Advice on buying a refurbished iMac

[Clacey2007]

Hello,

I'm looking at buying a refurbished iMac, and have found the below model for £1000:
Apple iMac - Intel Quad Core i7 3.4GHz - 24GB - 3TB Fusion - 1TB SSD - LED 27"
Judging by the price i know it will be quite a few years old (have asked the question with the seller), but what i'd like to ask is: Does the date of model hinder the performance of the computer?

Thank you for your help

 

[jerwin]

Assuming that the specs for the cpu are correct, it's from late 2012.

 

[Clacey2007]

Assuming that the specs for the cpu are correct, it's from late 2012.

Thank you. Would you know how the computer would perform?

 

[PieVsCake]

Hello,

I'm looking at buying a refurbished iMac, and have found the below model for £1000:
Apple iMac - Intel Quad Core i7 3.4GHz - 24GB - 3TB Fusion - 1TB SSD - LED 27"
Judging by the price i know it will be quite a few years old (have asked the question with the seller), but what i'd like to ask is: Does the date of model hinder the performance of the computer?

Thank you for your help

I have a 2014 iMac with very similar specs and I can tell you it runs the current OS and Apple Productivity applications just like it did off the line. If your wanting to do video work the nvidia graphics are great. If your computer has the ATI chips I cant really speak to the performance. Odds are with an older box your going to have Thunderbolt 2 vs 3 and that will limit external GPU's if needed... other then that, Apple really doesn't update much in the way of components performance wise other then GPU or IO. These can make a difference for sure but like I said.. im using a 6 year old box and have no complaints.

 

[jerwin]

Thank you. Would you know how the computer would perform?

Depends, among other things, on whether the 1TB SSD is really an SSD.

 

[Clacey2007]

I have a 2014 iMac with very similar specs and I can tell you it runs the current OS and Apple Productivity applications just like it did off the line. If your wanting to do video work the nvidia graphics are great. If your computer has the ATI chips I cant really speak to the performance. Odds are with an older box your going to have Thunderbolt 2 vs 3 and that will limit external GPU's if needed... other then that, Apple really doesn't update much in the way of components performance wise other then GPU or IO. These can make a difference for sure but like I said.. im using a 6 year old box and have no complaints.

Thank you, that's really helpful! I won't be doing video work but will be using Creative cloud for design work in Illustrator. I believe the spec is enough, just the age is my primary concern. Thanks
[doublepost=1547679601][/doublepost]

Depends, among other things, on whether the 1TB SSD is really an SSD.

What could it be instead? Sorry to sound naive!

 

[jerwin]

Thank you, that's really helpful! I won't be doing video work but will be using Creative cloud for design work in Illustrator. I believe the spec is enough, just the age is my primary concern. Thanks
[doublepost=1547679601][/doublepost]
What could it be instead? Sorry to sound naive!

 

[mj_]

Do you really want to spend £1,000 on a computer that is more than 6 years old and could break any day now? Plus, the 2012 is the oldest Mac that the current OS, 10.14 Mojave, will run on. It is thus quite likely that either 10.15 later this year or 10.16 will make that cut with a much later model.

 

[mikehalloran]

Way too much money for a 2012 iMac.

I would avoid anything older than 2014 if it has a fusion drive. Those HDDs run extremely hot and have been cooking the insides for years. In 2014, Apple switched to a cooler, slower drive to solve that and decrease warranty repairs.

The 2015 got a significant performance upgrade to the PCIe bus and is the earliest iMac I recommend for my clients. These can be hot-rodded by removing the HDD and replacing the NVMe 2 SSD with a large NVMe 3/4 chip like the 970 EVO if you want.

 

[Fishrrman]

The ONLY "refurbished" Mac you want to buy is one that is sold by Apple through their online "Apple refurbished" store.

EVERYTHING else is just another "used Mac".

 

[a2jack]

There are reputable referb houses out there besides Apple. We avoid e-bay as we feel it is a "pig in a poke" buying risk. We have purchased 5 referbs over the last couple years and are very satisfied.

The two big advantage of buying non Apple referbs is a little better price, and no tax in our state of Michigan.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

And no 12 months warranty from Apple, with the option of increasing this to 3 years with AppleCare and/or AppleCare+.

Stick with Apple refurbs.