iMac 27' vs New Macbook Pro 15'

[FrankRibery]

Hi guys,

I want an opinion as I need a new mac to work with (my 13' retina late 2013 with its 4gb of ram is becoming a bit a pain to work with).

What i do:
Graphic design work (need to manage well multi tasking, with Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Chrome and messaging apps all opened at the same time)

I work 99,99% of the time at my desktop. I have already two dell monitors that are connected to my 13' macbook.

I'm considering the iMac 27' (it will replace my oldest dell monitor in this case). Any reason to prefer the new macbook pro over the iMac from a hardware point of view?

I may consider to work on mobility in a future (especially when I travel), but at the moment it doesn't seem the case.

Also, can you advice an iMac configuration? Can you confirm that I can install additional RAM by myself (apple ram is pretty expensive)? Can I also purchase the SSD separately?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Booch21]

If you are at the desktop more, get the 27" iMac. It has 5K display and it appears to have enough power. I was considering upgrading to the latest model myself. I have the 2010 model and recently went from 8GB to 16GB RAM. Video editing mainly. But... I am not sure that adding/changing RAM on newer iMac's is as easy. Apple's website has instructions on how to do it for most iMac's. My stance at the time of purchase was to load it up as I saw fit at that time, and would again. I am just not that keen on the idea of getting bare minimum and then cracking it open a month after I purchase it new.

Edit: I want to add that for portability options, I just use an iPad for that. I don't do major graphic design stuff. I focus on audio and video stuff. If I am designing sound effects for a stage show, I do the bulk of the work in Audition, but can make minor changes in Twisted Wave on the iPad once I'm at the theater.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hi guys,

I want an opinion as I need a new mac to work with (my 13' retina late 2013 with its 4gb of ram is becoming a bit a pain to work with).

What i do:
Graphic design work (need to manage well multi tasking, with Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Chrome and messaging apps all opened at the same time)

I work 99,99% of the time at my desktop. I have already two dell monitors that are connected to my 13' macbook.

I'm considering the iMac 27' (it will replace my oldest dell monitor in this case). Any reason to prefer the new macbook pro over the iMac from a hardware point of view?

I may consider to work on mobility in a future (especially when I travel), but at the moment it doesn't seem the case.

Also, can you advice an iMac configuration? Can you confirm that I can install additional RAM by myself (apple ram is pretty expensive)? Can I also purchase the SSD separately?

Thanks in advance!

You can purchase a separate SSD installing it is a different matter go on over to ifixit.com and look up replacing drives in the 2015 iMac, also Apple use far faster PCIe connected ssd's you won't get that with a SATA connected hard drive configuration.

The 27 inch has user upgradeable ram, I would reccomend you get an extra 16gb kit (2x8gb) for a total of 24gb.

I would also recommend you got the 2tb fusion drive (the 128gb SSD on this configuration is a must) for the best price performance balance. Or a 256 SSD and use external storage over USB 3 for all you media files etc.

Forget the portable unless you need portability

 

[JoeInMilwaukee]

By the way, the abbreviation for inches is " (quotation mark), not ' (apostrophe). The latter is an abbreviation for feet!

 

[FrankRibery]

Thanks guys.

Do you think the i7 processor is must have on this machine or the i5 would be enough?

I was thinking thinking to:
i7 CPU
16GB RAM
512GB SSD
M395 GPU

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks guys.

Do you think the i7 processor is must have on this machine or the i5 would be enough?

I was thinking thinking to:
i7 CPU
16GB RAM
512GB SSD
M395 GPU

Thoughts?

Thanks.

That sounds like a great spec sheet for your workload go for it.

The i7 has hyperthreading and that will make quite a difference in some of the apps you use.

 

[maflynn]

Thanks guys.

Do you think the i7 processor is must have on this machine or the i5 would be enough?

I was thinking thinking to:
i7 CPU
16GB RAM
512GB SSD
M395 GPU

Thoughts?

Thanks.

I think that spec sheet is a really a great computer configuration and I echo the comments of the above posters, you'll see a nice bump in performance from a 13" MBP to the 27" iMac. Plus the 27" display is down right gorgeous.

 

[FrankRibery]

thanks guys, I'm going to order it from online apple store in a few days!

 

[MadDane]

Thanks guys.

Do you think the i7 processor is must have on this machine or the i5 would be enough?

I was thinking thinking to:
i7 CPU
16GB RAM
512GB SSD
M395 GPU

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Might I suggest upgrading the RAM on your own instead of ordering straight from Apple? That will save you a few quid But it looks like a great machine!

 

[FrankRibery]

Thanks I was considering to upgrade to 32GB, can you advice some RAM brand that works well with the iMac? Thanks!