iMac 2009 when should I update?

[mayhone1]

I have a iMac from late 2009 and I was just wondering should I update, or is it fine to keep and upgrade, when would this model be considered old?

 

[derbothaus]

When what you need to do drags on or stops working. If you can't answer that then go with a 3-4 year rule if you have the cash.

 

[mmomega]

If you can sell your iMac on Craigslist for about 80-90% of retail for a new one. Then upgrade whenever you feel like it and can afford it.
There are several in my area being sold for $1400-1800 depending on 2009 i5 or i7.
You'd be paying approx. $300-$400 for an '09 i5 27" -> '11 i5 27" upgrade.

 

[thekev]

If you can sell your iMac on Craigslist for about 80-90% of retail for a new one. Then upgrade whenever you feel like it and can afford it.
There are several in my area being sold for $1400-1800 depending on 2009 i5 or i7.
You'd be paying approx. $300-$400 for an '09 i5 27" -> '11 i5 27" upgrade.

Looking at the price of current year refurbs, I'd say your math leaves much to be desired. Also I've stated this before, but imac used value hinges on the condition of the display. If it looks old and ugly, that kills the resale value.

For the OP, it's time to update when the computer ceases to do what you need in a timely manner. 2013 should be the next really major upgrade from intel. I can't personally wait that long, but my requirements jumped significantly in the past year (or I probably would). We're really past the days where you need to update frequently for most things.

 

[mmomega]

Looking at the price of current year refurbs, I'd say your math leaves much to be desired. Also I've stated this before, but imac used value hinges on the condition of the display. If it looks old and ugly, that kills the resale value.

For the OP, it's time to update when the computer ceases to do what you need in a timely manner. 2013 should be the next really major upgrade from intel. I can't personally wait that long, but my requirements jumped significantly in the past year (or I probably would). We're really past the days where you need to update frequently for most things.

If I sell an '09 iMac for $1400.00
A brand new one costs $1699.00
Tax here is 8% which on $1699 is $135.92. $1699 + 135.92 = $1834.92
$1834.92 - $1400 =$434.92

I did mention approx. $400. Which is close to $434.92

For me I never look at refurb prices because I don't want to wait for them to ship one to me.

Check Apple online and OTD price is $1,839.17 w/ estimated price.

 

[S.B.G]

I have a iMac from late 2009 and I was just wondering should I update, or is it fine to keep and upgrade, when would this model be considered old?

I have an iMac from 2009 and it's still running great. I expect to get many more years of quality use out of it. It is my secondary iMac as I have a 2010 iMac as my primary one now. but still, the 2009 is just fine.

I would imagine that once OS X will no longer run or run well on a C2D, that would be a good time to upgrade.

 

[iPhilPHX]

My 2007 is still running just fine. I upgraded the memory to 4 gigs about 2 years ago and all is still great. Although.... that 27-incher has always tempted me. 😀

 

[ATC]

I have an early 2009 24" iMac with Applecare till August of this year. I had been contemplating selling it soon to minimize loss (due to it having 7 months of transferrable warranty left).

But in all honesty it still does just about everything I need it for and does it reasonably fast (under both Lion and Windows 7 running on a separate partition). So for me it seems like a sound decision to keep it. But I think if there was something about it that is limiting its function and affecting my day to day stuff then I'd be selling it for sure and upgrading to the top of the line 27.

 

[thekev]

If I sell an '09 iMac for $1400.00
A brand new one costs $1699.00
Tax here is 8% which on $1699 is $135.92. $1699 + 135.92 = $1834.92
$1834.92 - $1400 =$434.92

I did mention approx. $400. Which is close to $434.92

For me I never look at refurb prices because I don't want to wait for them to ship one to me.

Check Apple online and OTD price is $1,839.17 w/ estimated price.

Yeah.... $1400 for a 2009 sounds way too high. You can get a current year 27" refurb for $1419 (i5 just checked). A 2009 model should be way less especially considering the lack of warranty, and if the display is starting to show the typical imac display aging signs (purple edges, image persistence, loss of contrast/uniformity) that brings it down further. It's possible that many people pay too much for used Macs, but it's totally illogical to spend almost as much on one that's a couple years old. They do not run forever, and they're expensive to repair.