To buy...or not to buy...that is the question...

[MrMister111]

So at the moment we have a iMac late 2012. Working fine, it used as a general computer for office, browsing, Photos for Mac..

Apple in UK until 2nd Oct have a promo for Uni students with free Beats headphones, nice Xmas pressy! But looking on MR buyers guide iMac are a "don't buy" but by Tim new released, maybe late Oct for Xmas sales? the offer will not be on obviously.

So has this happened in past, whereby the new iMacs are released after the offer has finished, what are we expecting just spec bumps?

Would I be a fool to buy now for a basic iMac and get the offer, or should I wait, and then potentially another price increase for the iMac and not get the offer?

thanks

 

[chscag]

It's always a "gamble" when you come to the end of a model run and expect new ones to be announced by Apple. Sometimes Apple can be unpredictable with new offerings. Also, price increases are always something to think about expecially since you're in the UK where prices are quite different than they are here in the US. A lot has to do with the £ vs $ exchange rate. If a new iMac right now suits your needs and it includes a special promo, go for it. Otherwise, take a gamble and wait...

 

[MrMister111]

It's always a "gamble" when you come to the end of a model run and expect new ones to be announced by Apple. Sometimes Apple can be unpredictable with new offerings. Also, price increases are always something to think about expecially since you're in the UK where prices are quite different than they are here in the US. A lot has to do with the £ vs $ exchange rate. If a new iMac right now suits your needs and it includes a special promo, go for it. Otherwise, take a gamble and wait...

I've been in the Apple game (and others suppose) to know its always a gamble, and "never" the right time to buy I agree. Its just wondering if the promo is worth it, and if the iMac price will go up on new release as well. Current were released in June 2017 so really buying a year and a half old one...

Our current iMac for what we use is fine tbh, just I use it for photos and library is now over 600gb and starting to slow, but everything still works on it tbh. It gets less use now with iPads now as well, so not sure if need it...

Also am I being daft? the late 2012 has an 2.9GHz Intel Core i5, the base iMac now has a 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor. Now I know its different generation, but just seems so much slower - is it worse?

 

[theluggage]

Its just wondering if the promo is worth it, and if the iMac price will go up on new release as well.

There's no certainty that a new iMac will be released in October. Its plausible, new processors are available, its about time, but nobody is telling and, if you read the details in the buyers' guide, the rumours are fairly wishy-washy and have a "you will go on a long journey, meet a tall, dark stranger and receive some unexpected news" vibe to them.

That said, this has been discussed here for the last couple of months and we're probably now into the "wait and see" zone - give it a few weeks after the offer has ended. If a new model appears and you don't like it then there's always the refurb store - I've also know some independent resellers like Jigsaw to have stocks of old-model machines for some time after an update.

If a new iMac does appear, the most likely change is that it will adopt the new processors with extra cores - so dual-core models could get bumped to 4-core, 4-cores to 6-core. If you're using software that is well optimised for multi-core (e.g. video editing or audio production) then that could be the biggest CPU power boost for years and could be worth waiting for. For "general use" stuff, maybe not so much.

Less welcome changes could be removal of USB A/Ethernet/SD ports and no upgradeable RAM on 27"... that's pure speculation of course, but it is consistent with what happened on the MBP and would also encourage enthusiasts to shell out for the iMac Pro.

Price is anybody's guess - but its Apple, who's $1-trillion triumph was achieved by increasing margins on very modest unit sales increases - so they probably ain't gonna go down.

Really, though, there's no way to decide.

However, you're talking about paying ~£2000 for a new computer which you presumably hope is going to serve you for another 5 years. Personally, I wouldn't let a free pair of headphones influence that sort of buying decision - especially if you see "sticking with what you have" as a viable alternative.

On the other hand, the 2017 models seem to be solid - and have held on to their "legacy" ports and RAM expansion. They're not going to crumble to dust as soon as a new version comes out.

 

[chscag]

Also am I being daft? the late 2012 has an 2.9GHz Intel Core i5, the base iMac now has a 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor. Now I know its different generation, but just seems so much slower - is it worse?

That's not a good comparison. You need to look up the benchmarks for each. I believe you will find that the newer iMac is much faster than the late 2012.

 

[shaunp]

Honestly I would wait. If your existing iMac is working fine then just wait. It's been an age since the iMac was updated and there has been a raft of CPU updates from both Intel and AMD since then. Logic would dictate something would be released for Christmas, but this is Apple we are talking about so it might be early next year, but if what you have works then there's no rush.

 

[MrMister111]

Honestly I would wait. If your existing iMac is working fine then just wait. It's been an age since the iMac was updated and there has been a raft of CPU updates from both Intel and AMD since then. Logic would dictate something would be released for Christmas, but this is Apple we are talking about so it might be early next year, but if what you have works then there's no rush.

That's what I'm thinking but the offer of free beats is decent as well (£250). And as likely Apple will probably increase the price of the iMac as well.

 

[shaunp]

That's what I'm thinking but the offer of free beats is decent as well (£250). And as likely Apple will probably increase the price of the iMac as well.

The free beats are only there to lure you into buying an old computer, and they aren't even that good. A £40 pair of Audio Technica headphones would probably sound better. Considering Apple almost never give anything away and also very rarely reduce prices you'd have to ask why they have this deal going on. Seriously just take a step back and think about it. In your shoes I'd save my money for now.

 

[MRrainer]

The performance increase between the current and the next generation iMac will be huge (well, unless they totally blow the cooling on this one, too).

Such a system will be more than adequate for your use-case for a long time. Even with a potential price-increase, that is worth it IMO.

 

[MrMister111]

Well..... Didn't buy. Will wait and see what happens. Would still get a Uni discount.

I've just done a 10.14 fresh install as well to hopefully start a fresh. Photo library is 600Gb though so is a bit allow.

 

[throAU]

Would I be a fool to buy now for a basic iMac and get the offer, or should I wait, and then potentially another price increase for the iMac and not get the offer?

thanks

If your old machine is doing the job, don't buy**. End of story. "Saving money" just because a machine is on sale when you don't need to replace your current one yet is not saving money.


edit:
** unless you "want to". But if you want to, thats your decision and isn't based on rationality.