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New 27 inch iMac
- Thread starter Tetsy
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Unless you really need a new computer now, or you really need an Intel based Mac because of software applications that will only run on an Intel mac (bootcamp Windows for example), then this is the absolutely worst time to buy an iMac. Wait until the new Apple Silicon versions come out later this year.
Hi Tetsy.
The iMacs are brilliant machines - I'm writing this on a late 2013 model. But Apple is very likely to update the iMac range with new models (hopefully with new designs and some kind of M1 chip) this year. Take a look at the buyer's guide.
It's hard to say what extras you should get (I'm guessing you mean RAM and storage?), because everyone's needs are different. For example, someone working with intensive video edits would have different requirements from someone who just edited Word documents and sent emails.
The iMacs are brilliant machines - I'm writing this on a late 2013 model. But Apple is very likely to update the iMac range with new models (hopefully with new designs and some kind of M1 chip) this year. Take a look at the buyer's guide.
It's hard to say what extras you should get (I'm guessing you mean RAM and storage?), because everyone's needs are different. For example, someone working with intensive video edits would have different requirements from someone who just edited Word documents and sent emails.
In anticipation for an expected Apple Silicon iMac later this year and a possible purchase, I've just sold my 27" mid 2010 iMac (with 1TB SSD and 12GB memory which I upgraded) for a very healthy amount. That iMac11,3 even today is a truly excellent performer.
One thing for sure, I certainly won't be pre-ordering or even purchasing a new generation iMac for many months - at least six - after it's release, but will watch to see how it performs and what 'prototype-ish' problems surface. If/when I do purchase, it will be with AppleCare which gives relative peace of mind for any unfortunate issues that may arise, and most definitely sell the iMac for something newer prior to the 3year AppleCare expiring.
And a word of warning to anyone planning to purchase without AppleCare; if after a year significant problems occur, expect to dig very deep into your pockets for parts and labour repair costs.
One thing for sure, I certainly won't be pre-ordering or even purchasing a new generation iMac for many months - at least six - after it's release, but will watch to see how it performs and what 'prototype-ish' problems surface. If/when I do purchase, it will be with AppleCare which gives relative peace of mind for any unfortunate issues that may arise, and most definitely sell the iMac for something newer prior to the 3year AppleCare expiring.
And a word of warning to anyone planning to purchase without AppleCare; if after a year significant problems occur, expect to dig very deep into your pockets for parts and labour repair costs.
I think selling a computer just because AppleCare is due to expire is a bit paranoid. Many Macs from decades ago are still chugging along just fine and will continue to do so for years to come. Like with all things, no one can predict when something might fail. Usage can be a predictor... like you drop things... spill things... tend to tinker under the hood... like to visit sites that are more on the risqué.
What we do know is that the new ARM based Macs are not Windows compatible (maybe they will be at some point, maybe not), so if you have any need for the Windows platform at all, you will want to get an INTEL based Mac.
Based on Apple's current SoC design in the new M1 Macs, it is conceivable that the new IMacs will also have a closed architecture that is not currently evident in the INTEL Macs. Namely, SSD soldered to the system board. RAM also soldered to the system board. Basically if it's inside the case, it's staying there for all perpetuity... with nil an upgrade in its future. The INTEL Macs can swap out SSD and RAM and in some cases GPU. SoC design puts everything in a single design... that's what provides the massive performance boost over current designs. Separate the components out and it might as well be the old design.
If you decide to get an INTEL Mac now, get it with the least amount of RAM pre-installed. Purchase additional RAM from a third-party. You will save a mint. Please be forewarned that the latest INTEL iMac was very finicky about mixing RAM so you literally had to replace the existing RAM with new RAM if you wanted to boost the RAM up. External SSDs may be a cheaper option to opting for a beefy internal SSD from Apple. The theme here is Apple overcharges for stuff. Which is why the new ARM Macs are a juicy market to them... you can't NOT buy the top of the line because you can't upgrade anything in them. INTEL Macs are the last in the line of user upgradeable computers... from what we can see.
Decide what you actually need, forget about all the hoopla and hype around the ARM Macs... most users are sold on hype alone. When these things are old news, that's when real decisions are made and not impulse purchasing because of the hype meter. Plenty of folks got bit by the first round of ARM Macs... they were too focused on speed to see that there were real issues with peripheral devices... annoyances that made the speed far less appealing in the end when compared to display glitches and bluetooth issues.
You know what you need. You know your budget. You'd be surprised how long you can actually wait for something you need versus something you want. Know the difference.
What we do know is that the new ARM based Macs are not Windows compatible (maybe they will be at some point, maybe not), so if you have any need for the Windows platform at all, you will want to get an INTEL based Mac.
Based on Apple's current SoC design in the new M1 Macs, it is conceivable that the new IMacs will also have a closed architecture that is not currently evident in the INTEL Macs. Namely, SSD soldered to the system board. RAM also soldered to the system board. Basically if it's inside the case, it's staying there for all perpetuity... with nil an upgrade in its future. The INTEL Macs can swap out SSD and RAM and in some cases GPU. SoC design puts everything in a single design... that's what provides the massive performance boost over current designs. Separate the components out and it might as well be the old design.
If you decide to get an INTEL Mac now, get it with the least amount of RAM pre-installed. Purchase additional RAM from a third-party. You will save a mint. Please be forewarned that the latest INTEL iMac was very finicky about mixing RAM so you literally had to replace the existing RAM with new RAM if you wanted to boost the RAM up. External SSDs may be a cheaper option to opting for a beefy internal SSD from Apple. The theme here is Apple overcharges for stuff. Which is why the new ARM Macs are a juicy market to them... you can't NOT buy the top of the line because you can't upgrade anything in them. INTEL Macs are the last in the line of user upgradeable computers... from what we can see.
