Are You Happy With Your Retina iMac?

[AirCanada22]

There's been a lot of negativity surrounding the 5K iMac -- it's too loud, too hot, too buggy, underpowered, untested, etc etc.

I'd like to hear from people who have had positive experiences.

As someone about to pull the trigger on a base model, it would help to have some positive encouragement

 

[WilliamG]

I think positive experiences need to be put into perspective. Some of us have found the 5K iMac disappointing because we're used to previous iMacs that haven't had issues the 5K does.

That said, it's a stunning system.

As long as you're aware of the following facts:

1.) It runs hotter/noisier under load than previous iMacs.
2.) Yosemite is a bit buggy (wifi especially).

Then you'll be fine. Remember, people are more likely to complain than praise on a messageboard. The 5K iMac is stunning, and as long as expectations are reasonable, I find it hard to believe you won't be impressed.

 

[FredT2]

There's been a lot of negativity surrounding the 5K iMac -- it's too loud, too hot, too buggy, underpowered, untested, etc etc.

I'd like to hear from people who have had positive experiences.

As someone about to pull the trigger on a base model, it would help to have some positive encouragement

For me, it's the best computer I've owned.

 

[redheeler]

I think positive experiences need to be put into perspective. Some of us have found the 5K iMac disappointing because we're used to previous iMacs that haven't had issues the 5K does.

That said, it's a stunning system.

As long as you're aware of the following facts:

1.) It runs hotter/noisier under load than previous iMacs.
2.) Yosemite is a bit buggy (wifi especially).

Then you'll be fine. Remember, people are more likely to complain than praise on a messageboard. The 5K iMac is stunning, and as long as expectations are reasonable, I find it hard to believe you won't be impressed.

An accurate post, although you did forget to mention what a huge difference the display makes compared to previous models rather than just calling it stunning. I couldn't go back to a 2013 based on the display alone.

Overall my experience has been positive and I'm sure many Retina iMac owners will agree. It's a very fast machine and will do almost anything without stuttering, and I can confirm the display is stunning.

 

[Chuck Rodent]

My base model is quiet, not hot under load and has a excellent display. I got it on sale for 9% off. What more could I possible ask for?

 

[boast]

All is well so far.

 

[WilliamG]

An accurate post, although you did forget to mention what a huge difference the display makes compared to previous models rather than just calling it stunning. I couldn't go back to a 2013 based on the display alone.

Overall my experience has been positive and I'm sure many Retina iMac owners will agree. It's a very fast machine and will do almost anything without stuttering, and I can confirm the display is stunning.

Quite frankly the display is the ONLY reason to get the 5K iMac over the previous generations. I say that having owned the previous model.

But it's like saying the engine and body of a Ferrari 458 Speciale is the only reason to buy it over Toyota Prius, if you get the poor analogy..

 

[redheeler]

Quite frankly the display is the ONLY reason to get the 5K iMac over the previous generations. I say that having owned the previous model.

But it's like saying the engine and body of a Ferrari 458 Speciale is the only reason to buy it over Toyota Prius, if you get the poor analogy..

Keep in mind that the CPU on the i7 Retina iMac is slightly faster than the one on the previous generation. To some that that may really make a difference.

But yes, retina was the main reason I waited for five months rather than just getting a late 2013 like someone I know did.

 

[hologram]

Mine (4.0 i7 w/ m295x) has been great over the last few weeks. It's not getting hot and truthfully, I've never even heard the fan come on, even after running X3TC for hours at a time.

I really couldn't have asked for a better "new computer" experience.

I'm sure some people are having legitimate problems, but there's always a certain percentage that will never be satisfied, and they're the ones who tend to complain loudest in these forums. This machine is amazing, the screen is beautiful, and it's been running flawlessly.

That being said, I can't comment on the wifi issue because my network is hard-wired, but everything else is fine.

 

[carlob]

My maxed out 5K runs very well and I'm happy with it. Under normal load is very quiet, it gets hot only when I play Warcraft but who cares and even in that case it is not as loud as a PC. I don't understand the concerns about this machine running hot under very heavy load (mostly games): buy Apple care and forget about it at least for 3 years.

 

[retinaimac]

Base model here and I couldnt be happier. Coming from 2011 21.5 imac, this is a very nice upgrade for me. No fan noise and so far, no yosemite problems except for the weird graphic glitch in time machine.

 

[rainydays]

I have the base model, and my previous machine was the 2013 3.4Ghz iMac.

I can't say that I'm completely satisfied with it. I think that some of the issues can be fixed with software updates. There's a lot of sluggishness and various graphics issues.
My previous iMac felt really snappy but I can't say that about this one.

The resolution is fantastic and I can't imagine going back to a lower resolution display again. Looking at the previous generation iMacs feels like going back 10 years in time.

That said the screen flickering I posted another thread about bothers me, and I'm a bit worried about how it will affect my eyes long term. But at the same time I don't think it something most people will notice or care about.

I bought this thinking that I would keep it for 4-5 years to come, but I'm now thinking that I might upgrade as soon as there is a model updated with a faster and cooler running GPU and hopefully with less screen flicker.

