Even a 5k screen + PC that is 2/3 of the iMac doesn't exist. 1/3 for half of what you get with the iMac is more apt...
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Why do you still buy an iMac?
- Thread starter charlieasmith96
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Even a 5k screen + PC that is 2/3 of the iMac doesn't exist. 1/3 for half of what you get with the iMac is more apt...
FWIW:
(1) I can choose a keyboard that fits my use and ergonomic needs
(2) No need for mobile computing; I can use my phone for simple things like texts, email.
(3) A 27 inch display comes with the iMac; no need to purchase a display ( and my older eyes like a bigger display).
(4) A bigger screen and more resources ( more RAM, faster CPU ) makes life easier for my usage needs.
(5) My older body is more fragile and the iMac allows me to sit comfortably for longer periods than I am able to with a laptop machine.
It forces me to sit at my desk in a nice chair. Laugh if you will, but there's something about having a dedicated work spot.
The screen is stunning and comes with a full computer.
And vs having a laptop with monitor (a setup I tried) it's a much cleaner install. I like simple and clean. Keeps all the OCD demons asleep while I'm trying to work.
The screen is stunning and comes with a full computer.
And vs having a laptop with monitor (a setup I tried) it's a much cleaner install. I like simple and clean. Keeps all the OCD demons asleep while I'm trying to work.
When you compare a MacBook Pro 15" with graphics card (around 2700€) with a same priced iMac 5K the benchmarks are 10000 (iMac 3.3Ghz M395) vs 13000 (MacBook 2.5Ghz).
Sure, this isn't the full story. Flash storage probably makes a difference, most specs aren't the same and the iMac is 200€ cheaper. Also, the MacBooks price doesn't include the monitor.
But how big is the difference in performance really? Graphics?
Sure, this isn't the full story. Flash storage probably makes a difference, most specs aren't the same and the iMac is 200€ cheaper. Also, the MacBooks price doesn't include the monitor.
But how big is the difference in performance really? Graphics?
It's a pain in the ass to keep hooking and unhooking your laptop every time you need to use it.
Really? The rMBP with the older Haswell CPU scores 30% higher in benchmarks than a recent iMac with a Skylake CPU?
I'll be updating my 2011 iMac soon and keep thinking about the options. I really don't need 27 inches or 5K. A 24 inch 4K display would be just fine and Dell makes a good one for only about $400. But the last time I priced a MacBook Pro to use with it in clamshell mode (I like my existing Logitech keyboard) and added in cost of external speakers, camera, extra connections, etc., the 5K IMac looks like it is reasonably priced. The only major downsides in my opinion are the lack of user access and not being able to replace the display easily or cheaply in the event of a failure. I will no doubt keep thinking about options until the day before I order, but 90% likely to go the iMac route again. Mac Mini too underpowered and Mac Pro too costly due to GPU performance I do not need.
Several reason for me.
A laptop isn't suit very well for my particular work load which contains encoding tons of video. An AIO isn't ideal but for my task an iMac works very well.
No need for portability. If I did dock a laptop it would never be undocked so why pay the premium for a laptop and monitor + accessories?
Cost vs performance. A rMBP can be built to be more powerful than I require but it comes at a premium I'm not willing to pay.
I don't like the idea of extra wires and accessories (extra keyboards, mouse/trackpad, etc).
Possibly limited I/O. With an iMac I use all the ports on the back. I would need just as many with a laptop plus possibly more depending on other docking accessories.
I'm sure its an excellent solution for many people, its just not a good one for me.
A laptop isn't suit very well for my particular work load which contains encoding tons of video. An AIO isn't ideal but for my task an iMac works very well.
No need for portability. If I did dock a laptop it would never be undocked so why pay the premium for a laptop and monitor + accessories?
Cost vs performance. A rMBP can be built to be more powerful than I require but it comes at a premium I'm not willing to pay.
I don't like the idea of extra wires and accessories (extra keyboards, mouse/trackpad, etc).
Possibly limited I/O. With an iMac I use all the ports on the back. I would need just as many with a laptop plus possibly more depending on other docking accessories.
I'm sure its an excellent solution for many people, its just not a good one for me.
Small price to pay if you want portability though. For me it's just four cables (audio, USB hub, mini display, power).
It depends a bit how many times per day you run that little routine.
I used to do that once in the morning, but an old colleague of mine was much more mobile and I can imagine that routine gets old really fast.
In addition to all the other reasons, I have two 27" monitors attached to mine which makes data entry in connection with my hobby of genealogy easier than even using my MacBook Pro attached to them.
There's also the henge dock, which makes life a lot easier as its an actual docking station and you don't need to unhook your cables.
I thought long and hard about this before opting for the iMac. A few things pushed me toward the iMac; (1) More bang for the buck -- great screen, more power, less money; (2) To get close to similar power in a portable I would have needed a 15 inch rMBP, which while portable and a great machine, is larger and heavier than I really wanted for portable use; (3) the vast majority of the time I do not need portability.
