iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) Order Thread

[wilberforce]

I need some advice. I have a 2017 Fusion 27" iMac. I am wanting to upgrade but I don't want to give up the screen size, and I also don't want anything bigger than a 27" if thats what they announce in the future. I am considering getting a 2020 iMac to get more future proofing than what I currently have. How much faster will it be than my current iMac?

Depends what you do. I went from a 2014 i7 1TB SSD iMac to a 2020 i7 2TB SSD iMac, and don't feel it is much faster for day-to-day work loads (which is 95% of the time). It is probably 50% faster for CPU intensive workloads.
But note that both these machines had internal SSDs. I suspect the Fusion drive is likely the biggest speed bottleneck in your machine. But this can be (partially) addressed by getting an external SSD. A lot cheaper than a whole new computer.
Best way to find out is to take advantage of the 14-day return period.
I really like my 2020 iMac that I bought a year ago, but I would hesitate to do so today, with its replacement rumored to be soon. I also expect there will be lots of used/refurb 2020 iMacs available.

 

[awsom82]

I need some advice. I have a 2017 Fusion 27" iMac. I am wanting to upgrade but I don't want to give up the screen size, and I also don't want anything bigger than a 27" if thats what they announce in the future. I am considering getting a 2020 iMac to get more future proofing than what I currently have. How much faster will it be than my current iMac?

Just remove Fusion drive HDD and upgrade to SSD. I don’t think it’s worth to update entire system. IMHO.

 

[pshufd]

I currently have an I5

I would compare the Geekbench 5 scores for your CPU and the 2020. These are all 14 nm and Intel has been limited on improvements staying at this process for so long. I have an i7-10700 on my Windows desktop and this is close to the i7 on the 2020 iMac and the specs are not that far off from the M1.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I’d honestly look more at GPU differences as other than core counts, there’s little difference between the CPUs. The 5700XT 16GB GPU is unmatched in anything from Apple that is not a Mac Pro though.

 

[hoodafoo]

The 64GB RAM kit I bought from Crucial last fall now costs $10 more (from $309 to $319). That’s nowhere near double.

I bought 64GB of Crucial DDR4 on Amazon for $164 in last October

 

[awsom82]

Just received my iMac 2020 and... I have no words... my mind just blowed by screen its much bigger that 21.5 inch and 5K after 1080p... wow... after working on 12 inch machine for last 10 months my mind can't accept this big thing... my expectations was over exceeded... I don't think its so huge... muhaha.

firm smell filled all library... im totally excited...

 

[wilberforce]

Just received my iMac 2020 and... I have no words... my mind just blowed by screen its much bigger that 21.5 inch and 5K after 1080p... wow... after working on 12 inch machine for last 10 months my mind can't accept this big thing... my expectations was over exceeded... I don't think its so huge... muhaha.

Is that the $6500 machine you ordered?
Good to hear it exceeded your expectations!

 

[awsom82]

Is that the $6500 machine you ordered?

Yeah, it is...
Thanks!

 

[hoodafoo]

Yeah, it is...
Thanks!

did your 2020 iMac come preinstalled with Big Sur? Mine had 10.15.7

 

[awsom82]

did your 2020 iMac come preinstalled with Big Sur? Mine had 10.15.7

Yes, Big Sur v11.3.1

 

[MR_Boogy]

Just got my 27" set up. I went for the bottom spec because it was still faster than the upgraded i7 in the Mac Mini... That's what I'm replacing, an old MM.
I've upgraded the RAM to 32GB myself and got a 1TB Samsung T7 external SSD.

After a few teething issues I'm pretty pleased. I got an Apple refurb and to have a 5k 27" display is rather lovely. The extra memory was critical to my work but now it's fast and slick.

A good time to thank all those for their help

 

[awsom82]

Does our iMac have IR port?
I just found Apple Remote from older iMac, and I really want use it. Its great to watch videos or photos...

 

[pshufd]

Does our iMac have IR port?
I just found Apple Remote from older iMac, and I really want use it. Its great to watch videos or photos...

It is nice.

My 2008 MacBook Pro had this feature as well and it included the remote so I have two of them.

I'm pretty sure that new models don't as I think that you can use iPhone Apps for remote control.

 

[CWallace]

Does our iMac have IR port?

The IR port went away with the 2012 design refresh, as I recall.

 

[CWallace]

So permanent WFH has been confirmed, so just snagged a 2020 27" with 8GB/1TB/5700 from the refurb store for $2379. Add another $180 for 32GB of aftermarket RAM and I am all set.

Do wish the Apple Card installment plan worked on refurbs, but looks like new only so did it on PayPal to get 6 months SAC (I could have paid for it in one go, but I like to even out my cash flow).

