Replacing iMac with a Mac Mini and monitor

[thedon1]

I have a late 2013 iMac (21.5, i5 quad core with 16gb of RAM), but I really need a bigger screen that I can plug my work Macbook Pro into.
I'm considering the new Mac Mini and a 4k display around 27 inches.

I feel like I could get away with just getting the 8GB RAM version, but will wait for review though. I imagine the Mac mini will be waaaaay more performant than what i have now.

How much would I need to spend to get a screen that would be better than the one I have now in the iMac, but 4k? It's mostly for work so don't need any gaming features.

Anyone else done the iMac to Mac mini switch or considering it?

 

[Spindel]

As I said in some other thread. I'm replacing my late 2013 27" iMac with a M1 Mac Mini (16GB) and a monitor.

I want a 27" monitor and I personally do not see the point with 4K at 27" so I went with a 1440p monitor. And I'm also not interested in high refresh rate so 60 Hz is fine by me (on a LCD).

I personally went with a Asus PA27AC, it comes color calibrated out of the box, and while not the best color reproduction it should be fine (and better than most). It also has TB3 support so you can connect it through that.

EDIT:// I've already gotten the monitor so currently I'm waiting for my Mac Mini

 

[Loyola]

I am considering getting one once I see some reviews and performance feedback. My iMac is 10 years old and has been getting a lot of use since I have been working from home since March. My company has extended working from home to the end of February 2021.

It is a reasonable amount of money for a first generation. I am hesitant to spend a lot of money on a 1st generation after all the issues I had with my 1st generation iMac G5. The logic board went twice as well as the power supply.

 

[padams35]

Two years ago I went from a 2011 iMac to a 2018 mini. Got an LG 24" 4K for a retina-like experience. I scored a sweet black-friday deal that year, but today prices are back up to $300.

4K @ 27" seems ackward... that's rather large for retna half-scale but rather small to run at a native resolution.

 

[thedon1]

Yeah good point on 4k at that res, I think 1440p is a better shout. With black Friday coming up, i'm sure I can get a bargain too.

Also agreed that the price of the Mac Mini as a first gen product isn't too bad.

 

[robnbill]

As I said in some other thread. I'm replacing my late 2013 27" iMac with a M1 Mac Mini (16GB) and a monitor.

I want a 27" monitor and I personally do not see the point with 4K at 27" so I went with a 1440p monitor. And I'm also not interested in high refresh rate so 60 Hz is fine by me (on a LCD).

I personally went with a Asus PA27AC, it comes color calibrated out of the box, and while not the best color reproduction it should be fine (and better than most). It also has TB3 support so you can connect it through that.

EDIT:// I've already gotten the monitor so currently I'm waiting for my Mac Mini

I'm in the same boat - late 2013 27" iMac - which can't run Big Sur. I will opt for a 4K monitor. What I don't know and would appreciate hearing what others are doing - is storage options. I could get the 2TB (pricey) and that would satisfy my needs - use about 1.1TB now. Or, do I get a fast external drive - not SSD though. And if the latter - what will work well with it? I assume it would have to be Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4.

 

[steveof2620]

Anyone else done the iMac to Mac mini switch or considering it?

Yes, I am. I have a late 2012 27" iMac. I've found I can't upgrade to the latest osX so I am looking to upgrade. Thinking the mac mini, but have no idea about which monitor I should get. I looked to the apple store and unfortunately the LG Ultrafine 5K monitor is no longer available. I'd like to have a monitor with camera, mic and speakers, but I don't think they're readily available so I'm looking at threads like these for advice.

 

[Sodner]

One more 27-inch late 2013 iMac that needs replaced due to no BigSur support. Just ordered a Mac Mini M1 with 16 GB and 1 TB SSD. Just started the search for a good monitor and haven't found any standouts yet. I did want 27-inch 4K but the resolution/size issue has me concerned. I'll be interested to hear what people end up going with.

 

[steveof2620]

What do you guys think of this one? Why they've decided to put additional ports on the left hand side is anyone's guess. No speakers either.

