Time to buy a new machine

[Acelon1]

I’m about to bite the bullet and replace my again 2012 15" MacBook Pro with a 27" iMac - the current 18 months interest free deals make it quite appealing and “she who must be obeyed” (ie. my better half) has said that I can look at a new machine if I want one - yay!

I’m in a bit of a quandary on which model to buy as I don’t really do a huge amount on my current machine but am starting to get back in to a bit of coding and learning Swift plus I want to look at doing some minor photo and video editing (nothing large scale only family films of our daughter etc)

My thought as this stage is to go with the base model 3.4GHz 27" 5K iMac and upgrade it to a 512GB SSD. I’ll get it with the base 8GB of RAM and can look at upgrading that myself later if I find that i need more memory (one of the main draw cards of the 27" machine).

On my current MacBook I’m using around 275 GB of space and this will increase over time as my Photos and iTunes libraries increase in size but I’m confident that I’ll never need over 512 GB of storage in the machine, I have a couple of Linux boxes acting as Time Machine and general data/backup storage anyway but like to keep photos and iTunes locally stored for maximum access speed.

I’d welcome any thoughts on the pros and cons of only going for the base model but I really can’t see the point in going to the next model up as all that is gives me for an extra $350 (NZ) is a slightly faster CPU (0.1 - 0.3 GHz) and a step up in video card, I cannot see any other benefit (you can upgrade it to 64GB or memory rather than the 32GB this machine is limited to but I can’t see that being a real problem) and as I have never needed more than the CPU in my current machine (2.3 GHz i7) I can’t see me needing anything more than the base model i5 will give (I have no need for more than 4 cores as I don’t really do a lot that is CPU intensive and I have a VMWare ESXi server for VMs so probably won’t require anything like that on the new machine)

Any and all thoughts/experiences appreciated - I’m going for the 27" as I’ve always wanted one and love the screens on previous ones that I have worked on for clients.

[recd]

This is what I have. I tend to hold onto my computers so I max out the specs to hopefully extend its useful life.

The 5K screen is fantastic ,well worth getting the 27" for that screen alone.

I got the 1TB SSD. Probably could have got away with the 512GB. I have my iTunes library on an external HD.

I added RAM myself, for a lot less than Apple charges.

I am editing 4K video with this Mac. If you edit with proxy files, I found you can use either the built in SSD or an thunderbolt 2 SSD.

If you win the lottery look at the thunderbolt 3 RAID arrays.

Depending upon which editing program you use, you may find ,if you can only afford to upgrade one component, its better to upgrade the GPU than the CPU.

[Acelon1]

Thanks for that input, tempted to go up to the midrange 27" to get the better video card and processor and change storage to the 512GB SSD - I’ve considered Fusion drives but the performance just isn’t really there when you are used to SSD

[Acelon1]

And now I’ve talked myself out of buying a new machine, I really can’t justify spending that much money when the machine I have now is doing pretty much what I need it to.

Now I just have to think of a different (and substantially cheaper) birthday present for myself

Thinking about maybe a new iPad to replace our very old iPad 2 - can’t justify the iPad Pro so I guess its a choice between the iPad or the iPad mini, I’ve considered the Apple Watch but just cannot see the point to it when I’m not in to fitness or anything like that. I probably should be given that I suffer from high blood pressure and arthritis though! But can’t really find a compelling reason for it.

But I guess it might help me get of my lazy backside and exercise, the only question then is the Series 1 or Series 2 watch…

[recd]

Series 2, if nothing else for the better water resistance.

Or keep an eye out for 2015 models being sold by people upgrading to the iMac Pro when it comes out. I’m not but I’m sure others will.

[Acelon1]

And now I’m once again considering the iMac as I’d get far more use out of that than an iPad or Apple Watch… might even bite the bullet and order it tonight. 27" 3.5 GHz with 512GB SSD and AppleCare, just the base 8GB to start with as I can get another 8GB of RAM for it for under $150 (NZ) if needed rather than the $340 (NZ) that Apple want to charge!

It will be used for web, email and some software development (as I learn Swift), Photos and editing the odd home movie with iMovie so nothing huge - but I think going for the middle of the range machine is a better move than the base model.

[Vince]

Yes me also, the timing is just brilliant for me as my 2010 Mac Pro died just a couple of months ago, and I’ve been slumming it on a surprisingly well performing late model Mac mini.

High end 27" new iMac here I come!

[kerr]

I’m considering my late-2009 27" iMac and late-2013 13" MacBook Pro with a mid-2017 MacBook Pro.

Doubt I will ever buy a desktop again, but hard to justify a new 15" though, the prices are ridiculous. #AustraliaTax

Maybe I’ll just settle for a new 13", not convinced about the Touch Bar though.

[Acelon1]

I’m in the opposite camp I far prefer a desktop to a laptop, my current mid 2012 MacBook pro will keep going for a while yet and that can make do for the times I do need a laptop.

[Mutters]

Did much the same myself. Moved to the iMac from a 2012 15" rMBP.
Very early days (4 I think).
I do a lot of FCPX and Photoshop work, but the big test was how it runs Obduction - HA!
Very well, it turns out - runs brilliantly smooth with all video options turned way up.

This one

[zbaron]

I’ve just placed an order for a 27" w/ 16 GB RAM and Radeon 580. This is replacing a 2006 Core Duo iMac.

[Acelon1]

Once again mulling this over as Harvey Norman have 36 months interest free deals at the moment, it doesn’t cover CTO machines so I’m starting to think that the best option in that case is the top of the line 27" as at least with a 2TB fusion drive you get 128GB SSD rather than the smaller 32GB (?) one with the 1TB which should give me pretty much the same performance as an SSD in general use as I’m not dealing with large files in my day to day stuff