New Imac 27" Wait?

[harleymhs]

Hey Guys, I am looking to get a NEW Retina 27 Imac, Thoughts on waiting? Will the new ones that come out be a re design or just a processor update ? I know its not a cool question no one has a crystal ball lol just wanting some advise.. thanks guys!

 

[294307]

So what you are really asking us is to convince you to wait or buy now, because you've already acknowledged that no one here knows when Apple will be updating the iMac line. I think it's pretty obvious most people here will advise you to wait because of the upcoming event.

Here's a better way of deciding: do you need an iMac now? If you don't need an iMac now and it wouldn't inconvenience you to wait until November to see if Apple updates the iMac next week or in October, then you know what you need to do.

It's your choice. Buying an iMac now is an entirely reasonable choice if you need a new computer now. It's no different to those that bought the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro in June – it's not like their devices suddenly reached end of life when Apple refreshed them a month after.

 

[Lawrenceblau]

Hey Guys, I am looking to get a NEW Retina 27 Imac, Thoughts on waiting? Will the new ones that come out be a re design or just a processor update ? I know its not a cool question no one has a crystal ball lol just wanting some advise.. thanks guys!

The question is do you really need it now. I just ordered an IMAC Pro 10 core. I will only use it for photo and video work. I believe if a regular iMAC comes out this year, it will only be a refresher to the newer CPU’s. If Apple does not change the cooling system, that will be a potential problem. The Pro and the regular IMAC’s are two separate lines and Apple would never put one in competition with another. I would do the Pro and look at it as an investment and a computer that will last

 

[LiE_]

I think we will see a CPU refresh in October. I'm waiting for the 8th gen before I buy a 27" iMac. I have a Windows laptop for now that means I'm in no rush.

I can't see a re-design until maybe end of next 2019.

 

[Lawrenceblau]

I would consider the Pro. If you try to price out the current IMAC with the Pro, the price difference is not that major and you are getting a different kind of computer

 

[sjackson]

I'm in the same boat and considering a purchase this weekend.

My thoughts. More than likely any new announcement will be in the last week of October, just under 7 weeks away assuming a date of 24th October (only based on the last one being the 26th October in 2016). If it's a refresh only I won't be too upset if I buy a 2017 model today. If it's a completely new "anniversary" model (which I think it will be), considering the reported issues with the 2018 MBP, I'd refrain from buying for a number of months which would bring me into early 2019 (too long to wait).

Any new iMac I think will have the new T2 chip which seems to be causing some problems on the 2018 MBP and iMac Pro.

To me I could justify buying today or maybe I've already made my decision and attempting to convince myself it makes sense......

 

[LiE_]

I would consider the Pro. If you try to price out the current IMAC with the Pro, the price difference is not that major and you are getting a different kind of computer

The price is almost double, unless you spec up a the 27" iMac with almost all options maxed.

 

[BayouTiger]

All of the above is why I bought the base model Pro. Stays as cool and quiet as any Mac I've owned, I have a NAS with 10GBe and the extra grand or so was worth it for the cooling, 10GBe, and performance. The extra 2 TB3 ports are also a big deal to me as I use all 4.

 

[Fishrrman]

My -guess- is that new iMacs won't arrive until 2nd quarter 2019 at the earliest.
I could be wrong.

I'll also guess that when they -do- arrive, the exterior styling will remain the same, with all "changes" to the innards. We -might- see a "space gray" option.

Them's my predictions and I'm stickin' to 'em!

 

[Lawrenceblau]

The price is almost double, unless you spec up a the 27" iMac with almost all options maxed.

That is what I meant. Spec an iMAC with SSD, 32 RAM etcp

 

[cwanja]

Here's a better way of deciding: do you need an iMac now? If you don't need an iMac now and it wouldn't inconvenience you to wait until November to see if Apple updates the iMac next week or in October, then you know what you need to do.

This right here. This is all the advice you need. If you can wait, wait. If you cannot, purchase now. The 2017 models are not bad machines, it is just that the internals are aged in comparison to today.

 

[SkiHound2]

So what you are really asking us is to convince you to wait or buy now, because you've already acknowledged that no one here knows when Apple will be updating the iMac line. I think it's pretty obvious most people here will advise you to wait because of the upcoming event.

Here's a better way of deciding: do you need an iMac now? If you don't need an iMac now and it wouldn't inconvenience you to wait until November to see if Apple updates the iMac next week or in October, then you know what you need to do.

It's your choice. Buying an iMac now is an entirely reasonable choice if you need a new computer now. It's no different to those that bought the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro in June – it's not like their devices suddenly reached end of life when Apple refreshed them a month after.

This is the best advice. The current iMacs are very nice machines that are using 7th generation processors and which have been available for well over a year. If you need a computer now, buy. As the OP says, no one knows when there will be an update, and what it may bring to the table. When it arrives it will almost certainly come with the newer generation 6-core processors which seem like a meaningful improvement vs the current cpus. Lots of folks seem to think we'll see something in the near future but only Apple knows. I think if you don't really need a new machine now, the advice to wait is sage. I'm trying to wait and if I don't think the upgrade is that meaningful I'll try to find a deal on a 2017. My biggest concern in waiting is the potential impact tariffs might have on prices.

