iMac 21 retina?

[Blanche70]

hi
Been saving my hard earned for a first investment to a Mac. Feel with phones 4-6 and iPads in both sizes have my travelling needs covered. So iMac it is.
21 inch would most suit my working space, and budget to be fair, but put off by non retina. Should I wait til autumn and new releases (ie what's the percentage chance of retina being rolled out on the smaller screen), or just jump in now. The wait will only hurt if I have waited for no change

First post but a question that's been plaguing me for a while now

Thanks

 

[MikeArtworks]

hi
Been saving my hard earned for a first investment to a Mac. Feel with phones 4-6 and iPads in both sizes have my travelling needs covered. So iMac it is.
21 inch would most suit my working space, and budget to be fair, but put off by non retina. Should I wait til autumn and new releases (ie what's the percentage chance of retina being rolled out on the smaller screen), or just jump in now. The wait will only hurt if I have waited for no change

First post but a question that's been plaguing me for a while now

Thanks

I would buy it now.

Actually, I'm getting a 21.5 inch (2.9 ghz 8gb ram) myself in a few days/weeks.

You can wait, but if it doesn't get released, the waiting has been for nothing. And even if it does, there will be a better version the year after, maybe with even bigger resolution, better processor or whatever. So that means you'd wait everytime for a new one. Better wait for 2030 lol.

It won't be much better for specs, and a retina resolution needs more power. Also, 1080p is fine, believe me. I have a 1080p monitor, and a 13 inch rMBP, and I don't care about the 1080p monitor being less sharp. It's plenty sharp.

Just my piece of cake

- Mike

 

[fathergll]

I would seriously wait. The current 21.5" iMac is overpriced for what you are getting. It's not a bad computer it's just overpriced for what you are getting in contrast to the 27" Retina iMac which is an excellent purchase(because of the display and self upgradable ram).

 

[MikeArtworks]

I would seriously wait. The current 21.5" iMac is overpriced for what you are getting. It's not a bad computer it's just overpriced for what you are getting in contrast to the 27" Retina iMac which is an excellent purchase(because of the display and self upgradable ram).

The screen of the 21.5 inch iMac is still one of the best screens in the world. 1080p is what 90% of the people use, so I think for a lot of people it's one of the best computers.

 

[redheeler]

hi
Been saving my hard earned for a first investment to a Mac. Feel with phones 4-6 and iPads in both sizes have my travelling needs covered. So iMac it is.
21 inch would most suit my working space, and budget to be fair, but put off by non retina. Should I wait til autumn and new releases (ie what's the percentage chance of retina being rolled out on the smaller screen), or just jump in now. The wait will only hurt if I have waited for no change

First post but a question that's been plaguing me for a while now

Thanks

The chance of a 21.5" Retina 4K display in the fall is good. Wait if you can.

 

[MikeArtworks]

The chance of a 21.5" Retina 4K display in the fall is good. Wait if you can.

With that increasing the price, keep that in mind.

 

[redheeler]

The screen of the 21.5 inch iMac is still one of the best screens in the world. 1080p is what 90% of the people use, so I think for a lot of people it's one of the best computers.

If you want to buy one now that's fine, and I'm not saying the 1920x1080 display is bad, but I know the difference Retina makes firsthand.

 

[MikeArtworks]

If you want to buy one now that's fine, and I'm not saying the 1920x1080 display is bad, but I know the difference Retina makes firsthand.

Yeah, I know. I have a rMBP and iPhone 6, but as I have a 1080p monitor now, I see nothing wrong with the quality, so I rather spend less on something that is the same. The retina models increased the price with over 300$ on all macbooks and imacs (27)

 

[fathergll]

The screen of the 21.5 inch iMac is still one of the best screens in the world. 1080p is what 90% of the people use, so I think for a lot of people it's one of the best computers.

It's still overpriced no matter how you slice it. It's going to cost you $1900 in the US to get a 21.5" iMac with 16GB ram and a SSD . Just shy of $2 grand for a setup is very steep.

