2015 vs 2017 27" iMac

It's a pretty good upgrade on the GPU, less significant on the CPU. I guess it depends how good of deal you get.

 

I'm in the same boat. It's really just the screen and form factor that I'm after. Post prices as you find them please. Apple has not updated their refurbished and clearance page yet, but the discounts are usually slim.

 

I don't think you can make any type of solid decision until the real world reviews from users start coming out. You need to focus on thermal cooling differences from 2015 vs 2017 first and foremost. I'd wait at least a month before making any move.

 

I have a 2011 27" iMac. I think the 2015 retina screen will be an amazing improvement. I also think the 2015 SSD will blow the doors off of the 2011 drive, even if you have the SSD that shipped in that machine. If all you do is write email and surf the web there's likely to be less noticeable improvement.

 

I went from a 2011 27" iMac to a 2015 27" i5 iMac. Great machine. Fast, quiet and best of all stays really cool. I have the 1TB SSD which is very fast. I purchased my iMac as a refurbished unit off the Apple site, saved about $150. Plan on keeping the machine for a while. No regrets.

 

I'm definitely going to be replacing my 2011 iMac with one of the new ones, but I haven't ordered one yet. I guess I'm waiting to see some benchmarks.

 

Here are some Benchmarks:

iMac (21.5-inch, non-Retina/18,1) https://browser.primatelabs.com/v4/cpu/search?q=iMac18,1

iMac (21.5-inch, Retina 4K/18,2) https://browser.primatelabs.com/v4/cpu/search?q=iMac18,2

iMac (27-inch, Retina 5K/18,3) https://browser.primatelabs.com/v4/cpu/search?q=iMac18,3

 

Apple store refurb prices on the Fall 2015 27" models have not moved since the new iMacs were announced. A $350 price difference for 2+ year old tech on a used machine is slightly absurd.

 

Much better GPU and SSD performance, better CPU and memory performance and a bit better (in terms of brightness) display.

At the moment, I am happy with my maxed-out 2015 iMac 5K, but if I was in the market for new, I would buy the 2017.

 

Don't forget the new models have TB3 - probably more future-proof for connecting external devices.