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refurbished 2011 iMac vs 2012 iMac

S

Steven-Pink

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 13, 2012
6
0
Florida
So, i'm shopping for a new iMac. I found this a refurbished 2011 iMac with a 21.5-inch screen, 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 4GB memory, and a 1TB hard drive for $1,249.00. I get a student discount at Apple but, the refurb is a really great deal. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the new, rumored features vs. the cheap 2011 model. I don't want to spend more than $1300 if possible (I'm a senior in high school so i'm not made of money). I've read all about the new Ivy Bridge processors and the other rumored features.I need it to be able to handle heavy 3D work in photoshop and I do a lot of Premier Pro video editing so, a good processor is necessary. I mostly care about the cost for what you get. Because of the back to school bonus they do every year, I figured I could sell whatever it is to help with the computer's cost.


Thanks in advance for any help!
:apple:
 
This will be much easier to answer once someone has an actual spec sheet for a 2012 iMac. With that budget you won't be buying a top-end system, so we need to see what video cards the entry level iMacs get.
 
forty2j said:
This will be much easier to answer once someone has an actual spec sheet for a 2012 iMac. With that budget you won't be buying a top-end system, so we need to see what video cards the entry level iMacs get.
Click to expand...

I can get the second tier 21.5" for the same price as that refurb once I have my student discount and possibly sell whatever the heck they give students this year. But, like you said, since there aren't specs, you never know what they have in store. My main requirement is a 1TB hard drive because of the fans when you DIY upgrade. If they put a 1TB hard drive option on the base model i'll probably go that way. If not, i'm probably going to get the second tier model.
 
You already have an education discount if you're going to college, I believe, but that will not apply to discount the refurb any more than it already is.

Also, the back to school promo last year was $100 on your iTunes store account and probably will be this again instead of an iPod touch or something.
 
You could also wait for the 2012 release and then get an upgraded 21.5 2011 refurb for less when their price drops.
 
I know the discount doesn't apply to the refurb... That's why I'm thinking about just getting a 2012 because after the discount ($100) and the idea that I won't need iTunes cards for awhile makes me say get a 2012... Especially if it has ivy bridge and 1TB hard drive in the base model.
 
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The speed increase will be incremental at most... I'd just get a cheaper 2011 and call it till a few iterations go by where there's significant improvements in the hardware.
 
Mac2012 said:
The speed increase will be incremental at most... I'd just get a cheaper 2011 and call it till a few iterations go by where there's significant improvements in the hardware.
Click to expand...

The thing is, it's only gonna be ~$100 more to have a 2012 vs a 2011...
 
It mostly depends on price... I'd love to have a 2012 because it would be about the same price depending in what the new specs are. If it turned out being more expensive I would resort back to the 2011
 
forty2j said:
In this article, one rumor site cites another rumor site which quotes an analyst that reads rumor sites and the buyer's guide.

Nothing to see here, move along.
Click to expand...

I'm literally on the edge of my seat waiting for the new iMac, but I agree - these websites regurgitating the same old rumours are driving me crazy.

Why can't they just put their hands up and say "Errr.... I dunno when it's out. Sorry. That's Apple for you."

June, July, whenever - I'm holding off. Far too close now to go for a 2011 model. Knowing my luck I'd buy it, then the next week the new ones would be released.
And I bet they're dead sexy.
 
"I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the new, rumored features vs. the cheap 2011 model."

USB3.

More than anything else, this will make the new ones worth waiting for.

USB3 will banish firewire800 to "the back bench", and has the potential to relegate thunderbolt to "beta status" (as in VHS vs. betamax).
 
Fishrrman said:
USB3 will banish firewire800 to "the back bench", and has the potential to relegate thunderbolt to "beta status" (as in VHS vs. betamax).
Click to expand...

I don't know if you can really compare USB 3 to Thunderbolt. To me, they seem like they are in separate categories, as they serve different purposes and different markets. Thunderbolt is a bit ahead of it's time, as it provides quite a bit more than the average consumer requires at the moment. However, I think that will change over time. Also, with Thunderbolt being an Intel product, and with them now delivering to pc vendors, it will start to spread like a virus.

A Thunderbolt connection to a RAID array (e.g. Promise Pegasus R6) is faster than any drive on the planet (including sata 3's and SSD's). And that's just in one direction. It could double that when using the other channel. However, plugging it into a single drive would be a waste, as it wouldn't be fully utilized, unless you're daisy-chaining a bunch of devices together. It's also great for video devices, as it's almost as fast as a video card.

USB 3, on the other hand, is slower than a single sata 3 hard drive, so would be slightly bottle necked when connected to a single drive, but would not be fast enough to take advantage of a RAID array.

At the moment, the "average" consumer doesn't need the volume or speed of a RAID array, but that is rapidly changing. As Thunderbolt pricing comes down and software becomes more demanding, the "single drive" won't be enough for many users. Right now, USB 3 is great (because of lower price) for many users that don't have large storage or rapid access requirements. For power users, it doesn't cut it.

The BEST scenario would be to have BOTH! :D

----------

I just stumbled upon the following article that kind of re-iterates my point in better detail. I still think we need both :)

Thunderbolt vs, USB 3.0 (Non-Apple folk, read!)
 
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