21.5 iMac

[Porkchop Sandwich]

I'm seriously considering a new iMac for a workhorse computer after relying upon a mbp for a number of yrs now. My 2010 27" iMac is still going strong and has been about as stable a computer anyone could ask for.

The light weight of the 21.5" appeals to me b/c I keep my office in a shop environment and sometimes just picking the whole computer up to get it out of the way for a job sometimes is nice. (I do this w/my 27" that's over 20lbs)

How crazy would I be to buy a top spec 21.5" over a 27" of any flavor? I would like to wait this month out to see if the iMacs get some attention, as rumored. At the same time, this series of the iMac is very mature and the 21.5" seems to be a pretty sweet computer. Spec'd out, I would think it'd be a pretty powerful little computer as well. Your comments will be greatly appreciated..what say you? Who has a 21.5" and regrets their decision not to go 5K?

*I'm a pretty big fan of Mojave thus far & it's got to be pretty sweet on an iMac, yes?

 

[jerwin]

top spec? You mean i7, 32 GB RAM , 1 TB SSD, Radeon Pro 560, all for the low low price of 3000 bucks?

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

Yes jerwin, I should have been more specific.

I'd order something like this..comes up to about 2.1K

 

[alien3dx]

I'm seriously considering a new iMac for a workhorse computer after relying upon a mbp for a number of yrs now. My 2010 27" iMac is still going strong and has been about as stable a computer anyone could ask for.

The light weight of the 21.5" appeals to me b/c I keep my office in a shop environment and sometimes just picking the whole computer up to get it out of the way for a job sometimes is nice. (I do this w/my 27" that's over 20lbs)

How crazy would I be to buy a top spec 21.5" over a 27" of any flavor? I would like to wait this month out to see if the iMacs get some attention, as rumored. At the same time, this series of the iMac is very mature and the 21.5" seems to be a pretty sweet computer. Spec'd out, I would think it'd be a pretty powerful little computer as well. Your comments will be greatly appreciated..what say you? Who has a 21.5" and regrets their decision not to go 5K?

*I'm a pretty big fan of Mojave thus far & it's got to be pretty sweet on an iMac, yes?

i have 21.5 base line and i have no issue.. I work everyday using it .. 2 monitor is a must for me. If you want mobility ,just get old ipad 10 and remote desktop it using Real VNC.

 

[DQ11]

Yes jerwin, I should have been more specific.

I'd order something like this..comes up to about 2.1KView attachment 791894

It has the cooler 65w i7 which would have been perfect in the 27"

 

[mreg376]

It has the cooler 65w i7 which would have been perfect in the 27"

Of course that has nothing to do with what the OP was asking. Very helpful.
[doublepost=1538654061][/doublepost]

Yes jerwin, I should have been more specific.

I'd order something like this..comes up to about 2.1KView attachment 791894

NIce machine! My only concern with the 21.5"'s is the inability to easily upgrade the memory. But that's not going to change in any future 21.5", so if weight is your main concern with this purchase there's no reason not to buy it. I don't agree with the "wait wait" theory, unless the current offerings are simply not as capable as you need them to be. You should buy one when you need one, not according to Apple's product cycle. Good luck!

 

[alien3dx]

Of course that has nothing to do with what the OP was asking. Very helpful.
[doublepost=1538654061][/doublepost]

NIce machine! My only concern with the 21.5"'s is the inability to easily upgrade the memory. But that's not going to change in any future 21.5", so if weight is your main concern with this purchase there's no reason not to buy it. I don't agree with the "wait wait" theory, unless the current offerings are simply not as capable as you need them to be. You should buy one when you need one, not according to Apple's product cycle. Good luck!

my plan just after 3 year upgrade the memory manually.Nowdays i more reclutant to buy notebook neither windows or mac.

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

To me, on this potential purchase, I'd go 16RAM for the simple fact a future upgrade isn't possible w/out tearing into the machine. The up-charge for 16RAM when taking that into consideration is reasonable to me. I don't foresee growing out of 16RAM anytime soon. If the iMac gets a cpu refresh this month..the 21.5", while already a pretty capable machine, will become a beast of a little computer. The 27", under current design, is just so awkwardly large. Unnecessarily so IMO but it's a nice design. At the end of the day, why NOT a 21.5?

(I do wish Apple would make a 24" iMac)

 

[alien3dx]

To me, on this potential purchase, I'd go 16RAM for the simple fact a future upgrade isn't possible w/out tearing into the machine. The up-charge for 16RAM when taking that into consideration is reasonable to me. I don't foresee growing out of 16RAM anytime soon. If the iMac gets a cpu refresh this month..the 21.5", while already a pretty capable machine, will become a beast of a little computer. The 27", under current design, is just so awkwardly large. Unnecessarily so IMO but it's a nice design. At the end of the day, why NOT a 21.5?

(I do wish Apple would make a 24" iMac)

2 grant not worth for me .. in the future i just upgrade memory and added external egpu when market is matured..For now i'm not using for video editing so much pretty worthless to me. And i don't play games.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

If the charge for 16GB is reasonable to you, go for it. Don't void your warranty and AppleCare if you option that by cracking it open and pulling out all the innards to get to the memory.

