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iMac 24" or MB Pro 14"

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panthro100

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 3, 2018
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I have a 27" iMac which is over ten years old and is now end of life.

I like desktops but was hopeing for a 27" M1 iMac. But nothing released yet.

I don't need a lot of power, would you buy a MB Pro 14" or an iMac 24".

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.
 
It depends on whether you think the mobility of a MBP would do anything for you. If you have use cases where its convenient to be able to move the computer then a laptop might be better.

If on the other hand you want a big screen and are going to be behind a desk whenever you need a computer, then the iMac is a better choice.
 
Bodhitree said:
It depends on whether you think the mobility of a MBP would do anything for you. If you have use cases where its convenient to be able to move the computer then a laptop might be better.

If on the other hand you want a big screen and are going to be behind a desk whenever you need a computer, then the iMac is a better choice.
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I've only needed to move my iMac 27" around maybe 10 times over 10 years, it's kind of portable, and the iMac 24" is very light.
 
Get the iMac. I've got one last month, replacing my late 2009 iMac, and it's my favorite Mac since the iMac G4. Sleek and modern looking, inaudible/very silent, more than fast enough and very nice screen.
 
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panthro100 said:
I've only needed to move my iMac 27" around maybe 10 times over 10 years, it's kind of portable, and the iMac 24" is very light.
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Yes the iMac 24” is only about 4.5 kg, the packaging is heavier than the computer. Definitely easy to move around the house, but not so easy to take along while travelling.

I would advise getting the 16 GB ram upgrade though if you’re going to do anything at all intensive.
 
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I replaced my 27" iMac with a new 24" iMac and I'm delighted with it.

I really don't notice the smaller screen size, and it's been a pleasure to use over the last nine months.

I went with 16GB memory as I do often have quite a few things running at once. But that said my father's just bought himself an M1 iMac with 8GB memory and when I set it up for him I was amazed at how well it did with just 8GB...
 
I’d get the 14” MBP for the mobility, and then add in $200-$300 widescreen minute from Costco if you need a desktop setup
 
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I got my M1 iMac back in February and really love it (Blue - 16GB of memory - base storage - 8 core GPU). Performance has been great, very fast and responsive. I’ve had 4 iMacs before starting with the white intel 24 inch iMac, then a 24” aluminium model with the superdrive, then a 27” model after the 2012 redesign and my last one was a 21.5” 4K imac form 2017.
This 5th one is the best one I’ve had so far

Personally I’m a iMac + iPad Pro kind of person so I’ll never buy a laptop. The iPad is great for traveling and to bring with me on the plane / train And to use on the couch or in bed.

I’m sure the 14” MBP is a great machine too though. I guess it depends on what you like/need to do with it.
 
panthro100 said:
I have a 27" iMac which is over ten years old and is now end of life.

I like desktops but was hopeing for a 27" M1 iMac. But nothing released yet.

I don't need a lot of power, would you buy a MB Pro 14" or an iMac 24".

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.
Click to expand...
I had a 27 inch also. Replaced with the 21.5 inch 2019 model and have no complaints at all. I guess my question to you do you need the mobility of a laptop. I didn't", so it was an easy decision for me. My wife is a school teacher and the school provides her with laptop that we use when we travel. When it is time to replace my iMac I will buy another one. Of course that is a couple of years off.
 
So, this is a really interesting post for me, as I’m in a similar situation, with a 20l13 iMac 27” i7 quad-core and 24GB RAM. I’d been awaiting a new 27” imac, but seems that won’t be happening anytime in the foreseeable future, so I’m wondering whether to either get a 24” iMac, a Macbook Pro + monitor, or a Studio + monitor. Obviously, the latter two options will be much more costly than the 24” iMac.