 

[MikeArtworks]

It's still overpriced no matter how you slice it. It's going to cost you $1900 in the US to get a 21.5" iMac with 16GB ram and a SSD . Just shy of $2 grand for a setup is very steep.

I understand, yes, apple's ram and ssd pricing is too high.

For most people though, 8gb ram is plenty. Heck, even 4 is enough for 80% of the people. Some of my friends even have only 2gb of ram and they still like their's lol.

 

[fathergll]

With that increasing the price, keep that in mind.

Just because the price is higher doesn't mean it's a bad thing. If someone is selling 1 acre of land for $1,000 then 6 months later they ask $1,500 for 5 acres, its that not a bad thing. You're making it out like some kind of strict equation of Price increase = Bad

If the price increases but you are getting a lot more its not a bad thing.

 

[redheeler]

Yeah, I know. I have a rMBP and iPhone 6, but as I have a 1080p monitor now, I see nothing wrong with the quality, so I rather spend less on something that is the same. The retina models increased the price with over 300$ on all macbooks and imacs (27)

For me at least, since I got my first rMBP in 2012, Retina has always been worth the extra. For the tasks you described on another thread (Photoshop/Illustrator) especially, Retina would make quite a difference. There's really no going back.

Again, if you want to buy one now that's fine, but I chose to wait, and made the right choice.

 

[MikeArtworks]

Just because the price is higher doesn't mean it's a bad thing. If someone is selling 1 acre of land for $1,000 then 6 months later they ask $1,500 for 5 acres, its that not a bad thing. You're making it out like some kind of strict equation of Price increase = Bad

If the price increases but you are getting a lot more its not a bad thing.

How can you say a 'lot' more. The retina screen needs higher specs, so for performance it would be around the same.

But lets stop this, we won't agree haha.

 

[fathergll]

How can you say a 'lot' more. The retina screen needs higher specs, so for performance it would be around the same.

If the screen is better the performance is better.

 

[QCassidy352]

The current 21" was introduced in September 2013 -- 21 months ago. It's very hard to swallow paying full price for a machine that's been on sale for almost 2 years with no upgrade. I get that new processors have not been available, but they could've done a price cut, or make fusion drives standard, or new graphics, or something.

As someone who really wants to buy a 21", I'm torn. I thought there'd be an update soon, but since they just tweaked the 27" lineup a few weeks ago and didn't touch the 21s, now I'm worried that they're really going to let it sit for over 2 years before introducing a skylake iMac late 2015 or early 2016.

 

[AlifTheUnseen]

The current 21" was introduced in September 2013 -- 21 months ago. It's very hard to swallow paying full price for a machine that's been on sale for almost 2 years with no upgrade. I get that new processors have not been available, but they could've done a price cut, or make fusion drives standard, or new graphics, or something.

As someone who really wants to buy a 21", I'm torn. I thought there'd be an update soon, but since they just tweaked the 27" lineup a few weeks ago and didn't touch the 21s, now I'm worried that they're really going to let it sit for over 2 years before introducing a skylake iMac late 2015 or early 2016.

++

You really should muster the strength of mind to wait.

You may ask yourself: If I buy a 2-year-old-computer now, at the same (Apple-taxed) high prize, why didn't I buy it in 2013 and harvested the benefits since then? Waiting in foresight (maybe up to fall/winter 2015) seems to be as terrible as having waited in hindsight (2 years) seems insignificant. Man has a distorted view of time…

I'm waiting for Rev.2 RiMac (hopefully with less heat, less noise, and the ability to be used later as a screen for another computer).

 

[Johnf1285]

You should wait. There is a strong chance that a smaller sized Retina iMac is out by the end of 2015. With that you'll get not only a great display but newer hardware and possibly slightly cheaper BTO options on things like storage, etc.

 

[Blanche70]

Wow

First post and introduction to Macrumours and I am suitably impressed. Seems like I posted in wrong section but thank you all for your responses which have been incredibly helpful.
Having weighed it up I shall now wait. The reply stating rightly that it is essentially a two year old piece of kit tipped the balance. Let's hope that apple deliver.

