I am thinking about buying a new Mac for myself and I wanted some advice. I currently have a macbook air 2011 but I want to switch to a desktop. It is also time to get a monitor (10 years old) so I was thinking about buying a maxed out iMac 27 inch. Is there a reason I should wait until oct 22 after the mac event? Should I wait until mavericks comes out? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I know the Mac Pro is coming out soon, but I have a feeling it is beyond my budget and I really do need a new monitor with iSight camera. Thanks in advance.
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Max new iMac wait?
- Thread starter Sc24evr
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The new iMac has only just come out - just wait and get the new one with free Mavericks (Up-to-date program)
I have just sold my old iMac last week and already I'm suffering a little bit of withdrawal. I am waiting until next week's event to make a decision as to what to do next though. My hope is that they will announce the availability of Mavericks and I can then proceed with ordering my new iMac. So, I'd say wait. What's another week to you anyway?
As far as the Mac Pro is concerned, I'd advise you look at what you'd do with such a machine first. I don't see the Mac Pro as just a mere upgrade to the iMac.
As far as the Mac Pro is concerned, I'd advise you look at what you'd do with such a machine first. I don't see the Mac Pro as just a mere upgrade to the iMac.
Apple have always given a new OS release away for free, for people that bought machines close to the official release. And since we are hopefully only a week away from that, you can be sure you are getting it.
And even if they don't I think 29$ doesn't rock your boat when you just bought a maxed out iMac.
And even if they don't I think 29$ doesn't rock your boat when you just bought a maxed out iMac.
Yea, this is true but past behavior by Apple doesn't mean they will continue to do so. However, I agree that it's likely they will.
To me, it has nothing to do with cost and everything to do with how much fiddling I have to do when I get a new computer. If I can get Mavericks pre-installed on my system just for waiting a week or two it's worth it vs. getting a computer with Mountain Lion and needing to move my data back and forth, clean installing the new OS, etc.
There will be a considerable diff in price between the MP and the iMac in my opinion. I also think that you will be eligible for Mavericks if you purchase a mac today and they release it on 22nd Oct.
The only thing that you may want to wait and see is if they update their displays and if that matters in your decision making.
This leads to a good question, if my macbook air only has lion installed on it ( and not yet mavericks), would I be able to restore a new iMac with mavericks from that backup? Maybe it's worth getting an iMac without mavericks to be able to restore. What do you think, is that a problem?
The macair time machine backup would revert you to Lion. You would have to then install/reinstall 10.9
Got it. So either way I will have to install mavericks on the new iMac because of restoring the back up.
I am planning on using the iMac for work as well as some gaming. Hopefully it will be able to support that. The Mac Pro might be overkill for gaming, not sure.
When you start up a new Mac, during setup it will ask if you want to import data. You can import your data and apps from a Time Machine backup. This is usually the best option for copying stuff from your old Mac. Look up Migration Assistant for more details about this process as that is what OS X setup uses to import data.
You wouldn't restore the backup, you would import the data from it as mentioned above. Also, you wouldn't be able to restore a backup of a Lion system on the current iMacs as Lion doesn't have the device drivers for it.
If you're going to use the iMac for gaming get the 775M or 780M (depending on what games and how long you plan on keeping the system).
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I just bought the new maxed-out iMac and it couldn't have been easier to transfer the data from my Time Machine backup.
I had the backup connected, started up the new computer and within the first few screens was given the option to transfer data. Choose from disk, then select your Time Machine backup.
~15-20 minutes later the new iMac was just like old iMac ... only x10 faster and with a humongous screen.
Sweet.
When I got my new iMac in August 2011, I ordered a BTO with SSD + HDD and waited until the first week of August though I had been ready to order in early July as I wanted it to come with Lion preinstalled. I could have ordered in July as the up-to-date program was valid back into June (WWDC).
