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2013 iMac worth it?

D

dylanlewis2000

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 17, 2009
47
9
Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a mac. Originally I was looking at a Mac mini however, the prices they are commanding for the 2012 version is silly (£350-400 ish) so I started looking at iMacs.

I would love it get a 5k iMac with a 2tb fusion but cannot justify 2k on a computer. I have seen a second hand 2013 model,3.2 i5/8gb/1tb for sale for £600. Two things than concern me. The 1tb spinner being really slow - how difficult is it to upgrade these? And is buying old tech false economy in the long run? Would I just be better off buying the newer one and sucking up the £1400 difference?

Advice/ answers appreciated.
 
dylanlewis2000 said:
Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a mac. Originally I was looking at a Mac mini however, the prices they are commanding for the 2012 version is silly (£350-400 ish) so I started looking at iMacs.

I would love it get a 5k iMac with a 2tb fusion but cannot justify 2k on a computer. I have seen a second hand 2013 model,3.2 i5/8gb/1tb for sale for £600. Two things than concern me. The 1tb spinner being really slow - how difficult is it to upgrade these? And is buying old tech false economy in the long run? Would I just be better off buying the newer one and sucking up the £1400 difference?

Advice/ answers appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi Dylan
I have the late 2012 27 inch i7 3.4/8GB/1TB fusion/680MX 2GB ram. I use bootcamp and can run Overwatch quite well. However I see a time soon where I will have to replace the spinning disk with an SSD. Fortunately there is a 'quasi-recall' on the monitor hinge for the 2012's and 2013's (google 'sad iMac') and I may ask the Apple Store to replace the hinge (for free) and the hard disk (they will charge for this). All in all I still love my iMac. The dot pitch on the 27inch (non-5k) is great. It is a relief compared to all the monitors I use for work.

My main concern with order macs is they start to drop off from the supported lists - mine is coming soon. A 2013 might have one more year.

Good luck

Francois
 
If you can find a 2013 (or even a 2012) with a Fusion drive, I have found that to be the best balance between price and performance.
 
I have a 2012 version, and just have the standard 1TB HDD. It can be a little slow at times, especially when compared to my rMBP. However I still love working on it, the screen is great, nice to be able to work on desktop, and one that is easy to move around if you need to. I'm looking at upgrading the RAM soon to 16GB which should allow me to get a little more life out of it until Apple decides what it is doing with its lineup.

The hard drives are very hard to replace in these models. You have to pull the display off.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Hard+Drive+Replacement/16729

If you're happy to do this there are a number of upgrade kits you can buy at OWC Macsales.com
 
Well seems like the decision was made for me. I contacted the seller for more information. His replies back were barely more than one word answers. When asked if I could have some unblury pictures and the serial number he stopped replying. Strange!

I would love to get the fusion drive but heard reports that they are it that much faster than spinners

As some have said the iMac is hard to upgrade hence why initially I was looking at the 2012 Mac mini but as they are coming up to 4 years old I can't see them being supported for much longer. The hunt continues!!
 
Sam_S said:
I have in NZ. However we have a limited number of companies that are authorised to deal with Apple products.
Click to expand...
Well I live here in the states, I would be able to have this type of job done for <$300 including the price of labor and the SSD.

I understand with a lower population it may be harder to find someone to do it.
 
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