Decide what you actually need, forget about all the hoopla and hype around the ARM Macs... most users are sold on hype alone. When these things are old news, that's when real decisions are made and not impulse purchasing because of the hype meter. Plenty of folks got bit by the first round of ARM Macs... they were too focused on speed to see that there were real issues with peripheral devices... annoyances that made the speed far less appealing in the end when compared to display glitches and bluetooth issues.
You know what you need. You know your budget. You'd be surprised how long you can actually wait for something you need versus something you want. Know the difference.
Very well written! I'm in this limbo land right now where I'm deciding to buy a new 27" iMac, or wait it out for the new ARM Macs. Right now I'm continuing to work on a 2010 Mac, and it's definitely on it's last legs in terms of performance (app won't update anymore, slow rendering).
I have a late 2009 iMac that seems slow and It could go at any time but id be lost without it , so should I hold out for 3 or 4 months and hope it stays ok or buy 1 now ? , if you where in my shoes what would you do ?. Its a lot of money and I want the best iMac I can get.
I know and thats the annoying thing lol , would you buy the iMac now or wait is all I ask
I would not buy an iMac at all. I would (did) buy a Mac mini M1. The question of whether you should wait or not to buy a iMac all comes down to what is more important to you, a M1x (Silicon) Mac that is blazingly fast, probably a bigger screen, and also supported from Apple for the near future, or a intel iMac that will be discounted - but not supported for as long.
Only you can answer that question. Either will serve you well. Either will have pros and cons.
Easiest way to decide is to imagine your car just got rear-ended and you had the absolute minimum insurance on it. Now you are without a car. Which should you buy? A new computer to replace one that is still working or replace the car?
I think sometimes the push to buy something is based on the fact that you seemingly have some extra cash laying about... it's like they say, never go food shopping while hungry.
I think sometimes the push to buy something is based on the fact that you seemingly have some extra cash laying about... it's like they say, never go food shopping while hungry.
I’d say make sure you’re backed up. Use the machine you have for as long as you can. If it runs until a new iMac comes out, then you can decide at that time what to do. If not, then you can choose between an iMac and a mini. You’re always better off waiting as far as new technology goes, and if you can keep on working with your current machine, why rush?
Recent Intel Macs are gonna be supported by Apple for at least a few years. There's no way they're going to get two years down the road and say "tough luck, people who bought a computer from us in 2021!"
Let's all remember that a lot of these Intel iMacs are still fast as hell and people are using them daily to run all kinds of very demanding workflows. After all, they're not subject to the same limitations (power, heat dissipation in a tiny frame) that laptops have to contend with. I'm using one from 2014 and it still very much suffices for Photoshop, Illustrator, video editing and plenty of other stuff.
And as for the Mini, it's a great little form factor (I used one for years myself) but by the time you source a monitor anywhere near as good as the ones built into 5K iMacs -- not to mention a webcam, speakers, a microphone -- you're definitely spending more than you would on an iMac.
I agree, except for this part.
People who own iMacs from the mid teens (~2015-2017) are now finding that their firmware will not upgrade if they purchased the SSD option Apple charged so much for at the time. This problem emerged in early 2020 with one of the upgrades that changed the system firmware. So, it wasn't two years down the road then - it was three.
Apple has variously told owners when they get an eficheck alert that the firmware they are running is the latest, that the owner must be doing something wrong, and a whole assortment of what really amounts to lies and obfuscation.
There's a thread discussing this here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...te-2015-efi-firmware-update-failures.2228324/
Something has happened at Apple in the past half decade. They are breaking software functions faster than they are fixing them. (Why break something that is working??) The company seems wholly uninterested in fixing these bugs or fixing their process. They seem to be taking security issues seriously, but to what degree nobody really knows.
Go visit https://macperformanceguide.com for a whole stream of software failures that keep getting worse. Or, look here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-seems-to-have-forgotten-about-the-whole-it-just-works-thing/ "It just (doesn't) work" seems to be the company slogan now. You can devote entire days reading about this through simple Google searches. Ask people who lost zillions of emails that had been handled by the Apple mail app when they updated.
Yeah, this is whining on my part to a degree. But, I do want people to know what they are getting into. Apple hardware is generally superior and lasts a long time. (I have a ~2006 white iMac with a Core 2 Duo processor that I updated with an SSD. It still runs great with Snow Leopard and Windows 7 in Boot Camp. Really great.) It's the software that tends to make things a mess, and Apple seems to have lost whatever thing they had that brought the great results of Snow Leopard. The company emphasis now seems to not be on getting things right, but on getting cosmetic things new on a yearly schedule. That may or may not be helpful to you as a user.
You caused me some worry there, thinking that perhaps my iMac (15,1, late 2014, SSD) had some kind of firmware issue. Looking through the thread you linked, it seems to be only the 17,1 model for some reason I don't claim to understand.
To the point of this thread, the OP has a 2009 vintage iMac that is still working if a bit slow. Purchasing a current 2020 iMac is not what I would do, but for someone who is risk adverse, or wants Windows compatibility, or just wants to get an iMac that will absolutely be a solid and strong performing machine for years to come, I don't think it would be such a terrible choice.
Most here are waiting anxiously for the new generation iMac. Including myself. Personally I'm not concerned about reliability or other issues for the first models. By the time the iMac is introduced, the first M1 laptop models will have accumulated enough experience that Apple will have learned from that. Taking that into account, the new iMac should not be a risky purchase at all. And there is AppleCare for those who want to have that extra insurance.