2019 27” iMac lowest spec upgradeable cpu later?

[Aiwi]

I’m looking into buying a 2019 27“ imac. At the moment I’ve got limited use of having an i9, but I expect wanting to upgrade it in a couple of years (along with a faster, bigger NVME ssd)

On previous generations of iMacs, the cpu upgrade is pretty straight forward. But with the 2019 series there’s a 8th gen cpu in the lower tier and an 9th gen in the upper.

I haven’t been able to find anyone upgrading their 2019 iMac cpu by themself so far, so I’m asking here: has anyone tried swapping an 9900k in to their low tier 2019 27” iMac?

It does seem likely to work, but who knows.

 

[codernova]

Based on this information and what Apple has chosen for their boards/bioses/settings I'm going with a definite maybe: https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...0025694/processors/intel-core-processors.html

 

[mikehalloran]

A number of people do this and there are teardown reports to suggest that the 2019 will be no exception.

I have not seen a single report that suggests you'll save any money doing this, however. One person saved $5 after selling the old CPU.

Buying a used iMac and hotrodding that can save some coin but used 2019s won't really hit the market for another year or so.

I recommend getting the machine you want now. If not in a hurry, wait for the first refurbs to show up in a few months.

 

[Aiwi]

Yeah, it’s hard to know for sure at this point.

It just so happens that I can purchase the lowest spec at a severely discounted rate, 600usd off.

So I think I’m going to bite the bullet, and down the line when the warranty is expired I’m popping a nice 9900k, NVME and regular ssd in there

 

[Zdigital2015]

Yeah, it’s hard to know for sure at this point.

It just so happens that I can purchase the lowest spec at a severely discounted rate, 600usd off.

So I think I’m going to bite the bullet, and down the line when the warranty is expired I’m popping a nice 9900k, NVME and regular ssd in there

Your safest course of action would be to stick to the BTO or step up CPUs that Apple is currently offering for the iMacs (Core i7-8700, i5-9600K and i9-9900K) when you you decide to upgrade in the future. Apple May offer more options at some point, but I doubt it. Intel is having trouble shipping CPUs still, so I would caution you to wait until supply catches up with demand for the CPU you desire and hopefully the cost will stabilize or even go down some. The 2017/2019 iMac use the SSDPOLARIS NVMe blades, which are hella expensive right now. They may or may not come down in price in the next year or two, but I would not count on it.

For the price you are spending you are getting a really good iMac that you can upgrade in the future. I would recommend adding DRAM to offset the relatively slow 1TB Fusion Drive, however. Good luck!

 

[mrvo]

just a thought, that saving can go toward siliconlottery delidded w/ liquid metal 9900K . I had considered this but passed.