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samcraig

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 22, 2009
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Was really going back and forth between the portability of the MBP and "cool" new features vs a late 2105 iMac. Just pulled the trigger (via Amazon for 1899) and bought the MK472LL/A 27-Inch Retina 5K Desktop (3.2 GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB DDR3, 1TB Fusion). I'll upgrade the memory myself to 32gb since it's SO much cheaper to do it with aftermarket RAM than Apple's options.

I would have missed a big screen. And I didn't want to "risk" the new one coming out and seeing a price bump (like the MBP) and not enough of a bump to warrant the extra spend. Also didn't want to risk stock being unavailable based on the specs I wanted when/if the new iMacs are announced.

Given I'm coming from a 2009 iMac 2.92 dual core with 4mb of RAM - I have no doubts this one will scream in comparison anyway
 
Wow, small world....Same here! I just came home a couple hours ago with the same system but with a 2TB Fusion. I've unboxed it and have it up and running.....but for some reason it won't connect to my wifi....says wrong pswd. (?).

I'll keep trying, the 5k display looks gorgeous. This is my first mac (pc guy here), so looking for solutions to my wifi issue has been like looking for a street in a city you've never been in before, with a car you're not sure how to drive.

In the coming weeks, once I see how this runs, I'll get the extra ram too. What is the best web source and type or brand for after market ram?
 
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Wow, small world....Same here! I just came home a couple hours ago with the same system but with a 2TB Fusion. I've unboxed it and have it up and running.....but for some reason it won't connect to my wifi....says wrong pswd. (?).

I'll keep trying, the 5k display looks gorgeous. This is my first mac (pc guy here), so looking for solutions to my wifi issue has been like looking for a street in a city you've never been in before, with a car you're not sure how to drive.

In the coming weeks, once I see how this runs, I'll get the extra ram too. What is the best web source and type or brand for after market ram?
I've heard OWC... I think it was like 199 for 32gb
 
Congrats on your new machine.

I for one much prefer a desktop setup and love the size, look, and performance of the iMac. I think the late '15s are still a great buy.
 
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congrats, I did the same.

Just pick the same model up last tuesday, couldn't pass up for $1300 new in box. I use photoshop and video editing and fast for what I need. Do plan on upgrading the cpu it I7, the ram and hard drive.
 
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Ok - so experienced team. Since I haven't actually migrated from one mac to another... and because it's possible I don't have some software serial #s anymore and/or source files...

Do I migrate from my 2009's time machine backup, via wifi, via ethernet? I've read that I want to do this upfront during setup instead of running migration assistant to ensure accounts remain the same, etc.

Any help/suggestion/great links would be appreciated!
 
Congrats on your new iMac. Did the same last month, they are great machines.

In the coming weeks, once I see how this runs, I'll get the extra ram too. What is the best web source and type or brand for after market ram?

I'd suggest looking at www.crucial.com.

I'll keep trying, the 5k display looks gorgeous. This is my first mac (pc guy here), so looking for solutions to my wifi issue has been like looking for a street in a city you've never been in before, with a car you're not sure how to drive.

Try connecting over Wi-Fi again but select the "Show password" field just to make sure you're entering the password correctly as the keyboard layout on a Mac is slightly different to a PC layout (e.g. # is displayed by pressing Alt + 3). Side note: There are other keyboards layout you can choose by going to :apple: > System Preferences.. > Keyboard > Input Sources. E.g., in the UK, some people choose "British - PC" as the input source so the ", @ and # characters are in the same place as non-Apple British layout keyboards.
 
Thanks bbnk for the great info and suggestions. With all this great help I hope to someday be a genius.....OK, I'll settle for less dumb.

I finally got the wifi connection to work for the new iMac. It was crazy. Nothing I tried worked until I took one of my iPads, disconnected it from the wifi ("forget network") and then tried the new iMac. The iMac then connected. I was able to reconnect the iPad.....and now everything works. I don't know why this worked, but it did. Kinda like the iPad was in the way.
 
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Ok - so experienced team. Since I haven't actually migrated from one mac to another... and because it's possible I don't have some software serial #s anymore and/or source files...

Do I migrate from my 2009's time machine backup, via wifi, via ethernet? I've read that I want to do this upfront during setup instead of running migration assistant to ensure accounts remain the same, etc.

Any help/suggestion/great links would be appreciated!

