Thinking of buying 5K iMac - would I gain much?

[pward]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

It is a machine I use every day for web browsing, email, watching the odd video, photo editing using Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, occasional use of flight simulators and an occasional bit of video editing.

I am considering upgrading to a 5K iMac, but would appreciate some thoughts - would I gain much given my use case?

The iMac gets used every day and I like the idea of a better screen which I could scale to get more screen real estate which would be welcome.

Any thoughts on whether it would be worth buying a new Mac?

 

[maflynn]

The screen is much better, and' you'll get faster performance but given your stated usage, I'm not sure how much faster it will be.

If possible, visit an apple store and try out the 5k iMac.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I would imagine so as long as you get an SSD or a 2TB fusion drive the SSD will make a big difference for general system speed.

Other than that the far better graphics and CPU will help in photoshop and especially simulators.

 

[jazzer15]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

It is a machine I use every day for web browsing, email, watching the odd video, photo editing using Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, occasional use of flight simulators and an occasional bit of video editing.

I am considering upgrading to a 5K iMac, but would appreciate some thoughts - would I gain much given my use case?

The iMac gets used every day and I like the idea of a better screen which I could scale to get more screen real estate which would be welcome.

Any thoughts on whether it would be worth buying a new Mac?

There will be a difference, but whether that difference is worth it to you is a very personal decision.

I just upgraded from a late 2009 i7 2.8 ghz to a late 2015 i7 with 512GB SSD. My usage is somewhat similar to yours, although I shoot RAW and use Lightroom, some Photoshop and plugins (not sure what your photo editing consists of). I also do a little basic audio recording.

I have only had the new iMac for a couple of days and am still checking it out. The screen is great, but honestly I wasn't immediately blown away by the difference as some were. The old screen is still great and when I look at them side by side, sometimes it is hard to tell much of a difference. Perhaps I just haven't spent enough time with it yet, especially in Lightroom (my user time has been limited) If you scale for more space, that would definitely be a benefit. The SSD speed was, however, immediately noticeable. Apps open amazingly fast and the whole experience is more snappy. I assume the graphics card also has something to do with that.

I think it would be a nice upgrade, but probably not a necessary one -- not that you have to wait until it is absolutely necessary I agree that checking one out for a while at an Apple store makes a lot of sense.

 

[pward]

Thanks all for your thoughts.

It's an interesting one; I don't NEED a new Mac, but it a better screen and more speed would be welcome. A bit more though needed, I think.

 

[maflynn]

Thanks all for your thoughts.

It's an interesting one; I don't NEED a new Mac, but it a better screen and more speed would be welcome. A bit more though needed, I think.

The screen is what's going to do it, and Apple does definitely promote how great the screen looks.

As I mentioned, nothing beats trying something out before buying it, so try to get to a Apple store or even a BestBuy to play with one.

 

[DSTOFEL]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

It is a machine I use every day for web browsing, email, watching the odd video, photo editing using Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, occasional use of flight simulators and an occasional bit of video editing.

I am considering upgrading to a 5K iMac, but would appreciate some thoughts - would I gain much given my use case?

The iMac gets used every day and I like the idea of a better screen which I could scale to get more screen real estate which would be welcome.

Any thoughts on whether it would be worth buying a new Mac?

I'm in the same boat. I also have a mid 2010 27 inch iMac (2.93 I7) and am considering upgrading to a late 2015 27 inch model (i.e. The 2TB Fusion model). My usage is very similar to yours. I bought the 2010 model new from B&H for around $1,200....on deep discount well after they were initially available. I did a "DYI" upgrade of the HDD to a 2TB drive. The way I figure it, I should be able to sell the 2010 model for a decent price ($800?) and use the proceeds to apply towards the new one. The HDD is the bottleneck in speed for me with the 2010 model. I'm thinking there should be a big step up in performance with the 2015 2TB fusion model.

 

[shaunp]

I think after a few days the performance will become 'normal'. You will quickly get used to any performance increase that a CPU may bring you - you might not even notice much. what you will notice would be an upgrade to an SSD, it just makes everything so much smoother and the 5K screen will be much much sharper than what you have now. Even if you aren't a pro photographer having text this sharp on the screen for web browsing, etc makes it worth while.

