Should I buy or wait?

[4004786]

I was hoping new iMacs would have been announced yesterday, but ah well, they weren't. Now I'm deciding whether I should buy an iMac now or wait.

Here's the sitch:

I'm learning 3D development, and I'm currently using a 13" Macbook Pro. The limiting factor right now for me is RAM: even for simple scenes, Maya runs out and memory and dies if I have any other apps open along side it. So I close out Safari, iTunes, Messages, and so on, while I model.

The CPU and GPU on the Macbook are good enough for the simple scenes I'm working with. It would just be better to have at least 32 GB RAM.

The current iMacs are good enough for 3D modeling. There's at least one studio I know of that uses the 5k iMacs as their primary modeling machines, and that studio produces work I'm at least a few years away from being able to produce. So I think buying an iMac now would last me a few years. I plan to get the maxed out core i7 iMac with the upgraded dedicated GPU, but only 8GB RAM. Then, I'll buy 32GB RAM separately to boost it up to 40GB total, while saving some money.

Another idea would be to buy the iMac, then sell it and buy the next version in a few months if there are worthwhile updates.

So what would you do if you were in this situation? Would you hold off, and use the Macbook Pro? Or would you buy the iMac now?

Also, I know that I could buy a PC for much cheaper and get more power. I'm not particularly uninterested in switching back to Windows, and not because I'm anti-Windows, or anything. In fact, I was a Windows fan for many years until I got my first Mac in 2013. I just prefer the Apple ecosystem right now.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Digital Skunk]

If you have to ask then you can wait.

It's okay to ask, but I've learned that anyone asking and sitting on the cash doesn't need the machine right this very minute. If you did, then there'd be no question ... buy it now. There will always be something better, faster, shinier, etc. further down the road.

Although, an updated iMac may cost more money down the road if it uses TBolt 3. The Macbook Pro, for the first time in a very VERY long time, costs $500 more than the previous model.

 

[Firebrand]

And let’s not forget: the iMac desktop has a 27" screen. Sounds much more comfortable working on 3D that way!

 

[Sirmausalot]

The new iMac won't we available for 5-6 months. The newer iMac (2017) will have a useful life of about 1 year beyond the late 2015 model you could buy today (a 10-20% increase in power GPU and CPU).

However, are you doing paid work in this 5-6 month window you will have to wait for an iMac redesign?

 

[i3s3d01]

Well, I "was" waiting for the Mac event - and when no new iMacs were announced at it I ordered a fully stocked 5k 27" iMac. I'm DONE waiting!

 

[scotttnz]

My guess is that they will wait for suitable Kabylake CPUs now. They are probably 6 months away. If they were going to release spec bumped Skylake models they would have done it last week.

Personally, if I needed a computer to do what you are doing, I'd buy now. I don't have a specific need that my old Mac Pro can't handle, so I'm waiting.

 

[Traverse]

The new iMac won't we available for 5-6 months. The newer iMac (2017) will have a useful life of about 1 year beyond the late 2015 model you could buy today (a 10-20% increase in power GPU and CPU).

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a 2x GPU boost like with the MacBook Pro. That's what I'm waiting for. macOS relies heavily on the GPU even for day-to-day tasks so a more powerful GPU will help almost the entire system.

 

[59Burst]

Based on the recent MBP release the new iMacs will also get a substantial hike in price. I decided to buy the current mid-tier iMac which should be more than enough power for my needs.

 

[varian55zx]

The next iMac won't be out for many months, possibly summer of 2017 or later.

If I were in your position, I would buy.

And it's not like the previous gen iMac magically becomes worthless when a new one is released, it will still be a good machine for many years.

 

[pat500000]

I was hoping new iMacs would have been announced yesterday, but ah well, they weren't. Now I'm deciding whether I should buy an iMac now or wait.

Here's the sitch:

I'm learning 3D development, and I'm currently using a 13" Macbook Pro. The limiting factor right now for me is RAM: even for simple scenes, Maya runs out and memory and dies if I have any other apps open along side it. So I close out Safari, iTunes, Messages, and so on, while I model.

The CPU and GPU on the Macbook are good enough for the simple scenes I'm working with. It would just be better to have at least 32 GB RAM.

The current iMacs are good enough for 3D modeling. There's at least one studio I know of that uses the 5k iMacs as their primary modeling machines, and that studio produces work I'm at least a few years away from being able to produce. So I think buying an iMac now would last me a few years. I plan to get the maxed out core i7 iMac with the upgraded dedicated GPU, but only 8GB RAM. Then, I'll buy 32GB RAM separately to boost it up to 40GB total, while saving some money.

Another idea would be to buy the iMac, then sell it and buy the next version in a few months if there are worthwhile updates.

So what would you do if you were in this situation? Would you hold off, and use the Macbook Pro? Or would you buy the iMac now?

Also, I know that I could buy a PC for much cheaper and get more power. I'm not particularly uninterested in switching back to Windows, and not because I'm anti-Windows, or anything. In fact, I was a Windows fan for many years until I got my first Mac in 2013. I just prefer the Apple ecosystem right now.

Thanks for the input!

Tim got to you.


On serious note: are you a serious buyer? If so, I don't think you would wait.

 

[GoKyu]

Several of us waited for the big reveal at the recent Apple event, and when iMacs didn't show up, we went ahead and purchased now. I bought the mid-level 5K 27" iMac, and upgraded the chip to i7, storage at 512gigs, and got the standard 2 gig video card (most graphical stuff I do is in Photoshop or recording Youtube-quality vids, so didn't need the 4 gig upgrade.)

I've waited long enough, I wasn't about to wait until 1/3 of the way through next year (or longer, who knows...) to get the latest and greatest. This new iMac is already gonna tear my little Mini apart. But the Mini is more than powerful enough to handle running Ubuntu Linux (i5 and 16 gigs of memory) as my local server.

Buy now, I don't think you'll regret it - and that's coming from someone who thought he *WOULD* regret buying last year's tech.

 

[Firebrand]

Hint: current iMac 27" has replaceable RAM

 

[maflynn]

Go for it now, the 5k iMac is current, chipwise, why limit yourself on a 13" laptop with ram issues when you're really trying to get some work done and lean something worthwhile.

 

[4004786]

Alright – I took all of your advice and ORDERED it! I used the student store for a $300 discount to make myself feel better about it.

I'm so excited! It'll have 40 gigs of RAM, which seems a little crazy. But so worth it.

 

[GoKyu]

You did order the extra 32 gigs from somewhere else, right?

I got a decent little discount of around $250 because the company I work for is eligible for Apple's EPP (Employee Purchase Program) deal...

 

[4004786]

You did order the extra 32 gigs from somewhere else, right?

I did – I got it from OWC. Crucial had slightly cheaper RAM (by like $10), but they were sold out today!

 

[pat500000]

Alright – I took all of your advice and ORDERED it! I used the student store for a $300 discount to make myself feel better about it.

I'm so excited! It'll have 40 gigs of RAM, which seems a little crazy. But so worth it.

Could we give a round of applause? Clap clap

 

[maflynn]

Alright – I took all of your advice and ORDERED it! I used the student store for a $300 discount to make myself feel better about it.

Congrats - you can enjoy your machine for months on end, instead of hemming and hawing and then of course waiting for the next refresh

 

[4004786]

Woop! I got it. This photo doesn't do it justice, but it looks great on the desk. If anyone else is considering getting one, I highly recommend it over waiting.