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Slow 27" iMac?

maflynn said:
So I went to my local Apple Store today to check out the iMacs. I gravitated to the 27" models and started playing with them. One thing I noticed after really being impressed with the gorgeous 5k screen. Performance. I fired up Microsoft Word via Cmd-Space and then typing Word.

It took several bounces in the dock to come up. I repeated that with different apps. Most of the apple apps, i.e., iMessage, Address Book all came up immediately. I know those are relatively tiny compared to MS Office.

I'm guessing that the performance I noticed was due to it using a hard drive or the Fusion Drive? I didn't think to check what it was running with until I stepped out of the store.

Any thoughts to the cause of what I noticed - could it be the slow drive?

I'm thinking of getting a desktop in 2016 and the 27" iMac is on my short list but I was surprised at how long it took to start up an application.

Overall its a really nice machine and I can see myself owning one, I can also see myself sleeping on the couch for months if I bought one now, as my wife would be very upset :p
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Definitely the slow HDD vs SSD. I have the base model and initially booted off the HDD to suck in my config before cloning to my TB-based SSD. Everything appeared so slow because I'm so used to all my systems running on SSD. Once I was back up on my TB-based SSD all was back to speedy normal!
 
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stevierg said:
Office is pretty terrible these days too. Even on my ssd macbook office takes forever to load compared to other apps.
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Excel and word start up on my 2012 rMBP in 2 to 3 bumps, the iMac one sat there with a quite a few bumps to be honest.

If I have an opportunity this weekend, I'm going to go to a different apple store and see if I get better results. If the results are the same, I'll verify which storage option is in the demo unit
 
maflynn said:
...I fired up Microsoft Word via Cmd-Space and then typing Word.

It took several bounces in the dock to come up. I repeated that with different apps...I'm guessing that the performance I noticed was due to it using a hard drive or the Fusion Drive?...
Click to expand...

On my 2013 iMac 27 with 3.5Ghz i7 CPU, 32GB RAM and 3TB Fusion Drive, it takes Word 2011 about 1.5 seconds to launch.
 
joema2 said:
On my 2013 iMac 27 with 3.5Ghz i7 CPU, 32GB RAM and 3TB Fusion Drive, it takes Word 2011 about 1.5 seconds to launch.
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That helps put my mind at ease. I didn't time it and now a day after the fact, may have colored my estimates but if I were to pin down a time estimate. I was standing there waiting for Excel to start up from 10 to 15 seconds (from the time the app started to the point where I could select new spreadsheet). Word fared better with about an 8 to 10 second start up
 
SSDs are fast, but then @maflynn will have to pay substantially more for substantially less space. I try not to judge computers based on the display units since they're always running demo software, but we all used HDDs just a few years ago. It's not archaic.
 
One thing is for sure, if I were to choose an iMac, I will need to upgrade the storage. I'm working that into my budget and looking at how best the iMac provides value for my needs.

What I really hate is Apple cutting corners as they did. Basically they cut corners to the point in the 4k 21" iMac so now I'm unlikely to consider that. The default storage in the 27" is pathetic (5400 rpm hard drive). Overall though the machine is nice but I have a lot to vet through
 
Takes around 2-3 seconds to load Word 2016 on my 2013 iMac (27", 3.5 i7, 32GB, 1TB SSD, El Cap 10.11.1). It's definitely one of the slower loading apps that I have.
 
maflynn said:
One thing is for sure, if I were to choose an iMac, I will need to upgrade the storage. I'm working that into my budget and looking at how best the iMac provides value for my needs.

What I really hate is Apple cutting corners as they did. Basically they cut corners to the point in the 4k 21" iMac so now I'm unlikely to consider that. The default storage in the 27" is pathetic (5400 rpm hard drive). Overall though the machine is nice but I have a lot to vet through
Click to expand...

I have the base model 27" and it comes with a 7200 rpm drive not 5400 as they did in the past. I use external SSD storage so I don't use the included drive at all. Even at 7200 I can't imagine not using SSD. Just can't afford the 500GB SSD model.
 
You're right the 27" model does come with 7200 rpm drive. That's nice
 
Maflynn,


at the Apple stores I frequent the desktop Macs ( iMacs and the Mac Mini) are often base models feature lowest chip, Ram and spinning HDDs or fusion drives. I check the system report before I start testing the machines to see how these specs affect performance. I was always pushed toward the 27", the base model was pretty snappy with the fusion drive.

I hope you can find a 27" model on display that offers better performance.:)
 
When at I was the Apple Store last week all there were 4 27 iMacs. 2 were base hdd only confit and the other two were with the 24gb 1tb fusion setup. The fusions were noticeably faster than the base at booting up and opening core OS X apps but slower when opening other apps. It's probably that the ssd is already pretty full with OS X and doesn't really have much space for anything else. In other words, the base fusion is probably good enough for the joe six pack Facebook crowd, but if you're doing any kind of real work you probably should upgrade to the higher end fusions or full ssd.
 
magbarn said:
t's probably that the ssd is already pretty full with OS X and doesn't really have much space for anything else.
Click to expand...
This is my major complaint about the new 1TB Fusion drive and this is why I'll probably upgrade to a 2TB or a SSD.
 
I have a 7200rpm spinner in my iMac and takes between 10-15 seconds to open Word 2016 on my Mac running El Capitan. For comparison my last 13" rMBP opened Word 2011 in under 3 seconds. I don't use Word often so it doesn't bother me much.
 
Yes, it is the HDs in the display models. Even my mid-2011 with 256 GB SSD running Lion is super snappy for app loading compared with the demo models of the 2015.
 
So I played with 27" iMacs in another apple store and MS Word and Excel both came up within the 5 second range, which is what I was originally expecting.

Conversely when I went over to the 21" iMac both of those apps took 20 seconds. This time I timed it :)

So I think based on the slow performance of the 27" iMac in the Boston Store, and the Slow performance of the 21" iMac in the Peabody Mass store, the conclusion is that those display models were running off of the 5400 rpm drive.

If I do choose an iMac, it will have a SSD drive, Its a 200 dollar upgrade but one that will definitely help with the overall performance of the machine.
 
The 27"s don't have the 5400rpm drives they have 7200/fusion/SSD. They must have been the lowest base model.

I just opened all the MS Office apps on my 1TB Fusion and it took 2 seconds, I mean -I clicked the app, it bounced up, bam open- all took literally 2 seconds. Even opened Word,PP,Excel,Outlook together same results.

Either way if you're going SSD all out I don't think you'll have speed issues.
 
To be frank, Word 2016 takes 3-5 seconds to launch even with the PCIe SSD in my 13-inch rMBP.
 
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Two absolute blunders Apple is doing lately, and that's offering HDD's in a 2015 premium computer, giving new iMac users a slow, watered down experience and wondering why they purchased these..and second, having HDD spinners in their floor models they are trying to sell to users unfamiliar with iMacs trying them out.

I mean, what?
 
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