Waiting for refresh or buy current gen iMac for 'bargain'

[Rivanov]

Hi guys,

I'm on the fence to buy a 27" iMac 5K.. I can buy a current gen 'new in box' 27" iMac for a really interesting price. The 3.2Ghz i5 with 8GB RAM and 1TB Fusion Drive version. I can buy it for approx. € 800,- less than the price Apple is asking currently (€ 2.329,-)

With all the rumors floating around that Apple will update the iMac in March i'm in doubt whether I shall get the current gen for that nice price..or wait till the refresh (and pay much much more ofcourse). Only downside of this will be that the current one that is available for me right now, won't be available in a few weeks (the guy could already sold it by then).

I will use it mainly for normale 'home' usage. No real editing/rendering or what so ever. Just some browsing, Apple Photos, Adobe Lightroom etc.

What would you guys do? Get the current one for a nice price or wait till the refresh?

Thanks!

 

[czerney]

It's the dilemma I'm currently in - I'm just keeping an eye on ebay for maxed out late 2015 27 BTO macs still under applecare. If I do pull the trigger on one I don't think it's wise of me to buy anything less than their maxed out one.

That said over the last six months there's not a lot of 2nd hand supply (in Western Australia) but I'm pretty sure that would change on the announcement of a new model.

 

[iMas70]

I'm kind of in the same boat too. It's time for me to replace my Mac Mini so I can watch/edit 4K videos. I like to buy the newest model but don't want to wait forever. I'll probably buy a 2015 model if Apple doesn't announce an update during the March event.

 

[Rivanov]

Normally I always want the latest version. But I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the much higher price for the newest model when the current model is sufficient enough. Last year I already bought the MacBook 12" Retina and iPhone 7. Few weeks ago the Apple Watch Series 1 and this year want to buy the new iPhone. So maybe I have to invest wisely and take the current gen model. Knowing Apple, the refresh won't be that big (maybe USB-C and KabyLake processors?)

 

[loganberry]

I will be buying into Apple for the first time soon.
I like many others are waiting for an announcement to be made on the iMac.
I will wait for about 6 weeks if there will be an updated iMac 27 inch 5K Retina.
If no announcement I will go ahead and purchase a high spec' late 2015 model.

 

[JustMartin]

For that price difference and because what you're doing will hardly stress the computer, I don't think it's worth hanging on for an updated model. Pretty much, you know what you're going to get, what it's going to cost and when you can have it. You don't know any of those things with the rumoured upgrade.

 

[loganberry]

For that price difference and because what you're doing will hardly stress the computer, I don't think it's worth hanging on for an updated model. Pretty much, you know what you're going to get, what it's going to cost and when you can have it. You don't know any of those things with the rumoured upgrade.

I don't think there will be many changes in the new update release, but if there will be improved components that will be great. We all know Apple products are overpriced especially here in the UK. If it wasn't for the convenience of less space being used on my work station I would buy a much higher spec' Windows PC with a 4K monitor costing £700 less in total than the iMac. I must say though I love the iMac and the resolution screen is sublime.

 

[Icaras]

I'm excitedly waiting for the 2017 iMac and I suggest that you wait at least till the end of the month. This is the earliest rumored month of the release so we'll be finding out soon enough.

We're almost there.

 

[ZomBee]

If I continually waited for the latest and greatest, I'd never buy anything! I just got my iMac 27" (late 2015) and couldn't be happier. If they come out with something better in a month, I'll still be satisfied because my machine is beautiful.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Just be careful with the 1TB hard drive as Apple reduced the size of the Flash Storage from 128GB to 24GB, not even large enough to store your operating nsystem. A hundred bucks or so more for a 3TB drive might be even a better bargain.


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7469425?start=0&tstart=0

 

[ravinder08]

You should be patient and see what the new one's offer before deciding. If they're not worth it you can always get the last model at a lower price. You don't want to regret not waiting a few weeks it's a major purchase that you will have for a few years.

 

[JayMysterio]

I'm kind of in the same boat too. It's time for me to replace my Mac Mini so I can watch/edit 4K videos. I like to buy the newest model but don't want to wait forever. I'll probably buy a 2015 model if Apple doesn't announce an update during the March event.

This is me as well, but I would like to use it with art programs as well. I constantly check the refurb area of Apple, and the front page here, hoping for any word or hint.

 

[Rivanov]

You should be patient and see what the new one's offer before deciding. If they're not worth it you can always get the last model at a lower price. You don't want to regret not waiting a few weeks it's a major purchase that you will have for a few years.

That's exactly what I'm going to do. Don't want to regret my decision.

 

[InlawBiker]

I heard the rumors and looked at my use case and finally bought a refurbished 27" 5k last week. I'm really happy with it. The deal is, the refurbished Core i5, 3.3ghz, 2tb hybrid drive is around $1650 USD on eBay. For doing photoshop, lightroom and basic computing this computer is really good and less expensive than a similar Windows PC. Plus you get a much better screen. I added 16gb memory for $100.

I would not invest in a full-blown i7 machine at double the price at this point, but I think the refurbished deals are pretty attractive if available to you.

