Is M3 iMac a good upgrade from 5K iMac 2019?

[Sensamic]

I can sell my current base 5K iMac from 2019 for a good amount of money and change to the M3 iMac (probably base model or maybe with upgraded 16GB RAM). My workflow is mainly having many web tabs open, Word and some light video editing for social networks (whether it’s in FHD or 4K resolution with CapCut or DaVinci Resolve).

My current iMac still works well, but I’m kind of tired of the Fusion Drive and want to go to a full SSD-system for more speed. Yeah, I know I could put an SSD inside or use an external one, but would this be as fast over USB 3.0? If I have to spend the money on this, why not sell my iMac now that I still can and buy something new?

My main doubt is: is the M3 a better chip and internal SSD better for my workflow? Specially for video editing. I want to be as fast and productive as possible.

Mac Studio + display is quite expensive. Mac Mini could be an option, but I just don’t find any monitor that I like and Studio Display is, again, extremely expensive (more than the M3 iMac in my country).

Would I notice a big difference in performance if I change to the M3 iMac? The screen is smaller, yeah, but I could get used to it if performance is improve.

Thanks!

 

[Tdude96]

Yes, in terms of internals. The M3 should be a vast improvement over basically any Intel configuration. Obviously you would lose the big, beautiful 27" screen. I would suggest getting at minimum the same amount of RAM as you have in your current iMac, but you might consider some additional for future proofing if you believe your needs might increase later.

In terms of comparison, I have a base model 27" iMac (2017) which I upgraded with 64GB of aftermarket RAM and outfitted with an external NVME drive getting ~2,800 MB/s via TB3, and those improvements made it behave like a whole new machine. Leaps and bounds better than its original configuration.

However, I purchased the M2 Air 8/10/24/1TB last year and it runs everything tons better than my upgraded iMac except for the most memory-intensive things.

So yes, I believe the M3 iMac would probably be a significant and very noticeable upgrade for you - outside of the screen.

 

[bobcomer]

I can sell my current base 5K iMac from 2019 for a good amount of money and change to the M3 iMac (probably base model or maybe with upgraded 16GB RAM). My workflow is mainly having many web tabs open, Word and some light video editing for social networks (whether it’s in FHD or 4K resolution with CapCut or DaVinci Resolve).

My current iMac still works well, but I’m kind of tired of the Fusion Drive and want to go to a full SSD-system for more speed. Yeah, I know I could put an SSD inside or use an external one, but would this be as fast over USB 3.0? If I have to spend the money on this, why not sell my iMac now that I still can and buy something new?

My main doubt is: is the M3 a better chip and internal SSD better for my workflow? Specially for video editing. I want to be as fast and productive as possible.

Mac Studio + display is quite expensive. Mac Mini could be an option, but I just don’t find any monitor that I like and Studio Display is, again, extremely expensive (more than the M3 iMac in my country).

Would I notice a big difference in performance if I change to the M3 iMac? The screen is smaller, yeah, but I could get used to it if performance is improve.

Thanks!

The M3 iMac would work great for your usage! If you can swing 16G of RAM it would be better. I have a 2020 intel iMac, and the only reason I keep it is that it can run Windows too, and can take 128G of RAM. I'd buy an M3 iMac in a heartbeat if it could take more RAM than 24G. The Mac Studio Display is way more expensive than it is good. It's a little brighter version of your 5K iMac.

 

[picpicmac]

You will always lose $$$ by selling a used machine and buying new.

The 2019 5K iMac comes with a couple of Thunderbolt 3 ports. An external TB3 enclosure and fast SSD stick for an external StartUp Disk should get you over 2000MB/s throughput, fast enough to be really faster than the old Fusion drive HD.

Then save your money and wait to see where Apple takes their desktops over the next couple of years.

The 2019 5K iMac can also go up to 128GB of memory, more than any Apple Silicon iMac is likely to ever match.

 

[Juicy Box]

I personally would find it difficult to go to the smaller display.

If the drive speed is the only thing that is bothering you, there are plenty of options for the 2019 iMac.

You already mentioned this, but I would consider using an external SSD. External SSD can be pretty fast, especially the TB3 NVMe SSDs. The TB3 NVMe drives can be pricy though.

