iMac Buying Advice

[billchase2]

Back story:
My current home computer is a 2015 iMac 27; 3.5GHz Quad-Core i5; 5K Display; 1TB Fusion Drive; 24GB RAM (recently upgraded). The RAM upgrade helped significantly, as I recently decided to switch to using the Photos app and uploaded over 80,000 photos/videos to iCloud. 8 GB of RAM simply did not cut it: the app constantly froze and it took over a month to upload the photos and it wasn't even finished. After upgrading the RAM, everything sped up significantly and I was able to finish the uploads and scanning for faces, etc.

However, I am still running into a bunch of slowdowns. Examples: I'd like to back up my old photo folders to an external hard drive before deleting them from my computer to save space (since they're already in my Photos library.) It was running so slowly while transferring the files that I eventually had to abort and learned that the external hard drive got messed up in the process and I now have to see if I can figure out a way to get the thing to mount. I'm really hoping it's not totally corrupt. It's also just slow while running on a daily basis. I like to play some games on it, which are beginning to run quite slow. It also just likes to occasionally hang and makes it a headache to do any real work/extensive file management.

The iMac is not my only computer, nor is it the computer that I use the most. I have a work-provided 2016 MacBook Pro, which works great. I also use an iPad Pro 9.7" for quite a few things and plan on upgrading it to a newer one this fall after the upgraded models are released.

Buying info/questions:
All of that being said, I've decided that it's probably time to upgrade my iMac. I checked the MacRumors Buyer's Guide and see that now is a good time to do so, as far as releases go. However, I could use a little advice on which model to purchase. I work in the education industry, so I get the educational discounts.

I certainly do not need the iMac Pro (although, it is super cool and I love the color.) I prefer the 27" model and understand that the current iMacs do not make upgrading the RAM easy, so I'll want to upgrade from the default 8 GB. Would 16 GB be enough, or would it be better to spend a little more and get 32 GB? It's too bad I can't just pop the two 8 GB cards I have into the new iMac.

I am unsure which processor to get. I'd like this to last me at least another 4-5 years and while I'm not really a power user (I don't do that much video editing these days, but am very much a technology geek who puts computers through their paces over time), I want to make sure that it'll do what I want it to do without making me wait and wait like I'm currently doing.

I'm also not sure which hard drive to go with. My current iMac has the Fusion Drive, which I've learned isn't the greatest: it can be quite slow. An SSD would be much faster, but you can only get 1 TB and I'd like more space than that. (Plus, it adds a whopping $630 to the order.) Ideally, I'd like 2 TB in the computer.

So, that's my story. Any advice is appreciated and will be helpful as I make my decision. Thanks in advance and I'll be happy to answer any questions I haven't already covered!

 

[Fishrrman]

"However, I am still running into a bunch of slowdowns"

I'm a man of relatively few words.

Easy answer:
The 1tb fusion drive is "the roadblock".
NOT the amount of RAM inside.

The MacBook Pro "works great" BECAUSE it has an SSD in it (not a fusion drive).

Solution:
Buy a new, faster iMac (of course, what else would I suggest?).

You'll probably want one of the 2019 models (I would, too).

So....
Get a 2019 27" imac with an SSD inside.

It DOES NOT have to be "1tb".
I would personally recommend the 512gb as "the current sweet spot" insofar as price v. performance goes.

You didn't tell us HOW LARGE your Photo library is. That's important info.
Again, I suggest 512gb for the SSD.
If you need more storage room, add an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD and keep your photo library on that.
It will still run GREAT that way.

Get 8gb of RAM from Apple.
DO NOT pay their prices for more than 8gb.
The 27" iMac has an "easy access" door in the back for RAM, and add more later as needed. But don't go overboard.

If all you're doing is "photography" I doubt you'll need more than 16gb for now.
TRY IT FOR ONE MONTH with 8gb first. You may be surprised at how well it runs.
Again, the speed problems you're having with the old are are due to the DRIVE, not the RAM inside.

One last thing:
You CANNOT walk into an Apple Store and walk out with an iMac that has an SSD in it.
You MUST special-order these through Apple's store.apple.com site.
You can have it shipped directly to you, or to a nearby Apple store.

