Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How do you justify your lavish spending on a fully-loaded 27"

The price can't be justified for so many reasons. It's a rip off because we know the actual cost and performance of the pieces packed in; Even better hardware has been out for quite a while didn't you know? The right thing to do from Apple was keeping the old design and bump the hardware specs to meet today's standards on July 2012 and get to work on Retina rather than making it thinner, at the end a "downgrade" refresh is pretty much what they did anyways but this time they made sure you end up with a brick when you cope performance...Next year we'll be seeing new CPU architectures and given the time i7-i5 has been out I suspect a huge improvement might come. You gotta take that into account when you know your NEW iMac will be bellow the hardware line of the next computing cycle rendering your purchase quite obsolete.

The purchase justifies it self - and I'm not sure about that yet as the performance bump is marginal - only if you totally need OSx FOR WORK, or if you have a lot of cash you don't mind wasting it and nevertheless the way Apple treats its costumers is just horrendous to justify the support and all the excuses given on their behalf on this thread by the users... I mean the messed up update cycles, the many lacks we find, the unreasonable price tags.. personally I rather stay away from all that stuff
 
Last edited:
Thanks for you speech! I personally consider to cancel my order and just spend the money in vacation and a new bicycle! Or even get a basic 21" iMac instead of a high end 27" one.. But until the iMac arrives here in January I've a lot time to reflect.
 
Last edited:
hacke said:
Thanks for you speech! I personally consider to cancel my order and just spend the money in vacation and a new bicycle! Or even get a basic 21" iMac instead of a high end 27" one.. But until the iMac arrives here in January I've a lot time to reflect.
Click to expand...

I use my computer to work as an audio composer, arranger and producer. Though I'm not on the PRO league yet I'm getting there bit by bit. My bands are just touring around the country finally breaking the great media mobs barriers. I did all the work on winXP, Cakewalk Sonar and Pro Tools 9 on a Lynx Aurora. I was told to look into Logic Pro by trusted producers friends when I stumbled upon this iMac mess.. It's quite sad because the 2011 i7 remains a fantastic machine.

I do need to refresh so I bought another PC. Got the parts from amazon (which are compatible with ML so I could Hackintosh) and a 42" led panel with a wall hanger. Since Keyboard and mouse are wireless, the case is just sitting in a corner, really unnoticed and I use my desk for audio monitor controllers and such. I spended about 1800$ for a recording BEAST and as graduated computer engineer I wont ever spend more than that on any PC
 
Last edited:
masp84 said:
The price can't be justified for so many reasons. It's a rip off because we know the actual cost and performance of the pieces packed in; Even better hardware has been out for quite a while didn't you know? The right thing to do from Apple was keeping the old design and bump the hardware specs to meet today's standards on July 2012 and get to work on Retina rather than making it thinner, at the end a "downgrade" refresh is pretty much what they did anyways but this time they made sure you end up with a brick when you cope performance...Next year we'll be seeing new CPU architectures and given the time i7-i5 has been out I suspect a huge improvement might come. You gotta take that into account when you know your NEW iMac will be bellow the hardware line of the next computing cycle rendering your purchase quite obsolete.

The purchase justifies it self - and I'm not sure about that yet as the performance bump is marginal - only if you totally need OSx FOR WORK, or if you have a lot of cash you don't mind wasting it and nevertheless the way Apple treats its costumers is just horrendous to justify the support and all the excuses given on their behalf on this thread by the users... I mean the messed up update cycles, the many lacks we find, the unreasonable price tags.. personally I rather stay away from all that stuff
Click to expand...

I agree that Apple could have released a spec-bumped iMac based on the 2011 design months ago. However, it's possible that they planned to introduce the 2012 model much sooner, but were held up by production problems. We'll probably never know.

In your follow-up post, you said that the 2011 i7 remains a fantastic machine, which is true. And the same will be true for the 2012 iMac when Intel releases their next chip set, as the performance boost from Ivy Bridge to Haswell will probably be relatively small.

In my case, I'm going from a 2009 Core 2 Duo to a 2012 i7, and I expect to see a noticeable speed jump. Aside from that, I'll have the benefits of a larger monitor, improved graphics processing, and a faster, higher-capacity drive, not to mention USB 3. You may consider that a waste - I don't.
 
masp84 said:
I use my computer to work as an audio composer, arranger and producer. Though I'm not on the PRO league yet I'm getting there bit by bit. My bands are just touring around the country finally breaking the great media mobs barriers. I did all the work on winXP, Cakewalk Sonar and Pro Tools 9 on a Lynx Aurora. I was told to look into Logic Pro by trusted producers friends when I stumbled upon this iMac mess.. It's quite sad because the 2011 i7 remains a fantastic machine.

