How much do new iMac's effect price of last year's model?

[RedlegsFan]

If new iMacs are released in October of this year, with upgraded internals, how much does that affect older models? The current model I am looking at is $1999 so I am just curious, in the experience of those who have been through this, how much off do you think retailers like B&H Photo will offer last year's model for?

For someone like me, it would make sense getting sticking with last year's model (unless something crazy is introduced) and saving the money. I am hoping if the prices lower significantly, I can upgrade the one I want from a 2TB Fusion Drive to a 512GB SSD at the 1999 price.

*Not sure how to edit title, but it should indicate Affect not "effect". thanks.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Well it may to affect them at all if the new ones take away something that buyers may want, so getting rid of USB A may mean they become sought after and the prices remain high for example.

I have found that discounts on last years model tend to be similar to the refurb prices on the Apple Store to be honest. So take a look at how much iMacs save on refurbished store and that will give you some idea.

As to that if you don't want to wait a refurb is well worth it.

 

[agustinbg]

Even if the last model doesn't drop prices significantly, probably the memory upgrades will be "cheaper" on the new iMac.

I'd expect the new iMac to feature a standard 1TB Fusion Drive (with 128GB SSD) even on the base model. That way, upgrading to 256GB SSD or even 512 SSD won't be as expensive as it is now.
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Well it may to affect them at all if the new ones take away something that buyers may want, so getting rid of USB A may mean they become sought after and the prices remain high for example.

USB-C to USB-A adapter sells will skyrocket next year! We'll have to buy at least a couple of them to keep them plugged in the whole time. I'd love to get half USB-C ports and half USB-A ports. But Apple is always all or nothing.

 

[RedlegsFan]

Heck I'd buy a 1Tb model IF the SSD was at least 128GB. So glad I have waited... as it sounds like new models should drop this year.

 

[agustinbg]

Yeah, 1TB Fusion Drive is a complete rip-off; it's basically the same base HDD (with a pathetic 24GB SSD) but it costs $100 more.

I'll update my iMac in October/November, too. I'll probably go full SSD (only 256GB, 512 is way too expensive but let's hope it'll be cheaper then) and keep the older, unused and large files in a external HDD.

 

[Fishrrman]

Redlegs asked:
"If new iMacs are released in October of this year, with upgraded internals, how much does that affect older models? The current model I am looking at is $1999"

I'll -guess- that when the new iMacs are announced, you'll see resellers drop the price on their "old stock" somewhere in the range of 10-15%.

Not all that much.
You may see similar price drops from the Apple factory-refurbished online store, as well, depending on the model.

Sometimes the new iMacs will represent a "large-enough" leap forward in technology that paying the extra $$$$$ is worthwhile.
For example, I would expect to see Thunderbolt 3 -and- USB3.1 in the new iMacs. Definitely worth paying for as one "looks ahead"...

Your choice....

 

[tubeexperience]

If new iMacs are released in October of this year, with upgraded internals, how much does that affect older models? The current model I am looking at is $1999 so I am just curious, in the experience of those who have been through this, how much off do you think retailers like B&H Photo will offer last year's model for?

For someone like me, it would make sense getting sticking with last year's model (unless something crazy is introduced) and saving the money. I am hoping if the prices lower significantly, I can upgrade the one I want from a 2TB Fusion Drive to a 512GB SSD at the 1999 price.

*Not sure how to edit title, but it should indicate Affect not "effect". thanks.

Put a Samsung 850 EVO inside your iMac and you are already saving money.

500GB Samsung 850 EVO ~$150

1TB Samsung 850 EVO ~$300

2TB Samsung 850 EVO ~$620

4TB Samsung 850 EVO ~$1450

 

[vapourtrails]

I'd expect the new iMac to feature a standard 1TB Fusion Drive (with 128GB SSD) even on the base model. That way, upgrading to 256GB SSD or even 512 SSD won't be as expensive as it is now.
[doublepost=1472579470][/doublepost]

.

Somehow I don't think Apple will switch the 1T Fusion back to 128 as they will use that as a push factor to move people to the middle 27" iMac option.

 

[agustinbg]

Somehow I don't think Apple will switch the 1T Fusion back to 128 as they will use that as a push factor to move people to the middle 27" iMac option.

Problem is they're tricking people into thinking that they are buying a real SSD+HHD hybrid. And even if TECHNICALLY they are, the amount of SSD is ridiculous. Heck, if they displayed that info on their specs page when buying a new iMac, probably a lot of people would upgrade to the next trims.

What really pisses me off is the fact that they are deceiving people! Calling the 1TB Fusion Drive "hybrid" is almost the same as calling a car hybrid because it uses solar energy to power the stereo (not a bad idea, but definitely not hybrid for what it really matters).

 

[maflynn]

how much does that affect older models? The current model I am looking at is $1999

I believe apple sells the older stock in refurb store with about a 14% decrease in the price, other retailers may offer steeper cuts, like BestBuy, Amazon, B&H Video

 

[Krevnik]

Put a Samsung 850 EVO inside your iMac and you are already saving money.

Sure, if you don't want the speed a PCIe SSD offers.

 

[tubeexperience]

Sure, if you don't want the speed a PCIe SSD offers.

Oh, and how often would you be transferring very large files and hence make use of the PCIe speed?

 

[agustinbg]

I recommend you to buy with an educational discount. You receive around a 10% off on regular macs. When I ordered online, they didn't ask me to send proof of being studying; so you'll be fine (or maybe you are actually studying so that'd be less of a problem).

That's in case the new iMac is really an improvement over the last one and you don't want to miss the new features.

 

[Krevnik]

Oh, and how often would you be transferring very large files and hence make use of the PCIe speed?

It's not even the big files that it gives the biggest perceivable help to. Dealing with swarms of files like with source code gets benefits too. It also helps a ton when you need to load files into RAM for processing. Photography for example (if you aren't already on an external RAID for those, RAW files can get big these days).

But in my case, I deal with both categories pretty regularly. But pretty much anything where disk I/O is the bottleneck benefits, and that's a good chunk of my day to day.

My point was more to say that the trade is not one where you give up nothing. For many, an EVO is probably the right call. But if you want to shave another sizeable chunk off compile times, or handle swapping between RAWs with less lag, the PCIe SSDs take it up another notch. For more money, of course.