Internally, you could replace the SSD with a larger size, which would be really fast, but requires more disassembly as it requires removal of the logic board.

You could also replace the HDD with a SATA SSD. This would be easier and SATA SSDs are super cheap right now. The Internal SSD would not be as fast though, but still decent speeds.

If removing the logic board doesn't sound that fun to you, but you still want super fast speeds, you could replace the HDD with a SATA SSD, or run a cheaper SSD externally, and create a Fusion Drive using the super fast internal SSD, and the slower SATA SSD or cheaper external SSD. This adds complexity to the set up, and there are some work arounds to be done to get it working, but this would be the best of both worlds, an easier way to get a really fast drive without having to spend a lot of money.


My recommendation, try using a cheaper USB3 external SSD, this is not going to be as fast as it can be, but it might give you a better experience without spending a lot.

 

[padams35]

You want USB-C (10Gbps), not 3.0 (5Gbps) for an external SSD. If you have the 1TB fusion drive you will see a significant performance jump. Not sure about 2-3TB fusion drive comparisons.

USB-C should be plenty fast enough for 'light' video editing, but for performance at any cost a Thunderbolt 3 SSD is as fast as an M3 internal SSD. However if performance at any cost is your goal you should probably look at an M2-Pro mini instead, or possibly even wait for the M3-Max studio. The 6-core 2019 5K is still a pretty fast machine today.

 

[Fishrrman]

Buy an m2pro Mini, properly equipped, or wait for the m3pro Minis (which should be out first half of next year). Get a good 27" 4k display to go with it.

alternate action:
Juicy has a good idea about adding an external SSD in reply 5 above.
I would suggest USB3.1 gen2, which is a good compromise between USB3 and tbolt.
A USB3.1 gen2 drive should give you read speeds up around 920MBps.
The Samsung t7 "shield" is the one to be looking at:

Amazon.com: Samsung T7 Shield 1tb

Amazon.com: samsung t7 shield 1tb

www.amazon.com

(you need to connect this to one of the USBc ports -- NOT USBa -- to get the faster speeds. Also, you need a "high-speed, charging" USBc cable)

 

[Jackbequickly]

I could not be more happy with my M3 iMac. Much depends on what you want to do but my iMac does my email, texts, banking and works great with Photoshop! It is compact, screen looks great, love the keyboard but replaced the Apple mouse with a Logitech.

 

[Andrey84]

I can sell my current base 5K iMac from 2019 for a good amount of money and change to the M3 iMac (probably base model or maybe with upgraded 16GB RAM). My workflow is mainly having many web tabs open, Word and some light video editing for social networks (whether it’s in FHD or 4K resolution with CapCut or DaVinci Resolve).

My current iMac still works well, but I’m kind of tired of the Fusion Drive and want to go to a full SSD-system for more speed. Yeah, I know I could put an SSD inside or use an external one, but would this be as fast over USB 3.0? If I have to spend the money on this, why not sell my iMac now that I still can and buy something new?

My main doubt is: is the M3 a better chip and internal SSD better for my workflow? Specially for video editing. I want to be as fast and productive as possible.

Mac Studio + display is quite expensive. Mac Mini could be an option, but I just don’t find any monitor that I like and Studio Display is, again, extremely expensive (more than the M3 iMac in my country).

Would I notice a big difference in performance if I change to the M3 iMac? The screen is smaller, yeah, but I could get used to it if performance is improve.

Thanks!

Yes, a new M3 iMac will be much faster, provided you get maximum possible RAM (24GB).

However, will the speed increase be worth downgrading the screen from 27" to 24" (assuming you're not using the 21.5")? Can you calculate how much time you will save by seeing more on the screen and not having to move windows around?

What is your budget? You could move to Mac mini + used Apple Studio Display, but it will cost more of course.

Another option is to upgrade to full SSD using a local IT firm. This one I would personally prefer, if cost efficiency and the 27" screen is important to you. The labour is roughly £300 and the disk is roughly £150 (or the same in USD), so you will spend £450.

For the new iMac option, you'll sell yours for around £1,000, for the new one you need a good spec, so it will be £2,000, so you will spend around £1,000 net. The difference is £500 and also you're losing 3" off the monitor size.