Which Mac?

The_Abyss · 13 Feb 2020 at 23:58

silvagti said:
Personally I don't see the point in an iMac. Might as well just get a laptop and connect it to a monitor if required IMO.

Why don't you actually give it a go and find out, and compare the costs along the way. IMO a lot of Apple gear is priced at a premium, yet somehow the iMac has found a niche / comfortable point. Spec an i9 laptop and a 5k display, and then benchmark the results. I'm more than happy with my iMac on performance alone, let alone the other benefits.

Feek · 14 Feb 2020 at 13:36

I think it’s a real shame the MacBook was discontinued. Mine does everything I want from it and it’s completely and utterly silent. I use it for media consumption, internet use, a little bit of photo editing and with an RDP client to access the Windows pc I’m forced to have on my network. The form factor and weight are perfect for that.

Vita · 10 Mar 2020 at 08:07

So I’ve decided to go for the 27” iMac. I can’t really stretch to the 16” MBP.

I’ve read that there may be a refresh announced by Apple sometime later this month? Worth holding out till then?

Maccy · 10 Mar 2020 at 09:07

Yup worth holding out

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iMac

Vita · 10 Mar 2020 at 09:15

Maccy said:
Yup worth holding out

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iMac

I’ll hold out see what they offer then, thanks!

Feek · 10 Mar 2020 at 16:38

Vita said:
Worth holding out till then?

If the product they currently sell is right for your needs, then buy it. If it's not, then hold out, just in case.

Vita · 20 Mar 2020 at 15:40

I’ve now decided against the iMac having thought more about it.

I think the portability of a laptop is better now.

The new MacBook Air seems a good bet and actual decent value for money. Would it be beneficial to get the i7 cpu over the i5?

ChrisD. · 20 Mar 2020 at 16:14

Vita said:
Would it be beneficial to get the i7 cpu over the i5?

I doubt it, it's only 100 MHz more at base and neither chip will sustain max boost clocks for long. It might be worth looking at cache sizes though as the i7 nay have more but I'd still put the extra money towards more RAM.

b0rn2sk8 · 21 Mar 2020 at 07:37

As above, the storage will be soldered too so consider that over the faster of the two quad cores. I wouldn’t get the dual core in 2020.

Vita · 21 Mar 2020 at 12:39

RAM will be 16gb. Ssd size I’m not bothered by 256gb or 512gb as I do have external drives if needed for storage.

May just opt for the i5. Though, I’m still unsure.

ChrisD. · 21 Mar 2020 at 13:47

Vita said:
May just opt for the i5. Though, I’m still unsure.

Why? I doubt anyone would notice any difference between the two apart from being £150 lighter. If there was a 400 MHz + difference at base clock it may be worth considering, or if it had more cores, but there's not.

b0rn2sk8 · 21 Mar 2020 at 14:47

This, it has the exact same cooling so the average clock speed is likely to be pretty similar.

Vita · 27 Oct 2020 at 21:00

Just to update, I ended up purchasing a base iMac 27 6 core 2020. Bought some extra 32gb ram and I'm enjoying it. The Magic Mouse is taking some getting used to but I am very happy with my purchase. I decided I'll wait for the 2nd Gen of Apple Silicone before I upgrade again.

Barks · 31 Oct 2020 at 18:09

Vita said:
I want a machine which will last me 7 years at least.

My parents have owned 5 iMacs between them over the past decade and they've barely lasted no more than 4 years/piece. It may be coincidence but every single time, the performance drops significantly after a few years and despite me installing additional RAM to the older ones, they were basically unusable by the end. Funnily enough the one my mother bought 4 years ago has just started doing the same, it's painfully slow and I've tried every trick in the book to speed it up. Admittedly they've always bought base spec ones but the sudden drop in performance is unwarranted.

Vita · 31 Oct 2020 at 18:21

Barks said:
My parents have owned 5 iMacs between them over the past decade and they've barely lasted no more than 4 years/piece. It may be coincidence but every single time, the performance drops significantly after a few years and despite me installing additional RAM to the older ones, they were basically unusable by the end. Funnily enough the one my mother bought 4 years ago has just started doing the same, it's painfully slow and I've tried every trick in the book to speed it up. Admittedly they've always bought base spec ones but the sudden drop in performance is unwarranted.

I think I’ll be ok. Did they stay with the fusion drive versions or did you upgrade to ssd?

ChrisD. · 31 Oct 2020 at 18:32

Barks said:
My parents have owned 5 iMacs between them over the past decade and they've barely lasted no more than 4 years/piece. It may be coincidence but every single time, the performance drops significantly after a few years and despite me installing additional RAM to the older ones, they were basically unusable by the end. Funnily enough the one my mother bought 4 years ago has just started doing the same, it's painfully slow and I've tried every trick in the book to speed it up. Admittedly they've always bought base spec ones but the sudden drop in performance is unwarranted.

The cooling design isn’t great. Linus or Jay did a video about it, they said it’s a dust magnet. So after a few years it’s probably worth clearing it out, but due to the design that far from easy!

Feek · 31 Oct 2020 at 18:40

I sold my last iMac when it was seven years old and I hadn't noticed any slowdown - It had an SSD and a mechanical drive and it really was just as fast as I remember it being when it was new.

shiver · 31 Oct 2020 at 22:08

My parents still seem quite happy with an old iMac of mine (2011 model). Running with 12GB ram and SSD transplant.

If you're using it for the basics they're really very good at lasting a long time.