iMac for web/ios developer? 2015 price tag drop?

[freddybballin]

Hey guys,

I hope you guys can handle yet another "should I buy now"-post. I have read the first couple of pages and I still cant decide on what to do. I will try keep this short.

I have a great 2014 MBP, that I would like to retire to just be my surf / on the road machine. And then buy a stationary machine for the home - enter the iMac. It needs to do web app and iOS app development for me for the next 3 years. Also Photoshop and some light video editing.

Should I buy the 2015 model now? (fully specced out - except only 256 GB flash storage since I have a media setup)

Should I wait for the price to drop? Do the price even drop when the 2017 comes out? I do not care for the 2017 specs unless one of you guys can convince me to why the 2017 is a must-have for a developer like me.

TL;DR: Should I just by the 2015 model now or wait for a price drop? (if there is any)

 

[macmee]

They are about to come out with 2017 models in a few months so I would wait if you can for that. Prices on 2015s may drop at that point, and I would bet money that 2017 models will cost *more* than 2015s did at launch.

Personally I wont ever buy an iMac again due to my dissatisfaction with image retention in the screens, and having been an iMac user for 7 years I also cannot recommend them to anyone due to this issue. However, if you're set on buying one my best advice is to wait. I have a maxed out imac and it is excellent for xcode and ios development (if you use the light theme in xcode to avoid retention).

wild speculation: the 2017 iMac might be the last x86 desktop Apple produces, or the first ARM based Mac they produce, if the rumors are actually true that Apple's considering switching architectures.

 

[kschendel]

I can't think of anything in the putative 2017 model that would make a real difference given what you're doing. The current model's GPU is more than capable of photoshop and light video editing. I doubt that anything will change with respect to the display, and it's not like there is all that much choice among 5K panel suppliers anyway. The Kaby Lake CPU is a very small incremental speed improvement over Skylake and even Broadwell/Haswell, it's a little better thermally but otherwise it's a big yawner.

I wouldn't count on much of a price drop.

I guess my advice would be that if you're the type to beat yourself up for not having the latest tweak or fiddle, wait. If you're not given to buyer's remorse, I can't think of any really good arguments for waiting, given your stated usage.

 

[macmee]

I can't think of anything in the putative 2017 model that would make a real difference given what you're doing. The current model's GPU is more than capable of photoshop and light video editing. I doubt that anything will change with respect to the display, and it's not like there is all that much choice among 5K panel suppliers anyway. The Kaby Lake CPU is a very small incremental speed improvement over Skylake and even Broadwell/Haswell, it's a little better thermally but otherwise it's a big yawner.

I wouldn't count on much of a price drop.

I guess my advice would be that if you're the type to beat yourself up for not having the latest tweak or fiddle, wait. If you're not given to buyer's remorse, I can't think of any really good arguments for waiting, given your stated usage.

2017's will no doubt run cooler due to a newer generation of intel, and also support tb3 which is a big deal imo.

 

[freddybballin]

They are about to come out with 2017 models in a few months so I would wait if you can for that. Prices on 2015s may drop at that point, and I would bet money that 2017 models will cost *more* than 2015s did at launch.

Personally I wont ever buy an iMac again due to my dissatisfaction with image retention in the screens, and having been an iMac user for 7 years I also cannot recommend them to anyone due to this issue. However, if you're set on buying one my best advice is to wait. I have a maxed out imac and it is excellent for xcode and ios development (if you use the light theme in xcode to avoid retention).

wild speculation: the 2017 iMac might be the last x86 desktop Apple produces, or the first ARM based Mac they produce, if the rumors are actually true that Apple's considering switching architectures.

What is wrong with the image retention?

 

[kschendel]

Thunderbolt 3 is only a big deal if you're going to use it. If you expect to need add-on storage, sure. Otherwise, it's useless. I'd make a similar argument for USB-C, which is likely to be on a new iMac; it's nice but hardly a game changer for a desktop.

Running cooler is a very fine thing, but whether it would be enough to sway a decision is questionable IMHO.

The image retention thing has been argued about in various iMac threads. I don't have a retina 5K iMac so I won't comment, except to say that there are an awful lot of satisfied users out there, so either it doesn't affect everyone, or it's only noticeable with some very specific usage patterns (like solid color neutral backgrounds).

