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iMac 27” to 24” iMac M1?

I

icemantx

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 16, 2009
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So the announcement of the Mac Studio + Studio display initially had me excited, now deflated. I saw both in the Apple Store yesterday and while the Studio is a powerful machine and the SD looks like my iMac, the price is simply too much for me to justify.

Funny thing is sitting next to a Mac mini connected to the SD was a 24” iMac. It really is a nice looking computer. For less than 1/2 the price of a 2TB Studio + Display or roughly 30% less than the 16gb/2TB mini plus SD, I can get the iMac 24” 2TB 16GB for $2100.

It has me wondering if anyone here who did for down in size, regret it? I’m ok with just thunderbolt/USB-C connections.
 
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This is an "eye of the beholder" question. For those who respond yes, whatever they do on their iMac doesn't need the extra few inches of diagonal. For those who respond no, they very likely FEEL like that need at least 27" and thus that's helping them rationalize Studio if not something even bigger (which is what I did in my iMac 27” upgrade.

How YOU use your Mac drives this decision. How much do you need that extra screen RE. A pretty great "backup" option that is all Apple would be to grab one of the later 27" iMacs in the refurb store. That gets you the SAME Studio monitor for as little as about the same Studio price PLUS a whole, functional Mac computer inside that can also run Windows if you sometimes need that too.

I definitely could not have stepped DOWN from 27". In fact, I went very hard the OTHER way to a 5K2K 40" ultra-wide. Now I could never go back to a 16:10 screen.
 
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Thanks for the replies.

I would not say I “need” the 27” screen size. It’s more of do I want it enough to pay the $1000+ premium of the Mac mini (or $2000 premium for the Mac studio) & Studio Display over the same cpu/gpa/RAM/SSD specs on the 24” iMac. I had a 2009 24” iMac then upgraded to the late 2014 Retina 24” and have had no issues with it. I would imagine that by this fall Apple will upgrade the 24” iMac and Mac Mini to the m2 (m2 pro? - maybe wishful thinking there).

I can afford the studio or mini plus studio display, I just can’t justify the price for my fairly basic use (photos, iMovie, email, safari…). The 2020 27” iMac is an interesting idea, but I have been rocking that design for almost 8 years so I’m ready for something that looks new also.
 
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There is no way I would willingly downgrade from my 27" to a 24" (actually 23.5"), as I do lots of photo and graphics editing where I really benefit from the screen space and resolution.
However, if you don't have such a need, the 24" iMac is a neat machine, looks good, is high quality, and simplifies things a lot.
 
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icemantx said:
Thanks for the replies.

I would not say I “need” the 27” screen size. It’s more of do I want it enough to pay the $1000+ premium of the Mac mini (or $2000 premium for the Mac studio) & Studio Display over the same cpu/gpa/RAM/SSD specs on the 24” iMac. I had a 2009 24” iMac then upgraded to the late 2014 Retina 24” and have had no issues with it. I would imagine that by this fall Apple will upgrade the 24” iMac and Mac Mini to the m2 (m2 pro? - maybe wishful thinking there).

I can afford the studio or mini plus studio display, I just can’t justify the price for my fairly basic use (photos, iMovie, email, safari…). The 2020 27” iMac is an interesting idea, but I have been rocking that design for almost 8 years so I’m ready for something that looks new also.
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I think I'm right there with you. I've had the late 2015 27 inch iMac (i5, 2TB Fusion drive) since...well 2015:) I just recently went through the same thought process you're going through. My use case for the iMac is primarily photos (ie Lightroom/Photoshop) and to a lessor extent Final Cut Pro for videos. I also use it for all the general stuff.

My decision was really down to (both from the Apple Refurbished Site):
- 24 M1 iMac (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,609
- 2020 27 inch iMac (8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 5500 XT Graphics): $1,650
I have a 2TB Sabrent Rocket M.2 NVMe drive in a TB3 enclosure that I'd plan to use for external storage for my Photos and LR Catalog (for either choice).... and an OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock (especially handy for the 24 iMac). If I go with the 2020 27 inch iMac, I'd purchase and install 32GB of RAM myself. The Mac Studio + Display was out of the running for me as, like you, I can't justify spending close to $4,000 (minimum) for my use case.

I chose the 24 inch M1 iMac (Silver:). I'm 5 days into the purchase now...and have 15 days to decide. Right now, I'm very happy with the purchase as it really fits my use case. I just want to make sure I can adjust to the 24 inch display. I'll say that for everything except photos and video, I enjoy using the 24 inch display more than the 27 inch. The size seems perfect for most things. I do enjoy the extra size of the 27 for photos and videos...but, I think I can live with the 24.
 
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icemantx said:
Thanks for the replies.

