Best iMac specs for a long life

[mooxmacs]

Buying 27-inch iMac (2020) to replace my ancient (mid-2010) one. Not a gamer or power user, but ready to max it out as much as makes sense. Strategy: Add years to its usable life by having more storage/speed/memory than I think I need right now. I'm a tech writer for a federal contractor; sometimes work at home. What I need to do:
* Run many apps at once, including multiple browsers/open tabs
* Drive a second big display
* Do some video/image/music editing (personal, not professional). Not much now, but someday . . . .
* Until I retire and say adios to my employer's network, I want to run Windows on Bootcamp for remote access. (Now must use an HP laptop for that purpose.)
Seeking wisdom that can help me make an informed purchase. Thanks in advance.

 

[James_C]

I suggest that you go for the top 'stock' spec iMac. It has the i7 8 core processor and the Radeon Pro 5500 XT Graphics processor. I think you would be fine with the mid range standard model right now, but as you want to keep for a longer life I would go for the i7.

I would add 8GB of Ram to take the total to 16GB, I don't think you will see much benefit for your use cases to add more. However I would buy your ram from a reputable website like crucial or OWC to save some money rather than buy from Apple

 

[ascender]

Definitely add the RAM (form 3rd party) and as big an SSD as you can afford. Other than that, you can't go far wrong. We have two iMacs here, one is 5 years old and one is 10 years old - both are still able to do what we bought them for with no issues. Sounds like we have very similar use cases.

 

[bernuli]

Buying 27-inch iMac (2020) to replace my ancient (mid-2010) one. Not a gamer or power user, but ready to max it out as much as makes sense. Strategy: Add years to its usable life by having more storage/speed/memory than I think I need right now. I'm a tech writer for a federal contractor; sometimes work at home. What I need to do:
* Run many apps at once, including multiple browsers/open tabs
* Drive a second big display
* Do some video/image/music editing (personal, not professional). Not much now, but someday . . . .
* Until I retire and say adios to my employer's network, I want to run Windows on Bootcamp for remote access. (Now must use an HP laptop for that purpose.)
Seeking wisdom that can help me make an informed purchase. Thanks in advance.

I think for remote access in Windows, you are fine running in a virtual machine, something like VMware Fusion. Unless you are running big Windows apps, then Bootcamp better.

I would get the top 'stock' like James said or maybe even the mid 'stock' selection. I would only do a processor bump if you needed it for something specific that you KNOW will benefit from.

Get as much storage as you can afford, go big here cause it is a hassle to add later. Or of you are ok with external storage prob the stock 512GB is totally fine.

For your workload description, seems like more ram better. If you comfortable adding RAM yourself, I would buy with 8GB, then add all 128G from the start and be done with it. Or you could get 2 of these 32GB modules now and then 2 later if you think you need more

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[hobowankenobi]

Good points so far. I would go top build (3.8) or at least mid (3.3). Top is tempting because you get a GPU bump too. Hard to predict the future, but it is reasonable to expect continued increasing demand on both CPU and GPU. No end in sight.

I would only add that if it were me, I would set back some $ for fast external storage, and stick with the 512GB SSD option.

Maybe both:

1. external SSD for working files
2. external HD for backups

...Or perhaps a small NAS with HDs for backups if you have multiple computers/devices to backup and share files between.

To run a VM or two, you will want at least 16GB of RAM, and yes, do install yourself. RAM prices tend to decline over time, so you could add some on purchase, and perhaps replace the OEM later. You could add 16GB now (for a total of 24GB) for less than $80. At some point in the future (when RAM is cheaper), you could replace the 2 x 8GB with 2 x 16GB for a 32GB total...if needed. Or more.

----

Are you aware of the upcoming switch to Apple silicon? That is a big variable that is hard to account for. How big with performance bumps be compared to X86 Macs, and how long with X86 Macs be supported...both OS and third-party software?

It may be that no X86 Macs are very usable or desirable/valuable in 4-6 years. Hard to say...but it should be considered.

The upside is good, known, Bootcamp and VM performance on Intel Macs. We don't know yet what to expect for the coming AS Macs. Many expect Bootcamp to end with X86 hardware.