I do need to refresh so I bought another PC. Got the parts from amazon (which are compatible with ML so I could Hackintosh) and a 42" led panel with a wall hanger. Since Keyboard and mouse are wireless, the case is just sitting in a corner, really unnoticed and I use my desk for audio monitor controllers and such. I spended about 1800$ for a recording BEAST and as graduated computer engineer I wont ever spend more than that on any PC
Click to expand...

I know there are many people who can afford the iMac or just need it for work. And I do not blame anybody.. only not sure if I should get one or if the money can be used somewhere else better. This iMac is just a really nice piece of technique :)
 
Last edited:
Roller said:
I agree that Apple could have released a spec-bumped iMac based on the 2011 design months ago. However, it's possible that they planned to introduce the 2012 model much sooner, but were held up by production problems. We'll probably never know.

In your follow-up post, you said that the 2011 i7 remains a fantastic machine, which is true. And the same will be true for the 2012 iMac when Intel releases their next chip set, as the performance boost from Ivy Bridge to Haswell will probably be relatively small.

In my case, I'm going from a 2009 Core 2 Duo to a 2012 i7, and I expect to see a noticeable speed jump. Aside from that, I'll have the benefits of a larger monitor, improved graphics processing, and a faster, higher-capacity drive, not to mention USB 3. You may consider that a waste - I don't.
Click to expand...

Not at all mate, it just came way too late but I'm sure many are grateful, I mean you're not getting "new features" that costed any money to Apple, just what normal PC's offer sine a very long time.

I dunno yet about about the advances that are being made today on CPU/GPU but I suspect we're finally breaking graphics barriers sooner than later as the new gen of game consoles arrive. There's a a benchmark on this forum showing just a 10-20% bump over the 2011 iMac, will that be enough for the future? We'll see as luckily many are literally dying to buy this model so plenty of reviews to come in hand.

Btw for the ones who got it already, ENJOY IT WITHOUT REMORSE! it's still a BEAST machine with a few shortcomings for small groups, not the core consumer. I'll have to wait for the Audio Software and hardware houses to do a workaround some stuff.
 
Just ordered 2 of the new 27" iMacs with 3.4GHz i7, 32GB RAM (OWC), GeForce 680MX, 1TB Fusion Drive.

I own a design/development studio and these will be used by 2 of my staff.

My studio is in my home. At night I can game on them with my son if I want.

They will pay for themselves after a few week's work.

They will last 3 - 4 years with those specs, surely.

That's how I can justify it.
 
Expensive but necessary for work

I've been struggling along with a 2007 MBP with 4GB of Ram. I am an audio reviewer/photographer located in Japan and I shoot with either a D200/D800 camera, either of which spank my computer totally when doing layered macro and other stack work.

My MBP's battery has been dead since two years ago and an accident with water about 1,5 years ago left the keyboard non-functional. It is time. The 240.000 odd ¥ it takes for the i5 27 inch version iMac isn't chump change at all. My business is off and on, great some months, not so great others, but it is an investment.

A single layered stack of a bluetooth speaker would take the MBP up to 5 hours to process completely. I expect the MBP to lower that to under one hour. Time saved alone, will be worth it after just a few weeks.
 
It's a tool, simple as that.

My current imac has given 4 years of faultless service and has easily justified it's higher cost over a pc. no reason why the new model wont do the same.

:)
 
masp84 said:
I use my computer to work as an audio composer, arranger and producer. Though I'm not on the PRO league yet I'm getting there bit by bit. My bands are just touring around the country finally breaking the great media mobs barriers. I did all the work on winXP, Cakewalk Sonar and Pro Tools 9 on a Lynx Aurora. I was told to look into Logic Pro by trusted producers friends when I stumbled upon this iMac mess.. It's quite sad because the 2011 i7 remains a fantastic machine.

I do need to refresh so I bought another PC. Got the parts from amazon (which are compatible with ML so I could Hackintosh) and a 42" led panel with a wall hanger. Since Keyboard and mouse are wireless, the case is just sitting in a corner, really unnoticed and I use my desk for audio monitor controllers and such. I spended about 1800$ for a recording BEAST and as graduated computer engineer I wont ever spend more than that on any PC
Click to expand...

So why are you bothering to write on an iMac thread?, surely there are nice PC threads somewhere for you to be happy on?
 
msg362 said:
So why are you bothering to write on an iMac thread?, surely there are nice PC threads somewhere for you to be happy on?
Click to expand...

I've been in the market since july for a new iMac. As I said I wanted to try out Logic Pro. The point here is finishing the taboo that windows doesn't deliver. If I need to own an Apple device to post here my uncle gave me his "old" iPhone 4s. :D I like it overall but wouldn't have bought it myself.. do I qualify?

