were do I go now or do I wait a bit longer

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

hell every one like use I seen the apple event this week and I just looking advice I currently use a iMac 27 inch with i9 16 ram and 2tb ssd and a 16inch MacBook Pro with same spec


ii tend to run my apple computers till apple stop giving them new os

but with the 27inch gone now and the studio and pro out of my range were do some like me go to as a mile of the road I found the 27inch a sweet spot for me in power and value

 

[casperes1996]

If you intend to run your current machine for several more years until it’s no longer supported I think it better to just wait and see how things develop. By then a larger iMac could come back, the studio could go down in price or a Mac mini with better hardware options could get introduced or something different and brand new

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

how will apple support my machines with new os ?

 

[casperes1996]

how will apple support my machines with new os ?

What do you mean? Sounds like you have pretty recent devices that will get supported with new operating systems for quite some time still

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I mean how long to they kill off intel iMacs I mean as I said only did a pager up grade in 2019 my last 2 machines ran from iMac late 09 and laptop same year and spec.

 

[casperes1996]

I mean how long to they kill off intel iMacs I mean as I said only did a pager up grade in 2019 my last 2 machines ran from iMac late 09 and laptop same year and spec.

That's hard to say. Nobody can tell you for sure because outside of Apple's offices, and possibly inside, it's not something that's officially decided. I'm going to say AT LEAST 3 more major releases and at least another year of minor releases after that. But remember that there are currently still two Intel iMacs for sale on Apple's store and people who buy either of those right before they get replaced would be pretty dissatisfied if they don't get support for a while too.

 

[maerz001]

Still running an imac from 2012 which gets updates…

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

as u can see when I buy my apple products I run them for a long time I like get my moneys out of them and actuality see changes like speed act

 

[crazy dave]

The last transition (PowerPC to Intel) Apple kept new OS support for four years post transition announcement (2005-2009). The equivalent would be until 2024 here (with security updates past that). However, this transition has been a little slower (Mac Pro *may* not even switch this year), the amount of legacy software and hardware is larger, and Apple owns more of the transition technology (eg they developed Rosetta 2, they licensed Rosetta 1). So there’s good reason to expect longer Intel Mac support after this transition than there was PPC support after the last one.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I'm looking foword to get apple siacon and see the difference in proformince and I just wonder how long they will support each apple silicon before they d move on to the next one

 

[hiker-]

Apple Silicon makes a huge difference on laptops because of the efficiency improvements.
I would consider replacing both machines with a latop + Studio Display.

 

[Ethosik]

The last transition (PowerPC to Intel) Apple kept new OS support for four years post transition announcement (2005-2009). The equivalent would be until 2024 here (with security updates past that). However, this transition has been a little slower (Mac Pro *may* not even switch this year), the amount of legacy software and hardware is larger, and Apple owns more of the transition technology (eg they developed Rosetta 2, they licensed Rosetta 1). So there’s good reason to expect longer Intel Mac support after this transition than there was PPC support after the last one.

Did that cover the last product that transitioned, or the first one? Not sure if they had a lot of products that needed transitioned. I would just imagine someone purchasing a 2019 Mac Pro now would be out of luck in just a short 3 years. Do you think the timeline will start ticking AFTER the Mac Pro is replaced?

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

is it easy to move all from desktop to only laptop I manly use my laptop from march to Octobers and my iMac most of the time

 

[jdb8167]

I’m not sure why you think you are priced out of a new system equivalent to your existing one. You don’t say what year your i9 iMac is from but going from your specs on a 2020 i9 iMac would cost $2999 + $800 for 16 GB and 2 TB. An equivalent Mac mini and Studio Display would cost $899 + $800 for 16 GB and 2TB with the display at $1599. So the 2020 iMac was $3799 and the Mac mini + display is only $3298. Add in a keyboard and mouse and it is still less at $3596.

If you want a base Mac Studio instead then you are talking a serious price increase. But then maybe get a cheaper display. A base Mac Studio with 32 GB and 2 TB is $2599. Add in the 24” LG UltraFine and the total is again $3596 with Apple keyboard and mouse.

 

[Ethosik]

I’m not sure why you think you are priced out of a new system equivalent to your existing one. You don’t say what year your i9 iMac is from but going from your specs on a 2020 i9 iMac would cost $2999 + $800 for 16 GB and 2 TB. An equivalent Mac mini and Studio Display would cost $899 + $800 for 16 GB and 2TB with the display at $1599. So the 2020 iMac was $3799 and the Mac mini + display is only $3298. Add in a keyboard and mouse and it is still less at $3596.

If you want a base Mac Studio instead then you are talking a serious price increase. But then maybe get a cheaper display. A base Mac Studio with 32 GB and 2 TB is $2599. Add in the 24” LG UltraFine and the total is again $3596 with Apple keyboard and mouse.