Once I heard that new BTO units were shipping with Lion preinstalled, I ordered. That machine was sadly stolen in a home burglary late this summer. I am actually ordering my new replacement iMac this week, most likely today. I am actually hoping it comes with Mountain Lion and is not delay and shipped with Mavericks as my Time Machine Backup is Mountain Lion and my guess is that it will avoid any problems to restore from backup on a 10.8 to 10.8 course than trying to restore, Apps, data, etc. from a 10.8 backup to a 10.9 machine.
All that said, if you are ordering a new iMac I would feel 100% confident that any machine ordered today will qualify for the up to date program, and that the upgrade path from Mountain Lion to Mavericks will be just fine. If you truly want Mavericks pre-installed, you will have to wait a minimum of 2-4 weeks past the launch date as many machines, even BTOs, purchased after the Mavericks launch will have already been in the distribution pipeline and will simply be eligible for the Mavericks up-to-date download. Even in the case of BTOs, drives at the factory are pre-imaged in batches and as such drives with Mountain Lion already on them will need to be used up prior for BTOs prior to a new batch of Mavericks imaged drives being used in the production pipeline.
My advice, order now, and update with up-to-date after the launch.
Once I heard that new BTO units were shipping with Lion preinstalled, I ordered. That machine was sadly stolen in a home burglary late this summer. I am actually ordering my new replacement iMac this week, most likely today. I am actually hoping it comes with Mountain Lion and is not delay and shipped with Mavericks as my Time Machine Backup is Mountain Lion and my guess is that it will avoid any problems to restore from backup on a 10.8 to 10.8 course than trying to restore, Apps, data, etc. from a 10.8 backup to a 10.9 machine.
All that said, if you are ordering a new iMac I would feel 100% confident that any machine ordered today will qualify for the up to date program, and that the upgrade path from Mountain Lion to Mavericks will be just fine. If you truly want Mavericks pre-installed, you will have to wait a minimum of 2-4 weeks past the launch date as many machines, even BTOs, purchased after the Mavericks launch will have already been in the distribution pipeline and will simply be eligible for the Mavericks up-to-date download. Even in the case of BTOs, drives at the factory are pre-imaged in batches and as such drives with Mountain Lion already on them will need to be used up prior for BTOs prior to a new batch of Mavericks imaged drives being used in the production pipeline.
My advice, order now, and update with up-to-date after the launch.
The experience with Mavericks GM all depends on what you use your computer for. And some people ignore minor issues that they shouldn't because it's new and shiny.
When Mavericks is released, I'll be looking for how te applications I use are working on it and feedback from the users of those apps. Not general feedback from people who may not be using their Mac for anything you are using it for.
"Your mileage may vary."
I'll probably be waiting at least until the point release, which in truth probably won't be more than a few weeks at most.
It is always a good idea to wait out for the best possible deal. Even then, the best possible deal might not be as good as it could be. With Apple you just never know and it's usually a question of picking the sausage from a tree. 
I consider myself lucky with my purchase. Not necessarily because it was very cheap, but because I got a pretty good deal and I also love this machine. That is important. What's the point of waiting if it's going to be in vain and, ultimately, leave you utterly disappointed and your wallet hurting?
I consider myself lucky with my purchase. Not necessarily because it was very cheap, but because I got a pretty good deal and I also love this machine. That is important. What's the point of waiting if it's going to be in vain and, ultimately, leave you utterly disappointed and your wallet hurting?
Thanks for the advice. Another factor I have added to the equation is that usually the os upgrades don't cost an arm and a leg, so if I have to pay $30 later on it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't get reimbursed.
I'll peg Mavericks at $20 or possibly even $10 or $15. I would highly doubt it will be $30. Remember, in the Mac App Store they get high visibility, will get more downloads at a lower price and therefore more total revenue, and they don't have to pay 30% of the price to themselves!
But I still say with Mavericks being released no later than Oct 25th, all machines purchased in October and possibly earlier (upwards of 30-45 days prior to launch) will get Mavericks for free through up-to-date.
But I still say with Mavericks being released no later than Oct 25th, all machines purchased in October and possibly earlier (upwards of 30-45 days prior to launch) will get Mavericks for free through up-to-date.
