Will new imac last 7 years or so?

[Cissado]

I don't know anything about this stuff. I just registered to find out info and I've read quite a bit before making this purchase. I've found the more you read, and think you've made a good decision, then you start doubting again. It really makes your head spin.

I've always owned Dell, HP, computers. I purchased a Macbook pro for my daughter in High School a couple of years ago and she's very happy with it. So this Christmas I wanted to get my son an imac 27". He's young and will not need everything it offers right now, but I hope he can grow into it until he finishes High school. It's a big expense but I like to keep things for a long time. The HP laptop he has now is super slow and just not working right anymore. OK TMI... Rambling on...

Questions:
1 -Will the imac last for 6-7 years for a student from 6th grade to finishing 12th?

2- I want to buy the applecare+ but purchased the imac late November and will not open the box until December 25th. Is that still in time to purchase the warranty?

3- I got the Crucial 32G memory to install. Should I just take out the 8g in there? I ask this because I highly doubt he needs the 40gb and my thinking is the 32 would work better on it's own. (16 +16) Also, if I leave it in, should I add in the additional slot locations or swap the original ram that is already there.

4- My son plays PS4. Would he be able to play any games with this machine? Just curious at this point. That's not the plan as of now, but who knows where the next few years will take him. I don't see the 3.8 mentioned pairing with the 580 video as much. They are usually 3.8 with 570 or 575. Am I missing something or did I purchase too much for the 3.8?

5- I may use this to edit some pictures and video of him playing baseball. The video may be super slow motion action shots. I'm sure that will take up a lot of HDD, as each short video becomes super long with slow motion. I may have to purchase additional storage, but that could be a separate issue. My question is, would the video and processor or monitor handle slow motion type video? I'm not a pro, I'm just wondering if it can do it, that would be great.

I had trouble deciding between the i7 and i5. Of course the i7 is the easy answer. I went with i5 for the sole reason of noise. I assumed we wouldn't push the machine, so why have noise without needing it.

Anyway, I ended up with what a lot of others have done.

imac Retina 27"
i5 3.8
580 Graphics
512 HDD
Apple keyboard with numeric and MMouse

Can I call Apple now without access to the box and get Applecare+? I really may need the tech support phone number they offer with it.

Thanks, I learned a lot reading this forum. Maybe it was too pro oriented and may have bitten off more than I could chew.

 

[maflynn]

1 -Will the imac last for 6-7 years for a student from 6th grade to finishing 12th?

Yes, I have a MBP going on 6 years old and the iMac should last even longer.

2- I want to buy the applecare+ but purchased the imac late November and will not open the box until December 25th. Is that still in time to purchase the warranty?

You can buy AppleCare at any time within the first 365 days of ownership, though I don't recommend waiting till the end, as stuff happens and you could miss the window

4- My son plays PS4. Would he be able to play any games with this machine? Just curious at this point. That's not the plan as of now, but who knows where the next few years will take him. I don't see the 3.8 mentioned pairing with the 580 video as much. They are usually 3.8 with 570 or 575. Am I missing something or did I purchase too much for the 3.8?

The iMac isn't a gaming machine, but of all the macs available the iMac will handle those games the best.

5- I may use this to edit some pictures and video of him playing baseball. The video may be super slow motion action shots. I'm sure that will take up a lot of HDD, as each short video becomes super long with slow motion. I may have to purchase additional storage, but that could be a separate issue. My question is, would the video and processor or monitor handle slow motion type video? I'm not a pro, I'm just wondering if it can do it, that would be great.

512GB should be fine, I recommend not a hard drive but a SSD, which you may have opted for.

Can I call Apple now without access to the box and get Applecare+? I really may need the tech support phone number they offer with it.

Without AppleCare you have access to free 90 days of support, in case you need it.

 

[danielwsmithee]

I’m still running a 2009 iMac. So yes you can easily get 7 years from an iMac. I had to upgrade to SSDs to keep it usable.

You can add AppleCare+ anytime during the original 1 year factory warranty. Getting tech support at first is no different with or without AppleCare.

As for point 3) just put the 32GB in the spare slots for a total of 40GB. You will actually get slightly better performance (hardly noticeable) if all four slots are filled.

Yes that machine is likely overkill.

 

[Cissado]

512GB should be fine, I recommend not a hard drive but a SSD, which you may have opted for.

Yes, I used wrong terminology. I did get the SSD. I'm sure from what I've read, he will see a difference in lagging times of his several year old laptop.

Thank you for the replies.

Also, in terms of "overkill". Yes, I agree, but my plan is many years out. In 5 years, it may not be overkill anymore. Maybe I'll be saying that i7 was the better choice afterall.

