2017 iMac? 2018 iMac? LG 5K display? WWYD

[EvanEiga]

Recently my mid 2011 27inch iMac has kicked its final bucket, and I don't really want to spend any money to repair it (Already spent like $200+ for an SSD upgrade right before Xmas, which I will take out when I recycle it).

Right now I have a 2016 top of the line 15inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a 2012 MacBook Pro with failing battery, and another 15inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from work.

I guess I could get a 2017 iMac right away, but if we're already half way into its refresh cycle, I'd rather save up a bit until later this year and get a top of the line 2018 iMac (hopefully with redesign and/or drastic performance increase).

Or, I think I could just get an LG 5K display and hook up my personal MacBook Pro with Touch Bar to it and call it the day? My only worry is if the machine will run games like WOW? somehow I am under the impression that MBPs are not meant for games and running gpu consuming games like WOW will only ruin its life span. Is it true at all?

Personally I think the external display option suits me better because in the end, why do I want another computer on top of 3 laptops, and it's also about 1200 dollars cheaper than iMacs, and I don't have to wait. ha

 

[Briax]

Recently my mid 2011 27inch iMac has kicked its final bucket, and I don't really want to spend any money to repair it (Already spent like $200+ for an SSD upgrade right before Xmas, which I will take out when I recycle it).

Right now I have a 2016 top of the line 15inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a 2012 MacBook Pro with failing battery, and another 15inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from work.

I guess I could get a 2017 iMac right away, but if we're already half way into its refresh cycle, I'd rather save up a bit until later this year and get a top of the line 2018 iMac (hopefully with redesign and/or drastic performance increase).

Or, I think I could just get an LG 5K display and hook up my personal MacBook Pro with Touch Bar to it and call it the day? My only worry is if the machine will run games like WOW? somehow I am under the impression that MBPs are not meant for games and running gpu consuming games like WOW will only ruin its life span. Is it true at all?

Personally I think the external display option suits me better because in the end, why do I want another computer on top of 3 laptops, and it's also about 1200 dollars cheaper than iMacs, and I don't have to wait. ha

Hi,

I've had the 2016 top of the line MacBook Pro 15" running 2 LG 5K displays, playing WoW on 1 and watching Netflix/Youtube on the other while the MacBook was in clamshell mode. It's perfectly fine. Run the game at full HD and pre-setting 4-5 and don't take the performance hit with 1440P and you'll be fine.

However, I've since bought an iMac 2017 with the 580 GPU and it is quite a bit more powerful than the MacBook. The iMac comfortably runs WoW at 1440P at pre-setting 8, while doing other tasks on the LG 5K I've hooked up.

All this testing/gaming is done under macOS.

Hope this helps.

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

what about a 4k display and if it sucks for gaming an egpu?

 

[tomdwan]

I always find it too difficult to maintain and sync multiple computers, that's why I go with the 15'' MBP + external display.

LG will soon announce a 34'' ultra wide almost 5k display, I would go for that one or wait for the Apple Display.
http://mashable.com/2017/12/21/lg-ultrawite-5k-monitor

 

[Mac32]

LG recently announced a 4k display with nano crystals, giving more lively and natural colours. It also has 600 nits, and supports the HDR 600 standard. Wonder if this technology will be incorperated into Apple displays (and the iMac) in 2018...

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

oh yeah I also forgot to mention earlier but I would completely avoid the 5k and 4k LG panels. It has poor reviews and also has the image retention problem. See:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/image-retention-lg-5k-owners-help-needed.2038477/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-5k-display-ghosting-issues.2042179/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-4k-ghosting-burn-in.2021478/

and here's a video of it in action:

The 2014/2015 iMacs have these same defective panels in them, and not sure about the 2017. You might actually be better off getting a new macbook + egpu + samsung 4k display. This will allow you to avoid LG and the egpu will avoid needlessly wearing out your mac since they have crappy thermals.