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Is it in my best interest to hold off on a 27'' iMac..

Is it worth waiting for a refreshed iMac 27''?

  • Yes

    Votes: 49 67.1%

  • Not Really

    Votes: 24 32.9%
  • Total voters
    73
A

AlexJaye

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2010
408
614
Texas
Because I've been enjoying the mess out of my 2012 iMac since last January, I haven't been following new iMac rumors much... but from what I've read the updates will be minor, and won't make me want my current iMac any less. It is a beast (a sexy one, haha). This is also my first iMac - I had a white Macbook before.

It really depends on your needs I guess. Mine are basic. My fusion drive and 680mx do really well for what I do. The only game I really play is Diablo 3, which at highest settings does very well (I don't know how demanding the game actually is, though).

If you need/really want one now, then get it now! But if you are fine with waiting an indeterminable amount of time for the new one, then wait. If I wanted the 2012 iMac right now, I'd have no issue buying it today, myself.
 
R

rchip

macrumors regular
Jul 26, 2011
204
17
forty2j said:
I'm not here to prematurely separate you from your money. As someone who actively played the waiting game for the better part of a year looking for the 2012s, I'm just here to tell you that the 2012 was worth the wait, and the 2013 won't be. To bring in an awful car analogy, it's like a mid-cycle Honda Civic or something, where the only difference you can see is the year printed on the registration. If you feel inclined to wait anyway, that's up to you. I just don't want you to have high expectations for your payoff for waiting.

The expectation is that the new higher-speed SSD tech they're using in the Air will come to the whole Mac line, including the iMacs. Assuming they do that, that will raise component costs and they'd be unlikely to make Fusion standard.

----------



Just based on days-since-release, nothing else.
Click to expand...

If the OP has only just decided to buy an imac now, I think the best advice is to wait. If he keeps the computer for 4-5 years, that newer faster processor is going to help in its final year of life. I also think it's quite likely that the fusion drive will become standard. Just because it's not a redesign doesn't mean it's not worth waiting for if the refresh is close.
 
forty2j

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
rchip said:
If the OP has only just decided to buy an imac now, I think the best advice is to wait. If he keeps the computer for 4-5 years, that newer faster processor is going to help in its final year of life. I also think it's quite likely that the fusion drive will become standard. Just because it's not a redesign doesn't mean it's not worth waiting for if the refresh is close.
Click to expand...

If nothing else, if he's not in a rush he could be served by waiting and then getting a better deal on a clearance or refurb 2012..

Fusion as standard would be really nice, but I just don't see it happening. Estimated Haswell speed improvements are in the low single digits, as are projected GPU boosts based on known available chips.
 
S

Sputnek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 4, 2011
201
0
Florida - Ohio
forty2j said:
If nothing else, if he's not in a rush he could be served by waiting and then getting a better deal on a clearance or refurb 2012..

Fusion as standard would be really nice, but I just don't see it happening. Estimated Haswell speed improvements are in the low single digits, as are projected GPU boosts based on known available chips.
Click to expand...

rchip said:
If the OP has only just decided to buy an imac now, I think the best advice is to wait. If he keeps the computer for 4-5 years, that newer faster processor is going to help in its final year of life. I also think it's quite likely that the fusion drive will become standard. Just because it's not a redesign doesn't mean it's not worth waiting for if the refresh is close.
Click to expand...

Both of you are spot on in my opinion. I have decided to wait since I think that new processor will make a difference in year 4 or year 5. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone again for your helpful opinions and facts.
 
tomwvr

tomwvr

macrumors regular
Jun 12, 2012
213
98
Frederick Maryland
I Still think you will not see an IMAC update until April- June 2014. With this update you may see a slightly better high end GPU - although the 680 is an awsome card.

You may also see a 1GB standard GPU in the base 21,

I do not see that Haswell will be much of an improvement - unless you want slightly improved wireless.

Tom
 
ioannis2005gr

ioannis2005gr

macrumors 6502
Aug 10, 2013
495
0
Europe
A better Wi-Fi speed is always welcome along with a faster fusion drive. Thunderbolt 2 will be a standard spec for 2014 as USB 3.1 is going to double the speed.


I suppose, APPLE intends to update mostly the processor series in 2013 and they will build a new iMac in early Q2 2014.

Prices will remain an issue....not cheap, indeed! ;)
 
fig

fig

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2012
916
84
Austin, TX
ioannis2005gr said:
A better Wi-Fi speed is always welcome along with a faster fusion drive. Thunderbolt 2 will be a standard spec for 2014 as USB 3.1 is going to double the speed.


I suppose, APPLE intends to update mostly the processor series in 2013 and they will build a new iMac in early Q2 2014.

Prices will remain an issue....not cheap, indeed! ;)
Click to expand...

I doubt wifi speed will matter much for most people, considering that the bottleneck with wifi is almost always the connection itself and not the speed that your computer can handle (unless you're transferring huge files from machine to machine locally via wifi).

As far as all new machine in mid 2014...you're a serious optimist my friend. It's possible we might not even see a CPU update this year.
 
Mr. Dee

Mr. Dee

macrumors 603
Dec 4, 2003
5,990
12,828
Jamaica
It depends on the scenarios

fig said:
I doubt wifi speed will matter much for most people, considering that the bottleneck with wifi is almost always the connection itself and not the speed that your computer can handle (unless you're transferring huge files from machine to machine locally via wifi).

As far as all new machine in mid 2014...you're a serious optimist my friend. It's possible we might not even see a CPU update this year.
Click to expand...

For instance, I plan to purchase three Apple products:

- iMac
- iPad
- iPhone

Of course when they are all updated this fall.

Assuming all revision of these products will adopt Wireless AC, it will be beneficial for someone like me who lives in a rural area who has access to 3G. I will use this on my iPhone to provide Internet Access on the Mac, which I can share with my iPad. So, I can access the fast wireless from within the living room on the Mac through my iPad.
 
forty2j

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
Mr. Dee said:
For instance, I plan to purchase three Apple products:

- iMac
- iPad
- iPhone

Of course when they are all updated this fall.

Assuming all revision of these products will adopt Wireless AC, it will be beneficial for someone like me who lives in a rural area who has access to 3G. I will use this on my iPhone to provide Internet Access on the Mac, which I can share with my iPad. So, I can access the fast wireless from within the living room on the Mac through my iPad.
Click to expand...

Your Internet connection is constrained by your ISP, and is far below AC. I have about the fastest connection available in a mainstream consumer product in America (100Gb through Optimum), and that is 10% of the AC speed. You will only need AC when you're moving lots of multi-gig files around your local devices wireless.
 
fig

fig

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2012
916
84
Austin, TX
forty2j said:
Your Internet connection is constrained by your ISP, and is far below AC. I have about the fastest connection available in a mainstream consumer product in America (100Gb through Optimum), and that is 10% of the AC speed. You will only need AC when you're moving lots of multi-gig files around your local devices wireless.
Click to expand...

Beat me to it but right, just reinforcing my point.

Particularly when you're looking at 3g in a rural area (which based on my personal experiences is far from speedy) any current Mac is going to have no problems handling that throughput of wifi data.
 
Mr. Dee

Mr. Dee

macrumors 603
Dec 4, 2003
5,990
12,828
Jamaica
I know it will be slow

What I am saying is, I am sharing it from the Mac, through wireless, so the ability to access the Mac as a Wireless Access Point will be the issue, the ability for the iPad to access that Wireless Access Point (Mac) efficiently through walls from say the living room will be the benefit of the Wireless AC. Not necessarily for the 3G.

Not being tied to the proximity of my computer is the objective here.
 
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