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IMac:Please tell me why I should wait or not
- Thread starter Hammerdstone
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I’m sorry I didn’t mean crap . It just seems that every HP PC I buy craps out after a couple years and bugs up. I have never ever had an issue with my 09 MacBook Pro and to me the iOS is seamless idk call me crazy ♂️
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I would but it will not handle 4K video editing or any home videos at that . It’s basically a paper weight at this point .
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I would but it will not handle 4K video editing or any home videos at that . It’s basically a paper weight at this point .
...and the i5-7500 is 450% faster than the Core 2 Duo in the thread starter's 2009 MBP.. well, maybe - not sure if just dividing the geekbench 3 scores is valid, but the point is that while 7500-to-8400 may be a worthwhile improvement, C2D-to-7500 (plus 10 years of SSD and GPU improvements) is going to be a game changer that could greatly improve your productivity today.
Also note that your 45% figure is almost entirely due to the 50% increase in the number of cores - in reality you'll only see that in synthetic multicore benchmarks and a few practical applications that are highly optimised for multi-core.
NB: It'll be interesting to see if, when 8xxx or 9xxx iMacs do appear, Apple replace the chips like-for-like (e.g. 7500-to-8500) or take the opportunity to "downgrade" the processors - maybe to cut heat output or to enable a case re-design. i3 in the 21" iMacs perhaps (if its good enough for the Mini...)? I'd actually consider a hex-core 8th or 9th-gen i5 as a 'quieter' replacement for the current i7 iMac - in some ways, a more sensible choice for an all-in-one.
Doesn't matter, if you can wait a little while. If someone wants or needs to buy now then fine, but just because a current machine is a lot faster than an old machine, doesn't mean it's an excellent value by 2019 terms.
Do you really mean 450% faster or do you mean 450% as fast? I will assume the former as I'm not sure what Core 2 Duo you are comparing. Regardless, if the i5-8400 (not 8500) is 45% faster than the i5-7500, and the i5-7500 is 450% as fast as an old Core 2 Duo, that means the i5-8400 is 650% as fast as the Core 2 Duo.
I own a 2017 i5-7600 iMac, but I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one right now if you don't need to. If you can wait, not only will you get a faster machine with the new models, you may also get other features that you may not have predicted. And if you don't like the features, design, or price of the new machine, you can always buy the older machine on sale or refurb when the new model is released, and the only penalty would be having had waited a few months. It's already been a decade, so what's a few more months?
You'll often see it where it actually matters, like video encoding.
In other things like surfing and office applications, people are often fine with just a dual-core MacBook, as long as they have enough memory to go along with it.
BTW, I originally bought the i7-7700K iMac, but unfortunately, I found it ramped up the fan too fast. So I returned it and got the i5-7600. The i7-7700K is a 91 W TDP chip, whereas the i5-7600 is a 65 W TDP chip. The i5-8400 blows away the i5-7600 in performance, and competes well against the i7-7700K in multithreaded applications, yet the i5-8400 is a 65 W TDP chip.
That is not to say the power utilization of the i5-8400 and i5-7600 is the same, because they definitely are not. However, it doesn't run as hot as the i7-7700K. By all reports, the i7-7700K is the only chip in the 2017 iMac line that causes the iMac fan to ramp up superfast to vacuum cleaner mode. So, even the iMac's cooling remained unchanged, it's likely the i5-8400 would run quieter than the i7-7700K, but with similar performance where it matters. However, there is also a chance that the cooling system would be improved in 2019 to accommodate new chips like the i7-8700K, and historically Apple has often used the same cooling system across the board regardless if it's an i5 or i7.
I think it's extremely unlikely they'll start the 27" models with the i5-8500. The i5-8400 is a much more reasonable start point, hence my post above with the i5-8400. However, it's also plausible they could make something like the i5-8400 a mid-range machine, with an older quad-core as the entry level.
I own a 2017 i5-7600 iMac, but I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one right now if you don't need to. If you can wait, not only will you get a faster machine with the new models, you may also get other features that you may not have predicted. And if you don't like the features, design, or price of the new machine, you can always buy the older machine on sale or refurb when the new model is released, and the only penalty would be having had waited a few months. It's already been a decade, so what's a few more months?
I'm waiting with great anticipation, but also dread ... to see what Apple does with the 2019 iMac. While I'm sure it will have better Geekbench scores (debatable whether that always translates in better real world performance) I'm also fearing that Apple will include a handful of 'gotchas' with their new models/designs.
>Will is have the prison gates that the T-2 chip brings with it? (extremely likely).
>Will it have too snug a design to properly cool those high-geekbenching chips? (very likely).