It depends. When I get a new machine I tend to go clean, but have a disk image of the old machine on my external HDD. I keep the image around until I'm done migrating the things I need, and after about a month, I do a final sweep through and delete it. I have CrashPlan which isn't exactly ideal to restore from when I have that local copy.

For certain things, syncing with iCloud or 1Password is my backup for the absolutely critical stuff. Contacts, Calendar, Serial #s and the like I can sync down from there and bootstrap any new system from scratch if I have to. It takes longer downloading and installing things, but I can jettison cruft this way, by simply not installing apps until I need them.

That said, I might migrate from the time machine backup in your case. Or you can use the TM backup as the source to pull files you need if you want to go clean. Make sure it is up to date before you wipe the old machine. I just like having that final snapshot as something I can go back to.
 
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. and because it's possible I don't have some software serial #s anymore and/or source files...
Its really up to you, do you want to take a chance on not running some of your apps versus a completely clean install. I always go the clean install route, but I keep my serial numbers in an app called 1Password. If I had some must run apps, and lost the serial numbers, that would definitely give me pause on the clean install option

Sorry, I'm not much help, but you need to make that determination.
 
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It depends. When I get a new machine I tend to go clean, but have a disk image of the old machine on my external HDD. I keep the image around until I'm done migrating the things I need, and after about a month, I do a final sweep through and delete it. I have CrashPlan which isn't exactly ideal to restore from when I have that local copy.

For certain things, syncing with iCloud or 1Password is my backup for the absolutely critical stuff. Contacts, Calendar, Serial #s and the like I can sync down from there and bootstrap any new system from scratch if I have to. It takes longer downloading and installing things, but I can jettison cruft this way, by simply not installing apps until I need them.

That said, I might migrate from the time machine backup in your case. Or you can use the TM backup as the source to pull files you need if you want to go clean. Make sure it is up to date before you wipe the old machine. I just like having that final snapshot as something I can go back to.

Its really up to you, do you want to take a chance on not running some of your apps versus a completely clean install. I always go the clean install route, but I keep my serial numbers in an app called 1Password. If I had some must run apps, and lost the serial numbers, that would definitely give me pause on the clean install option

Sorry, I'm not much help, but you need to make that determination.

I'd love to go clean - but don't think I'll be able to. Worst case, I'll just have to do a full wipe and start from scratch if I encounter any issues. Backed up everything to time machine last night and got a nice bonus email stating that my iMac is coming today (not tomorrow). Sweet.
 
I have to admit, I'm really tempted to go for it and get a 2015 but I'm just irked because I'd been waiting for a 2016 model to finally jump into my first iMac. I would be concerned that I'd go get a machine and then in December or Jan they surprise us with a spec bump for the same entry price. Maybe if there's a refurb with maxed-out processor and RAM and either SSD or 2TB Fusion... I'll look around. Just I know this will be my machine for the next several years and I feel weird paying full price for a year-old model that may be about to be upgraded (but Apple's damn secrecy...). I'm an Avid video editor and as things move more towards 4K and up, I want to be somewhat futureproof.

ALL THAT SAID, I may prefer the 2015 to the 2017 if recent trends (touchbar, no useful ports) continue.
 
I have to admit, I'm really tempted to go for it and get a 2015 but I'm just irked because I'd been waiting for a 2016 model to finally jump into my first iMac. I would be concerned that I'd go get a machine and then in December or Jan they surprise us with a spec bump for the same entry price. Maybe if there's a refurb with maxed-out processor and RAM and either SSD or 2TB Fusion... I'll look around. Just I know this will be my machine for the next several years and I feel weird paying full price for a year-old model that may be about to be upgraded (but Apple's damn secrecy...). I'm an Avid video editor and as things move more towards 4K and up, I want to be somewhat futureproof.

ALL THAT SAID, I may prefer the 2015 to the 2017 if recent trends (touchbar, no useful ports) continue.

I hemmed for a bit. But no matter when you buy a computer, something newer/better is always around the corner. And I think based on the MBP - we're looking at heftier pricing along with the loss of potential ports that I value.
 
