Would it benefit paying for a higher configuration iMac?

[trevpimp]

Hey saving to upgrade for an iMac and had a question,
Base 27" iMac costs around $1799.99 and not including the cost for an 256GB SSD upgrade option (must include)

I do notice that I can upgrade CPU's and RAM for a higher price and its pretty marginal coming from the already high price of the base iMac

Would it benefit paying for a higher configuration model? Lets say from now to like 4-5 years

Im going to be using it for light programming, youtube, safari (macrumors), video editing, music playing

Would a base 27" model with 256GB SSD upgrade last for 4-5 years?

 

[velocityg4]

You can easily upgrade the RAM yourself. So, no on that front. With current RAM prices. I'd probably drop in 32GB. Who knows if or when prices will go back up. Memory prices are volatile.

As for the CPU. You have to start with the $1,999 model to get a CPU upgrade option. Which runs another $500. Based on the configuration you are looking at. That becomes $1,899 vs $2,599. It'll certainly make a difference with video editing. The other tasks, probably not. There is a pretty significant difference between the i5-8500 in the base and the i9-9900K. With higher clock rates and 16 threads vs 6 threads. I'd probably go for the upgrade.

In a year that extra $600 will not matter anymore. While you'd always have that nagging though of, "how much better would it be?" If you didn't do the upgrade.

 

[Juicy Box]

To start, I would say never get a Mac that you cannot afford.

That said, I have noticed that many people on the forum tend to think that most BTO upgrades are a waste of money, and I strongly disagree, with the exception for RAM on the 27" iMac, as you can easily do that yourself.

An exception to not getting a BTO of RAM is when it might benefit you to get the upgrade due to not replacing the existing RAM sticks that comes with the Mac. Example for if you wanted 32GB of RAM, iMacs come with two 4GB sticks (8GB) and you do a BTO option for two 8GB sticks (16GB) and buy two more 8GB sticks to install yourself. This might be cheaper than getting the base RAM just to replace them with four 8GB sticks. Then you will have two 4GB sticks that you are not using, going to waste.

Would a base 27" model with 256GB SSD upgrade last for 4-5 years?

This depends totally on what you plan on doing with your Mac 4-5 years from now, but I can tell you about my latest new Mac.

I got a Late 2012 iMac when they launched, and got BTO options for the much faster i7, 680MX GPU, and 1TB Fusion (which is much better than the current 1TB Fusion Drive). I upgraded the RAM myself, and am now using a NVMe with a TB3 enclosure as my boot drive.

My iMac is 8 years old, and it still runs like a beast. Originally, I planned on keeping it for three years, and getting the next iMac that came out (2015 iMac), but it was still really fast. Same happened with the 2017 iMac, and now the 2019 iMac.

I figured I would have replaced my iMac by now, but it still is really fast for what I do. I am sure if I didn't pay a little more in the beginning on the BTO options, I would have replaced the Late 2012 long ago.

and not including the cost for an 256GB SSD upgrade option (must include)

While Apple's internal SSDs are really, fast, you can get some really fast external drives to boot from for a fraction of the price of Apple's SSDs.

Would it benefit paying for a higher configuration model? Lets say from now to like 4-5 years

Typically, the higher spec processors and GPUs would still perform well after 4-5 years when compared to the base model specs.

There could be benefits if you ever decide to sell your BTO Mac.

Like I said earlier that many people say that BTO options are a waste of money when you sell them, but another thing to keep in mind is that the Mac without the higher end BTO options end up being a (figurative) dime a dozen. It is the higher spec Macs that are more rare and tend to hold value better, especially after the initial depreciation period.

 

[cynics]

It should be enough...unless its not. There isn't a good way for us to know. For me I would want more base internal storage. But you can expand via various means if you need too. The CPU and GPU would be better than what I have now but I would also want a bit more if I was buying it for long term use.

 

[CooperBox]

"It should be enough...unless its not." Excellent fallacious & cynical reply from @cynics. You should definitely be into politics.

To the OP, for your requirements as listed, I'd say go for the base model but with the SSD option. Don't get ripped off by the upgrade RAM prices. Do it yourself and save a great deal.
With my mid 2010 iMac 27" I purchased the i5 model over the i7 and planned to keep for 5 years. After that period I installed a 500Gb SSD, enabled trim and upgraded RAM to 12Gb, and cleaned out all internal dust bunnies and repasted the CPU/GPU. It still does everything I want from it with more than adequate speed, now into it's 10th year and still a great performer.
From what I'm reading on other forums, its giving far better reliability than many other 2-3year old Macs.

 

[tyc0746]

Q) Would you benefit from upgrading the processor/SSD?
A) Definitely! Everything will be that little bit faster.

Q) Is that benefit worth the extra cost?
A) If you can afford the extra cost, and that incremental performance increase saves you time, then I'd say yes!

 

[mj_]

Don't forget that with the CPU upgrade you also get a stupendously manic fan that will not stop spinning and will drive you crazy thrown in for free! Unless you don't mind a pumping CPU fan that starts revving up at the slightest teeny-tiny bit of load you should stay as far away as humanly possible from the i7 CPUs on the iMac. The cooling system is designed for 65W CPUs. As far as RAM goes it is much cheaper to upgrade it yourself, which is a piece of cake and takes less than 5 minutes (27" iMac that is, 21" is not upgradable).

So no, in my opinion the extra cost is not worth it.