Should I purchase the 27 inch Late iMac?

[Elektrikz]

Hey guys,

Well been holding out for one of these for a long time now and they look to have finally sorted the demand!

However I purchased the Macbook Pro Retina 15 inch 2.7ghz around 3 weeks ago and love it!

I do however have the money for the mac and the 3.4ghz 27 inch with 1TB Fusion and 2GB Graphics Card is available at my local Apple store!

I also will receive 12% Educational discount which is cool!

What would you guys recommend in all seriousness?

Should I go with the less spec system maybe 3.2ghz and wait to have it delivered as it will have to be ordered online...

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Do you need it or could an external display like the Apple Thunderbolt Display work for you?

 

[flavr]

I got the 3.2 i5 27inch as a swap out from the apple store and broght it back for the 3.4 i7 27inch...after realizing it was overkill and I would rather have the extra $600, I returned it back to the 3.2 i5...Im happy with my decision...

My reasoning is this...the i5 will be great for 2-3 years, just enough time for Apple Care to run out, then I will sell used for around $1000-$1200 and add the $600 I saved this time and have $1800 toward a 2016 iMac...Which by the way will blow the doors of any iMac you can buy today...including the i7

The truth is that manufactures make the most profit of the top end product, the best value is always in the low to middle range when buying anything...

 

[AaronM5670]

Do you need it or could an external display like the Apple Thunderbolt Display work for you?

^ Good question, would this work for you or not?

I am facing a similar dilemna.

If you NEED the portability (I don't) then stick with your rMBP.

If you don't, go for the topped out iMac, it's an absolute beast of a machine and will run faster than your rMBP.

Simple as that really!

Also, your education discount makes it about £1,917.60 which is pretty decent value for a monster of a machine like that!

Don't upgrade the RAM from Apple as you can do this yourself for much less money afterwards (only on the 27" though, not the 21.5")

 

[Elektrikz]

Great help guys thanks!

Still not settled on a decision yet lol!

I could go with the i5 yeah but what I was looking at doing is basically future proofing the machine.

The education discount just about covers the extra processor anyway I think lol...

the 2GB Graphics card however could be a waste?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

the 2GB Graphics card however could be a waste?

That depends on your computational needs.

 

[flavr]

Great help guys thanks!

Still not settled on a decision yet lol!

I could go with the i5 yeah but what I was looking at doing is basically future proofing the machine.

The education discount just about covers the extra processor anyway I think lol...

the 2GB Graphics card however could be a waste?

Did you read what I wrote about the "future proofing" myth? And if you are going to update anything, update the video card to the 680mx GB! The video card is ALWAYS the first thing to "future proof" an imac. Fusion you can add an external SSD later easily and i7 is pointless unless you are using software that uses hyper-threading.

get the 3.2 i5, 680mx 2GB, 1TB regular drive and you'll get the best setup for the money!

 

[RoastingPig]

if you got money to blow get the imac it's awesome

 

[Elektrikz]

Did you read what I wrote about the "future proofing" myth? And if you are going to update anything, update the video card to the 680mx GB! The video card is ALWAYS the first thing to "future proof" an imac. Fusion you can add an external SSD later easily and i7 is pointless unless you are using software that uses hyper-threading.

get the 3.2 i5, 680mx 2GB, 1TB regular drive and you'll get the best setup for the money!

Thanks!

Never even heard of an external SSD so will look into that!

are they expensive?

The thing that is swaying me is i can have this thing on wednesday morning lol!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks!

Never even heard of an external SSD so will look into that!

are they expensive?

The thing that is swaying me is i can have this thing on wednesday morning lol!

You can put an SSD in a USB 3.0 enclosure and it will only cost about 180 USD for 256 GB of SSD. Probably even less.

 

[AaronM5670]

Did you read what I wrote about the "future proofing" myth? And if you are going to update anything, update the video card to the 680mx GB! The video card is ALWAYS the first thing to "future proof" an imac. Fusion you can add an external SSD later easily and i7 is pointless unless you are using software that uses hyper-threading.

get the 3.2 i5, 680mx 2GB, 1TB regular drive and you'll get the best setup for the money!

^ Agreed, this is probably the best possible spec (in terms of value), £1600 all in with your education discount, go for it if you think that's what you need and what'll last you!

 

[Raima]

My reasoning is this...the i5 will be great for 2-3 years, just enough time for Apple Care to run out, then I will sell used for around $1000-$1200 and add the $600 I saved this time and have $1800 toward a 2016 iMac...Which by the way will blow the doors of any iMac you can buy today...including the i7

Generally I would agree with you. After hearing about intel's roadmap, I'm not so sure any more. Intel are going to stop producing performance chips and focus more on energy efficient chips for like mobile devices.

From what the experts are saying, the end of the desktop is coming. Sale numbers of desktop computers have been declining and reflecting this. Please keep this in mind when making a purchase decision.

Apple are also looking to move away from intel processors and towards mobile processing too. There's a major game changer up ahead.

 

[AaronM5670]

Generally I would agree with you. After hearing about intel's roadmap, I'm not so sure any more. Intel are going to stop producing performance chips and focus more on energy efficient chips for like mobile devices.

From what the experts are saying, the end of the desktop is coming. Sale numbers of desktop computers have been declining and reflecting this. Please keep this in mind when making a purchase decision.

Apple are also looking to move away from intel processors and towards mobile processing too. There's a major game changer up ahead.

True, but for now at least the desktop is still alive and a very good proposition considering that they are better value for money when you compare specs against MacBooks, obviously depends if you need the portability or not.
A machine like this today might last you 10 or 15 years if you need it to, definitely worth the money I say as long as you don't need anything better!

 

[melva]

Love my 27" i7

Got the 3.4 i7 with 1TB Fusion. It screams!! Added Crucial 16 GB upgrade?

Will load Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat (CS6) all at once and still process like a champ. Decided to buy the best experience available today. The productivity gain will take care of future needs.

The extra cost of the Fusion and i7 pays for itself!

 

[flavr]

I use photoshop, illustrator and indesign professionally...used them on both the new i5 and i7, both just as fast. Only difference was fusion drive launched the programs a few seconds quicker..

both great choices, I decided to save the $600 (25%) of total cost of computer and went with the top of the line i5!

 

[Elektrikz]

Oh man this is a hard choice lol!

I am heading to the Apple store tomorrow morning so need to decide by then! i5 top of the line vs i7 top of the line.... Also I am almost decided on getting the fusion as my Macbook with an SSD is super quick!

 

[Adam22]

Oh man this is a hard choice lol!

I am heading to the Apple store tomorrow morning so need to decide by then! i5 top of the line vs i7 top of the line.... Also I am almost decided on getting the fusion as my Macbook with an SSD is super quick!

What did u get? How is it?