Oh btw what remains of the "iMac" is a PC = Personal Computer and it's also a desktop.
 
Last edited:
DisMyMac said:
Because you'll complain you're still unhappy in your material glut.

Others will have to listen to you, and perhaps provide for you someday.

(Not "you" but "you"... English sucks.)
Click to expand...

Hmm. Nope, never expected happiness from material things. And never came to a forum to complain that my material possessions aren't providing me with happiness. Never had any trouble providing for myself or my family, either. I think you're safe here...
 
My current Mac is 6 y/o. As a digital arts professional, I'm replacing it with a heavily loaded 27" and I hope it will provide another 6 years of service. I'm not in it for the latest and greatest, but for a production workhorse.

For me there is no justification; I simply need this tool to get my work done. A construction worker does not justify buying the tools to achieve the goal. It simply must be purchased.

I suppose the OP's question raises the point that s/he bought a "fully loaded" iMac without an authentic need. Actually it's great that they have the awareness of the fact that they may not even need what they bought.
 
Ok, this thread is ridiculous! I'll bite though...

First of all, if you think dropping $2K+ on a desktop computer is "lavish" spending, you shouldn't be anywhere near these Apple forums. I'm sure there is an E-Machines board somewhere that will welcome you in, $400 will get you set up nicely there. Spending $2K+ on a meal is lavish spending, that same amount on a tool (computer) is easily justifiable!

Now for the justification of my own "lavish" spending...
My 2006 iMac (which I lavishly maxed out when I ordered it) is getting a little long in the tooth. So, I am ordering a 27" maxed out with the i7 (video editing) and 680MX (gaming) for the reason that I want it to last me another 5+ years.

Above all though, I have done well for myself and am quite successful at this point in my life... I simply want a new iMac! What is so terrible about that?
 
randy98mtu said:
Hmm. Nope, never expected happiness from material things. And never came to a forum to complain that my material possessions aren't providing me with happiness. Never had any trouble providing for myself or my family, either. I think you're safe here...
Click to expand...

You could be lying... Just to be safe, I must judge you a fool for your wasteful spending.
 
1. Looked at the cost of a 27" Apple Cinema display. Around $1000. Sure I could have gone cheaper and get a different monitor (27" Dell, cheap off brand 27") that's nearly as good but I'll be getting a really nice Apple display that's second to none (hopefully).
2. Looked into what it'd cost for a comparable new PC that'd be a Hackintosh/Windows machine. For an i5 (I actually went with an i7 on my iMac) with a thunderbolt mobo it'd run me around $13-1400 so with 2 ssd drives in there for both OS'.
3. Added those together, and it came about to $2400 or so. My new 27" iMac with an i7, 680MX card, 1TB Fusion drive came out to $2600 (+ tax, evil tax).
4. Also added the Magic Trackpad (didn't need it, but I hate the apple mouse) and the numeric keyboard. Wish they'd make the numeric keyboard wireless. Would have bought the numeric keyboard anyway, so that saved me $50 bucks there.

So I paid a few hundred bucks more to have a nice all-in-one system, and I think it's worth it and will save me the headaches (which I was really interested in doing, just didn't want to deal with them) of a hackintosh sytem. This will also look much nicer in my "den" work area that's off my kitchen.
 
mapleleafer said:
To sum up:

tool - no justification required
toy - justification required
Click to expand...

It's all perception, isn't it?
I will readily admit that while my 2700 dollar tool is most useful and even necessary for my work, it's also a really fun toy. Once every 5-6 years ... why not?
 
THOPMedia said:
I am in NZ but bought mine on the US store. I'm having my sister ship it to me. Apple products are stupidly expensive in NZ.
Click to expand...

Not sure if anyone else has commented on this but you will most probably end up having to pay a fair whack of GST on that :(
 
Fried Chicken said:
My current iMac cost $1100 and is the most used device I have and has lasted me 6 years. That's a little over $100/year, and I could still sell it for like $300.
Click to expand...

Same thing here! It's been the best investment I've ever made. The main reason I'm upgrading is because I need more RAM to do photo work (Adobe Elements keeps running out and crashing), otherwise this thing would probably last another 6 years. I love it!
 
yanksno1 said:
1. Looked at the cost of a 27" Apple Cinema display. Around $1000. Sure I could have gone cheaper and get a different monitor (27" Dell, cheap off brand 27") that's nearly as good but I'll be getting a really nice Apple display that's second to none (hopefully).
2. Looked into what it'd cost for a comparable new PC that'd be a Hackintosh/Windows machine. For an i5 (I actually went with an i7 on my iMac) with a thunderbolt mobo it'd run me around $13-1400 so with 2 ssd drives in there for both OS'.
3. Added those together, and it came about to $2400 or so. My new 27" iMac with an i7, 680MX card, 1TB Fusion drive came out to $2600 (+ tax, evil tax).
4. Also added the Magic Trackpad (didn't need it, but I hate the apple mouse) and the numeric keyboard. Wish they'd make the numeric keyboard wireless. Would have bought the numeric keyboard anyway, so that saved me $50 bucks there.