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

My 2010 iMac lasted 4 years and the screen was beginning to go bad

My 2014 iMac lasted 2 years before lots of image retention problems and eventually the entire computer dying from the GPU burning the display

But I also have an iMac g3 and iMac g4 that still work great even today

But even so, I couldn't recommend buying an iMac and expecting 6 years from it these days. I'd consider yourself lucky if you had a new iMac 6 years from now that's still working fine.

 

[BrettApple]

I would say it has a very good chance of lasting that long. My newest Mac is a Late 2013 rMBP but the rest are all 2009 or older. I have an Early 2006 iMac that is almost 12 years old in daily use powered on at my desk right now running 10.6 and Windows 7. After that I have my Mid 2007 iMac and Early 2008 iMac's both with SSD's running El Cap with no issues in daily use as well and they've had zero issues other than a lighting strike that took out the GPU and PSU in the '07, replaced after the storm and all was well again.

Power wise, yes it will last that long. It's just up to the hardware if it will make it or not as seen above.

Also of note, we have multiple 2009 iMacs and Mac Pros in daily production roles at my previous job that are still going strong and they run heavy loads every week encoding hundreds of GB of media on a 36TB RAID they share. Two of them encode for live streaming and encode on the fly every week, not easy on the CPU and they haven't quit yet. Our Early 2009 iMac has 50,000 hours on it's original HDD no less and a ton on the display as well (it's slightly yellow now) and still runs fine. No idea how the stock drive has gone that long but it checks out in SMART still. The SSD in yours will be the biggest part of future proofing it, I'd never buy a new PC or Mac in 2017 and beyond with a spinning disk other than for data storage.

 

[Mac32]

My iMac is now nearly 5 years, and it's as good as new. I do long for a new GPU, but as long as you're not gaming so much - 5 years is nothing.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

How long is a piece of string?

I still have an original LC with a RGB display from 1992, running system 7.0.1 to use with my Apple Camera. I guess most of this model have long failed, but if you are fortunate, and care for the iMac, seven years is probable.

 

[ncrypt]

If in 7 years you're doing the same tasks as you are today, then it will be fine.

It's if your needs are evolving with time, such as editing video in whatever the latest format is in 2024, that you'll see the machine struggle. For a typical student needing to use, office programs, email and web browsing, you will be fine.

 

[Falhófnir]

If in 7 years you're doing the same tasks as you are today, then it will be fine.

It's if your needs are evolving with time, such as editing video in whatever the latest format is in 2024, that you'll see the machine struggle. For a typical student needing to use, office programs, email and web browsing, you will be fine.

Seconded, for basic stuff like web browsing and processing, you'll be fine (outside of any component failures) but towards the end of the 7 year mark you'll have fallen noticeably behind the power curve and will likely struggle on any heavy lifting tasks (and in particular games)

 

[Malus120]

If in 7 years you're doing the same tasks as you are today, then it will be fine.

It's if your needs are evolving with time, such as editing video in whatever the latest format is in 2024, that you'll see the machine struggle.

Towards the end of the 7 year mark you'll have fallen noticeably behind the power curve and will likely struggle on any heavy lifting tasks (and in particular games)

These two posts hit the nail on the head pretty well but I would really like to accentuate the point that you may need to keep your expectations in check if you're thinking he'll use it for seven years. A couple of points .

1. Beyond AppleCare(after 3 years), if anything serious breaks, you'll likely be faced with a scenario where you really have to ask if it's worth fixing.

2. While CPU's haven't been improving all that much before 2017 due to lack of competition & design/material limitations, 2017 has been a watershed year and it's possible we may see decent year on year improvements going forward. Unfortunately the "2017" iMac has early 2017 CPUs (4 core) instead of late 2017 (6 core) CPU's. When new iMac's come out in (hopefully early) 2018 they will likely have CPU's that are close to 150% faster FYI. If CPU's improve at a faster rate the machine could begin to feel "relatively" dated after a few years of use.

3. The iMac's R9 580 is at best a mid tier GPU and while it's fine for games today, if your son decides to get into gaming 2+ years from now it's going to require some compromises (especially if VR takes off). This too may (or may not) receive a decent upgrade in 2018 (of course you can always get an eGPU and external monitor but...)

I'd honestly like to say "wait for 2018" but it's Christmas so I get that's not a great option. Anyway, don't want to be a downer, it's a very generous Christmas present and a nice machine, and if were you're son I'd be super happy Just... understand that the 2017 iMac probably won't look as good in 2024 as a 2010-2011 iMac does in 2017/2018.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I'd honestly like to say "wait for 2018" but it's Christmas so I get that's not a great option. Anyway, don't want to be a downer, it's a very generous Christmas present and a nice machine, and if were you're son I'd be super happy Just... understand that the 2017 iMac probably won't look as good in 2024 as a 2010-2011 iMac does in 2017/2018.

