Is the 4K iMac a total no-go?

[DavidConrad]

Hey All-

I've seen the 4K iMac get trashed over and over again around here, so I was wondering:
If i upgrade the RAM to 16 and upgrade to an SSD, is this thing worth

I mostly do basic tasks (web, word processing), a little bit of photo editing (lightroom a few times a month on raw images) and no gaming. I know there isn't a dedicated graphics card, but I don't know if I need it.

I am concerned it's not Skylake- does this matter?

I know I'm close to a 27inch, but I've found that huge screen to be overwhelming and don't really have the space for it.

Is it worth the money? Or is there a more comparable MB+display?


Thank you.

 

[The Doctor11]

If 21 inch is your style it's absolutely worth it. I think the reason your seeing people trash it is they go to build one, upgrade it, then decide the price is close to the 27 inch and they just jump on that. As long as you don't leave that horrendous 5400 RPM HDD it's not a bad machine.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I'm annoyed more at the GPU. My now 2 year old high spec 21.5" iMacs GPU is considerably faster than the Iris pro 6200 that is also having to push a 4K display. I'd much rather have the performance of the dGPU that I myself benefit everyday from than a higher resolution screen that not all content is ready for yet; or with a GPU that may struggle to push it with heavy GPU related tasks.



I'd love it if they just added a dGPU BTO option but I feel they are pushing anyone with the need for great graphics performance (either through casual or business use; both of which I fall under) to go for a 27" iMac.

 

[oldmacs]

I think its under-powered in the graphics department.... I wouldn't touch it till they (hopefully) add an option for a discrete GPU, especially if you want to get several years out of your computer.

 

[loekf]

If you can afford it and have the deskspace take the 27" model. Earlier this year I was originally planning to buy a 21" iMac, but the 27" retina with a 128GB/1TB fusion drive, and BYO memory (I have 32 GB now) was just the better deal.

 

[JoelTheSuperior]

The 27" model is much better value for money but honestly the 21" iMac is hardly bad - it's just really disappointing that Apple are including a 5400RPM hard drive by default.

I'm a massive Apple fan but I really feel like at this price range an SSD should be standard, but I suppose that wouldn't provide the amount of storage your typical user expects.

 

[oldmacs]

I'm a massive Apple fan but I really feel like at this price range an SSD should be standard, but I suppose that wouldn't provide the amount of storage your typical user expects.

A fusion drive/256GB SSD should be options - e.g. standard with a fusion drive, but make the change to a SSD cost nothing.