Wonderfully said. People need to re-evaluate the "low end offerings" with Apple Silicon. I have said before in other threads, but my 2019 i9 iMac with 128GB of RAM and Vega 48 was beaten by even the base M1 Mac mini with my workflow. I upgraded to 16GB of RAM due to some 4K work, but even the 8GB one was doing just fine.

 

[Krevnik]

is it easy to move all from desktop to only laptop I manly use my laptop from march to Octobers and my iMac most of the time

It’s easier these days with Thunderbolt docks and displays that let you have a one-cable connection. I’ve gone laptop only with the 16” MBP now that it is quiet under load compared to the Intel system, because everything I need at the desk is a single cable away.

But it still will depend a bit on your exact needs. I don’t have a lot of external storage, and use a NAS, so the dock is mostly there for peripherals, network and display connectivity.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I’m not sure why you think you are priced out of a new system equivalent to your existing one. You don’t say what year your i9 iMac is from but going from your specs on a 2020 i9 iMac would cost $2999 + $800 for 16 GB and 2 TB. An equivalent Mac mini and Studio Display would cost $899 + $800 for 16 GB and 2TB with the display at $1599. So the 2020 iMac was $3799 and the Mac mini + display is only $3298. Add in a keyboard and mouse and it is still less at $3596.

If you want a base Mac Studio instead then you are talking a serious price increase. But then maybe get a cheaper display. A base Mac Studio with 32 GB and 2 TB is $2599. Add in the 24” LG UltraFine and the total is again $3596 with Apple keyboard and mouse.

both are 2019 models

 

[crazy dave]

Did that cover the last product that transitioned, or the first one? Not sure if they had a lot of products that needed transitioned. I would just imagine someone purchasing a 2019 Mac Pro now would be out of luck in just a short 3 years. Do you think the timeline will start ticking AFTER the Mac Pro is replaced?

That was the start of the first - actually from announcement. But that transition was sufficiently different (and macOS releases were as well - paid releases every couple of years) that I consider that a baseline as to what to expect rather than a max. Also security updates should happen for quite a bit after the last OS release.

 

[crazy dave]

If you want a base Mac Studio instead then you are talking a serious price increase. But then maybe get a cheaper display.

Yes, the iMac was a really good deal IF you wanted an Apple display with that extra resolution and add ons. A good 4K display which is more than good enough for most tasks though is much cheaper. So a Mac Studio + display become at least as affordable as the relevant iMac would’ve been with a much better price to performance ratio. This is what a lot people didn’t like about the 27” iMac but it was a really good deal if you wanted that screen. So I also understand why many will miss it (I have an older 27” iMac and like it quite a lot).

So @Jonathan.T.Harpur your upgrade path may be a mini/studio + non-Apple display. But since it won’t be needed for awhile you can probably wait and see if larger iMac Pros ever get released as is rumored (and that’s of interest to you).

 

[ADGrant]

both are 2019 models

So the M1 Mac mini will probably be faster. The 2019 iMac had really slow SSDs (or even Fusion drives ?)

 

[jdb8167]

Yes, the iMac was a really good deal IF you wanted an Apple display with that extra resolution and add ons. A good 4K display which is more than good enough for most tasks though is much cheaper. So a Mac Studio + display become at least as affordable as the relevant iMac would’ve been with a much better price to performance ratio. This is what a lot people didn’t like about the 27” iMac but it was a really good deal if you wanted that screen. So I also understand why many will miss it (I have an older 27” iMac and like it quite a lot).

So @Jonathan.T.Harpur your upgrade path may be a mini/studio + non-Apple display. But since it won’t be needed for awhile you can probably wait and see if larger iMac Pros ever get released as is rumored (and that’s of interest to you).

I should also say that it is pretty obvious that there is a pretty big gap between the the M1 Mac mini and the base Mac Studio. I think a M1 or M2 Pro Mac mini is inevitable. But if you need a iMac replacement right now, you still have options.

 

[crazy dave]

I should also say that it is pretty obvious that there is a pretty big gap between the the M1 Mac mini and the base Mac Studio. I think a M1 or M2 Pro Mac mini is inevitable. But if you need a iMac replacement right now, you still have options.

Oh definitely and they still have the higher end Intel Mac mini for sale. So yes an Mx Pro chip is definitely coming for the mini. I’m a little surprised it wasn’t announced here unless the M2 really is around the corner. I’d be curious to know if the iMac 24” can (thermally) take the Mx Pro chip given its design. If it can, then at 24” it would be an able replacement for *some* 27” users.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I still like the all in one design tho but I will consider going to MacBook Air and 24 iMac if they don't bring out a 27 inch I looking at 2025 to change

It would feel like a step down to me as I like to buy the hight end machines as I do not change them as often as some users

As I said my first set of machines lasted from late 2009 to 2017

iMac was a i7 16 ram 2tb hard drive late 2009

MacBook Pro 15 inch with 512 hard drive ( witch I upgraded to 2tb ) and full 8gb ram

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