Studio Display plus MacBook Air V 2019 iMac

[dcmaccam]

Looking to replace my 3.0 GHz 6-Core i5 2019 iMac which has 32GB Memory and 1TB Fusion drive (currently not used as I run Monterey from a 512MB Samsung Thunderbolt drive).
I am looking to get a Mac Studio Display and later get a Mac studio or Mac mini or maybe a higher end MacBook Pro. I run mainly Lightroom and Final Cut Pro with all files being stored on a separate data drive.
However I would like to sell my iMac first before I get a new Mac.
My plan would to get the Mac Studio Display and use it with my M1 8MB 256GB MacBook Air until I sell my iMac.
Does this sound a feasible temporary solution. I wonder how running Lightroom and Final Cut Pro on my M1 8MB 256GB MacBook Air would compare to running it on my 2019 iMac.

 

[appltech]

Hi
Despite the fact that this is iMac (parts replacement could be annoyingly complicated if even possible on your own = comparably costly) you can try storage replacement, to SSD and leave Fusion Drive(-s) as external storage.

32Gigs isn't a joke on macOS, but that M1 series in mundane tasks is a Dash compared to Intel's i5. But if I understood you correctly, you can test it on your side, iMac and MBA are both available

 

[dcmaccam]

Sorry I have confused the issue. I meant "replace the iMac"

 

[Yebubbleman]

Looking to replace my 3.0 GHz 6-Core i5 2019 iMac which has 32GB Memory and 1TB Fusion drive (currently not used as I run Monterey from a 512MB Samsung Thunderbolt drive).
I am looking to get a Mac Studio Display and later get a Mac studio or Mac mini or maybe a higher end MacBook Pro. I run mainly Lightroom and Final Cut Pro with all files being stored on a separate data drive.
However I would like to sell my iMac first before I get a new Mac.
My plan would to get the Mac Studio Display and use it with my M1 8MB 256GB MacBook Air until I sell my iMac.
Does this sound a feasible temporary solution. I wonder how running Lightroom and Final Cut Pro on my M1 8MB 256GB MacBook Air would compare to running it on my 2019 iMac.

The M1 Air will have faster disk performance than the 2019 iMac's Fusion Drive. RAM is still RAM though, and 8GB is not 32GB despite the fact that you have SoC components all sharing that RAM super efficiently on the M1.

Incidentally, the GPU is going to be beefier on the iMac.

If the goal is to use the money you'd make from selling the iMac towards the Mac Studio or Mac mini (I think getting a second laptop is silly unless you want to sell the Air), then I can understand that. Certainly, if you were looking at a Mac Studio, I'd either look at the Apple Certified Refurbished models or wait for a newer model (seeing as it is one of three remaining M1-based Mac models on sale).

A Fusion Drive is lame when it comes to disk reliability and speed, but the one advantage that a 2019 iMac with a Fusion Drive has is that you can take it to any Apple Authorized Service Provider, give them money, and ask them to pop out both the small SSD and large HDD that they gave you and replace them both with large SSDs. I'm not saying that the end result would be superior to that of even the current Mac Studio, but it'd definitely make what you have last all the longer until you're ready to buy the next Mac Studio. Then again, an M2 Pro Mac mini would probably be superior to what you have in every way save for the obvious and unavoidable lack of upgradeability.

 

[dcmaccam]

Hi, Thanks for the info. Just need to clarify. My iMac is booted from a Samsung X6 Thunderbolt drive so the Fusion drive is unused.