So, despite the potential added cost later, I decided an iMac makes the most sense for me 95% of the time, and if I find I need something other than my iPad for portable use later, I can get something smaller/lighter, less expensive and less powerful than I would have otherwise considered because the iMac will be my main computer.
So, despite the potential added cost later, I decided an iMac makes the most sense for me 95% of the time, and if I find I need something other than my iPad for portable use later, I can get something smaller/lighter, less expensive and less powerful than I would have otherwise considered because the iMac will be my main computer.
I use both set up's..and it's a bit of a luxury, but there you go...
I do After Effects/light 3D/Photoshop/Illustrator work mainly and the current iMac is a very nice middle man to get these jobs done. A 'jack-of-all-trades', it's a joy to use.
If things get heavy with rendering then even the Mac Pro benefits from a render farm or some kind of net render..I've used PC set up's in the past but when the going gets tough there's only so much you can do on one machine...
The rMBP/external monitor simple drops things down a notch or two performance wise...but if money is an issue and you need to work remotely them that set-up is certainly your choice...
I do After Effects/light 3D/Photoshop/Illustrator work mainly and the current iMac is a very nice middle man to get these jobs done. A 'jack-of-all-trades', it's a joy to use.
If things get heavy with rendering then even the Mac Pro benefits from a render farm or some kind of net render..I've used PC set up's in the past but when the going gets tough there's only so much you can do on one machine...
The rMBP/external monitor simple drops things down a notch or two performance wise...but if money is an issue and you need to work remotely them that set-up is certainly your choice...
This isn't a one-size-fits-all world.
If having a portable Mac is important, then MacBook + display is one way to go. For me, iPad is as much of a portable computer as I need (I retired my PowerBook G4 a few months after the original iPad was introduced). I spend nearly all my computing time on desktops (and all my office time on computers), so optimizing my desktop experience is far more important than having a portability option. And when I do go on the road, a laptop is insufficiently portable - I spend an awful lot of that time trekking and hiking about. I'd rather have an iPad in my pack than a MacBook.
I also am not tied to a single computer; my data is in the cloud, I have an "upstairs" machine and a "downstairs," plus my iOS devices... my software licenses allow me to have the same apps on multiple machines, and a fair amount of what I do on a daily basis can be done via web-based interfaces. So the notion that I need to carry an entire computer around in order to have my data and apps is so day-before-yesterday. It's like using an RV as your primary means of transportation when you only go camping a few weekends out of the year.
If having a portable Mac is important, then MacBook + display is one way to go. For me, iPad is as much of a portable computer as I need (I retired my PowerBook G4 a few months after the original iPad was introduced). I spend nearly all my computing time on desktops (and all my office time on computers), so optimizing my desktop experience is far more important than having a portability option. And when I do go on the road, a laptop is insufficiently portable - I spend an awful lot of that time trekking and hiking about. I'd rather have an iPad in my pack than a MacBook.
I also am not tied to a single computer; my data is in the cloud, I have an "upstairs" machine and a "downstairs," plus my iOS devices... my software licenses allow me to have the same apps on multiple machines, and a fair amount of what I do on a daily basis can be done via web-based interfaces. So the notion that I need to carry an entire computer around in order to have my data and apps is so day-before-yesterday. It's like using an RV as your primary means of transportation when you only go camping a few weekends out of the year.
A lot can depend on current and past use cases. I used a Lenovo laptop at work for many years. At the office it was hooked to two monitors which is an ideal environment for programming. At home and other locations I used it as a laptop only. Being so used to a laptop, that's what I bought when getting my MBP at retirement (tired of using Windows). We travel a lot so the MBP is convenient for that. Since I also have an iPad, a lot of portable use of the computer is done on it. Currently I use the MBP at home in clamshell mode connected to a full sized keyboard and 23" ACD. It does a great job in that configuration. I can unhook it and have it in my backpack in <15 seconds.
My wife has had an iMac since mid-2011. She likes to clean look of the all-in-one. Since most of our travel is in our RV, she takes the iMac along on most trips. I made a mounting system in the RV to secure it solidly when traveling so no problems. I would love to have a big monitor along for my MBP but not enough space.
We just bought an older iMac off Craigslist to use at a vacation house. Wanted something there to use and didn't want to have to deal with transporting our computers back and forth. An iMac works better there as it's not going to be moved around.
When the GPU dies in my 2011 MBP I will probably buy another laptop.
My wife has had an iMac since mid-2011. She likes to clean look of the all-in-one. Since most of our travel is in our RV, she takes the iMac along on most trips. I made a mounting system in the RV to secure it solidly when traveling so no problems. I would love to have a big monitor along for my MBP but not enough space.