 

[maflynn]

Do the price even drop when the 2017 comes out?

I believe Apple discounts the older generation about 12 to 14 percent.

I do not care for the 2017 specs unless one of you guys can convince me to why the 2017

People are expecting a new design for the imac - not sure if that will happen but folks are hoping. Kaby lake is a minor update, but the GPU is something that people are hoping to see some improvements. Short of that, you'll get USB-C ports (at the expense of the legacy ports).

Should I buy the 2015 model now?

Its up to you, but based on what I wrote, if there's nothing compelling for you to hold off, buy now and enjoy it.

 

[theluggage]

TL;DR: Should I just by the 2015 model now or wait for a price drop? (if there is any)

Nobody outside Apple knows what Apple's plans are for the iMac. If the changes to the new model parallel the changes made to the MacBook Pro then not everybody is going to like them.

Changes like removing the upgradeable RAM, soldered-in SSDs (and maybe no space for old-school hard drives) are certainly feasible, and while - unlike a laptop - there's plenty of space to keep the USB-A/Ethernet/SD card ports and add USB-C/TB3 - I wouldn't bet on that.

Also, bear in mind that some recent launches - notably the new MacBook Pros - have seen price increases on new models, and although some of the old models have been kept on the list, the range of options has been cut down and I'm not sure that there was any price drop (hard to say with all the exchange rate adjustments).

The PC market is shrinking, and prices depend a lot on volume - so the days of every new release being cheaper and better specced have, I'm afraid, gone.

Your gamble, I'm afraid. I think the usual rule still applies: buy stuff when you need it, and don't try to second guess the market!

However, the 2015 iMac is more than capable of doing what you want. If you want to save a bit, why not get a refurb? That might take away some of the sting if you call it wrong and later decide to upgrade a year or so earlier.

 

[macmee]

What is wrong with the image retention?

the theory I read on here that makes the most sense to me, is that if you run the iMac hot (aka compile lots of crap in xcode all the time which I do on a regular basis) then you're overheating the device and this damages the screen over time (again this is speculation):

http://imgur.com/a/MOxzw

^ here's some photos of what the retention looks like that I took.

Apple replaced my screen and the replacement developed the same issue. They replaced it again and I'm now on the third screen and it too has begun to develop the same issue.

So if you're especially planning on using your new iMac for xcode, plan on running it hard etc then I would suggest buying something else. People who've not experienced this retention problem will disagree with me below, however you're going to push your temps up into the 80C and 90C range with xcode and it's been my experience that this will damage your display over time to the point where it will have to be replaced if you are fortunate enough to be on applecare.

It's not as if every user is going around complaining about this issue but if you search the forum for it then you will discover that it's a reasonably common complaint about the iMac.

 

[Zwopple]

the theory I read on here that makes the most sense to me, is that if you run the iMac hot (aka compile lots of crap in xcode all the time which I do on a regular basis) then you're overheating the device and this damages the screen over time (again this is speculation):

http://imgur.com/a/MOxzw

^ here's some photos of what the retention looks like that I took.

Apple replaced my screen and the replacement developed the same issue. They replaced it again and I'm now on the third screen and it too has begun to develop the same issue.

So if you're especially planning on using your new iMac for xcode, plan on running it hard etc then I would suggest buying something else. People who've not experienced this retention problem will disagree with me below, however you're going to push your temps up into the 80C and 90C range with xcode and it's been my experience that this will damage your display over time to the point where it will have to be replaced if you are fortunate enough to be on applecare.

It's not as if every user is going around complaining about this issue but if you search the forum for it then you will discover that it's a reasonably common complaint about the iMac.

I've heard the thermals on the 2015 model are not quite as bad as the 2014 model and from a bit of googling it seems the image retention issues are more prevalent on the 2014 models than the 2015's?

 

[macmee]

I've heard the thermals on the 2015 model are not quite as bad as the 2014 model and from a bit of googling it seems the image retention issues are more prevalent on the 2014 models than the 2015's?

The thermals on the 2015 are better, to be sure. The fans are configured to be more aggressive, and the CPU never throttles.

I have no idea if retention is as big of a problem on the 2015s though as I don't own a 2015. I am aware though of reports from this forum saying the 2015s suffer from retention as well.