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Who's got the 2019 i5 3.7 iMac?

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macrumors 6502
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Dec 8, 2019
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Anyone rockin' the 2019 iMac with the i5-9600k (3.7 ghz) and 2tb fusion?

Saw a sick open box deal on this (briefly, it's over now) for $1650. Don't see many reviews/discussions on it as its shiny sibling the i9 gets all the love. On paper, looks like a lot of pluses. Obviously fusion is a different story, but seems the 2tb is the "best" of the fusion bunch. Anyone with this model use it for audio or cross-shop it with the 3.0 base model and have impressions/comparisons?
 
I just bought one with the specs you describe. The cost to me from Amazon was $1999 on Cyber Monday. I'm pretty happy with things. I wish it wasn't a fusion drive but since it's the 2 TB Fusion drive it's probably fine I don't really put more than 128 GB on my computers so I may never get into the hard drive. At the price I paid, it would've cost me $300 more at the least expensive site I could find which is B&H Camera in New York at $2299. That's too much for a 512 GB solid-state drive.
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I have two PC's with SSD drives and i7 processors and my new iMac boots faster.
 
Sounds like a nice rig! That was a good deal too for a new one. Hard to get these at a good price without fusion it seems. I've heard people complain about the fusion concept but it seems the 2tb has enough of an SSD to make it a good compromise. I'm pleasantly surprised (granted I had low expectations) by my paltry 1TB fusion drive and I can only imagine the 2tb would be even better.
 
Ok, just reserved an open box I saw available for $1682 on a 3.7. Crazy price so hope it's not all scratched up. Will need to check it out of course. Notice any fan noise at all on the 3.7? I do audio and haven't noticed the fans spin up at on the 3.0 at all outside their standard 1200 rpm "idling" speed, but if the 3.7 runs hotter and louder that might be an issue.
 
I really haven't pushed the machine so I'm not sure how much noise it makes under a heavy load. But my day to day use, it is absolutely silent. It really seems like there's not a moving part in the machine. I've had many computers over the years including a 2008 Mac Pro that cost me $3500 and this is way more silent than it was. It really seems like there's not a moving part in the machine. Hope this helps.
 
Personally I don’t think anyone should be springing for a computer with an HDD in 2019, even if the only thing you do is surf facebook and twitter. Save some extra money over the next few months then reassess. But To answer your question, if you don’t need the processing power of the i9, the i5 is great and more than capable!
 
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I have this machine and love it. I also have two PCs with SSD so can make a fair comparison. I have no regrets about the 2TB Fusion drive and would happily make the same buying decision again.
 
bpeeps said:
Personally I don’t think anyone should be springing for a computer with an HDD in 2019, even if the only thing you do is surf facebook and twitter. Save some extra money over the next few months then reassess. But To answer your question, if you don’t need the processing power of the i9, the i5 is great and more than capable!
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Personally, I don't think anyone should be springing for a car with less than a V12 and minimum 800HP in 2019, even if the only thing you do is commute to work in rushhour traffic every day. Save some extra money over the next few months then reassess.

:rolleyes:
 
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Absolutely correct. The PC market have spent 20 years or more chasing the latest and greatest fastest of everything mantra. I say buy what works for you and what makes financial sense. I doubt I will ever make this 2TB Fusion drive break sweat so I’m more than content with my purchase.
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone locally willing to give me a halfway decent price on my base 3.0 2019 (with ease) so it will be 1tb fusion for a while. The 2TB does look like a big improvement. However, Apple won't accept mine as a trade-in until it's been out a year and the other retailers are the same. An independent mac place offered me $900 for it, but since I've only had it 6 weeks that's a big hit and makes "upgrading" way too expensive.
 
I'm about the pull the trigger on an i5 with the vega 48 graphics. As far as the fusion drive goes, I'll just swap in a 4tb 860 EVO SSD and then an extra 32 gigs of ram and have the system of my dreams.

I'm not a fan of the i7-i9 models simply because the big reason they have better benchmark scores is the hyperthreading, which, in my experience, is not a big advantage in the real world.
 
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I must be missing something, but for the 2019 27" i5 model, I'm seeing only 3.0 and 3.1 GHz options on the Apple store. The i9 is 3.7 GHz. In any case, I have the model you got, but it's 3.0, with 8 GB of RAM. It cost me $1,699 on the Refurbished store, and I added another 16 GB of RAM for $100 from Crucial. I love it! I'm a multimedia hobbyist, and it's plenty fast for my needs. That 5K monitor is gorgeous.

As for critics of the Fusion drive, check out the "In defense of the 2 TB Fusion drive" thread on this forum. I posted a rant there defending the 2 TB and 3 TB Fusion drives.
 
Ubele said:
I must be missing something, but for the 2019 27" i5 model, I'm seeing only 3.0 and 3.1 GHz options on the Apple store. The i9 is 3.7 GHz. In any case, I have the model you got, but it's 3.0, with 8 GB of RAM. It cost me $1,699 on the Refurbished store, and I added another 16 GB of RAM for $100 from Crucial. I love it! I'm a multimedia hobbyist, and it's plenty fast for my needs. That 5K monitor is gorgeous.