I need "native" Windows support and Boot Camp on my 2017 5K has been really solid. And I like being able to access my ADFS partitions in Boot Camp (via Paragon Software) so I just think staying on an Intel iMac 5K is the best solution for me. And I am so spoiled by Retina now the thought of going to non-Retina under macOS just makes me break out in hives.

I will be buying a 14" or 16" "M1X" MacBook Pro to replace my 2017 15.4" MacBook Pro so I will be able to take advantage of Apple Silicon.

 

[hoodafoo]

So permanent WFH has been confirmed, so just snagged a 2020 27" with 8GB/1TB/5700 from the refurb store for $2379. Add another $180 for 32GB of aftermarket RAM and I am all set.

Do wish the Apple Card installment plan worked on refurbs, but looks like new only so did it on PayPal to get 6 months SAC (I could have paid for it in one go, but I like to even out my cash flow).

I need "native" Windows support and Boot Camp on my 2017 5K has been really solid. And I like being able to access my ADFS partitions in Boot Camp (via Paragon Software) so I just think staying on an Intel iMac 5K is the best solution for me. And I am so spoiled by Retina now the thought of going to non-Retina under macOS just makes me break out in hives.

I will be buying a 14" or 16" "M1X" MacBook Pro to replace my 2017 15.4" MacBook Pro so I will be able to take advantage of Apple Silicon.

What processor did you get?

 

[anthony13]

So permanent WFH has been confirmed, so just snagged a 2020 27" with 8GB/1TB/5700 from the refurb store for $2379. Add another $180 for 32GB of aftermarket RAM and I am all set.

Do wish the Apple Card installment plan worked on refurbs, but looks like new only so did it on PayPal to get 6 months SAC (I could have paid for it in one go, but I like to even out my cash flow).

I need "native" Windows support and Boot Camp on my 2017 5K has been really solid. And I like being able to access my ADFS partitions in Boot Camp (via Paragon Software) so I just think staying on an Intel iMac 5K is the best solution for me. And I am so spoiled by Retina now the thought of going to non-Retina under macOS just makes me break out in hives.

I will be buying a 14" or 16" "M1X" MacBook Pro to replace my 2017 15.4" MacBook Pro so I will be able to take advantage of Apple Silicon.

That’s a steal! Great price.

 

[CWallace]

What processor did you get?

The i7-10700K. My 2017 had an i7 as well and now with 8 cores and 16 threads I figured it was more than fast enough and therefore did not feel I needed the i9-10910.

 

[pshufd]

The i7-10700K. My 2017 had an i7 as well and now with 8 cores and 16 threads I figured it was more than fast enough and therefore did not feel I needed the i9-10910.

I have a 10700 on my desktop and it's a great processor. I didn't get the K as running cool and quiet was a design goal. I understand that it is possible to get the fans really going on the i9.

 

[CWallace]

I have a 10700 on my desktop and it's a great processor. I didn't get the K as running cool and quiet was a design goal. I understand that it is possible to get the fans really going on the i9.

I honestly do not know why Apple uses the K model since they don't overclock, but whatever.

I was disappointed that the i7 has the same TDP as the i9, but new machine with new, clean fans means my 2020 runs much cooler than my 2017 so fan noise is not (yet) an issue.

 

[pshufd]

I honestly do not know why Apple uses the K model since they don't overclock, but whatever.

I was disappointed that the i7 has the same TDP as the i9, but new machine with new, clean fans means my 2020 runs much cooler than my 2017 so fan noise is not (yet) an issue.

The K models give you a small improvement in performance for a lot of power consumption. It allows you to post higher benchmark scores. Power consumption goes up exponentially with frequency but some people want that higher performance boost. Intel's new Alder Lake chips look like they will beat everything else out there but they peak at 250 Watts to get their winning benchmark numbers. I've read that AMD is going in the same direction to try to recapture the performance crown. Intel and AMD are sacrificing efficiency for all-out performance.

 

[chrisdazzo]

Even with a 2019 27" iMac at home, I keep thinking about this iMac as a more permanent upgrade, but the new iMacs/Minis could be really impressive https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...a-5K-display-10GB-Ethernet-Nano-texture-glass

 

[262Runnr]

I have been keeping my eye on the iMac to see what is coming next....
I currently have a 27" 2015 iMac i5 Quad core @3.3...I upgraded the RAM to 32GB and opened it up and installed a 2TB Seagate Barracude SSD...it's still fast enough for anything that I currently use it for and IMO opinion there's still nothing as good looking as the 5K display on it...I still find no need to upgrade right now....

 

[hoodafoo]

For the record, I got my 2020 iMac i7/1TB/5700/10g a year a go and have zero regrets!

 

[TriApple]

I got mine in Jan for WFH as well as pretty serious gaming.

Honestly it’s an amazing machine (i7, 5700xt, 64gb).

I have a need for a few x86 windows programs so I don’t see myself moving to an M chip for my main device within a year or two (if ever).