We just bought an older iMac off Craigslist to use at a vacation house. Wanted something there to use and didn't want to have to deal with transporting our computers back and forth. An iMac works better there as it's not going to be moved around.
When the GPU dies in my 2011 MBP I will probably buy another laptop.
Such is the "power" of hypertheading. You could always put an i7 in an iMac, and put those fears to rest.
I'm curious, though. When a macbook attempts these benchmarks, how loud are the fans? Compared to my sisters Macbook Air of some years ago, my imac is positively civilized.
I enjoy variety, so having my iPad, Laptop, and iMac suits me just fine. Life is short for just wishing all the time. Having that larger iMac screen in my office area is very satisfactory and easy on the eyes.
I didn't say that you'd get a 27" retina 5k screen with that. But the question is more along the lines of will the computer do the same functions at about the same speed. Yes, the 5K screen is great. But what good is having a beautiful screen if your wireless keyboard that ships with your iMac just won't stay connected as there are drivers issues with bluetooth and the OS that Apple pretty much forces you to upgrade to. Or your mouse is temperamental and takes 30 seconds to simply wake up.
How about your UPS that has a usb plug so it can auto shut down your computer if the power goes off, but suddenly is not compatible when you upgrade your OS to try and keep the AppleCare support you paid for. (Oh yea, they have the option not to support you if you refuse any software upgrade).
Or ...
I bought a computer to use it. if I have to spend days on end with Apple on the phone as they can't seem to get their own hardware to work with their software and they feel the fault is yours because it seems to work with everyone else and why are you just complaining.
I can get quite a nice i5 3.5ghz windows computer with 8gb of ram for $800. Yes it might not look as nice but it likely have less issues that what I got.
What exactly are you having a problem with? If it is the keyboard and mouse that is easily remedied. The new magic keyboard will function with the lightning cable attached (and not require bluetooth) and there are plenty of third party options.
As for the UPS, you expect Apple to support a device that they didn't make? They upgrade the OS and it is up to the third party peripheral makers to ensure that their devices work with the new OS, not Apple.
I'm not saying that Apple is perfect but an $800 PC may not have these particular issues but come on, you have to admit that saying you are less likely to have issues than with what you have is not true at all.
As for the UPS, you expect Apple to support a device that they didn't make? They upgrade the OS and it is up to the third party peripheral makers to ensure that their devices work with the new OS, not Apple.
I'm not saying that Apple is perfect but an $800 PC may not have these particular issues but come on, you have to admit that saying you are less likely to have issues than with what you have is not true at all.
The iMacs are very reliable and have a beautiful screen as well, I am always editing photos and the 27" is so much better to work on than a 15" MacBook for my work; by the time you buy a good high resolution display it's going to add cost and potentially reduce performance (especially if you want 5k); it's nice having just the 1 power cable as well, and it is actually very easy to pack up in a box and move too (took mine on a holiday to work on), although definitely not something you want to take everywhere like a laptop 
a lot of things I would personally use a laptop for I able to use either my phone or iPad for.
I'm just about to upgrade and get a new high end 5k iMac for editing, while the old 27" (2010ish) machine will be used for business / music etc - dual 27" iMacs rather than dual screens
The old machine has had heavy use over its life; Apple care has replaced the dvd drive, LCD screen panels, and video card all free of charge; I replaced the hard drive after Apple care had ended and Apple replaced the entire display free of charge due to the screen getting streaks in the replacement process, my dad got a second machine at the same time I got mine and nothing has needed replacement, however he did just fit a SSD and upgrade the hard drive recently, it doesn't feel like an old machine. Do you think a lower end MacBook or Air could potentially be cheaper than a display?
a lot of things I would personally use a laptop for I able to use either my phone or iPad for.I'm just about to upgrade and get a new high end 5k iMac for editing, while the old 27" (2010ish) machine will be used for business / music etc - dual 27" iMacs rather than dual screens
The old machine has had heavy use over its life; Apple care has replaced the dvd drive, LCD screen panels, and video card all free of charge; I replaced the hard drive after Apple care had ended and Apple replaced the entire display free of charge due to the screen getting streaks in the replacement process, my dad got a second machine at the same time I got mine and nothing has needed replacement, however he did just fit a SSD and upgrade the hard drive recently, it doesn't feel like an old machine. Do you think a lower end MacBook or Air could potentially be cheaper than a display?
for me is not about a choice since i have all Apple products so i am covered for all my needs
But to have an all in one with just one cable its very nice and clear.
And you dont get a more powerful dGPU in any Macbook like 780M M295x or M395x or even 680MX that it still is faster than any current dGPU from 15" MBP even after 3 years
But to have an all in one with just one cable its very nice and clear.
And you dont get a more powerful dGPU in any Macbook like 780M M295x or M395x or even 680MX that it still is faster than any current dGPU from 15" MBP even after 3 years