Used iMac for graphic design work

[smurray]

Looking to get a used iMac for my wife to use in combination with her iPad Pro to do some graphic design work. She does a lot of hand lettering and logo design using mainly Procreate on the iPad, but she’s finding the need to have a desktop device to do some post processing work. I found a few iMacs for sale on my local Craigslist that are within my budget (<$600), and they all seem to be somewhere in the Late 2009-Mid 2011 model range. Would these models likely be sufficient for her needs? What should be the number one thing I look for? I did notice that some have 8gb RAM, while others only have 4gb. Should 8gb be considered a requirement?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some insight/assistance.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I would be cautious about the 2011 27" iMac because of issues with the GPU on some models. In particular the 6970 GPU. Also, the i7 models got extremely hot which can affect the logic board longevity. I know as I had a 2011 iMac with the 6970 GPU.

 

[smurray]

The 2011 model I’ve found for sale is a 21.5” model. I’ll paste the link to the ad below. Would this particular one be a potential problem, or was it just the 27” model?

https://toledo.craigslist.org/sys/6204601243.html