I hemmed for a bit. But no matter when you buy a computer, something newer/better is always around the corner. And I think based on the MBP - we're looking at heftier pricing along with the loss of potential ports that I value.
Good point. Gotta think on this a bit. I was so annoyed with the direction Apple seems to be going that I was toying with the idea of going back to Windows, but ech.. it's windows, so probably nope.
[doublepost=1478123175][/doublepost]This might be a dumb question, but since I'm here and we're talking about grabbing the current iMac before Apple messes up the line... would the current iMac support a 2nd 5K monitor or would we need to stick with a 4K via HDMI or something? EDIT- ok, no HDMI on the iMac.. so thunderbolt for a second monitor?
 
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Good point. Gotta think on this a bit. I was so annoyed with the direction Apple seems to be going that I was toying with the idea of going back to Windows, but ech.. it's windows, so probably nope.
[doublepost=1478123175][/doublepost]This might be a dumb question, but since I'm here and we're talking about grabbing the current iMac before Apple messes up the line... would the current iMac support a 2nd 5K monitor or would we need to stick with a 4K via HDMI or something? EDIT- ok, no HDMI on the iMac.. so thunderbolt for a second monitor?
not sure..
 
Good point. Gotta think on this a bit. I was so annoyed with the direction Apple seems to be going that I was toying with the idea of going back to Windows, but ech.. it's windows, so probably nope.
[doublepost=1478123175][/doublepost]This might be a dumb question, but since I'm here and we're talking about grabbing the current iMac before Apple messes up the line... would the current iMac support a 2nd 5K monitor or would we need to stick with a 4K via HDMI or something? EDIT- ok, no HDMI on the iMac.. so thunderbolt for a second monitor?

Dell's UP2715K would work with dual-thunderbolt as provided by the monitor.
 
After a year of weighing the pros and cons, I finally decided to break down and buy one today. The points you made in your post really helped me, so thanks for that!

Decided to go huge, thanks to a bonus at work! 5K, quad-core 4.0GHz i7, 32GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M395X, 1TB Flash...now the wait for the next week for it to get here is going to be unbearable!
 
congrats, I did the same.

Just pick the same model up last tuesday, couldn't pass up for $1300 new in box. I use photoshop and video editing and fast for what I need. Do plan on upgrading the cpu it I7, the ram and hard drive.
Sounds like a great price. How replenishable is that source of yours?
 
not sure, i found on craigslist. They had an entry level model for 1300 and they sold it. A few day later she contacted me saying she had a mid level new in box and was able to get for the same price. i can email and ask.

Sounds like a great price. How replenishable is that source of yours?
 
A couple of months ago I did the same thing and was chastised in here for not waiting for the new one to be released, which we now know didn't happen. Either way I wouldn't have regretted it, it's a beautiful machine, congratulations on your purchase it's really worth it.
 
A couple of months ago I did the same thing and was chastised in here for not waiting for the new one to be released, which we now know didn't happen. Either way I wouldn't have regretted it, it's a beautiful machine, congratulations on your purchase it's really worth it.

Eh, it depends. Apple has been on a refresh cycle in the fall the last few years for the iMac, so it is fair to suggest waiting if possible so long as things follow those cycles. I don't even always suggest buying the new one when it does refresh, but sometimes the new puts the older one on steeper clearance discounts. Without a known refresh cycle though, you really should just buy it when you need it.

In this case, by waiting, I at least got a cheaper SSD price than I would have had I not waited. So I don't really mind that.
 
Ok - so experienced team. Since I haven't actually migrated from one mac to another... and because it's possible I don't have some software serial #s anymore and/or source files...

Do I migrate from my 2009's time machine backup, via wifi, via ethernet? I've read that I want to do this upfront during setup instead of running migration assistant to ensure accounts remain the same, etc.

Any help/suggestion/great links would be appreciated!

Congrats on the new machine! I got the same model two or three months back, and it's awesome for my usage.

I did a clean install, but I had to email a couple of devs because of missing/lost passwords and all was good. If that's not an option for you then I'd suggest migrating, during setup. Using Ethernet would be faster, but wifi would work.

Enjoy your new iMac!
 
Congrats on the new machine! I got the same model two or three months back, and it's awesome for my usage.

I did a clean install, but I had to email a couple of devs because of missing/lost passwords and all was good. If that's not an option for you then I'd suggest migrating, during setup. Using Ethernet would be faster, but wifi would work.

Enjoy your new iMac!

Thanks.. I'm all migrated (did clean installs and just copied over some preference/support files). I'm seriously overwhelmed at how much faster this machine is. Not that it would have been hard. My old iMac was really slow.
 
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