I think 5 years since you last updated, you will notice a difference.

 

[pward]

The screen is what's going to do it, and Apple does definitely promote how great the screen looks.

As I mentioned, nothing beats trying something out before buying it, so try to get to a Apple store or even a BestBuy to play with one.

I have played with one in an Apple Store and was fairly impressed but it's hard to gauge on a demo system what it would be like in day-to-day use.

My current thinking is to go for it...

 

[desmond2046]

Even if you don't need the performance, the display itself worths upgrade

 

[AppleNewton]

check the refurb site on apple.com and get a previous generation retina for a discounted price, plus you get the added benefit of the screen and speed increase at cheaper rate.

 

[jerwin]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

occasional use of flight simulators

The video card in a new 27 inch retina imac is significantly faster than a Radeon HD 5750. You'll probably notice the SSD's speed as well.

 

[jsmonet]

It's a lot of machine for a little bit of use, but you'd be buying at a nice tock release processor in the late 2015 release. There's some nifty sauce coming in next year's intel consumer release, but Apple can be a bit slow on the uptake. It seems they're paying a good deal of attention to the iMac as their flagship desktop, so your lag from release to option-item-for-yer-iMac probably won't be that long. Thing is, Intel's been hitting some serious snags in their absurdly aggressive development cycle, so they're keeping the 'lake processors around a little longer this next time around. In English: the late 2015 spec iMac isn't getting replaced any time soon. Waiting it out won't likely net -too- much

 

[pward]

Thanks All. I have now ordered a new Mac - 3.3Ghz i5 with 2TB Fusion drive. I did consider whether to go with a 512GB SSD and add external storage but wanted a more convenient solution. Looking forward to collecting the new system on Monday.

 

[maflynn]

Thanks All. I have now ordered a new Mac - 3.3Ghz i5 with 2TB Fusion drive. I did consider whether to go with a 512GB SSD and add external storage but wanted a more convenient solution. Looking forward to collecting the new system on Monday.

Congrats, that's along the same lines I opted for the 2TB Fusion drive. I couldn't see the logic in spending $$ to upgrade to 512GB SSD and still be unable to store all of my data.

 

[jazzer15]

pward, congrats on your purchase. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of the Mac.

Congrats, that's along the same lines I opted for the 2TB Fusion drive. I couldn't see the logic in spending $$ to upgrade to 512GB SSD and still be unable to store all of my data.

Mike, I'm curious. I know from prior posts that you were previously using a Macbook Pro which, if I remember correctly, had flash memory, so you were using external storage. Now that you have a Fusion Drive, do you find (or notice) performance any faster (or slower) when accessing data that might be stored on the HDD portion of the fusion drive vs. accessing the data on the external drive you had attached to the MBP?

I have had my iMac with 512GB SSD for a little over a week and am very happy with it. However, I have given a little thought to possibly exchanging for a 3 TB Fusion Drive for convenience.

 

[perlsyntax]

pward, congrats on your purchase. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of the Mac.



Mike, I'm curious. I know from prior posts that you were previously using a Macbook Pro which, if I remember correctly, had flash memory, so you were using external storage. Now that you have a Fusion Drive, do you find (or notice) performance any faster (or slower) when accessing data that might be stored on the HDD portion of the fusion drive vs. accessing the data on the external drive you had attached to the MBP?

I have had my iMac with 512GB SSD for a little over a week and am very happy with it. However, I have given a little thought to possibly exchanging for a 3 TB Fusion Drive for convenience.

I was think of get the mac 27' with the i5 3.3 goes up to 3.9 with a 2tb Fusion Drive.Will it be faster then my mac book pro 2012?How the speed in the Fusion drive?

Would this iMac be good for iOS and mac programming?

 

[jerwin]

depend on which model of macbook pro. If you have a fast i7, and you can use all 8 virtual cores efficiently, the i5 will be slower.

However, there's more to a computer than benchmarks. I find that the 5K screen is very useful for keeping track of dozens of windows simultaneously-- reference material, hex editor, debugger, multiple source code windows, and program output. In terms of dealing with text, and so much of programming is text-- it's much easier on the eyes than a non retina screen.

