Looking to upgrade from my old failing 2012 Fusion iMac and purchase an M3. Anything that I’m missing or will regret later down the line?

[bobright]

So im looking to upgrade from my old iMac that lasted me id say a long while. It barely boots up and has a clicking hard drive sound. It’s time to upgrade. I want to stick with iMac as that machine has treated me well and I like an all in one machine.

I want to be sure I’m not missing or skimping out on something that I’ll later regret. As we know these are custom buil4 machines a return would prob be a hassle. Does this look good and like it’d be future proofed for the next handful of years at least?

 

[JustAnExpat]

Does this look good and like it’d be future proofed for the next handful of years at least?

I think it'll last you for at least 10 years, maybe longer. There's supposed to be "AI powered stuff" in the new M4 chips, but I'm not impressed at all by any "AI powered stuff" so far, so I don't think you'll be missing out on anything.

 

[oasantos1]

You should be good for many years to come with those specs.

I upgraded from a 2015 to an M1 the performance improvement is night and day.

 

[kagharaht]

Hardware performance, fit and finish has been beyond expectation. The weakest link is Mac OS 14. At least a quick erase all settings fixed my issues. This experience has not given me confidence with Apple quality with the OS.

 

[wilberforce]

I want to be sure I’m not missing or skimping out on something that I’ll later regret. As we know these are custom buil4 machines a return would prob be a hassle. Does this look good and like it’d be future proofed for the next handful of years at least?

Returning a custom built machine is absolutely not a hassle (assuming you live in country where Apple offers the 14-day return period, and you order directly from Apple). They will send you a box to return it, free shipping, no questions asked (you don't need any reason to return it.)
It is Apple's marketing model, so returns are guilt-free also. (They will resell it as a refurb)

 

[smirking]

Seconding everything everyone above said. What you ordered ought to do you well for a good long time. If you're getting by on a 2012 iMac in 2024, you've got average daily needs at best. Get anything you want. Even a base model is going to be perfectly fine.

I'm a developer and a photographer. I have a few heavy workflows. It's not anything nearly as intense as 3D rendering and animation, but I hit my machines pretty hard and I was able to move everything from a 32GB i7 2018 Vega20 to an 8GB 13" M1 MBP for a couple of weeks and not miss a beat.

That says something about how different the capabilities of the two platforms are.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"Anything that I’m missing or will regret later down the line?"

My advice would be...
Get at least 16gb of RAM.
If you don't, you will REGRET it later on down the line.

Get at least a 512gb SSD, preferably a 1tb SSD.
If you don't, you will REGRET it later on down the line.

Ahem... I should have read further -- looks like you've already taken care of that, so I don't think you'll regret the purchase!

 

[steve123]

You may want to consider more RAM. The additional 8GB is probably worth it if you plan to keep the machine for as long as your last one. macOS will evolve and memory requirements will increase.

You may also want to wait a few days until WWDC and see if Apple announces new iMac's.

 

[Rainman1915]

The only change I would recommend is the get the keyboard with the numeric keypad,I wish mine had that.

 

[JustAnExpat]

You may want to consider more RAM. The additional 8GB is probably worth it if you plan to keep the machine for as long as your last one. macOS will evolve and memory requirements will increase.

You may also want to wait a few days until WWDC and see if Apple announces new iMac's.

When was the last time Apple increased RAM like that? And 8GB of RAM has been the standard for 80 months (4 GB was standard for 71 months, and 2GB was standard for 44 months). I can't see him outgrowing 16 GB of RAM for general use for over 20 years, and I can't see Apple requiring a minimum of 24GB of RAM for MacOS while still supporting the M3 processor.

 

[JavaMania5]

I made the same purchase in December. Very nice upgrade and my transition from a 27" to a 24" went better than I expected. No complaints but 2 things I wish I would have investigated further. I do miss the full keyboard with numeric pad but that is something I can pick up later. The other thing I should have considered was my apps. I needed to do some upgrades to a couple of apps and I lost 1 app and it is not compatible with the M3 ( Apple changed a sharing capability) and now that app is useless. Still working one one other app but its probably something I did incorrectly. I see no reason to hold out to a M4. Enjoy your new iMac.

