Should you wait for the iMac & Mac mini updates?

[samuelmgm]

Hello there.

I've been wanting to get a new computer for a while now, because I've been running on a early-2011 13" MacBook Pro hooked up to a 27" 1080p display since 2011.

I searched lots of forums about Hackintosh, but I decided not to take that road because I don't have enough knowledge concerning parts, Multibeast, and most of all, building it. Not only that, but it's unreliable and against Apple's terms & conditions.

Afterwards, I looked into the official Macs. Obviously excluding the Mac Pro, because I unfortunately do not have $3000 to spend. So that leaves us the Mac Mini and the iMac. They both interest me, but I wonder if I should go with the Mac Mini and use my MacBook Pro as a standard laptop, or buy the iMac and have 2 'desktop' computers.

Not only that, I realized that both the Mac Mini and iMac have not been updated for a while now, so should I wait a little while?

Thanks for your time.

 

[thesimplelogic]

Hello there.

I've been wanting to get a new computer for a while now, because I've been running on a early-2011 13" MacBook Pro hooked up to a 27" 1080p display since 2011.

I searched lots of forums about Hackintosh, but I decided not to take that road because I don't have enough knowledge concerning parts, Multibeast, and most of all, building it. Not only that, but it's unreliable and against Apple's terms & conditions.

Afterwards, I looked into the official Macs. Obviously excluding the Mac Pro, because I unfortunately do not have $3000 to spend. So that leaves us the Mac Mini and the iMac. They both interest me, but I wonder if I should go with the Mac Mini and use my MacBook Pro as a standard laptop, or buy the iMac and have 2 'desktop' computers.

Not only that, I realized that both the Mac Mini and iMac have not been updated for a while now, so should I wait a little while?

Thanks for your time.

Out of the two, the one which has been updated more recently is the iMac. All of the iMacs (AFAIK) are currently running the Intel Haswell Chips, where as the Mac mini is only running Sandy Bridge.

You said that you have a 27" display, so you wouldn't have to buy that for the mini, so it does depend on how much money you have to spend.

If you are buying an iMac and are not an extreme power user, then I would think that buying at this time would be fine. However, the mini has not been updated in 2 years, so just be vary of that.

 

[Whackman]

For me, i have a Mac Mini now. And while it's a nice little machine, i really need more power now. I got a good Eizo screen, but i figured i could use both the imac 27 inch screen and the Eizo together.

My only worry is that if i buy an iMac now, will the update to yosemite cause problems?...

I'm planning on buying a Maxed out 27 inch this year. Depending on how much longer my Mini will live, i can still wait a couple of months.

 

[jg321]

For me, i have a Mac Mini now. And while it's a nice little machine, i really need more power now. I got a good Eizo screen, but i figured i could use both the imac 27 inch screen and the Eizo together.

My only worry is that if i buy an iMac now, will the update to yosemite cause problems?...

I'm planning on buying a Maxed out 27 inch this year. Depending on how much longer my Mini will live, i can still wait a couple of months.

I ditched a similar setup for a 21.5" iMac. The all-in-one form factor swung it for me. I hate clutter. If this doesn't bother you I'd get the Mini.

Current gen iMac will be able to run the latest OS for a number of years, so I wouldn't even factor that in. Heck, my late 2013 iMac came with Mountain Lion!

 

[thesimplelogic]

For me, i have a Mac Mini now. And while it's a nice little machine, i really need more power now. I got a good Eizo screen, but i figured i could use both the imac 27 inch screen and the Eizo together.

My only worry is that if i buy an iMac now, will the update to yosemite cause problems?...

I'm planning on buying a Maxed out 27 inch this year. Depending on how much longer my Mini will live, i can still wait a couple of months.

The update to yosemite won't cause any problems. Any iMac from 2007 onwards can run Yosemite, I'm getting a maxed out 27" too, tomorrow actually. XD

 

[Whackman]

The update to yosemite won't cause any problems. Any iMac from 2007 onwards can run Yosemite, I'm getting a maxed out 27" too, tomorrow actually. XD

Thanx.

Yeah i figur the maxed out 27inch will keep me happy for many years.
I'll probably put a 512 GB SSD in there and i'll buy external Thunderbolt drives for storage.

Dunno, i'm always a bit paranoid about OS updates. But i guess it will be fine.

Again, Mac Mini is a fine machine. But i want to do more video editing/ animation and i work with large photofiles. I just want a quick, snappy, responsive computer now. From what i've seen, the iMac is very capable of that.

 

[thesimplelogic]

Thanx.

Yeah i figur the maxed out 27inch will keep me happy for many years.
I'll probably put a 512 GB SSD in there and i'll buy external Thunderbolt drives for storage.

Dunno, i'm always a bit paranoid about OS updates. But i guess it will be fine.

Again, Mac Mini is a fine machine. But i want to do more video editing/ animation and i work with large photofiles. I just want a quick, snappy, responsive computer now. From what i've seen, the iMac is very capable of that.

Of course, it will be completely fine. My 2009 Macbook runs Mavericks very well - nothing to worry about
The iMac will be perfect for that.

 

[Truthfulie]

I'd say you have quite a bit of waiting to do if you are going to wait. Mini hasn't been updated with Haswell nor Haswell-refresh which makes me think that they may go straight to Broadwell that most likely will ship either late 2014 or early 2015.

With iMac, Apple may do a minor update with Haswell-refresh(though I doubt it since this update is almost pointless due to how little Haswell-refresh improves upon Haswell.) The next one will likely be Q2 of 2015 with Broadwell when their desktop class chips ship. So unless you want to wait about a year for iMac, you should buy now.

 

[Fishrrman]

As Truth wrote above, there probably won't be a Mini update until late this year or early next year, after Broadwell debuts.

And since there is likely to be no Broadwell-based iMac until the fall, if you can "hold out" until then, it's probably worth waiting.

On the other hand (as the saying goes) "if you need it now, buy it now"...