Cheers guys. Really helped

 

[QCassidy352]

Glad to hear we were able to help. I happened to stop into an apple store today and looked at the iMacs, thinking of this thread. (Sadly, they only had one 21" (iris pro) and one 27" (original retina configuration) on display at all -- it's all iOS devices and a few tables of notebooks.) Seeing them solidified my feelings about two things: I can't go back to non-retina after my 2013 13" rMBP, and 27" is just too big. So I'll be waiting for the 4k 21.5" also.

 

[placidity44]

The 21.5" hasn't been updated in quite a while. Certainly wouldn't buy one now. May not touch them until Skylake. I know you're set on an iMac and said you have your traveling needs covered, but the rMBP's come with flash storage standard so it will be faster than the iMac you buy unless you custom order it driving up the price. Laptops have come such a long way over the years and with Apple they really are a mobile first company. The desktops except for the 2299 model 5K iMac come with 7200 rpm hard drives standard unless you BTO which will make your machine seem slower than even a 11" MacBook Air. I'd strongly recommend a 13" rMBP and you can go with a 2014 refurb and save a lot of money. Can eventually get an external monitor and hook it up to that while having the option to go mobile. Refurbs are as good if not better than new. You can ask anyone on this forum about refurbs and they'll say the same.

 

[tillsbury]

Absolutely agree with this. The most urgent upgrade needed in the entire Apple lineup is now the 21" iMac going to retina. Everything else is (if we allow the Airs to remain as the entry-level version of the rMB). I would be very surprised if they don't announce a retina 21" by the end of this year -- probably September/October but perhaps earlier. Yes, lots of people use 1080 displays. But they don't once they've used Retina. Lots of people use spinning hard disks too -- doesn't mean it's a good idea to buy a machine with one in.

If you can possibly manage it: wait. If not, perhaps buy a second-hand or refurb lowest model you can get away with and plan to sell it when the retina is announced.

 

[QCassidy352]

Absolutely agree with this. The most urgent upgrade needed in the entire Apple lineup is now the 21" iMac going to retina.

I agree, but if they were going to do it in the near future, wouldn't they have done it when they updated the 15" MBP and released the new 27" retina iMac? That makes me worry that we're looking at fall or winter. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[iamMacPerson]

hi
Been saving my hard earned for a first investment to a Mac. Feel with phones 4-6 and iPads in both sizes have my travelling needs covered. So iMac it is.
21 inch would most suit my working space, and budget to be fair, but put off by non retina. Should I wait til autumn and new releases (ie what's the percentage chance of retina being rolled out on the smaller screen), or just jump in now. The wait will only hurt if I have waited for no change

First post but a question that's been plaguing me for a while now

Thanks

I would wait. Its not that 1080p is bad (heck, I'm using a 1080p monitor right now), but the Retina screen is beautiful. I had the Retina MBP and while the GPU gave me problems, the display was absolutely gorgeous and worth the extra money IMO. The other main reason is the specs. While great strides are not being made in CPU performance for the desktops, they are in GPUs. I'd wait just a little longer if you could. If you cannot wait, as a Mac user this is the build I would recommend if you are just a standard user or prosumer:

2.7GHz Quad Core i5
8GB of RAM
256GB Flash Drive

I recommend this specific model because the base model has the same specs (and performance) of a MacBook Air and I have found nVidia's 750m (in the highest end iMac) to be unreliable under high heat conditions. I'd also keep an eye out on Apple's refurb site. Apple's refurbed devices are as-good, if not better, then their new products. They are thoroughly tested, parts are replaced as needed including the external enclosure. Every refurbished Apple product I have bought from Apple has worked great, looked new, and never given me an issue. As an example, I am typing this on my Mac Pro I bought refurbished. They come with the same warranty as a new product, and the option to have the warranty extended via an AppleCare Protection Plan.

Click here to go to Apple's UK Refurbished site. (Note at this time they are sold out of 21" iMacs)