I can afford the studio or mini plus studio display, I just can’t justify the price for my fairly basic use (photos, iMovie, email, safari…). The 2020 27” iMac is an interesting idea, but I have been rocking that design for almost 8 years so I’m ready for something that looks new also.
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Which is why I've taken delivery of 24" Imac at the weekend past.
I read very helpful posts referring to Studio being far too powerful for non 'pro' users.
Apple referred to machine learning, pro audio pro video, non of which I use.

thanks
 
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Donfor39 said:
Which is why I've taken delivery or 24" imac at the weekend past.
I read very helpful posts referring to Studio being far too powerful for non 'pro' users.
Apple referred to machine learning, pro audio pro video, non of which I use.

thanks
Click to expand...
+1. Buy what fits your use case now….and into the foreseeable future. I did the same in the past week: 24 M1 iMac (16G RAM, 512GB SSD)
 
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andreyush said:
Pff that’s it? I edit my photos on the displays from times square. Wouldn’t go back to smaller screens!
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Can you really do that? And from what distance?
Have you ever look at those big LED screen from a close distance.
From my work place, I can see a commercial LCD screen which I guess is bigger than 300". From a 100 meter away, it is beautiful. But getting close enough you can see the black lines between the LED cells. And it's not so nice at all. I bet you haven't been able to get close enough to the displays at Times Square.
 
Aggedor said:
Get a mini and a good 27" 4K display (for a FRACTION of the price of the Studio Display) and you're set.
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For photo work a 4K screen does not scale as well as a 27" 5K in OS X. One has to run a display at either its native resolution or at 1:2, 1:4, etc. In the case of 4K, 1:2 is 1920x1080. Which means that a 24" 4K display could be run at 1920x1080 (the traditional resolution for 24" displays) for legible text and UI while still benefitting from the full 4K rez and proper 1:1 display of images when working on photos. However, on a 27" display, you have to choose between 4K for photos or a non-integer downscale for text & UI legibility, as 1920x1080 on a 27" display is uncomfortably large. I assume this is why Apple chose 5K for its 27" displays
 
I am leaning heavily now to the 24" when really looking at the price of a comparable Apple setup with the mac mini + studio display. I would gain some real estate at a high premium. I also do not want a non-apple monitor so Dell, LG, etc... would not be the match I would want with the mac mini. For sure the Mac Studio is simply out for me even though it is a powerhouse - way overkill for me.
 
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icemantx said:
I am leaning heavily now to the 24" when really looking at the price of a comparable Apple setup with the mac mini + studio display. I would gain some real estate at a high premium. I also do not want a non-apple monitor so Dell, LG, etc... would not be the match I would want with the mac mini. For sure the Mac Studio is simply out for me even though it is a powerhouse - way overkill for me.
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The premium would also give you some flexibility. You could hookup a MacBook to that SD or upgrade the M1 Mini to something else in a few years. The Thunderbolt displays had high release value.
 
ADGrant said:
The premium would also give you some flexibility. You could hookup a MacBook to that SD or upgrade the M1 Mini to something else in a few years. The Thunderbolt displays had high release value.
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I’ll admit I do still like my 27” screen size. If I did end up with the mini/SD, I could always upgrade in the future as you said. Something I never did in the last 8 years with my current iMac.
 
icemantx said:
It has me wondering if anyone here who did for down in size, regret it? I’m ok with just thunderbolt/USB-C connections.
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I went from the 27" iMac 5K to the 24" iMac 4.5K. I'd compare the two like a queen and a king sized bed. The queen is big enough, sure, but you can't quite sprawl out the way you can on a king. When I had the bigger iMac, I could work on an Illustrator file with all the necessary palattes and whatnot, and still park another document next to it comfortably. Now I can fit both, but there's a bit more arranging and fitting involved. I don't regret the 24" iMac at all, but if I had the choice before me right now to get the Studio display + mini, or this iMac, I'd quite possibly go for the bigger screen just because I spend a ton of time on it.
 
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Aggedor said:
Get a mini and a good 27" 4K display (for a FRACTION of the price of the Studio Display) and you're set.
Click to expand...
That was my other choice seriously tempting.
If I had have gone for m1 mini and 4k monitor.
I could have made use of Dell tb4 doc between mini+xps.
I'll be happy with space saving imac for a few years.

thanks
 
I suppose I would get used to the 24", but the RAM issue concerns me. I do a lot of photography and when I have Lightroom, Photoshop, and Luminar open there is a pull on my system. I have 16 gig of Ram now which at the time I bought my 27" (late 2015) seemed like a major upgrade. Over the last 7 years RAW photos have gotten larger, applications have increased in size and power etc. I am afraid that shortly down the road I might regret not going the extra mile and wind up spending that money and more to fix the issue.

Nothing is easy anymore.
 
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