A VERY FEW 3rd-party resellers (such as B&H photo in NYC) pre-order iMacs with SSDs installed. But be aware that some folks don't care for B&H's return policy on computers (if you open the box, you can't return it).

 

[billchase2]

"However, I am still running into a bunch of slowdowns"

I'm a man of relatively few words.

Easy answer:
The 1tb fusion drive is "the roadblock".
NOT the amount of RAM inside.

The MacBook Pro "works great" BECAUSE it has an SSD in it (not a fusion drive).

Solution:
Buy a new, faster iMac (of course, what else would I suggest?).

You'll probably want one of the 2019 models (I would, too).

So....
Get a 2019 27" imac with an SSD inside.

It DOES NOT have to be "1tb".
I would personally recommend the 512gb as "the current sweet spot" insofar as price v. performance goes.

You didn't tell us HOW LARGE your Photo library is. That's important info.
Again, I suggest 512gb for the SSD.
If you need more storage room, add an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD and keep your photo library on that.
It will still run GREAT that way.

Get 8gb of RAM from Apple.
DO NOT pay their prices for more than 8gb.
The 27" iMac has an "easy access" door in the back for RAM, and add more later as needed. But don't go overboard.

If all you're doing is "photography" I doubt you'll need more than 16gb for now.
TRY IT FOR ONE MONTH with 8gb first. You may be surprised at how well it runs.
Again, the speed problems you're having with the old are are due to the DRIVE, not the RAM inside.

One last thing:
You CANNOT walk into an Apple Store and walk out with an iMac that has an SSD in it.
You MUST special-order these through Apple's store.apple.com site.
You can have it shipped directly to you, or to a nearby Apple store.

A VERY FEW 3rd-party resellers (such as B&H photo in NYC) pre-order iMacs with SSDs installed. But be aware that some folks don't care for B&H's return policy on computers (if you open the box, you can't return it).

Thanks for all of the responses and feedback! From what I understand, the newer iMacs do not have that "easy access" door for the RAM. Does anyone know if that is the case? I could be incorrect, but I've seen a couple of newer iMacs that do not include it. (Although, maybe it's there for the 27" model but not the 21.5".)

You are definitely right about the SSD being faster. I'm sure that's why my MBP is so speedy. However, I have kept an eye on my RAM usage on my iMac and it's almost always over 8 GB so I don't feel that 8 GB would be enough. If the "easy access" door does not exist, I will likely want to upgrade to at least the 16 GB from the get go.

I'm at work right now and will have to check on how much storage I'm using for various things, so I'll respond to that later.

And I'll definitely order the iMac, as I want the educational discount, a trackpad (not mouse) and some other customizations.

UPDATE: Well, how about that! From what I can tell, the 2019 27" model DOES INDEED have the easy access door to upgrade the RAM. My guess is that it's the 21.5" model that does not. Fantastic! In this case, I can just get the default 8 GB and will toss the two 8 GB RAM sticks I already have into it.

 

[Fishrrman]

"From what I understand, the newer iMacs do not have that "easy access" door for the RAM."

You understand wrong.

The door IS STILL THERE on the 2019 27" iMacs.
It IS NOT there on the 21" iMacs or iMac Pros.

 

[D4walker]

Fantastic! In this case, I can just get the default 8 GB and will toss the two 8 GB RAM sticks I already have into it.

Hello! I’m sorry to tell you that you won’t be able to do that, because the RAM that you have for your currrent iMac is different than the one the new iMac needs, so either way you have to buy new RAM, but don’t buy it from Apple, try OWC or Crucial, those are less expensive than the Apple ones.

 

[billchase2]

Hello! I’m sorry to tell you that you won’t be able to do that, because the RAM that you have for your currrent iMac is different than the one the new iMac needs, so either way you have to buy new RAM, but don’t buy it from Apple, try OWC or Crucial, those are less expensive than the Apple ones.

Makes sense. I hadn't checked into the RAM I currently have yet, so that's unfortunate but I agree that it's much cheaper to just install it myself. I'll go that route.