 

[Appleaker]

Oh dear a lot of these comments are wrong regarding the new iMac. Honestly, it’ll be worth the wait. As others have said, unless you absolutely need it now, then I suggest buying it or perhaps another machine and then selling it before the new ones are released.

 

[theluggage]

Hey Guys, I am looking to get a NEW Retina 27 Imac, Thoughts on waiting? Will the new ones that come out be a re design or just a processor update ?

Tough one - the 2017s are good machines, and still have nice things like easily upgradeable RAM, USB 3-A sockets (as well as TB3/USB-C), Ethernet and SD card lots which (on Apple's recent form) are likely to vanish with a re-design.

On the other hand, the new-gen processors offer a useful speed increase (esp. if you're running multi-core-friendly stuff) and I think a 6-core i5 would be a more sensible processor for an iMac than the current i7 space-heater option.

There's no guarantee any iMacs are going to appear in October - although a no-show for the new CPUs this year might see people's commitment to Apple start to waver. A CPU bump would be great... However, I look forward to the prospect of a major re-design with a certain amount of trepidation...

That is what I meant. Spec an iMAC with SSD, 32 RAM etcp

Well, on the US site, the 5k, i7, 8GB, 1TB SSD is $3099, 32GB of RAM from Crucial is $345 (seriously - you were going to pay Apple $600 for the same chips?) bringing it to $3444 - vs. $4999 for the base iMac Pro. That's still $1555 extra for the iMac Pro - whether or not that's good value, its hardly a trivial amount of cash unless someone else is paying...

The only way you get close is to get the 64GB RAM upgrade from Apple (someone else must be paying) and go for the 2TB SSD (how much!?) but that's a zero-sum game because if you need those upgrades you'll need to add the same upgrades to the iMac Pro price... Plus, the reality is, you might not need 32GB on the iMac (since you can upgrade if or when you need it - adding 16GB to the base 8GB for 24GB total is the value-for-money sweet spot) and a 512GB SSD is probably liveable-with (unless your doing 4k, in which case you're going to hang a RAID on it anyhow...).
[doublepost=1536352677][/doublepost]

Oh dear a lot of these comments are wrong regarding the new iMac. Honestly, it’ll be worth the wait.

Unfortunately, none of us here can see whatever magic crystal ball that is telling you that, so we have to rely on actual evidence plus what we can deduce based on what processors are available and what Apple has done in the past.

 

[harleymhs]

I currently have a imac 27" that has an Intel i7 (3770) 3.40 ghz , 24GB RAM, 512 SSD --- the new ones have :

• 3.4GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, I dont see any options for i7 ... Are the new i5 as fast as my older i7 ?

I didnt want to spend the extra $ on the 4.2 GHz i7
Little confused.. I dont want to get a NEW imac thats slower than mine.

 

[Appleaker]

Definitely wait.

 

[mreg376]

Oh dear a lot of these comments are wrong regarding the new iMac. Honestly, it’ll be worth the wait. As others have said, unless you absolutely need it now, then I suggest buying it or perhaps another machine and then selling it before the new ones are released.

Buy a new machine now and then sell it in maybe a few months? That's your advice? That's ridiculous.

 

[padams35]

I currently have a imac 27" that has an Intel i7 (3770) 3.40 ghz , 24GB RAM, 512 SSD --- the new ones have :

• 3.4GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, I dont see any options for i7 ... Are the new i5 as fast as my older i7 ?

I didnt want to spend the extra $ on the 4.2 GHz i7
Little confused.. I dont want to get a NEW imac thats slower than mine.

https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks
Theoretically the 3.4GHz i5 should be slightly faster at multi-core tasks and significantly faster at single-core tasks.

 

[Fishrrman]

The OP wrote:
"I currently have a imac 27" that has an Intel i7 (3770) 3.40 ghz , 24GB RAM, 512 SSD"

I don't see anything "weak" about that configuration at all.
Is it still running well enough?
Are you -sure- you want to "upgrade"?

What you've got should easily last into 2019, perhaps even 2020...

 

[theluggage]

I currently have a imac 27" that has an Intel i7 (3770) 3.40 ghz , 24GB RAM, 512 SSD

That sounds like a pretty decent machine. The new machines, probably even the i5s with the same or better clock speed, will be a bit faster, but there hasn't been any huge, night-and-day leap in CPU performance between 2012 and 2017.

There's also the 5k screen - which is going to look nicer than the 1440p, but the old 1440p screens were no great hardship...

The extra cores in the 8th-gen Intel processors make them the biggest step forward in CPU power for a while, so if your current iMac is getting the job done it probably is worth waiting for those chips to show up in iMacs. Just be aware that there's no guarantee that they'll show up in October and take the slight, but unpredictable, risk that they'll pull a 2016-MacBookPro-style "worse is the new better" on us (which will buoy up the price of used/refurb 2017s).