>Will it remove useful legacy ports and connections that make it a useful product for 'the rest of us'? (somewhat likely).
>Will it remove any chance whatsoever for the owner to upgrade ram or storage? (extremely likely)
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You forgot the most important question
Will Tim Cook raise its price by 20% to screw us over?
I think there is a big possibility. Maybe they are prolonging the release of the new iMac because they want to discontinue the iMac pro (with the upcoming mac pro taking its place). So they could possibly transfer the cooling from the pro to the regular iMac.
Well, that's kinda the point of this thread - the thread starter is trying to do video editing on a 2009 MBP with a dodgy keyboard so I think they fall into the "need to buy now" category. I certainly didn't make the "excellent value" comment - "excellent value" and "Apple" don't belong in the same sentence. The fact that they can't keep all of their Macs up to speed with the latest developments is part of the problem (really, there was no excuse for not cpu-bumping the iMacs with the same 8th gen processors as the mini back in October - other than to make the Mini look better than it is).
I probably meant '350% faster' or '450% as fast' but frankly that's inappropriate precision here : The Geekbench 3 multicore scores (from Everymac.com) of the 2017 i5 iMacs are 4 to 5 times that of the 2009 C2D machines. The i5 Mac Mini's scores are about 1.5x that of the 2017 iMac. The latter is a useful increase, the former is a game changer.
...but I think you're still seeing it from the perspective of someone who already has a very decent 18-month-old Mac wondering when to upgrade, rather than someone struggling with a 10-year-old Mac (while my old 2011 i7 MBP would still be a useful machine if the dGPU hadn't blown, my last work-provided computer was a 2010 C2D MBP and it was not a machine for the ages). Its a case of 'game-changing speed increase, plus vastly improved screen, now vs. '50% more game-changing-er speed increase + probable price increase and reduced upgradeability at some unspecified date hopefully in the next 12 months'
Well, if its any later than March it would be disappointing if they didn't start using 9th gen processors, otherwise they're going to be looking dated after a six months - one possible reason for the delay is that they could be waiting for the full range of 9th gen to be available (ISTR only the ones suitable for the top-end/27" iMacs appeared last October).
I feel your pain BIG time, i've been waiting a while for Apple to update the iMac, i love my late 2012 iMac in my home office, however it's old and the screen isn't even a Retina Display, it's definitely time i upgrade BUT i'm waiting on Apple to announce and release the new iMac's.
ive been wanting a new desktop for years but i'm always disappointed in the offerings. I was one of the guys a few years ago that needed a video editing laptop that didnt like the high price of the macbook pro and moved to the XPS15 and it's been an incredible performer for me. The build quality, 4k touch screen, etc. has been fantastic. I'm a big believer in Apple products but I'm not now adverse to a top shelf Windows device as the latest windows has been good to me.
That said, my current Imac is from 2010.. The fact that it has lasted me this long when for the previous ten years i went through three windows desktop towers (Dell, HP and Velocity Micro) has me wanting to stick with Imac27. I also have found for my business i benefit from having different platforms. Apple desktop, Windows laptop and Android Cell phone..
Having said all this, i reached out to Dell this morning to find out when we are finally going to see a refresh of the Dell XPS27 and the online chat guy said that production of the current model has been ceased and that a new version is coming very soon. Based on my experience with my XPS laptop i will not hesitate to go with the Dell if it has all the latest greatest tech and a pop-up webcam like the non XPS AIO came out with last fall.
So, best scenario for me is that both a new IMac and Dell XPS come out at about the same time so i can pro and con them and of course see that price difference which i know is likely to be considerable.
That said, my current Imac is from 2010.. The fact that it has lasted me this long when for the previous ten years i went through three windows desktop towers (Dell, HP and Velocity Micro) has me wanting to stick with Imac27. I also have found for my business i benefit from having different platforms. Apple desktop, Windows laptop and Android Cell phone..
Having said all this, i reached out to Dell this morning to find out when we are finally going to see a refresh of the Dell XPS27 and the online chat guy said that production of the current model has been ceased and that a new version is coming very soon. Based on my experience with my XPS laptop i will not hesitate to go with the Dell if it has all the latest greatest tech and a pop-up webcam like the non XPS AIO came out with last fall.
So, best scenario for me is that both a new IMac and Dell XPS come out at about the same time so i can pro and con them and of course see that price difference which i know is likely to be considerable.
I waited until November last year for a rumored update, but I needed a new Mac to update my OLD Macbook Pro so went with the a 27/i5/1TB SSD. It's been perfect. The screen is amazing, it's fast enough for my use (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc). So I'm not worried about missing a change. Plus, a major redesign usually brings along a few quirks of its own.