I still need to check into my storage usage at home to see if a 512 GB SSD will do the trick. That seems awfully small, considering all of the files I have on my computer. Worst case, I suppose I could upgrade to the 1 TB SSD although it's pricey.

Any tips on which processor to go with?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Any tips on which processor to go with?"

I'd suggest something "mid-line".
Not the cheapest.
Not the fastest.

 

[rfle500]

Hello! I’m sorry to tell you that you won’t be able to do that, because the RAM that you have for your currrent iMac is different than the one the new iMac needs, so either way you have to buy new RAM, but don’t buy it from Apple, try OWC or Crucial, those are less expensive than the Apple ones.

I’m not sure that’s true - doesn’t the 2019 iMac use DDR4 SODIMMS like the 2017 model? The speed is a bit higher but I think the old modules from the OP should still work.

 

[CheapGuy]

OP, you still have a decent iMac, don't waste money on a new one. Any quad core Intel core i series from second gen onwards (Sandybridge, released in 2011) is still gonna have decent instructions per clock and performance. To get a substantial upgrade over your old iMac you're looking at $2k+. Put in at least 500 gb quality SSD like a Samsung, Kingston, Adata etc. in your old iMac (maybe even a 1tb or even 2tb if you can afford it) even if you have to pay someone to do it. Put the Fusion Drive in an external hard drive enclosure and hook it up via USB to your Mac. After all that do a clean install of MacOS for even better results. It'll be like you have a brand new computer.

 

[D4walker]

I’m not sure that’s true - doesn’t the 2019 iMac use DDR4 SODIMMS like the 2017 model? The speed is a bit higher but I think the old modules from the OP should still work.

From what I've read, it seems that it's important to keep the speeds equal so it doesn't fail. But I'm not sure about this. Either way, OP has a 2015 iMac not 2017, that's why I think the difference is bigger with the 2019.

 

[rfle500]

From what I've read, it seems that it's important to keep the speeds equal so it doesn't fail. But I'm not sure about this. Either way, OP has a 2015 iMac not 2017, that's why I think the difference is bigger with the 2019.

Oops my bad - I misread that and the memory in the 2015 is DDR3, so not compatible as you said! I need to read more carefully next time...

 

[Coconutcreampie]

OP, you still have a decent iMac, don't waste money on a new one. Any quad core Intel core i series from second gen onwards (Sandybridge, released in 2011) is still gonna have decent instructions per clock and performance. To get a substantial upgrade over your old iMac you're looking at $2k+. Put in at least 500 gb quality SSD like a Samsung, Kingston, Adata etc. in your old iMac (maybe even a 1tb or even 2tb if you can afford it) even if you have to pay someone to do it. Put the Fusion Drive in an external hard drive enclosure and hook it up via USB to your Mac. After all that do a clean install of MacOS for even better results. It'll be like you have a brand new computer.

A Fusion Drive can not be into an external enclosure since a Fusion Drive is actually two different types of drives, one a blade SSD and the other an HDD. You can easily put the HDD into an enclosure but not so easy to do the same with the blade SSD, though possible.

 

[billchase2]

Thank you for all of the replies! The advice and information has been super helpful. I'm glad I waited a little longer to order, as Apple now has a promotion for education purchases to receive a free pair of Beats Studio3 Wireless headphones. So, on top of the educational discount, I also get a free pair of $350 headphones. Not a bad deal!

I'm definitely going to go with the default 8 GB of RAM, since it's easy to upgrade if needed. I'll also go with the middle-of-the-road processor, as I'm sure it'll be enough for quite some time.

I checked and my Photos library is over 300 GB and I have the files stored both locally and in iCloud, which I want to keep doing as I don't like to keep important files strictly in the cloud. Since they're stored locally, they're also backed up to my local external hard drive as well as online via BackBlaze. Because my library is so large, I feel like the 1 TB SSD is the way to go. That'll give me plenty of space for the OS and other apps/files. It's $180 more expensive than the 500 GB SSD, but since I'm getting a $150 educational discount anyway (not to mention the headphones), it basically evens out.

I haven't placed the order yet, but will soon! Thanks, again!