iMac Buying Thoughts Advice or Recs

[DurianMaybe]

Hello People,

New here and have been quite conflicted in the last few days about which imac to get. Currently looking at the following two:

The 21.5 Inch iMac with the following specs:
21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K display
Hide product detailsof 21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K display
Hardware

• 3.0GHz 6-core eighth-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• 16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory
• Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB of HBM2 memory
• 512GB of SSD storage
• Magic Mouse 2 + Magic Trackpad 2
• Magic Keyboard — US English

The 27 Inch iMac with the following specs:
3.7GHz 6-core processor Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz
2TB storage
Retina 5K display

• 3.7GHz 6-core ninth-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz
• 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory, configurable up to 64GB
• Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
• 2TB Fusion Drive¹
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• 5120-by-2880 P3 Retina 5K display

They will cost around the same pretty much (with the 21.5 inch around 100 more expensive iirc) for the purpose of my business. So the thing is that I'm in Australia and want to write it off for tax time and just had the cash flow to do so since they upped how much we can write it off, but it needs to be delivered before the end of this month. Unfortunately the 27 inch is unavailable at the moment and will deliver during the end of the month and if I wanted to upgrade to SSD (it would've been the ideal option for 512 SSD on a 27 inch), it won't deliver in time for tax time purposes.

So with that what do you guys reckon with the two specs above? Is it worth it to go up to 27inch but be stuck with the 2TB fusion drive?

 

[chscag]

I don't know anything about the Australian tax laws, but it would seem to me that if you paid for the 27" model before the tax time cut off, that it could still be deductible?

 

[krazzix]

Get neither. There's a good chance a new iMac will be announced at WWDC in 2 weeks.

 

[JustMartin]

It really depends on what you use it for. I've got a 21.5 like your option (1tb storage) with an additional monitor for music production and writing, it's a good flexible combination. A lot of people here will start screaming about fusion, but it's a good option if you need that much storage in one place. Option would be to decide what screen suits your workflow best and get that one, then in the next tax year you could expand if necessary (additional SSD or screen).

 

[DurianMaybe]

It really depends on what you use it for. I've got a 21.5 like your option (1tb storage) with an additional monitor for music production and writing, it's a good flexible combination. A lot of people here will start screaming about fusion, but it's a good option if you need that much storage in one place. Option would be to decide what screen suits your workflow best and get that one, then in the next tax year you could expand if necessary (additional SSD or screen).

Music and audio composition will be done quite regularly but that's just a hobby. Mainly it's for multitasking for work that I want no hiccups with - which entails adobe suite, office suite, multiple docos and because working from home at the moment as well the good ol' zoom. I do play games every now and then so would prefer to have a good graphics card when necessary.

Get neither. There's a good chance a new iMac will be announced at WWDC in 2 weeks.

Thought about this, but would it be up for purchase right away though or would orders start next month etc. if so not worth the risk

I don't know anything about the Australian tax laws, but it would seem to me that if you paid for the 27" model before the tax time cut off, that it could still be deductible?

Unfortunately it needs to arrive before the end of the tax year haha

 

[Fishrrman]

One of least-most-often-heard remarks from iMac owners:
"Gee, I wish I'd bought the 21" instead of the 27"...."