I want to share my decision about buying the new machine.
I have been using MacBook Pro 15" Late 2008 for a while, near 7 years.
Firstly, it came with 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 1GB+1GB Ram, 250GB original HDD.
In the first 3 years, its phone jack and fans got malfunction, thanks to AppleCare, I'd got a new Logic Board.
Then on the 4th year, I upgraded Ram from 1 to 4GB made it totally 5GB.
I never formatted hard drive for perform a clean install on any version of OS X.
Everything work fine.
Last year, it went slow, not enough for my work anymore, I think I should buy a new one.
I was waiting for a new 21.5" 4K iMac, but when it arrived I got a bit of curious :
1. spec & price
- 4K screen is the only advantage. (a new accessories too)
- not a latest generation of Intel CPU.
- have to add $100 for a 'must have' 1TB Fusion Drive (that just was made low-cost)
- 'extremely should' add more $200 for a memory upgrade, because it's unable to upgrade later.
- no USB-C (actually, I just 50% agree with some reviewers for this point.)
- no dedicate graphic card option for upgrade (I don't care much in this point.)
2. again, price
- $1499 is OK, but actually we have to pay more for a standard and longtime aspect. At least $300.
- I live in Thailand, which a currency rate went far high. 10% price increased.
3. old design, I smell a 'new'
- i know this is not a "new design" year of iMac because a new MacBook steal Jony Ive's time, but may be next year.
- according to Wikipedia, iMac introduced new design in 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012.
- So, you saw that, next year is the perfect time.
- we may see a Retina screen on a new acrylic white bezel (as Magic Accessories gave us a clue) , or no bezel at all.
- along with a Fusion Drive as a standard spec.
As a long-time using plan, a new 4K iMac's spec & price combination did not moved me, so I need something new.
SO, WHAT ABOUT MY OLD & SLOW MACHINE ?
I turned to question myself, how can I upgrade with this old machine, 15"MBP Late 2008 ?
I found that I can upgrade it to 8GB of Ram and a new SSD instead of old-time HDD.
I suddenly went for them, 1 x 4GB Memory and 240GB SSD, and paid $159.
And this is the first time in 7 years that I perform a clean install on my own Mac.
RESULT ?
3 things: new memory, new SSD, clean Install. It is going very well.
- first, I add memory to 8GB, I found some problem with starting up OS X on my old HDD, it so slow.
- I decided to swap to new SSD and perform clean Install by USB Flashdrive.
- that problem gone.
- I learned that clean install in this cloud-era was very easy to do.
- After finish install OS X, I went to Dropbox app, OneNote app, and choose some app that I really use from Mac App Store purchased list. (Your internet should speedy, though.)
- then I plugged my old HDD with SATA-to-USB adapter and made it as an external HDD. I chose just some that I really need. (iTunes, Download, Movies, Music, Documents)
- I gain many-times speed and more capability to finish all of my needed task.
- now everything works! I'm writing on it.
Additionally, I ordered ExpressCard to USB 3 to add more high speed USB for it.
I think this spec may give me 1-2 more years before a new design iMac comes.
Thanks for reading. feel free to give me comments.