 

[DQ11]

Of course that has nothing to do with what the OP was asking. Very helpful.
[doublepost=1538654061][/doublepost]

NIce machine! My only concern with the 21.5"'s is the inability to easily upgrade the memory. But that's not going to change in any future 21.5", so if weight is your main concern with this purchase there's no reason not to buy it. I don't agree with the "wait wait" theory, unless the current offerings are simply not as capable as you need them to be. You should buy one when you need one, not according to Apple's product cycle. Good luck!

Why must you make such a negative comment. No wonder people think Apple fans are elitist.....some of them are.

Sorry I didn't say the words you expected to read. I'm sure your world is over now.

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

I appreciate all comments, including your comment pointing out that the i7 in the 21 is rated at 65W, DQ11.

I could be wrong b/c I can't seem to keep my '17mbp running but, with the Mojave update it seems the computer runs cooler. Any iMac users care to offer some feedback regarding that?

I can tell you my 2010 iMac w/i7 (2.93) has always seemed to run on the warm side and I'm telling you it's been a seriously stable computer for me..never had a single problem w/it and after installing an ssd + some RAM, the computer came alive.

 

[elmarjazz]

For some 30+ years Ive had some form of APPLE portable, and now need a replacement for my - 2011 GPUgate dead MBP - but with all the problems with the MBP the past few years I'm feeling it's like rolling dice.

If I had to have portability I'm seriously looking at a Thinkpad X, but maybe just not ready to leave MAC OS after all this time so...

You are thinking the same as me; A high spec’ed out 21 iMAC. Still moveable, but just not in an everyday in shoulder bag style. Coming from a MBP 17” its actually a step up, the new MBPs display is beautiful yes,(but still is smaller) and the 21.5” is even more-so gorgeous, more CPU power (when/if they use the 6-core prossessor in the coming upgrade), and less expensive. Get a travel case and it could work. If APPLE gets rid of the bezel in an up-date, which its seems they could, it would make it even smaller. Plus, I’m not a fan of the butterfly keyboards, and the magic keyboard is more to my liking, and without any of the problems. And... all the port built in (at least on the 2017 as it is).

Myself, I feel its worth waiting to see if the update is coming, hopefully sooner than later. But, the 2017 iMAC is fine as it is and I would not feel too bad about just getting one if they had a refurbished in the right configuration at a discount. I’m in Japan and none on the APPLE site here, but I did see some spec’ed out 2017 21.5” on the US site just recently and would have bought one.

So, I feel your thinking is sound (same as me ;-)

 

[alien3dx]

For some 30+ years Ive had some form of APPLE portable, and now need a replacement for my - 2011 GPUgate dead MBP - but with all the problems with the MBP the past few years I'm feeling it's like rolling dice.

If I had to have portability I'm seriously looking at a Thinkpad X, but maybe just not ready to leave MAC OS after all this time so...

You are thinking the same as me; A high spec’ed out 21 iMAC. Still moveable, but just not in an everyday in shoulder bag style. Coming from a MBP 17” its actually a step up, the new MBPs display is beautiful yes,(but still is smaller) and the 21.5” is even more-so gorgeous, more CPU power (when/if they use the 6-core prossessor in the coming upgrade), and less expensive. Get a travel case and it could work. If APPLE gets rid of the bezel in an up-date, which its seems they could, it would make it even smaller. Plus, I’m not a fan of the butterfly keyboards, and the magic keyboard is more to my liking, and without any of the problems. And... all the port built in (at least on the 2017 as it is).

Myself, I feel its worth waiting to see if the update is coming, hopefully sooner than later. But, the 2017 iMAC is fine as it is and I would not feel too bad about just getting one if they had a refurbished in the right configuration at a discount. I’m in Japan and none on the APPLE site here, but I did see some spec’ed out 2017 21.5” on the US site just recently and would have bought one.

So, I feel your thinking is sound (same as me ;-)

A cheap 600 dollar macbook air with 8 GB and local imac should be nice but most will think like this. I better spend on max laptop.. But upon reading and reading failure of macbook, people opt to use imac but still not portable. In the end , on how you usage it. Desktop computer tend to last long compare to laptop which cramp space and heat problem.

 

[elmarjazz]

And just want to say... bigger isn’t always better (but the 27” can have higher specs) Trying both at the APPLE Store, I found that the 27” was just too much to look at for my natural 1-1½ ft. display in front of me space. The 21.5” was perfect. And the [again] the 4K display is gorgeous Also thinking if I do need more screen space, I can pair an iPad Pro for pallets, and use it also as a true portable when I need something small.
[doublepost=1538708114][/doublepost]Just looked at the USA APPLE refurbished site and they have a 21.5” iMac 3.4ghz, 32gb, 512SSD for $2,000. Not a bad set-up. Wish I was in the USA. 32 RAM is probably more than I need, but not complaining, SSD is very important, and 512gb built-in is ideal, and you can always use an external portable SSD for more storage with the USB-C thunderbolt and Velcro it to the stand so its always there.