 

[bobright]

You may want to consider more RAM. The additional 8GB is probably worth it if you plan to keep the machine for as long as your last one. macOS will evolve and memory requirements will increase.

You may also want to wait a few days until WWDC and see if Apple announces new iMac's.

When will that take place?

 

[steve123]

When will that take place?

June 10. The keynote is live streamed. You can watch it using the AppleTV app or going to the web site.

WWDC24

Join the worldwide developer community online for a week of technology and creativity.

developer.apple.com

 

[steve123]

When was the last time Apple increased RAM like that? And 8GB of RAM has been the standard for 80 months (4 GB was standard for 71 months, and 2GB was standard for 44 months). I can't see him outgrowing 16 GB of RAM for general use for over 20 years, and I can't see Apple requiring a minimum of 24GB of RAM for MacOS while still supporting the M3 processor.

The OP never described the use case. For a long term use case as described there is a benefit to have more memory installed at purchase where the machine is not upgradable after purchase.

Another view point about memory:

Whatever Apple or YouTubers want you to believe, 32GB RAM is NOT enough for professional workflow unless you want to open and close apps constantly. I would say 64GB is the minimum, also don't be fooled by 36 or 48 with M3 Max chips. On M3's OS uses more RAM than on M1 or M2 so you're left with less.

With M3 Max you should only choose 64, 96, or 128 variants.

 

[JustAnExpat]

The OP never described the use case. For a long term use case as described there is a benefit to have more memory installed at purchase where the machine is not upgradable after purchase.

Another view point about memory:

What type of "professional work" can be done with a 2012 Fusion iMac, and what type of work is he doing now? If his 2012 Fusion iMac is just barely good for his needs now, an M3 iMac would last him for at least 15 years.

 

[smirking]

Another view point about memory:

TIL, I haven’t done professional work since the day I sold my 64GB G5 MacPro tower. Silly me. It’s the specs not the skill of the person doing dev and sysadmin work behind the 16GM kiddie model.

Time to change careers I guess.

 

[bobright]

What type of "professional work" can be done with a 2012 Fusion iMac, and what type of work is he doing now? If his 2012 Fusion iMac is just barely good for his needs now, an M3 iMac would last him for at least 15 years.

I’m definitely a casual user. I’ve had iPhones every year since they dropped so I’m kinda stuck in there ecosystem. I love the simplicity of Mac though and an all in one machine. I want that 1TB as I have a huge iTunes library. The most extensive stuff I do is sometimes record music in Logic but nothing heavy or beyond vocals.

 

[ignatius345]

So im looking to upgrade from my old iMac that lasted me id say a long while. It barely boots up and has a clicking hard drive sound. It’s time to upgrade. I want to stick with iMac as that machine has treated me well and I like an all in one machine.

I want to be sure I’m not missing or skimping out on something that I’ll later regret. As we know these are custom buil4 machines a return would prob be a hassle. Does this look good and like it’d be future proofed for the next handful of years at least?

View attachment 2382000

I have an M1 with those same specs and it's still doing just great with a boatload of multitasking and graphic design work -- even as I keep it logged into to multiple user accounts. Have to assume the M3 would be that much better.

Love absolutely everything about it, with the sole exception being a desire for a bit more display space at times. Still, the display is bright, accurate and great to look at all day.

 

[ignatius345]

What type of "professional work" can be done with a 2012 Fusion iMac, and what type of work is he doing now? If his 2012 Fusion iMac is just barely good for his needs now, an M3 iMac would last him for at least 15 years.

Sound excruciating to me too, but with a little patience I bet you could still get stuff done... eventually

 

[JustAnExpat]

Sound excruciating to me too, but with a little patience I bet you could still get stuff done... eventually

Then again, what is "professional work"? For all what we know, he could be a writer using Scrivener all day. Scrivener should run acceptable on a 2012 iMac.

 

[ignatius345]

Then again, what is "professional work"? For all what we know, he could be a writer using Scrivener all day. Scrivener should run acceptable on a 2012 iMac.

True. We're definitely at the point where pretty much any Mac capable of booting up should be able to handle basic productivity pretty well.