As a mini review, the hybrid hdd is actually quite fast, but I haven't filled it enough to be hitting the magnetic drive yet. I have an external USB 3 SSD for bootcamp and it's very fast too, so switching to an external SSD OS X boot drive is also an option for more speed later. It even games at 1440p reasonably well.

Here's the drawback, in around 3 years I'll probably want to upgrade again whereas a better spec machine would probably last more years. But anyway I have photos to edit now and couldn't wait, and I'm happy with the price. This also gave me extra budget to buy another couple lenses so I consider this a big win.

Greg.

 

[MacStu09]

I heard the rumors and looked at my use case and finally bought a refurbished 27" 5k last week. I'm really happy with it. The deal is, the refurbished Core i5, 3.3ghz, 2tb hybrid drive is around $1650 USD on eBay. For doing photoshop, lightroom and basic computing this computer is really good and less expensive than a similar Windows PC. Plus you get a much better screen. I added 16gb memory for $100.

I would not invest in a full-blown i7 machine at double the price at this point, but I think the refurbished deals are pretty attractive if available to you.

As a mini review, the hybrid hdd is actually quite fast, but I haven't filled it enough to be hitting the magnetic drive yet. I have an external USB 3 SSD for bootcamp and it's very fast too, so switching to an external SSD OS X boot drive is also an option for more speed later. It even games at 1440p reasonably well.

Here's the drawback, in around 3 years I'll probably want to upgrade again whereas a better spec machine would probably last more years. But anyway I have photos to edit now and couldn't wait, and I'm happy with the price. This also gave me extra budget to buy another couple lenses so I consider this a big win.

Greg.

Glad you love your computer, but your statement "less expensive than a similar Windows PC" is incorrect. You can get much longer lasting, more powerful PC workstations (6 core xeon, 16gb ram, 1tb hdd + 128gb ssd) that outperform even the i7 iMac for only $300-400 refurb. on the PC side. Add a newer 5k display for ~$900-1,000 (or less if refurb.) Those displays have even better color reproduction, higher consistency, and truer white than the iMac, and you're still a couple hundred cheaper than the iMac.

Overall, the iMac has a processor that doesn't even rank in the top 250 currently, and not to mention the iMac's very weak, already dated, M395 (ranked 60 amongst current GPUs), which means it will have a permanently weaker GPU than almost any PC. The fact they charge $100 for 16gb of ram is also rough; 32gb upgrade for mine was only $79.

So, while to each their own as to what they feel is right for them, it's definitely not at all cheaper or better performing than comparable refurbished PC's. But, I do understand you're paying a premium for the nice package, and the iMac is quite attractive.

 

[Carlsbad Rich]

Glad you love your computer, but your statement "less expensive than a similar Windows PC" is incorrect. You can get much longer lasting, more powerful PC workstations (6 core xeon, 16gb ram, 1tb hdd + 128gb ssd) that outperform even the i7 iMac for only $300-400 refurb. on the PC side. Add a newer 5k display for ~$900-1,000 (or less if refurb.) Those displays have even better color reproduction, higher consistency, and truer white than the iMac, and you're still a couple hundred cheaper than the iMac.

Overall, the iMac has a processor that doesn't even rank in the top 250 currently, and not to mention the iMac's very weak, already dated, M395 (ranked 60 amongst current GPUs), which means it will have a permanently weaker GPU than almost any PC. The fact they charge $100 for 16gb of ram is also rough; 32gb upgrade for mine was only $79.

So, while to each their own as to what they feel is right for them, it's definitely not at all cheaper or better performing than comparable refurbished PC's. But, I do understand you're paying a premium for the nice package, and the iMac is quite attractive.

Learning / enjoying this thread - hope it continues with additional opinions, info...

Used Microsoft for 30 years...

Hooked on Ecosystem (iPhone etc), Op System (MacOS) and Apple Display (5K)...oh yeah, and Build Quality!

Don't need heavy video processing (rendering?) at all:

* Microsoft office - small files
* Chrome / safari - multiple tabs (a lot haha - 10+?)
* Google Earth Pro
* Light Acrobat / Lightroom / Photoshop
* Iphone calls / Contacts / Calendar - some cloud storage
* Occasional you tube

Will prob go with Apple care refurb / used I7, 4.0 Gz 256+ssd after new model is announced (hoping for further price drop)...

Any expert opinions based on my uses?

Thanks all!

 

[InlawBiker]

Glad you love your computer, but your statement "less expensive than a similar Windows PC" is incorrect. You can get much longer lasting, more powerful PC workstations (6 core xeon, 16gb ram, 1tb hdd + 128gb ssd) that outperform even the i7 iMac for only $300-400 refurb.

Alright I can clarify a bit, I compared an iMac to building my own PC with parts sourced myself with a 4k monitor. I didn't price a 5k monitor for PC since in reality 4k monitors are much more affordable.

Part of this factored in resale value, where the Mac wins over time whereas a used PC is not good for much after 3 years. You do get to keep the monitor which is something. I didn't look for a refurbished workstation but it's an interesting angle.

Once you add the performance parts to an iMac the price skyrockets and the PC value starts to look more attractive. Anyway I would encourage buyers to do their own research and not add extra expense where there's no tangible performance gain. For Adobe photo editing you don't actually need that extra power but there are certainly other use cases where they make sense. For example if you really care about games just get a PC.