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Reasons not to buy an Intel iMac
- Thread starter OneSon
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It depends on how long you keep your systems for.
Buying an Intel mac now is buying into a dieing platform.
Buying an Intel mac now is buying into a dieing platform.
Depends on which model. I'd personally not go for the 2020 imac since the ssd is not upgradable. So I'd go for one of the 27 inch 2019 models. They are effectively just as fast, but you can swap out the spinning drive with a large ssd (which I've done on two of mine and several friends iMacs). That allows you to buy the one with the lowest spec ram and drive and upgrade both later.
The 27 inch models do run plenty cool, and of course on any intel mac you can run windows natively, etc.
But you want reasons to NOT buy one. Reason one is the M1 pro iMac that's soon to come out will be a good bit faster and probably not a whole lot more expensive. Plus, the intels will stop being supported in about 4 years so if you expect to keep it longer than that, you'll have to accept that at some point you won't be able to upgrade the OS to the latest iterations.
There may be something I'm not thinking of, but personally I'm a big fan of the 27 inch 2019 iMacs so aside from the upcoming M variety being faster (assuming you have software that can leverage it), I can't really think of anything else.
The 27 inch models do run plenty cool, and of course on any intel mac you can run windows natively, etc.
But you want reasons to NOT buy one. Reason one is the M1 pro iMac that's soon to come out will be a good bit faster and probably not a whole lot more expensive. Plus, the intels will stop being supported in about 4 years so if you expect to keep it longer than that, you'll have to accept that at some point you won't be able to upgrade the OS to the latest iterations.
There may be something I'm not thinking of, but personally I'm a big fan of the 27 inch 2019 iMacs so aside from the upcoming M variety being faster (assuming you have software that can leverage it), I can't really think of anything else.
But what would the specific implications of that be? I mean, would MS Office work in 5 years on it? What would I specifically lose the ability to do?
Not a lot. Most programs released for the next several years will work on intel macs. The key thing is whether you have a certain software suite that you find you like to upgrade every year or two. At some point you won't be able to with an intel mac. That said, if for instance you're running a version of office or premiere pro that runs on it now and that works fine for everything you do, you can eventually just stay with the last verson that works on the intel mac and still be able to function just fine.
Your current version of MS Office (and several versions upcoming) will be able to work indefinitely on it.
Odds are the 2020 iMac would receive its last security update by year 2030.
MS Office will probably work more than 10 years.
It's the same machine, refurbished or not. Whatever you would be able to do on a new machine would be exactly the same as on a refurb
Not a huge amount, but we’re already see apple silicon only features.
If you have no interest in running the newest stuff in 5 years time. Then you’ll be fine.
It’s not a deal breaker. But it is something you need to consider for your own needs.
I would like to know how one defines a "dieing platform".
Three months ago I sold my 2012 (A1419) 27" iMac for what I consider an excellent price (500euros) for an almost 10yr old computer, which I'd upgraded with additional memory and an SSD. It was an excellent, solid performer which whilst running High Sierra did have the latest Firefox web browser with the necessary security patches. That iMac and thousands more of the similar model still have lots of usable life left in them, most definitely not a dying platform.
I was particularly interested when the M1 iMac was introduced last year, but didn't consider purchasing or especially waiting for a new M1 27" due to the unknown longevity of a brand new cpu and associated ARM-based system on a chip. Just to play devil's advocat, some have suggested that as most new Macs today are non-upgradable after purchase and will be notoriosly expensive to repair, one could say they have 'planned' obsolescence at launch. That was certainly not the case with the 2012 iMacs, MBPros or Mac Mini's of the same period.
Armed with that knowledge, I took my time to look around for an as-new 2020 Intel Mac, and located an intermediate 3,3GHz 512Gb SSD model for 1700euros (US$1900). Marvellous machine! Which could be upgraded to a whopping 128Gb memory if necessary. Now that's what I call an undying platform.
Even for those uninformed who believe that Intel is past it's 'best-by date', I can advise that myself and many others regularly use several ppc based Macs which still give great pleasure. Check back here in 10 years time to see how this Mac is still performing, and compare how many 2021 M1 iMacs will still be in regular use.........
It’s not about age or performance.I would like to know how one defines a "dieing platform".
Three months ago I sold my 2012 (A1419) 27" iMac for what I consider an excellent price (500euros) for an almost 10yr old computer, which I'd upgraded with additional memory and an SSD. It was an excellent, solid performer which whilst running High Sierra did have the latest Firefox web browser with the necessary security patches. That iMac and thousands more of the similar model still have lots of usable life left in them, most definitely not a dying platform.
I was particularly interested when the M1 iMac was introduced last year, but didn't consider purchasing or especially waiting for a new M1 27" due to the unknown longevity of a brand new cpu and associated ARM-based system on a chip. Just to play devil's advocat, some have suggested that as most new Macs today are non-upgradable after purchase and will be notoriosly expensive to repair, one could say they have 'planned' obsolescence at launch. That was certainly not the case with the 2012 iMacs, MBPros or Mac Mini's of the same period.