As for critics of the Fusion drive, check out the "In defense of the 2 TB Fusion drive" thread on this forum. I posted a rant there defending the 2 TB and 3 TB Fusion drives.
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The i5 comes in 3.0GHz, 3.1GHz, or 3.7GHz. The i9 is 3.6GHz.
 
Ubele said:
I must be missing something, but for the 2019 27" i5 model, I'm seeing only 3.0 and 3.1 GHz options on the Apple store. The i9 is 3.7 GHz. In any case, I have the model you got, but it's 3.0, with 8 GB of RAM. It cost me $1,699 on the Refurbished store, and I added another 16 GB of RAM for $100 from Crucial. I love it! I'm a multimedia hobbyist, and it's plenty fast for my needs. That 5K monitor is gorgeous.

As for critics of the Fusion drive, check out the "In defense of the 2 TB Fusion drive" thread on this forum. I posted a rant there defending the 2 TB and 3 TB Fusion drives.
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The i9 is 3.6ghz. Which is only a bto option.

The top end i5 is the one thats 3.7ghz.

I’ll agree to disagree with you on the fusion drives. I’ve been using ssd only macs for a couple years now and when I worked on a fusion drive imac recently i was like ‘wtf is this?!?”.
It was VERY noticeably worse than any pure ssd system, imo.
 
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BigBoy2018 said:
The i9 is 3.6ghz. Which is only a bto option.

The top end i5 is the one thats 3.7ghz.

I’ll agree to disagree with you on the fusion drives. I’ve been using ssd only macs for a couple years now and when I worked on a fusion drive imac recently i was like ‘wtf is this?!?”.
It was VERY noticeably worse than any pure ssd system, imo.
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Perhaps you’re the exception that proves the rule or maybe it’s your usage requirements. Personally for standard usage I see no real world difference.
 
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Lankyman said:
Perhaps you’re the exception that proves the rule or maybe your it’s your usage requirements. Personally for standard usage I see no real world difference.
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Well, I would suggest you're the exception, since just about every tech savvy person seems to agree that fusion drives are not even close to the experience of a real SSD.
Leo Laporte for instance: https://techguylabs.com/episodes/1381/should-i-get-mac-fusion-drive

"Fusion (drives) are only slightly faster than a spinning drive. It's better to get an SSD and then add an external drive via Thunderbolt. Leo doesn't care for Fusion technology. It really doesn't give the benefits they want people to think it does."
 
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BigBoy2018 said:
Well, I would suggest you're the exception, since just about every tech savvy person seems to agree that fusion drives are not even close to the experience of a real SSD.
Leo Laporte for instance: https://techguylabs.com/episodes/1381/should-i-get-mac-fusion-drive

"Fusion (drives) are only slightly faster than a spinning drive. It's better to get an SSD and then add an external drive via Thunderbolt. Leo doesn't care for Fusion technology. It really doesn't give the benefits they want people to think it does."
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Black Magic scores would indicate you’re mistaken.
 
Lankyman said:
Black Magic scores would indicate you’re mistaken.
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2014 called, it wants your praise of fusion drives back.

Black magic measures file read and write speeds (which are still much faster in ssds than a fusion drive) but the truly transformational aspect of ssd’s is the the virtually instantaneous access times. Thats something black magic doesnt measure, and that makes everything ‘feel’ so much snappier with an ssd.

As a side note, I think youre in the minority. Just about every review of the current imac rails against the fact that they still have archaic fusion drives.

The argument for fusion drives was always that they’re somewhat faster than spinning drives, but WAY cheaper than ssds. That was an ok argument in 2014. Now that 1tb ssds are $100 or less, its asinine to still argue the virtue of fusion drives.

P.S. spinning drives are also less reliable, and we hadnt even touched on that yet
 
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2TB SSD drives are still pretty expensive. I‘m comparing SATA SSD to FD not M.2. I have zero interest in adding an external drive for storage. It kind of defeats the AIO concept. I have my W10 PC for multiple drives.
 
I’ve had a number of Macs with fusion drives (including my current i9 iMac) and they are fine for most everyone, myself included. And I’ve never had one fail.

The speed advantages of a SSD are overblown - a normal user will never notice them.
 
I have a 3.7. It's everything I expected, and I hope it serves as long as the faithful 2007 it replaced (or at least until Apple sh!tcans x64 and developers turn away).

As far as the storage options, the fact that no one feels the need to explicitly create topics to publicly defend SSDs speaks volumes (no pun intended).

Buy what works for you, and leave the teeth gnashing for the Battery Health Obsessives.
 
If I buy the 3.7 (or 3.6) today from Apple which is loaded Mojave or, Catalina? If Catalina, can I downgrade? Thanks.
 
macdoofus said:
If I buy the 3.7 (or 3.6) today from Apple which is loaded Mojave or, Catalina? If Catalina, can I downgrade? Thanks.
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Yes, you will always be able to install Mojave 10.14.4 or later on any 2019 iMac, regardless what OS is on it when you buy it. Its simple AS LONG as you saved a full installer of Mojave. Ideally 10.14.6 build 18G103 (which was the last full installer apple released).

I personally save final releases of various mac OS’s for this very reason.

Use the installer to create a usb installer stick (I use a free and easy program called ‘Install Disk Creator’. Then boot from the usb stick, wipe the hard drive using disk utility thats part of the installer and then do the install. Voila, a fresh install of Mojave on your 2019 iMac.
 
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