So I paid a few hundred bucks more to have a nice all-in-one system, and I think it's worth it and will save me the headaches (which I was really interested in doing, just didn't want to deal with them) of a hackintosh sytem. This will also look much nicer in my "den" work area that's off my kitchen.
Click to expand...

You'd pay 2400$ for a high end Machine like this: (AMAZON)

Mobo: Unibeast for ML support
Gigabyte Intel Z77 Dual Thunderbolt ATX Motherboard with BT4.0/Wi-Fi (GA-Z77X-UP5-TH) - Gigabyte
$239.99

CPU: ML Native Support
Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770K - Intel
$314.99

Display: ML Native Support
ASUS PB278Q 27-Inch WQHD LED-lit Super-IPS Professional Graphics Monitor - Asus
$678.00

Graphics: ML Native Support
EVGA GeForce GTX680 SC SIGNATURE+ 2048 MB GDDR5 DVI DVI-D HDMI DisplayPort 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card, 02G-P4-2685-KR - EVGA
$503.31

RAM: ML Native Support
(32 GB) 2 x Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10) - Corsair
$140$

SSD Storage: ML Native Support
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-240G-G25 - SanDisk
$163.16

HDD Storage: ML Native Support
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003 - Seagate
$69.99

PSU:
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX650 - Corsair
$89.99

Mouse: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Marathon Mouse M705 With 3-year Battery Life
$37.99

Keyboard: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 - Logitech
$58.35

Case: SILENT CASE, REALLY QUIET
Corsair Obsidian Series Black 550D Mid Tower Computer Case
$119.99

GRAND TOTAL + SHIPPING: 2.414,42$USD

---------------------------------------------------------------------

New iMac 27" Similar config: 3200$USD
BTO's:
i7
32GB RAM
1TB FD
680MX
The price could come down to 2800$ if I add the RAM myself
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Adding the OS it'd be 250$ minus, so you'd be saving 540$ or so and Although a PC gives you way more legacy support and flexibility I have to admit the new iMac is priced right for an All-in-One Machine.
 
Last edited:
masp84 said:
You'd pay 2400$ for a high end Machine like this: (AMAZON)

Mobo: Unibeast for ML support
Gigabyte Intel Z77 Dual Thunderbolt ATX Motherboard with BT4.0/Wi-Fi (GA-Z77X-UP5-TH) - Gigabyte
$239.99

CPU: ML Native Support
Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770K - Intel
$314.99

Display: ML Native Support
ASUS PB278Q 27-Inch WQHD LED-lit Super-IPS Professional Graphics Monitor - Asus
$678.00

Graphics: ML Native Support
EVGA GeForce GTX680 SC SIGNATURE+ 2048 MB GDDR5 DVI DVI-D HDMI DisplayPort 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card, 02G-P4-2685-KR - EVGA
$503.31

RAM: ML Native Support
(32 GB) 2 x Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10) - Corsair
$140$

SSD Storage: ML Native Support
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-240G-G25 - SanDisk
$163.16

HDD Storage: ML Native Support
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003 - Seagate
$69.99

PSU:
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX650 - Corsair
$89.99

Mouse: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Marathon Mouse M705 With 3-year Battery Life
$37.99

Keyboard: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 - Logitech
$58.35

Case: SILENT CASE, REALLY QUIET
Corsair Obsidian Series Black 550D Mid Tower Computer Case
$119.99

GRAND TOTAL + SHIPPING: 2.414,42$USD

---------------------------------------------------------------------

New iMac 27" Similar config: 3200$USD
BTO's:
i7
32GB RAM
1TB FD
680MX
The price could come down to 2800$ if I add the RAM myself
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Adding the OS it'd be 250$ minus, so you'd be saving 540$ or so and Although a PC gives you way more legacy support and flexibility I have to admit the new iMac is priced right for an All-in-One Machine.
Click to expand...

Great job and great post for all those slamming the iMac pricing. Most people are going to do what you said and put in the ram themselves, so it will be $2800. To me, not having to fuss around with getting things working right on a hackintosh, fuss around getting a DIY Fusion working is easily worth ~$400.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back