thanks for the reply. Yea making music again has been on my mind 24/7 for the last 6-12 months and I've been saving up and waiting for this day to see if they release new....and they didn't so I'll be buying something just not sure if going with i7 or i5.
I'm leaning towards i7 as a just in case and future proof kind of move. I'd hate to spend $2,900 and regret it when All I had to do was spend $3,500 and get exactly what I wanted.
I might just spend the extra $550-600
21.5" just seems like it wouldn't feel that special considering I'm using a 22" for my PC monitor, because of dimensions it might feel like a downgrade with those bezels.......which are twice the size as the ones on my 2013 HD monitor.
Also, 100 tracks is more than I'll need to use anyways. I'd be happy with 40-50 running at once without having to freeze.
Get the 27". You'll be glad you did.
And again, just to give you some perspective if you're still unsure of i5 or i7... My old 21.5" 2010 iMac was duo core i3, non-SSD. It was still able to handle fairly large productions right up until I bought the new one in 2017.
The i7 would really be a no-brainer for an orchestral composer using multiple instances of EastWest Symphonic Orchestra. For yourself? Either i5 or i7 will be fine. I wouldn't worry about heat or noise issues if you're just working in your DAW.