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[Spindel]

I'm in the same boat - late 2013 27" iMac - which can't run Big Sur. I will opt for a 4K monitor. What I don't know and would appreciate hearing what others are doing - is storage options. I could get the 2TB (pricey) and that would satisfy my needs - use about 1.1TB now. Or, do I get a fast external drive - not SSD though. And if the latter - what will work well with it? I assume it would have to be Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4.

I went with 512 GB storage. But I have a NAS with two raid1 disc banks (4-bay) one bank gives me 4 TB (2x4TB discs) storage and the other 8 TB (2x8 TB discs) storage so I don’t rely that much on the internal storage in my mac. And for what I do read speeds from my NAS is no problem if I work off the NAS (basically I max the gigabit connection) but in most instanses I temporarly move over the files I want to work on to the mac temporarly and then move them back. But if you do video (I don’t) editing working from my NAS might cause slowdowns on large files on a gigabit connection.

My current iMac has 256 GB and I usually have 80-100 GB free.

For me using a home server or a NAS also has the advantage that I can access files from other units (iPad, phone, other computers etc) easily.

 

[Cassandle]

Will be following this thread with interest as I’ve 90% talked myself into getting the new Mini but will want a good 27” monitor to go with it, that I’ll also hook up to a (mid-range) PC that I will use for gaming.

 

[marco114]

What do you guys think of this one? Why they've decided to put additional ports on the left hand side is anyone's guess. No speakers either.

Computer Accessories and Peripherals

Shop Dell's wide selection of high-quality computer accessories like keyboards, mice, webcams, batteries and more, tailored for your home or business needs.

www.dell.com

That price seems crazy high! This is the same monitor, comes with a HDMI cable, but I thinkyou can find a USB-C for less than $400.

Dell U2720QM 27 Inch UltraSharp 4K UHD, IPS Ultra-Thin Bezel Monitor (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C), VESA Certified, Silver, Black

Dell U2720QM 27 Inch UltraSharp 4K UHD, IPS Ultra-Thin Bezel Monitor (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C), VESA Certified, Silver, Black

www.amazon.com

 

[addictive]

I have a late 2013 iMac (21.5, i5 quad core with 16gb of RAM), but I really need a bigger screen that I can plug my work Macbook Pro into.
I'm considering the new Mac Mini and a 4k display around 27 inches.

I feel like I could get away with just getting the 8GB RAM version, but will wait for review though. I imagine the Mac mini will be waaaaay more performant than what i have now.

How much would I need to spend to get a screen that would be better than the one I have now in the iMac, but 4k? It's mostly for work so don't need any gaming features.

Anyone else done the iMac to Mac mini switch or considering it?

You really are going to want to get 16gb of RAM. Even if the RAM performs better now it’s part of the SoC max out the available RAM at time of purchase. There is no way to upgrade afterwards.

 

[adib]

As I said in some other thread. I'm replacing my late 2013 27" iMac with a M1 Mac Mini (16GB) and a monitor.

I want a 27" monitor and I personally do not see the point with 4K at 27" so I went with a 1440p monitor. And I'm also not interested in high refresh rate so 60 Hz is fine by me (on a LCD).

I personally went with a Asus PA27AC, it comes color calibrated out of the box, and while not the best color reproduction it should be fine (and better than most). It also has TB3 support so you can connect it through that.

EDIT:// I've already gotten the monitor so currently I'm waiting for my Mac Mini

MacOS doesn't look great on non-retina displays since it stopped doing subpixel rendering.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you were getting the Intel 2018/20 Mini to use with 4k, 16gb RAM ought to be "the minimum", as 1.5gb of the RAM is "roped off" for the GPU. That leaves 6.5gb for "the rest of the OS".

Not sure how this is going to work with the M1 Mini.
If I was going to buy one (I'm not), I'd reckon 16gb is going to be the minimum for good performance on that one, too.

If you're NOT considering a 4k display, 8gb would probably do well enough.

Remember that a 27" display running at 4k will give you an image that "looks like" 1080p.

An alternative course -- consider a 32" QHD (native) 1440p display. The pixel size is small enough to render an image that is very clean, and there will be A LOT MORE "screen real estate" than you would get with a "looks like 1080p" image...

 

[Spindel]

MacOS doesn't look great on non-retina displays since it stopped doing subpixel rendering.

Never noticed on my iMac with a 1440 display.