Oh I don't know the graphics in the 2010 and 2011 were pretty poor even back then, graphics have got much better in iMacs due to thermal performance with the process node size dropping in considerably. Gaming will probably be the big issue in 6-7 years time but if you are willing to drop some settings I'm sure it will still run most games even then.

 

[gian8989]

You already choose a very good iMac. There is no need for the i7 at all.

 

[Fried Chicken]

At some point you're going to have to open it to clear out the dust.

This taped design is stupid.

 

[BobertKennedy]

#1: It depends. Macs are generally reliable, but like all computers, they are susceptible hardware failure. My first iMac purchased in 2009 suffered a hard drive failure within 15 months of purchase, and as the failure happened after the warrantee expired, I had to replace the drive on my own. My most recent iMac (2015 27") has no issues other than a screen that tends to suffer from image "burn-in" in the upper left corner (annoying, but not a deal breaker).

#2: Buy the Applecare. You have 90-days to purchase Applecare. See https://www.apple.com/support/products/mac.html.

#3: Regarding memory, it's best to use matching sets. Macs are inherently fickle with memory, and it's best (based on personal experience) not to mix brands or memory modules. My advise: remove the existing 8Gb and replace with the 32GB set you obtained from Crucial. BTW, my experience with Crucial memory has been exceptional; I can't say much for other brands other than that I've had bad experiences with them (Kingston and OWC).

#4: I doubt that Macs are compatible with Sony PS4, if that's what you're asking. If you interested in playing games on the Mac, you will be disappointed: Macs in general are woefully underpowered in the graphics department for gaming. If you are really intent on playing games on the Mac, go with virtualization (Parallels, Fusion or Vitualbox), install Windows as a virtual machine, and game to your heart's delight, but you still might experience issues with graphics.

#5: If you're worried about storage of your photos and videos, purchase an external drive. Actually I would recommend 2 external drives: one for image/video archiving, and one for Time Machine (for iMac backups). As for basic photo and video editing, the software included on your Mac should be sufficient. (Note about Time Machine: while Time Machine makes backups of your iMac's HDD, it is not suitable for archival purposes. When the Time Machine drive is full, Time Machine will begin to overwrite the oldest backups).

Personally I would have gone with the i7, but the i5 is probably sufficient for your usage. At some point you'll want to upgrade the HDD drive to SSD; Apple has a terrible practice of using slow HDDs (5400 RPM, or "variable" RPM) in their iMacs.

 

[spcshiznit]

I just bought my iMac two weeks ago, and I'm hoping I get at least 7 years out of it.

 

[Fishrrman]

The question:
"Will new imac last 7 years or so?"

The answer:
Hard to say.

Some folks get a lot of years out of their iMacs.
Other folks, not so much.

Sometimes it depends on the components that Apple happened to be using at the time.
Sometimes it depends on the particular configuration of a machine.
Some configurations just have more "longevity" than others, run longer without problems.

I have a 2006-vintage white "Intel" iMac. it's 10 years old and still boots and runs well enough for being ten years old. But it's never been "my main Mac" and as such may go days at a time without being used. I wonder how long it would have lasted if I had used it as I use my main Mac (a 2012 Mini), which is often on 12 hours a day at least.

I would buy the iMac with the expectation that you can probably get 5 years out of it.
Maybe more. Maybe 7, 8 years.
It's just... well... hard to say....

 

[Caviar_X]

Still running a Late 2009 25" iMac, and while it's much slower, it gets the job done. I could easily upgrade the RAM and install a flash drive but it's something I'm looking into.

 

[Malus120]

Oh I don't know the graphics in the 2010 and 2011 were pretty poor even back then, graphics have got much better in iMacs due to thermal performance with the process node size dropping in considerably. Gaming will probably be the big issue in 6-7 years time but if you are willing to drop some settings I'm sure it will still run most games even then.

I agree that the relative performance level of discrete GPUs in the iMac's has been increasing each generation since around ~2009 with particular improvements in 2012 (680MX) and 2017 (R9 580) with more modest improvements in other years. I was more implying that I don't think (I hope) CPU's won't be as stagnant performance wise as they were between 2009 and early 2017, and that this could make a 4 core iMac purchased in 2017 feel much "older" relative to a 6-8+ core machine in 2024, than a 2017 (4 core) machine does relative to a 2009-2011 vintage (4 Core).