I7 or 8gig

Get the i7, as you can upgrade the RAM later on when you have the funds.
It also depends what editing application you use with what kind of footage, as iMovie, Final Cut Pro (not X) and Avid MC are still 32-bit, thus not able to use more than 4GB of RAM.

Never buy ram through apple its overpriced. buy it from crucial, newegg, OWC, or something like that. I would pick the better CPU, and upgrade the RAM later myself.

Go with the i7 Apple overcharges for ram, and you can upgrade that later. Plus for now 4GB should be enough.

Upgrade the processor to i7. Apple's RAMs are overpriced, you can get it from Crucial or Newegg.

Get the i7 at checkout as the processor cannot be upgraded later on. The ram is easily obtainable in the future, as needed.

when buying my new MBP.. I got every upgrade. I know I could have gotten the upgrade cheaper somewhere else.. but since I put it on the financing card.. and with the student discount... I didn't feel too bad about it. My friend just upgraded his 2011 MBP to 8GB ram for $80 on NewEgg.

JoshuaMars said:

a) Go up to an I7 from I5
or
b) Go up to 8gig from 4gig

Click to expand...

Simple question = simple answer. Always go for a better processor. You can change the amount of RAM in almost all iMacs, Macbooks, Macbook Pros of every generation, but you cannot change the CPU, so choose the best CPU you can afford.
This rule is NOT for the Macbook AIR though, because the RAM is soldered to the motherboard on that one, so you have to choose the one with the right amount of RAM for your use.

But again, for an iMac? Always go for the better processor! Buy one cup of coffee less every day and buy another set of 4GB RAM in a month or so

the processor cant be changed whereas the ram can that makes it simple. get the i7 and then later, IF need be, buy some ram but not from apple, get it from places listed above

I would agree with everyone here....get the i7, because you won't be able to upgrade your processor later, and you can always add more RAM when you have the funds later. You will be able to enjoy the speed of the i7 and run pretty much everything for the time being (save heavy Adobe use, Pro Editing, etc that needs the RAM)...you can always upgrade to 8GB or 16GB for a couple hundred bucks later on...I am about to get the new iMac as well for my office, and I am going with the 3.4GHz i7 model, and I will upgrade the RAM later too.

Get the i7, you can get ram upgrade later on and it will be cheaper.