My problem with the 24” isn’t necessarily the reduction in screen size, as I had the 2009 24” iMac, back when that was the ‘large’ size. It’s more that the 24” (smaller) iMac seems not to have the most powerful chip options (and I don‘t need the ‘whopper‘ chip, I forget the name)…but I do want something powerful and that will last me another 10 years before I need to upgrade.

I don’t travel a lot, so a laptop is really of limited use to me, and I do have the 12.9” ipad pro, which is adequate for simple tasks when traveling (email, maybe simple documents)
[my opinion—no insult intended for those who are happy with an iPad Pro as their main machine!].

Anyhow, I’ll be curious to hear what choice you make, and I wish you luck!
 
FriendlyMackle said:
It’s more that the 24” (smaller) iMac seems not to have the most powerful chip options (and I don‘t need the ‘whopper‘ chip, I forget the name)…but I do want something powerful and that will last me another 10 years before I need to upgrade.
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Honestly I’ve found the base M1 to be plenty fast (so far). I rarely max out on all the cores, and most things are instantaneous, the few things that are not happen pretty quickly. Opening 8 tabs in Safari and 3-4 applications on startup takes 3-4 seconds, copying 13 GB of stuff from my external Samsung T7 SSD to the internal storage took about 13 seconds, starting up a decent sized project in Unity 3D takes a few seconds. But those are the exceptions.

If Apple keeps up a similar pace of improvements to the A-series chips and we can expect 20-30% increase in CPU speed every two years you’re looking at say 150% improvement in 10 years, which is noticeable in a lot of things. But then I reckon that would be true for a Pro or a Max chip as well. The bottom line is, my 2011 MacBook Air with a Sandy Bridge processor in it is still quite usable, I do my taxes on it. I expect my 2021 24” M1 iMac to be in a similar state in 10 years.
 
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It's going to be much more expensive to buy the MBP and an external screen that doesn't disappoint you coming from a 27" iMac. So I'd weigh heavily whether you want to pay for the portability.

That said, going to the 24" screen is going to be a downgrade also. I would consider a Mac mini and a great 27-34" screen as an alternative.
 
i would wait till WWDC...who knows maybe the 24" M2 will show up and make your decision even easier
 
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I would recommend that you get the MacBook over the iMac --especially if the iMac model you already have supports target display mode: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592 (read this carefully to make sure your older iMac model is supported and to know what kind of cord to buy)

With a cheap USB-C to mini DisplayPort cable (or thunderbolt cable depending on the iMac model year,) you can have the best of both worlds. The laptop can be used on the go, and when you want a desktop computer experience, you can connect a single wire to your old iMac from the laptop and use it as a beautiful external monitor.
 
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davidg5678 said:
I would recommend that you get the MacBook over the iMac --especially if the iMac model you already have supports target display mode: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592 (read this carefully to make sure your older iMac model is supported and to know what kind of cord to buy)

With a cheap USB-C to mini DisplayPort cable (or thunderbolt cable depending on the iMac model year,) you can have the best of both worlds. The laptop can be used on the go, and when you want a desktop computer experience, you can connect a single wire to your old iMac from the laptop and use it as a beautiful external monitor.
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Target Display mode does not work with any Apple Silicon Macs, only older Macs. The iMac used as a display must have macOS High Sierra or earlier installed.The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.
 
GlobeZ said:
Target Display mode does not work with any Apple Silicon Macs, only older Macs. The iMac used as a display must have macOS High Sierra or earlier installed.The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.
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This topic is a bit more nuanced, as the information on Apple's website is slightly inaccurate. Target Display Mode may still be a good solution, but it does have a few more specific requirements when it is used with an M1 Mac.

The 2009 and 2010 27" iMacs are probably the best candidates for the use of Target Display Mode because they use Mini DisplayPort connection rather than the Thunderbolt connection on iMacs of later model years. If you use any different model/size iMac, your results may vary. A Thunderbolt cable won't work either --it needs to be Mini DisplayPort.

