new iMac 2020 and oh have I missed this all-in-on design. I know the design hasn’t changed much, but this last Intel-model of the old design is really great. I’m as described before not a professional and the ‘tier 3’ model didn’t make much sense to me. I opted for the ‘tier 2’ model and bought the original 2*4GB from another new iMac 2020 owner. I don’t really need more than 16GB and this was a great and cheap way to get that.

Nevertheless here are some performance results:

DiskSpeedTest.png

Screenshot 2020-09-24 at 18.16.35.png


With 4*4GB original SK Hynix RAM

Screenshot 2020-09-25 at 12.03.57.png

Screenshot 2020-09-25 at 12.07.36.png

Screenshot 2020-09-25 at 12.10.59.png

Screenshot 2020-09-25 at 12.17.01.png


The design hasn’t changed much, but the technology inside these machines definitely has. This iMac 2020 is a really great all-in-on product both in terms of speed and design but also the precise 5K display and good speakers to name a few things.

From reading other threads it seems the GPU and the fan of these machines are discussed. I haven’t had any problems with the 5300M GPU, but from what I can understand I shouldn’t have either. There has just been an “unlucky” period for the 5700XT owners.

In regards to the fan it’s definitely different from the one on the iMac 2013 as far as I remember. There is no doubt this one can push more air and that is probably what some can hear compared to earlier iMac models. I can hear a subtle noise in a quiet room but nothing major and it seems a good fit for the i5 CPU. I experience around 32 degrees celsius at idle/light tasks and around 55 when using Geekbench.

Hopefully this can persuade somebody in buying a great Apple product. Especially for somebody who isn’t a professional, but still wants a fast machine 👍
 
Thank you for the review! I bought the tier 1 since I already had a fast external SSD. So far I am happy. As you, I am not a professional video editor etc. so I opted to save the money. I put the money I saved into ram, a Magic Trackpad, and the bank 😁
 
Thank you for the review! I bought the tier 1 since I already had a fast external SSD. So far I am happy. As you, I am not a professional video editor etc. so I opted to save the money. I put the money I saved into ram, a Magic Trackpad, and the bank 😁

Exactly. I really do think that the iMac 2020 give a lot of people the opportunity to configure it to specific needs and get a great all-in-one solution no matter what. I'm pretty sure that this beauty will keep me happy for at least 3 years and at that time Apple Silicon has probably matured a bit and can display amazing performance in more than just a thin laptop...
 
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