Armed with that knowledge, I took my time to look around for an as-new 2020 Intel Mac, and located an intermediate 3,3GHz 512Gb SSD model for 1700euros (US$1900). Marvellous machine! Which could be upgraded to a whopping 128Gb memory if necessary. Now that's what I call an undying platform.
Check back here in 10 years time to see how this Mac is still performing, and compare how many 2021 M1 iMacs will still be in regular use.........
But reduced support as apple moves further into the AS transition. There will come a time when Apple software updates no longer support Intel Macs. There will come a time when 3rd party software no longer supports Intel Macs.
With more and more software becoming subscription based, they may or may not continue to support Intel macs.
The time frame for this is pure speculation, but it would be reasonable to buying an Intel mac now will get support for a shorter time than in the past.
As I say. The Intel platform for apple is on its way out. It’s not a deal breaker. But it is a consideration.
A good post and food for thought. 👍
Personally though I wouldn't (and didn't) go for the 2019 iMac as many had a spinning HDD or a fusion drive. Yes the HDD can indeed be changed, but opening up the 'thin' (post late-2012) iMacs has it's complications compared to the earlier models, and I'd say not for the faint-hearted.
If one can be found, I'd say the 2019 27" iMac with the optional SSD would be the model to go for. Or better still the 2020.
If you want an Intel iMac, I'd suggest an Apple-refurbished 2019 or 2020 model.
Get the 27" display. DO NOT buy the smaller display.
The iMacs with the 27" 5k display still have user-upgradeable RAM accessible through the door on the back.
DO NOT buy an iMac with a fusion drive or a platter-based hard drive.
DO buy an iMac with an SSD inside (all 2020 5k iMacs have SSDs).
I'd recommend 512gb or 1tb as the SSD size to buy.
BE SURE that you MUST have extra storage space before spending extra $$$$ for anything larger.
BE AWARE that the 2020 iMacs have a t2 chip inside.
The 2019 models do not.
Get the 27" display. DO NOT buy the smaller display.
The iMacs with the 27" 5k display still have user-upgradeable RAM accessible through the door on the back.
DO NOT buy an iMac with a fusion drive or a platter-based hard drive.
DO buy an iMac with an SSD inside (all 2020 5k iMacs have SSDs).
I'd recommend 512gb or 1tb as the SSD size to buy.
BE SURE that you MUST have extra storage space before spending extra $$$$ for anything larger.
BE AWARE that the 2020 iMacs have a t2 chip inside.
The 2019 models do not.
Why?
I upgraded last year from a 27" iMac 5K to the current M1 iMac and it's better in almost every possible way. The only drawbacks are the smaller screen and the speakers which are not quite as good to my ears. The user-upgradable RAM was a loss, but then again this machine is massively faster with 16 GB of RAM than my old iMac was with 32 GB.
RE: Office, it depends on whether you’re using 365 or an on-premise version. 365 might drop Intel support before the drop dead date of Intel Macs.
Actually, the real limitation for Intel Macs will the the real limitation for any PC released since 2005 or so. Namely, keeping modern web browsers running on them. If you don’t need a web browser and have all local software that’s not on a subscription model, you can use any Mac until its hard drive fails or capacitors leak. I knew a guy about 15 years ago who was using a Mac OS Classic PowerBook (about 10 years old at the time) as a note taking computer in his therapy practice.
Intel is slower and won’t be supported for long. You should buy M1 when possible.
What are you using the computer for? In my experience Intel macs are extremely slow, that enough of a reason to not use one.
Can you elaborate on why you returned the 24" M1 iMac?
Looking back on previous transitions buying an Intel Mac now would be a lot like buying a PowerPC Mac in 2006, so much worse cost / performance ratio and likely to become less useful at a much faster rate.
Because it’s old technology, power hungry, noisy, and no colors. I’ve never heard the fans on my M1 iMac.
Not noisy, if we're talking about the 27 inch models. And 'no colors'? Seriously, that's in your list of problems with intel iMacs?!? LMAO
As it happens, I have a 2019 27" I'd be willing to part with. I've upped the RAM to 24GB, it's got a Fusion Drive so I don't know how labor intensive a swap to SSD is. I'm actually on the fence about going to 24" iMac, the main thing being M1 Pro desktop (whether iMac or Mac mini) potentially being on horizon.
Edit: It also has AppleCare+ until Jan 2023, but I'm assuming any attempt to open and upgrade internals would void such.
I haven't posted anything about this to the marketplace so please don't treat this as an advertisement mods!
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Why did you return the M1 iMac?
I'd say no reason to go Intel over M1 unless you absolutely need to save the cash or need native x86 Windows support in Boot Camp. In which case I would probably just get a PC for that compatibility. M1 is incredible value for the performance otherwise.
I'd say no reason to go Intel over M1 unless you absolutely need to save the cash or need native x86 Windows support in Boot Camp. In which case I would probably just get a PC for that compatibility. M1 is incredible value for the performance otherwise.
My 2020 iMac is an amazing machine for both macOS and Windows 10. Bonus points, I can continue to run Big Sur while Apple figures out what’s wrong with Monterey.
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