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daveydog1971

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2016
31
16
if anyone has a sec.... I like to run screen wonders (live wallpaper) on my 2020 iMac but it brings it to a screeching halt when I do... we need a new computer now anyways so I want to try to get something that can handle it (it's the small things in life), was thinking a Mac mini pro or studio, and an apple display etc.. anyone know how much of what I need- that can handle it? was looking at a refurb M1 Max studio (10/24 64gb, 1tb ssd) for 2k... or an Mac mini m2pro (12/19 32gb, 1tbssd) for 1950... can I go cheaper than that, does it need more (?!).. I only use it for a ton of web based software use, a whole lot of spreadsheets, emails and messages... thanks in advance.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,449
9,321
A 2020 iMac should be plenty powerful. I suspect the software you're using is the problem and a newer computer will behave the same.
 
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daveydog1971

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2016
31
16
A 2020 iMac should be plenty powerful. I suspect the software you're using is the problem and a newer computer will behave the same.
yeah that's what I have now.. 2020 iMac i5 3.0.. 512 ssd... that's what I'm afraid of..
 

MacGizmo

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2003
3,214
2,514
Arizona
Any new Mac is going to be so much more powerful than the i5 iMac you have now, by an order of magnitude or more... but I also suspect what @chabig said, it's probably the app that is the problem.
 

daveydog1971

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2016
31
16
Any new Mac is going to be so much more powerful than the i5 iMac you have now, by an order of magnitude or more... but I also suspect what @chabig said, it's probably the app that is the problem.
thank you, I appreciate your input... yeah thats the feeling I'm getting.. well, I guess I'll find out when I upgrade.. and I won't go too crazy on whatever configuration I get.. thanks again
 

MacGizmo

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2003
3,214
2,514
Arizona
thank you, I appreciate your input... yeah thats the feeling I'm getting.. well, I guess I'll find out when I upgrade.. and I won't go too crazy on whatever configuration I get.. thanks again
For what it's worth, I don't have the full app like you have, but I did try their Fireplace 3D Lite and Earth 3D Lite freebie apps and both ran perfectly fine on my Mac Studio with Sonoma (though I have 64GB RAM, so there's not much that doesn't run fine on this thing).

As a side note, having a live wallpaper (not just a screensaver) is pretty cool, but is soooooo distracting to me that I turn it off after a few minutes. If I could find one that had very, very subtle movement I might actually be able to use it all the time. This is why I pretty much just have a folder full of subtle gradients set to shuffle every minute as my wallpaper.
 
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