HELP me decide what Mac to buy (going insane)

[andreyush]

Hi

So basically I have a £1400 budget and I'm going insane deciding what mac to buy. I want to use it mainly for playing guitar, editing music and browsing media/internet/basic stuff.
So far I have these options:

1. 24 iMac - 16gb RAM, 256GB
2. Mac Mini + one 4K monitor (around £500 LG27UL850)
3. Macbook Air M1 + one 4K monitor (around £500 LG27UL850)
4. SH 27inch 2019-2020 iMac - around £1300-£1400

Is the new iMac worth it? Not sure If I m gonna need the portability of the macbook altough I heard it's a great laptop for its price.
Also I'm not sure if any monitor can beat the quality of the iMac display?

Any advice on what would be the best Mac to buy at this time?

 

[MBAir2010]

i have thorough enjoyed the uselessness of my MacBook air since 2010
and was my main source for graphic design until recently.
in the days, i could even stream to a tv via an  tv and pair many iPods.

 

[fwmireault]

It depends of your need for mobility. In general, iMacs have a good value for their price (which includes a great display), but as a desktop, you're limited for home use. If you think you'll need some portability, I think the third option, MacBook Air and 4K monitor, is a good choice. I have a similar setup and am very happy, because I have both a great monitor for desktop use, and a portable when I need to work on the go. If you know you'll never need portability, I think iMac is the best option. I understand from your post that you're not sure at this point if you will ever need the portability. Just keep in mind that if at one occasion in the future you'll need it, you'll be screwed with the iMac, but with your third option, you'll be safe.

Regarding monitors, you can find decent 4K monitors in your budget, but monitors with a pixel density similar to the iMac are rare and expensive. The best option in that regard would be the UltraFine 4K, but I think that they aren't anymore sold in UK. Still, you can find very good value in a 4K monitor around £500. I don't know them well enough to recommend you a specific model, I'll let more knowledgable users make recommendations in that regard.

 

[usagora]

Based on your uses, I'd go for the MacBook Air M1 + LG 4k Monitor. You say you're not sure you need the portability at this time, but if that changes, you're going to regret not getting it. And the LG is larger than the iMac display. I have that exact combination and it's great! I use the MacBook Air at work in clamshell mode with the LG monitor and then use it outside work for presentations, etc.

 

[andreyush]

It depends of your need for mobility. In general, iMacs have a good value for their price (which includes a great display), but as a desktop, you're limited for home use. If you think you'll need some portability, I think the third option, MacBook Air and 4K monitor, is a good choice. I have a similar setup and am very happy, because I have both a great monitor for desktop use, and a portable when I need to work on the go. If you know you'll never need portability, I think iMac is the best option. I understand from your post that you're not sure at this point if you will ever need the portability. Just keep in mind that if at one occasion in the future you'll need it, you'll be screwed with the iMac, but with your third option, you'll be safe.

Regarding monitors, you can find decent 4K monitors in your budget, but monitors with a pixel density similar to the iMac are rare and expensive. The best option in that regard would be the UltraFine 4K, but I think that they aren't anymore sold in UK. Still, you can find very good value in a 4K monitor around £500. I don't know them well enough to recommend you a specific model, I'll let more knowledgable users make recommendations in that regard.

Based on your uses, I'd go for the MacBook Air M1 + LG 4k Monitor. You say you're not sure you need the portability at this time, but if that changes, you're going to regret not getting it. And the LG is larger than the iMac display. I have that exact combination and it's great! I use the MacBook Air at work in clamshell mode with the LG monitor and then use it outside work for presentations, etc.

Thanks for the replies! I currently have two Macbooks in the house. A 15" Pro Retina which I'll trade it in and a 13" Air both from 2012 and I didn't use them outside the house since 2017! Not sure If I'm gonna need portability as I work at my desk at home all the time, using the Air only when I'm sitting in bed.

I think it's a matter of PPI vs screen size. What would be best? I kept searching for a good monitor but I heard many of them need to be scaled to 1440p for the text to be sharp? I looked on LG27UL500 but it's suspiciously cheap compared with the UL850 and not too many differences besides the brightness.

 

[usagora]

I think it's a matter of PPI vs screen size. What would be best? I kept searching for a good monitor but I heard many of them need to be scaled to 1440p for the text to be sharp? I looked on LG27UL500 but it's suspiciously cheap compared with the UL850 and not too many differences besides the brightness.

Here's the one I ordered, and the text is plenty sharp to me:

LG 27UL500-W​

LG UltraFine 27-Inch Computer Monitor 27UL500-W, IPS Display with AMD FreeSync and HDR10 Compatibility, White

Immerse yourself completely with phenomenal image precision and ultra deep granularity with 4K UHD (3840x2160), presenting four times the resolution of Full HD with HDR 10’s industry standard for High Dynamic Range imaging. This IPS computer monitor helps keep colors consistent at a wide viewing ...

www.amazon.com

But it sounds like you're positive you won't need the portability, so in that case I'd probably go with the M1 Mac Mini + LG display, because you can get more SSD and RAM for your money, and the display is still larger. Yes, the LG display has lower ppi, but it's still a fantastic high-res display and you should have no issues with anything being blurry.

