2017 iMac buying advice

[JonOlafson]

Hi,

I am a student and do music production, web and photo design in my spare time and need a new Mac.

Short recap:
I usually upgraded my rig to the latest MacBook Pro every 2-3 years. So I sold my MacBook Pro before the Keynote in 2016 hoping to buy a new one. Since the 2016 MBP was such a disappointment I have been using my girlfriends early 2011 MacBook Air for half a year and seriously need an upgrade.
I just don't want to plug my audio interface, MIDI controllers, external storage etc. to lots of dongles and don't want to support Apple ditching intelligent technology like MagSafe. So the 2017 MBP is not really an option for me either. I don't necessarily need the portability of a MBP since I never leave the house with it. But initially did not want to loose the comfort of working from my couch. All in all I resigned to the fact that I will have to do my work from my desk from now on and turn the iMac around if I want to watch Netflix from my couch.

Now I am thinking of buying the new 21,5" iMac (I think 27" are actually too big for my space) and these are my options:

1. 21,5" iMac non Retina, 2,3 GHz Dual-Core, Intel Iris 640 and 256 SSD (1539€)
   
2. 21,5" iMac 4K, 3,0 GHz Quad‑Core, Radeon 555 and 256 SSD (1739€) +200€
   
3. 21,5" iMac 4K, 3,4 GHz Quad‑Core, Radeon 560 and 256 SSD (1819€) +80€
   
4. 13" MacBook Pro, 3,1 GHz Dual‑Core, Intel Iris 650 and 256 SSD (1999€) +180€
   
5. Or should I consider something different?

What do you recommend me?
Which option would be the best bang for the bug?
Since I will be selling the Mac in about 2 years, which will hold its value the best?

Thanks!

 

[JonOlafson]

Thanks for your votes!

Will the 3,4 with Radeon 560 make a difference in performance over the 3,0 with Radeon 555?

Also I am considering taking the 1TB Fusion Drive just because it won't take over 10 days to get it delivered.
I have no experience with Fusion Drive but since I had a SSD I never wanted to go back.
Are the 32GB SSD in a 1TB Fusion Drive enough to get high speed feeling of a pure SSD?

 

[JonOlafson]

Actually now I am considering saving 170€ and get the entry level with 3,0 GHz, Radeon 555 and 1TB Fusion Drive.

Is there anyone who can tell me if +170€ are worth the more GHz and 256SSD?

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[MadDane]

Personally I would not get anything that did not have pure SSD anymore. I got my first MacBook Air (with SSD) in 2010 and I have not looked back since when buying a new machine.

I also have a 2009 iMac with a homemade Fusion Drive (128GB SSD + 2TB HDD) and I can definitely feel when the HDD kicks in. It usually does so when I am working in Lightroom and it takes forever for a picture to load. Having 32GB on the SSD (like in the 1TB Fusion Drive) is only enough for the OS plus a few more files. So, if you want the feeling of using an SSD I would highly suggest you get the 256GB SSD and add more storage through USB.

 

[JonOlafson]

Hi @MadDane
thanks for your help. That sounds like I really should take the SSD. Do you have any idea if mor GHZ and better graphics are worth +70€?
Is there anyone who has a Fusion Drive and loves it?

 

[MadDane]

Well, whether it is worth it or not is a purely subjective matter. But if nothing else it will make the machine more valuable and desirable when you want to sell it again. Especially the difference between the 455 with 2GB RAM vs. 460 with 4GB RAM will give the machine a longer useful lifespan.

 

[JonOlafson]

I would love to know what the 4 votes for buy something different have in mind! Add another 400€ to get 27"?

 

[montanaco]

If portability isn't an issue I would just get the best specced out iMac you can afford. Keep in mind the iMacs with thunderbolt 3 can always be amped up with an eGPU in the future when Apple starts supporting them.

As a sidenote, out of curiosity what was so terrible with your MBP? I have the 2016 MBP and use it for music production, and photo/film work daily, and its been pretty great. Powers through everything and with a USB-C hub I've found my cable management has been a lot neater. I've yet to buy a single "dongle" for it.

 

[JonOlafson]

As a sidenote, out of curiosity what was so terrible with your MBP? I have the 2016 MBP and use it for music production, and photo/film work daily, and its been pretty great. Powers through everything and with a USB-C hub I've found my cable management has been a lot neater. I've yet to buy a single "dongle" for it.

Actually there was nothing wrong with my MBP. I just sold it prior to the Keynote because I thought they would upgrad the MBP like they used to every year before. After the Keynote I was so disappointed with the new MBP and also did not wat to go back to an old MBP..
Thats what brought me here. Since I don't need the portability anymore I will go with an iMac until they release a real MBP.

 

[montanaco]

Actually there was nothing wrong with my MBP. I just sold it prior to the Keynote because I thought they would upgrad the MBP like they used to every year before. After the Keynote I was so disappointed with the new MBP and also did not wat to go back to an old MBP..
Thats what brought me here. Since I don't need the portability anymore I will go with an iMac until they release a real MBP.

Gotcha, makes sense!!