LiE_
macrumors 68000
I cannot see a 27" redesigned iMac running AS in the short term, it will be one of the last to be updated so I think it's sound move to get the last of the intel iMacs to tied you over for the next 3 years.
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Buy New 2020 iMac or wait for redesign and AS?
- Thread starter jazzer15
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I cannot see a 27" redesigned iMac running AS in the short term, it will be one of the last to be updated so I think it's sound move to get the last of the intel iMacs to tied you over for the next 3 years.
If Apples dream about the new iMac is an 32” iPad on a stick with bells and whistles (Face ID, AirPower, you name it etc) then I think we can kiss goodbye to user upgradable RAM.
I also always hated to feel forced to shop around for cheap ram just to be able to spare those few hundred $. Now life will be more simple.
Apple: take more of my money please!
I also always hated to feel forced to shop around for cheap ram just to be able to spare those few hundred $. Now life will be more simple.
Apple: take more of my money please!
jetjaguar
macrumors 68040
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
Considering Apple has already confirmed it will be a unified memory architecture (the GPU uses system RAM, not dedicated VRAM) I am all but certain your assumption is correct.
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Well. I guess that does it for me. It still hurts a lot. Buying stuff for ~2000$ that will very likely be obsolete within 2-3 years. But if I have to pay 600$ to get 32 gigs of ram... I think that’s even more painful. Not an easy choice
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
I have had two philosophies for my Apple purchases.
Some have been maxed out and intended to last a long time, and sometimes I get the base model and try to time selling it just before an upgrade is released.
The second approach has proven to be much more economical, I have typically lost very little, and also the device is usually under warranty for my entire ownership.
do you mean almost yearly, or before AppleCare runs out at 3 years? Ive had my 2011 since new and I was thinking I would try to update just before my AppleCare coverage runs out going forward
QCassidy352
macrumors G5
Does a lack of user-upgradable RAM really equate to obsolescence in 2-3 years? What is your workflow where that's likely to be the case?
fokmik
Suspended
This is the answer , nothing more nothing less...the rest are "childish" wishes
No wonder this is coming from an over 40 years old man, and not from an teenager...because an teenager will wish the next big thing
No wonder this is coming from an over 40 years old man, and not from an teenager...because an teenager will wish the next big thing
Work(flow) is such a big word ;-)
Short story: I need min 32 gigs of ram and a fast CPU, but a top end iMac without customization is like a month
salary for me so I need it to last for years. I’m definitely not pro ;-)
I use my current iMac Mid 2011 primarily for recording music with Logic Pro X. Hence I need a fast CPU and lots of ram. Graphics are less important, but I can see that a huge user group is focused on that. Lot’s of content creators for YouTube out there, but I’m not one of them.
I used Reaper as my primary daw until 1 year ago and could go back, but I like the less cluttered GUI in Logic. Likewise I could go back to windows, but again, Apple/macOS has proven to be far more stable and powerful with less noodling required to get things to work. And with all iPhones and iPad for the family then Mac is a natural choice.
What I don’t do is:
1) Use it professionally. The music is just a hobby
2) require all the latest features constantly. Some partial obsolescence is ok
3) spend a lot of money on a new computer every year. My standard life cycle for computers is 7-10 years, with the occasional upgrade of ram/storage/CPU in between.
So I could
A) get the intel iMac now, knowing that I would not have to pay 4x to get the minimum 32Gb ram I need, but also that 2 years from now I will not get any new features for neither Mac OS or Logic. The plugins and other stuff I invested in would still work.
B) wait for the ASi and risk having to pay crazy money for ram and other stuff because every single component will be soldered in. 8 or 16 gigs are simply not enough. But... it will be future proof for sure - at least for 5-7 years.
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
Often yearly, depending on the product cycle and update rumors.This also means I do not have to pay for AppleCare, because it is still under warranty when I sell it.
The first approach really burned me when I bought a maxed out 2017 15" MBP, and it turned out after a few months that I really disliked it. That thing was hard to sell especially considering the next revision with a slightly improved keyboard was out, and I lost a lot doing so.
I have a 27in late 2012 I7. I upgraded the ram to 40mb and installed a 2GB Critical SSD when my original fusion died. That upgrade Made the OS think the drive was failing and would not allow me to not upgrade to Catalina.
I was waiting until the developer's conference for an announcement of a 2020 iMac upgrade and when it didn't come, I bought a 2020 MacBook Pro w16GB & 512 on sale to replace my early 3025 MacBook Air w 8gb. I added a Dell 27" UHD monitor and a stand and thought I would wait it out until the new silicon.
Except for the very occasional video editing, this rig works really well. It's actually incredible how well my 2012 runs post SSD upgrade. I'm using the "MacinDell" as my daily driver.