The fact that all of the simulated IOS devices fit on the screen, at full res surely must count for something.

 

[perlsyntax]

depend on which model of macbook pro. If you have a fast i7, and you can use all 8 virtual cores efficiently, the i5 will be slower.

However, there's more to a computer than benchmarks. I find that the 5K screen is very useful for keeping track of dozens of windows simultaneously-- reference material, hex editor, debugger, multiple source code windows, and program output. In terms of dealing with text, and so much of programming is text-- it's much easier on the eyes than a non retina screen.

The fact that all of the simulated IOS devices fit on the screen, at full res surely must count for something.

Yep i can't wait to get the iMac 5k i get the one with the 2tb fusion drive so i know it has a flash 128 should fit all the Xcode tools on it.I was hoping it would be easy on the eyes.So you saying the i5 3.3 goes up to 3.9 be to slow for me?

I hope this going to be my first iMac long i can get my apps done.Right now i got a i5 on my macbook pro 13.3.

 

[jerwin]

Some 15 inch macbook pros come with rather fast quad core i7 processors. The 13 inch macbook pros do not.

In almost all respects the 5k iMac should be faster than a 13 inch macbook pro. Two more cores, with a faster clock, and more room for "turboboosting". Also, if your current computer has a habit of turning up the fans at every opportunity, the iMac will probably turn out to be a quieter computer overall.

 

[perlsyntax]

Some 15 inch macbook pros come with rather fast quad core i7 processors. The 13 inch macbook pros do not.

In almost all respects the 5k iMac should be faster than a 13 inch macbook pro.

I was going to go with the i7 macbook pro but i like the iMac 5k better i hope it better with mac 10.11 better the my macbook pro 13.3 mid 2012 with.

 

[VanNess]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

It is a machine I use every day for web browsing, email, watching the odd video, photo editing using Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, occasional use of flight simulators and an occasional bit of video editing.

I am considering upgrading to a 5K iMac, but would appreciate some thoughts - would I gain much given my use case?

The iMac gets used every day and I like the idea of a better screen which I could scale to get more screen real estate which would be welcome.

Any thoughts on whether it would be worth buying a new Mac?

I had the same machine as you except I had the i7 and the ssd + hdd upgrades. Replaced with the late 2015 i7 iMac with fusion drive. Top to bottom, everything is a huge improvement over the 2010 iMac and I do mean everything. Even small things like the built-in speakers are changed and a noticeable improvement. About the only time it looks the same is when you are facing the machine dead on with the screen off. Once the retina screen is on, it's night me day in terms of sharpness and backlight uniformity. All of the interconnects are upgraded (thunderbolt 2 and usb3), the wifi is upgraded (wifi ac), bluetooth and ssd performance are upgraded; the list of upgrades and improvements is basically - everything. Inside and out.

I recently updated all of my apple gear, iPhone 6s, iPad 2 and pro, and finally the late 2015 iMac. By far, the star of the show in my book is the 2015 iMac.

 

[blut haus]

Thanks for this thread! I've been debating picking up a 5K iMac myself. Local storage isn't an issue, I use a Mac Pro as a file server and other duties over a speedy gigabit network...still undecided in regard to a 256GB SSD or the 1TB Fusion drive.

I think I'll go for the mid-ranged one to get the slightly better GPU.

 

[MrNomNoms]

Hi,

I have a 27" Mid-2010 iMac., 2.8Ghz, Intel Core i5 CPU with 12 RAM and a 1TB HDD.

It is a machine I use every day for web browsing, email, watching the odd video, photo editing using Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, occasional use of flight simulators and an occasional bit of video editing.

I am considering upgrading to a 5K iMac, but would appreciate some thoughts - would I gain much given my use case?

The iMac gets used every day and I like the idea of a better screen which I could scale to get more screen real estate which would be welcome.

Any thoughts on whether it would be worth buying a new Mac?

If you get a 5K iMac then go for an pure SSD set (even if it is a 256GB, use an external for archiving) and up the GPU and CPU if you've got the cash. I'm happy I waited for the current refresh, maxed out the GPU, CPU, 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM - I'm a happy lad.