Unless the 2009 or 2010 Macs have been specially modified, they also won't run a macOS greater than High Sierra anyway, so this is not typically an issue of concern.

I have both done this myself, and I have also seen successful reports online of other people connecting Mini DisplayPort to USB C cables between iMacs in this age range and post-2019 M1 Mac Computers.

I have also connected computers running operating systems later than macOS Catalina to my own iMac this way successfully. I believe that this is because the earlier model year iMacs act more like standard Mini DisplayPort monitors, and there is no Thunderbolt complexity to deal with for macOS software.

See this video for more info:

So to be more accurate than my previous post, if you specifically have a 2009 or 2010 27" iMac running macOS High Sierra, and you connect it to a brand new M1 Mac with a USB-C to Mini DisplayPort cable, Target Display Mode should still function normally, but otherwise, don't count on it to work.
 
davidg5678 said:
This topic is a bit more nuanced, as the information on Apple's website is slightly inaccurate. Target Display Mode may still be a good solution, but it does have a few more specific requirements when it is used with an M1 Mac.

The 2009 and 2010 27" iMacs are probably the best candidates for the use of Target Display Mode because they use Mini DisplayPort connection rather than the Thunderbolt connection on iMacs of later model years. If you use any different model/size iMac, your results may vary. A Thunderbolt cable won't work either --it needs to be Mini DisplayPort.

Unless the 2009 or 2010 Macs have been specially modified, they also won't run a macOS greater than High Sierra anyway, so this is not typically an issue of concern.

I have both done this myself, and I have also seen successful reports online of other people connecting Mini DisplayPort to USB C cables between iMacs in this age range and post-2019 M1 Mac Computers.

I have also connected computers running operating systems later than macOS Catalina to my own iMac this way successfully. I believe that this is because the earlier model year iMacs act more like standard Mini DisplayPort monitors, and there is no Thunderbolt complexity to deal with for macOS software.

See this video for more info:

So to be more accurate than my previous post, if you specifically have a 2009 or 2010 27" iMac running macOS High Sierra, and you connect it to a brand new M1 Mac with a USB-C to Mini DisplayPort cable, Target Display Mode should still function normally, but otherwise, don't count on it to work.
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Thank you for your detailed reply, its great to know it is possible under the right conditions!!
 
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panthro100 said:
I have a 27" iMac which is over ten years old and is now end of life.

I like desktops but was hopeing for a 27" M1 iMac. But nothing released yet.

I don't need a lot of power, would you buy a MB Pro 14" or an iMac 24".

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.
Click to expand...
I have a 2019 21.5 iMac. It still does everything I need to do. I am a retired IT guy and used to always need the latest and greatest every three - five years. Of course that was dealing with windows computers. I used to be on the fence. I don't play a lot of games. I play Out of the Park Baseball with not problem a couple of other games. Also no issues with Word or Excel. This is my second Mac and I will not go back to windows. Will uses this computer until dies or stops running the apps I use. I hope this might help you with your decision. As a ps my a is school teacher and the school provides her with a laptop. No need to have another one, not that I would trade my IMAC any how.
 
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panthro100 said:
I have a 27" iMac which is over ten years old and is now end of life.

I like desktops but was hopeing for a 27" M1 iMac. But nothing released yet.

I don't need a lot of power, would you buy a MB Pro 14" or an iMac 24".

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.
Click to expand...
If you don't need a lot of power, then I wouldn't go with a 14-inch MacBook Pro. I generally wouldn't advise anyone to go with a 14-inch MacBook Pro (the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a much better performance to cooling to battery life ratio with the same computing power). If you're considering a portable, I'd either go with a 13-inch MacBook Pro, or if you really hate the TouchBar, an M1 or M2 MacBook Air. If it's between a MacBook Air and an iMac, I'd go with the MacBook Air as it's better bang for buck. Plus, if you really want a 27-inch display, you could always attach a Studio Display or LG UltraFine 5K and call it a day.
 
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