Now the same question- should I get this 2020 iMac and use my MacBook as a notebook, or being stuck inside for now, keep using my iPad Pro 11 with Magic keyboard as a notebook and my notebook as a desktop.
Dell makes a terrific 4k monitor and the compatibility with usb is flawless. It's frugal times but I spend most of my waking hours in front of a screen. The 2012 sits on my left as an extra computer- there is really nothing wrong with it except it's a little long in the tooth- but so am I.
I do so love working with fast "toys".
I really feel I should wait as it isn't urgent, and I would love Face ID with my next iMac. I'm just curious how people with a normal brain think about this. Thoughts?
I was waiting until the developer's conference for an announcement of a 2020 iMac upgrade and when it didn't come, I bought a 2020 MacBook Pro w16GB & 512 on sale to replace my early 3025 MacBook Air w 8gb. I added a Dell 27" UHD monitor and a stand and thought I would wait it out until the new silicon.
Except for the very occasional video editing, this rig works really well. It's actually incredible how well my 2012 runs post SSD upgrade. I'm using the "MacinDell" as my daily driver.
Now the same question- should I get this 2020 iMac and use my MacBook as a notebook, or being stuck inside for now, keep using my iPad Pro 11 with Magic keyboard as a notebook and my notebook as a desktop.
Dell makes a terrific 4k monitor and the compatibility with usb is flawless. It's frugal times but I spend most of my waking hours in front of a screen. The 2012 sits on my left as an extra computer- there is really nothing wrong with it except it's a little long in the tooth- but so am I.
I do so love working with fast "toys".
I really feel I should wait as it isn't urgent, and I would love Face ID with my next iMac. I'm just curious how people with a normal brain think about this. Thoughts?
Just a correction, there is no VRAM. It is only RAM that is shared between CPU/GPU hence unified
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
It doesn't sound like you are using the computers for "professional" use, so it really is a matter of finances and desire. If the money isn't an issue for you (although you did mention frugal times?) and you won't mind taking a bit of a financial hit should you decide to later upgrade to the next iMac iteration whenever it should arrive, then why not if it makes you happy? But I would ask yourself if you will actually get any benefit use-wise from it or if it would just be a shiny new toy that functions the same as what you are using -- i.e., the Macbook Pro. And if that is the case, will that bother you? It sounds as though it might given your statement that you "really feel you should wait." Personalities are different and a purchase that will bring no end of joy to one person may cause buyer's remorse for another 🙂.
In my case, I don't expect I would see any very significant performance gains from my 2015 i7 given my day-to-day use, but I'll have to sink a little money and some time into upgrading my wife's old (2009) computer and use a 3rd party patch to upgrade beyond High Sierra to ensure continued security patches. It may not be rocket science, but my experience with computers (I've never had to open a Mac) suggests that there are any number of things that can go wrong in the process and potential frustrations. At the end of the process we will still have one 5 year old computer and an 11 year old computer that owes us nothing but would probably run pretty well after an upgrade. But like you, at least for now, a replacement is not truly a necessity. Decisions ...
Probably correct. That said, I think a high spec Intel iMac will hold its value better than an Intel MacBook. The advantages of the ARM architecture's power efficiency will be much more obvious on a MacBook than a desktop and higher end specs will make the machines much more desirable to developers who will want to keep Intel Macs around for as long as Apple supports them.
Cyclopse
macrumors newbie
We’re all at that dilemma; buy now or wait for AS iMac.
The AS Macs should be released at what Apple categorizes as “by the end of the year”. When will that be? And is it worth the wait?
I expect it to be released sometime in late October early November, with performance that is at least matching the 2020 i7 processors.
The AS Macs should be released at what Apple categorizes as “by the end of the year”. When will that be? And is it worth the wait?
I expect it to be released sometime in late October early November, with performance that is at least matching the 2020 i7 processors.
fokmik
Suspended
even if the imac will be at the end of the year, lets say November....it will be the smaller one..
So i guess if you want the bigger one, that means you want the bigger screen and the better specs...and for that you have to wait until mid-late next year
You happen to be absolutely right. I don't need the upgrade this year. I wanted an iMac but pulled the plug on a MacBook and monitor and I'm disappointed though the MacBook runs beautifully, and the Dell monitor is superb, I couldn't justify buying an extra 16gb of ram from Apple for $400 and now I hit a performance dilemma at 16gb fixed ram that is not unlivable but I really like the fact that on this iteration of the iMac, I can add ram at reasonable prices. It seems Apple has made it more difficult if not impossible to add third party ram in almost every consumer machine- was I time I could easily add it to a Mac mini.
In any case, use wise this might be an exorbitant toy with no meaningful benefit, But the new redesigned iMac with Apple silicon may be limited at ram expansion so I guess I'm just going to wait for now and see. Maybe.