I wanted to buy an Apple iMac 27” 2020 16 GB - 512 SSD Intel core i5 3,3 GHZ. Now I hear about the change from Intel to Arm. Do I wait for Silicon or do I buy. My actual iMac is + 10 years old and cannot upgrade to Big Sur anymore. Help ?
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Question : wait or buy
- Thread starter Eric Janssens
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- Do you rely on Windows (via Bootcamp or Parallels/VMWare etc.)?
- Do you use specialized software (i.e. other than Apple apps, MS Office, Adobe CC and comparable big players) coming from the Windows world?
If you answer Q2 with yes, it depends (how well runs your iMac, and so on).
This question has been discussed in lots of threads around here. The decision is a very individual one but IMO the points above are central. Other questions are, how is your use case, do you depend on your iMac for making money, and so on.
I only use my iMac for basic functions : e mail, Word, watch Live-streams, participate in meetings via Zoom or Teams and basic photoshop. What would your advice be in this case ?
You only have to wait a few weeks to know. I recommend hold steady to see.
If your current machine works for what you need to do then I would suggest that you wait as there is no real reason to upgrade.
If your current machine does not do what you need it to do, or you have a need for Big Sur, then I suggest waiting for a couple months, as the the first Apple Silicon Macs are to be announced this year. Then you can decide if one of those are right for you. I would have no qualms about buying an Intel Mac now, as they will be supported for the foreseeable future. I for example, moved from a 2010 Mac Pro to a 2018 Mac Mini last December and expect to use it for the next several years. And I'm quite happy with the Mini.
Good luck with your decision.
I was in a similar situation and decided that I really didn't want the last Intel Mac or the first ARM Mac. Picked up a nice 2015 Macbook Air on Craigslist. Pre butterfly keyboard, user replaceable battery and SSD. With my light duty needs it should do well until the Apple Silicon dust settles.
I'm writing this on my 2010 MacPro5,1 that I've updated to Catalina but I think that is as far as I am going to go. With Apple apparently dropping a "hobbyist" Mac product in the $2.5-4K range, I'm waiting to see Apple's first AS desktops although what I really want is an underbench Apple midi-mac. I've waited this long so I figure that I can hold out for another year and I don't see Apple getting me excited about purchasing a computer in the near future. Apple now has so many interesting possibilities in technology and design choices but they are just so darn secretive, haha. So I'm just going to have to wait and see.
Good luck with whatever your choice is.
Good luck with whatever your choice is.
In that case, according to the advice the others gave, I also think there is time to wait. Your iMac seems to run properly, and your requirements will be met by Intel and ARM Macs as well.
Personally, I prefer to use a supported MacOS (currently Mojave that will last until end of 2021, given that Apple sticks to its schedule). But for other people I know, they do not mind to run an unsupported OS. If you have Catalina, you should be safe until 2022, so there would be plenty of time to wait and see.
I’d say just buy a new iMac now and enjoy it now and don’t look back. The difference compared to your 10 year old model will be huge. And then at any point in the future you can always re-evaluate and see if it is worth upgrading to a newer model, whether it is Apple Silicon-based or otherwise.
For this use case you could just keep your current machine all the way until Apple stops delivering security updates (likely a few more years in the future) and then decide on picking up something available at that time. Unless something is broken, I don't a value to upgrade now?
I am currently using iMac 2010 with 1 TB SSD and 16 GB Intel Core i5 2.8 GHz. It does the job although I am stuck using High Sierra. I shall wait for arm based Mac with decent enough configuration, and am sure Apple shall deliver.
Upgrades to the iMac are incoming. AMD is announcing new GPUs this week, Intel has refreshed their CPU line and there is obviously Apple Silicon...
I would definitely recommend you to wait until the next Mac event in November.
I would definitely recommend you to wait until the next Mac event in November.
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I seriously need the arm based iMac to be released ASAP. My home computer died and now I am using my office Mac which is like 10 years old. Please Apple Please, release the Apple Silicon iMac as soon as possible.