For the most part I'm happy with it however. And as I said, now that I'm spoiled with the retina resolution I can't imagine going back. But there is sure room for improvements.

 

[thedeske]

All these posts lead me to believe ...
#1 - The screen looks amazing
#2 - The GPU can't keep up when real work is involved

#3 - Number 2 - end of story - 2nd rev might solve it, but Apple does this
kinda thing on a regular basis and expects power users to submit to glossie stuff.

#4 - They Don't on forums & a few admit they punched in 3 point whatever K and see the next rev as where they should have punched in.

Am I Right?

 

[rainydays]

All these posts lead me to believe ...
#1 - The screen looks amazing
#2 - The GPU can't keep up when real work is involved

#3 - Number 2 - end of story - 2nd rev might solve it, but Apple does this
kinda thing on a regular basis and expects power users to submit to glossie stuff.

#4 - They Don't on forums & a few admit they punched in 3 point whatever K and see the next rev as where they should have punched in.

Am I Right?

Somehow I get the feeling that the software is simply not optimised enough. I have a hard time understanding why the GPU would be able to drive fairly advanced games at HD resolution but not be able to render a GUI without severe sluggishness.

 

[AirCanada22]

Thanks, all, for your replies. I'm excited to find out for myself how the Retina iMac performs.

 

[tears2040]

I have a top of the line 2012 iMac and considered upgrading for the screen and 4GB graphics card, but I really don't know as my machine runs flawless.....

Only working in resolve and Final Cut at the same time have I ran out of GPU memory (2GB). It's a real shame you cannot change the GPU on the iMac. I would easily upgrade to a 4GB GPU in my current iMac and be good for another year or two working with 4K and beyond footage.

Anyone help me out here that has gone from a 3.4 i7 2012 iMac to new Retina comparable specs

Thanks

 

[cphowitzer]

I've got a base model. My first mac computer, and I love it, and I wouldn't want to touch anything else other than the 5K imac.

It's super easy to set up (compared to a PC rig), and takes me around 6 minutes from unpacking it from the box to logging in. Its good to look at, very sharp, very fast, and reasonably quiet. I only play one game, League of Legends, and it's fast, no lag, and no excessive fan noise.

It's not silent, and mission control does pose problems in lag. I've reduced all transperancies, and it's a little faster, but still laggy. That makes me unhappy, but still the PROS of the computer (yes accoutning for the price tag too), still outweigh the negatives here, so I ended up keeping my base model purchase. I hope it will last me 4 years, before I'd want to upgrade to something newer again.

 

[dyt1983]

edit: To remove personally identifying info not relevant to the conversation.

 

[siddhartha]

Very happy, with some considerations:

Mine initially had a bunch of random restarts. Both in Yosemite, and Windows 8.1
For whatever reason, those have vanished on the bootcamp side, and are much less frequent on the Yosemite side.

That said, I still get an occasional unexplained reboot, and the screen saying to press any key or wait for a restart.

I've not seen that happen on my 2011 iMac.

Not sure if my troubles can be traced to either my USB3 hub, or one of the external drives on the system, but I ended up building a USB3 RAID disc I had been planning anyway, and intend to remove the other drives, and possibly the USB3 hub.

Otherwise, it's fast, beautiful, and does everything I ask of it. I play some Steam games (mostly in Windows, which is the reason for bootcamp) like Dark Souls, and Torchlight, among some others, and it handles them beautifully.

Mostly Lightroom stuff in addition to regular computer tasks on the Yosemite side

Mine's the i7, 295, with 3TB fusion and 24mb RAM

 

[andy9l]

Not sure if #1 means "some" or "all" ... the way it is stated usually means "all".



And my 5K is quite a bit quieter than the iMac it replaced... the "thick" iMacs had that open vent near the top that didn't diffuse the airflow as much.

All. Apple say it themselves.

 

[dyt1983]

edit: To remove personally identifying info not relevant to the conversation.

 

[saturnotaku]

Not sure if my troubles can be traced to either my USB3 hub, or one of the external drives on the system, but I ended up building a USB3 RAID disc I had been planning anyway, and intend to remove the other drives, and possibly the USB3 hub.

Random reboots, especially since you're experiencing them in both OS X and Windows, are more likely indicative of bad RAM. At least it's easy to remove and replace the modules so you can test them.

 

[raodesi]

Yes, very happy. This is our first family iMac, and we love it.

 

[talmy]

There's been a lot of negativity surrounding the 5K iMac -- it's too loud, too hot, too buggy, underpowered, untested, etc etc.

My experience coming from a 2009 27" i7 iMac:

• It's quieter under load and silent at idle
• It's cooler (the 2009 would get too hot to touch)
• Only seen one bug -- menu bar draws incorrectly on external (2nd) monitor. Everything else works like it did on the old iMac (which is just fine).
• A lot more power than the old iMac.
• I do miss the more accessible SD slot and the optical drive, but the external optical drive I bought is faster and quieter.

 

[Cape Dave]

I love it! And I am one of the top 3 fussiest people on this forum

Silent, fast, and the nicest screen I have ever seen. Ever.

And I am not usually a 1.0 OR an all in one type of guy.