I wouldn't go for the Mac Pro unless you need it for some type of professional use, or don't like Apple's displays.
I've used a Lion Time Machine backup as the source for app and data import setting up a new Mountain Lion system. There shouldn't be any issue doing the same with 10.8->10.9.
Sorry to hear about the theft. That royally sucks! Hopefully you had insurance and could at least recover some of your loss.
Regarding your comments, I agree with most except this part. Apple is not like OEMs, when they announce something new it is generally available on day one. I used to think this was a crazy way of doing business but I believe that Apple doesn't want their customers disappointed and getting stuck with the "old stuff". For instance, when people made orders even near the date of the most recent refresh they got the new hardware not what they had in stock. This would be doubly true for BTOs.
Yes. Had insurance though the claim is still in process. But better yet, had a Time Machine backup.
I think you misinterpret what I am saying a little. They only ship hardware that is "new specs" once that is released to the public. Example: once they updated iMacs to the 2013 model with new CPUs/GPUs, etc, any new retail store, online store, and BTO models would be those new specs.
However, they have stock at stores, in the distribution channels, etc. and these machines are already out there with Mountain Lion on them. They don't send them back or open them and re-image the drives with the new OS when it is released. They simply offer the up-to-date program. With every OS, whether Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard, etc., after it has been publicly released, if you were to go into their stores or order from Apple Online for some period of time (whether days or a few weeks), the stock you would walk out the door with would have the previous operating system on it. This has always been the case. They don't manage the pipeline for the OS the way they do for hardware. It really isn't worth it. For BTOs, you still get the new hardware, you just don't get the new OS until the drives, which are imaged at the factory in batches, finish out existing stock and get to the newly imaged batch with the new OS. I read postings from forum members in late July and early August of 2011 who ordered BTO config new iMacs after the Lion release and were receiving Snow Leopard imaged drives and upgrading through up-to-date for free. I confirmed this with Apple store online reps, and waited until people stared reporting receiving machines with Lion on their BTO order. It took 10-14 days after the OS release for those BTO units to start shipping with Lion. Now this is iMac specific because Apple released updated spec'd machines for the MacBook Air and Mac Mini on the day they released Lion and those were new spec machines, and as such came with Lion since the hardware and software change were simultaneous.
I wonder if once some BTO iMacs are shipping with Mavericks if that means ALL BTO iMacs will ship with it, or just certain configurations. I'm hoping to get a new iMac as soon as possible, but I won't buy until I can be 100% sure it'll ship with Mavericks. This is because if I ever want to wipe the machine and restore it to default to sell it, I want the default OS to be Mavericks.
I wonder if once some BTO iMacs are shipping with Mavericks if that means ALL BTO iMacs will ship with it, or just certain configurations. I'm hoping to get a new iMac as soon as possible, but I won't buy until I can be 100% sure it'll ship with Mavericks. This is because if I ever want to wipe the machine and restore it to default to sell it, I want the default OS to be Mavericks.
Well I would assume it will be around the same time but necessarily all as there are like 7 different drive options on the iMac.
1TB, 3TB, Fusion Drive (both options would use the same 128GB SSD), 256GB SSD, 512GB SSD, 1TB SSD.
And so there may be stacks of various amounts of each drive size to go through. I would imagine they sell the least of the 1TB SSD but in that case may either re-image their existing stock due to the infrequency of order, or simply not have very many if any at all pre-imaged to go through.
If you follow the "I just ordered a new iMac...merged thread at the top of this sub forum, you can start asking or following that thread and see if anyone has received a BTO with Mavericks after it has been released.
Yea, I think I see what you are saying. New hardware release and new OS release don't always line up and this can sometimes affect what is "in the box". However, I disagree with some of your points as it has not been my experience nor has it been the experience of people I know.
I also don't think it matters much anyway. I believe there's already a backlog of BTO orders now let alone next week. So chances are if you order then you won't get an ML based system.