 

[andreyush]

Here's the one I ordered, and the text is plenty sharp to me:

LG 27UL500-W​

LG UltraFine 27-Inch Computer Monitor 27UL500-W, IPS Display with AMD FreeSync and HDR10 Compatibility, White

Immerse yourself completely with phenomenal image precision and ultra deep granularity with 4K UHD (3840x2160), presenting four times the resolution of Full HD with HDR 10’s industry standard for High Dynamic Range imaging. This IPS computer monitor helps keep colors consistent at a wide viewing ...

www.amazon.com

But it sounds like you're positive you won't need the portability, so in that case I'd probably go with the M1 Mac Mini + LG display, because you can get more SSD and RAM for your money, and the display is still larger. Yes, the LG display has lower ppi, but it's still a fantastic high-res display and you should have no issues with anything being blurry.

Thanks for the advice!
I will go tomorrow at the store and will have a look at the LG monitor. I can’t believe how cheap it is for what it offers.

 

[Fishrrman]

You don't want a MacBook Air for music editing/production. The screen will be too small. Not enough ports.

For music apps, you want a BIG display so that you can have a wide "timeline", different tracks, perhaps a mixing window, plugin windows, etc.

Imac 24" would do, 27" certainly would.
Mini with a 4k display would be ok, too, but 4k isn't as critical for music as it might be for photos, videos.

DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac UNLESS it has 16gb of RAM.
Get 8gb, and you will soon regret it.

If you choose the m1 24" iMac, I recommend that you get the 4-port version (instead of the 2-port version). Also, get ethernet option (on the power block). This may be "standard" with the 4-port version.

The Intel 27" iMacs have user-upgradeable RAM, so an 8gb one is ok because you can add more yourself.

 

[sb in ak]

I second that on the 16gb ram. I was just trying out my mom’s M1 air and it definitely bogs down with several browsers/tabs and applications open on 8gb. Memory pressure is in the red. I think she wishes she’d gone 16.

Fwiw, as a photographer, I just picked up a nice BenQ 27” 1440p display and love it. Sharp and looks built like a tank. I could have gotten a 4K but decided to go for a higher quality 1440p unit instead. I don’t regret my decision.

 

[andreyush]

You don't want a MacBook Air for music editing/production. The screen will be too small. Not enough ports.

For music apps, you want a BIG display so that you can have a wide "timeline", different tracks, perhaps a mixing window, plugin windows, etc.

Imac 24" would do, 27" certainly would.
Mini with a 4k display would be ok, too, but 4k isn't as critical for music as it might be for photos, videos.

DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac UNLESS it has 16gb of RAM.
Get 8gb, and you will soon regret it.

If you choose the m1 24" iMac, I recommend that you get the 4-port version (instead of the 2-port version). Also, get ethernet option (on the power block). This may be "standard" with the 4-port version.

The Intel 27" iMacs have user-upgradeable RAM, so an 8gb one is ok because you can add more yourself.

I second that on the 16gb ram. I was just trying out my mom’s M1 air and it definitely bogs down with several browsers/tabs and applications open on 8gb. Memory pressure is in the red. I think she wishes she’d gone 16.

Fwiw, as a photographer, I just picked up a nice BenQ 27” 1440p display and love it. Sharp and looks built like a tank. I could have gotten a 4K but decided to go for a higher quality 1440p unit instead. I don’t regret my decision.

After going today at the store and looking for hours at all the possible screens and apple products. I settled with M1 iMac silver with 16GB RAM.
The display is absolutely fantastic on this one and I think 24 inch is the sweet spot as I noticed I stay quite close to the screen.
Thank you for all the replies. I also had 16GB RAM in mind as it is future proof. More RAM is always welcomed haha.

 

[TechRunner]

Not sure If I'm gonna need portability as I work at my desk at home all the time

This was me in 2015 when I bought a 13" MacBook Air. I wasn't sure I needed the portability, but bought it anyway, along with a monitor, mouse and keyboard. After 5 years, it had spent almost all its life in clamshell mode (only 51 battery cycles!) as I used my phone/tablets for portable computing. Given your use case, I would go after the iMac.

 

[andreyush]

This was me in 2015 when I bought a 13" MacBook Air. I wasn't sure I needed the portability, but bought it anyway, along with a monitor, mouse and keyboard. After 5 years, it had spent almost all its life in clamshell mode (only 51 battery cycles!) as I used my phone/tablets for portable computing. Given your use case, I would go after the iMac.

Yeah totally agree! Same situation here. I didn't use the battery and now it barely keeps charge so I am kinda of done with laptops I guess. If I'll ever need portability I'll probably buy an iPad.

 

[JamesMay82]

I've just got a iPad Pro on EE and im really pleased with it for all the basics stuff you want. I can't comment on the guitar hook up bit but there are loads of you tube vids of people doing that with an iPad and it seems quite capable.

Also with EE you can get it on a monthly payment like your phone if that helps.

 

[Superman730]

Out of curiosity, why are people recommending the iMac over the Mac mini with the larger display?

 

[andreyush]

Out of curiosity, why are people recommending the iMac over the Mac mini with the larger display?

To be honest I chose the iMac because you need to pay a good amount of money for a monitor that comes close to the quality of the iMac display. Call me a snob but I hate the fact that the majority of monitors look so bulky and cheap.
Huawei and maybe Dell make nice designs but the rest I find them not too good design wise. But that's my opinion.
And I heard that the scaling process seem to be finiky sometimes. Not too sure about this.

 

[JamesMay82]

To be honest I chose the iMac because you need to pay a good amount of money for a monitor that comes close to the quality of the iMac display. Call me a snob but I hate the fact that the majority of monitors look so bulky and cheap.
Huawei and maybe Dell make nice designs but the rest I find them not too good design wise. But that's my opinion.
And I heard that the scaling process seem to be finiky sometimes. Not too sure about this.

I'm with you on that! I'm not even a fan of Dell to be honest. They all look a bit goofy