I’m not sure you’re all being realistic. Apple just updated the iMac in August, and the rumours/leaks about new iMacs refer to a 2021 timeline. I don’t see any reason to believe that iMac changes are coming any time soon.
Apple did update iMac but only the 27" model. There is a chance that we see a 21" or a 24" Apple Silicon based iMac being lunched in November 2020.
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That sums up my dilemma. Very much wait and see at the moment. I do my development in Linux virtual machines hosted in Oracle Virtualbox and need to see how virtualisation is handled. There is no reason why an ARM compiled version of version of Parallels/Virtualbox shouldn't be a thing and ARM versions of Linux certainly are around, but but then there's Java to consider (I'm mostly 8, and have no idea if I would have to move to a later version with a move to the ARM architecture).
I see a lot of developers with the money to throw around are buying some seriously tricked out Intel MacBook Pro 16" models (my needs aren't exactly that demanding, but tempting nevertheless).
Apple demoed ARM Linux running under Parallels in their WWDC videos. If you don't need your Linux VMs for testing x86 docker images for deployment to x86 targets, you're probably okay on that front.
As for Java, OpenJDK for ARM macOS is underway.
JEP 391: macOS/AArch64 Port
That might not cover 8, I am not up on Java versions at all, but it sounds like any Mac version of JDK compiled for 64-bit x86 should run fine through Rosetta 2, just with a speed penalty.
I asked the same question and through research I chose the intel MBP 13” 2020 model. I got it yesterday and am happy with it. No compatibility issues and the machine is not hot. My instincts told me that the 1st machines with silicon chips may have teething problems and some compatibility issues with software. I would wait a year or 2 before I trade it in for a silicon chip one when the teething Probleme and compatibility issued with software are ironed out.
You can either take my word or not, but the 1st machines with silicon chips are likely to have teething problems at 1st. I chose the intel one now and down the track I may trade in for a silicon chip based machine when the teething problems are being ironed out
You have had your computer for 10 years, waiting 1 more month to see the new ARM Macbooks released will be like a walk in the park
Apple Silicon chips are nothing new, Apple has been using them via iPad and iPhones ever since their (iPad and iPhone) launch. Also, it would be wise to assume that Apple has been using laptops/ desktop based on Apple Silicon chips internally for testing purposes for quite sometime.
When Apple moved from PPC to Intel, the first Intel based Macs were 32 bit, but now all the devices shall be 64 bit and the 32 bit Intel based Macs were made obsolete very soon. I don't think this is the case now, also there is no point in investing in the Intel as the transition from Intel to Apple Silicon would happen in less than 2 years and very soon we would have apps that would work on Apple Silicon based Macs. This is just my opinion, but last time when Apple made the transition from PPC to Intel this is what happened.
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I had decided since 2018 that I would be replacing my Macbook Pro in summer 2020.
I was already looking to delay, then I heard the Apple Silicon rumours and I saw the WWDC presentation.
The battery on this Retina MBP is at 950 cycles and I have no intentions in spending money to replace it.
I am all in on buying a Silicon Mac, but it may need to wait for 6 months or even longer. WWDC 2021 will be due in June and I think that by then Apple will have addressed the initial Silicon teething issues and they should also be launching more models.
The rumoured specs for the 14" MBP sound exciting, but if the price and spec are beyond my requirements, I may settle for the 13" MBP or even a Silicon Air model.
Apple Silicon is definitely the future, but I would suggest waiting until into 2021 to see how it all shakes out.
I was already looking to delay, then I heard the Apple Silicon rumours and I saw the WWDC presentation.
The battery on this Retina MBP is at 950 cycles and I have no intentions in spending money to replace it.
I am all in on buying a Silicon Mac, but it may need to wait for 6 months or even longer. WWDC 2021 will be due in June and I think that by then Apple will have addressed the initial Silicon teething issues and they should also be launching more models.
The rumoured specs for the 14" MBP sound exciting, but if the price and spec are beyond my requirements, I may settle for the 13" MBP or even a Silicon Air model.
Apple Silicon is definitely the future, but I would suggest waiting until into 2021 to see how it all shakes out.
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