Which Mac to upgrade?

[MrMister111]

Have a late 2012 iMac. Still going great on latest MacOS tbh. Now it gets used less and less, wife uses her iPad, son has MacBook, daughter her laptop. I use it less but do for Photos for organising really, general web use, nothing taxing, odd video conversion using iMovie probably. Also my Digi Cam takes 4K video and high res pics, so want to mess around with these, would the Air among these?

So I'm wondering if I should upgrade. I don't need a MacBook/laptop but dont need desktop, as it's out of way now. Also if going laptop option am I upgrading spec wise over my iMac?

If I got a laptop, I could either get Air 2018 refurb for £850, or the Air 2019 education £990 (with beats to sell?), or MacBook 12" 2017 £800 trouble with laptop route is need external HDD as my photo library (do have 1Tb iCloud sub), is now 600Gb.

With laptop option could use TV via Apple TV if want to bigger screen? Is this a good option? Many people do this?

iMac are probably overkill, maybe a refurb Mac mini 2018, £680, then need monitor £100. Refurb iMac start around £990.

I have a 10.5" iPad Pro and use that extensively, even for my photo organisation etc now. But just still think need a Mac...maybe?

To subsidise the purchase I would sell current iMac, and I'd go education route the beats as well.

Decisions.....

 

[vkd]

I suggest you have a good look at the availability and make your choice based on the one that appeals most to you visually, financially and of course please don't forget to check that the specification matches your personal requirements.

 

[MrMister111]

I suggest you have a good look at the availability and make your choice based on the one that appeals most to you visually, financially and of course please don't forget to check that the specification matches your personal requirements.

I know what's out there. But suppose I want to see if any of these are a spec upgrade, never having had a MacBook, also want to see how others use. When in a room with an HD TV for example do you airplay and use that rather than the small screen?

 

[velocityg4]

You don't mention the specific CPU in your iMac. If you have the bottom of the barrel 2012 iMac (i5-3330s)

2018 MBA:
The 2018 Macbook Air would be a slight CPU upgrade in single core tasks but would be slower in multi-core tasks. Higher end 2012 iMacs should beat it soundly.

Graphics performance is about on par between the low end 2012 iMac and the 2018 Macbook Air. Although as the Intel UHD graphics are newer. They may get better performance in Metal optimized tasks.

SSD speed will be much faster. The MB Air will feel faster in everyday tasks. The base models won't have much room for a photo or video library. So it won't help in those tasks. Also when it comes to CPU/GPU heavy tasks the SSD won't help any.

2019 MBA:
I couldn't say. I can't find out which CPU it has. Purportedly it is now a quad core. In which case it is likely an improvement in single and multi-core tasks over many of the 2012 iMac models.

2018 Mini:
The base mini will take on the high end 21.5" 2012 iMac and Mid-Range 27" 2012 models well enough. However, given what you were willing to spend on the Macbooks and that you will be working with both 4K video and hi-res photos. You should not be using a $100 monitor. You'll want a 4K monitor which will bring the system total up to £900 with a cheap TN 4K panel.

Other:
You can get a used 2017 3.4Ghz 4K iMac with 16GB RAM for under £700 (based on sold eBay listings in the UK). Then add an external 1TB SSD for £100 to £200 depending on the type. It'll be the nicest option for your uses.

 

[MrMister111]

You don't mention the specific CPU in your iMac. If you have the bottom of the barrel 2012 iMac (i5-3330s)

sorry should have, it is the basic spec one,
2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3330s)
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB
1Tb Fusion

I want to keep away from eBay ideally, just for any probs that's all, so would prefer Apple refurb, and maybe AC+ or JL with 2 years etc.

The MBA 2018 and 2019 are identical specs, apart from 2019 has True Tone screen, and 3G butterfly. Reason thinking of MBA 2019 on edu is that would get Beats, and sell so maybe £150-£200? for them somewhere? so less that off purchase

 

[velocityg4]

sorry should have, it is the basic spec one,
2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3330s)
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB
1Tb Fusion

I want to keep away from eBay ideally, just for any probs that's all, so would prefer Apple refurb, and maybe AC+ or JL with 2 years etc.

The MBA 2018 and 2019 are identical specs, apart from 2019 has True Tone screen, and 3G butterfly. Reason thinking of MBA 2019 on edu is that would get Beats, and sell so maybe £150-£200? for them somewhere? so less that off purchase

Then I'd say the Mac Mini with a 4K display will be the only real upgrade for your budget. MacOS Mojave and (I assume) Catalina look horrible on non-retina displays. The font's are blurry. Also it makes more sense to edit UHD video and high res photos on a 4K display. 4K Monitors start at around £220.

The MBA 2018/2019 just isn't well suited for your uses. It's much slower and not upgradeable. You'll also be stuck editing photos and videos on a tiny screen. Compared to your current iMac they have a nicer quality screen and faster storage device. That's about it. Unless you absolutely must have a laptop. The Mac Mini gives you more for your money.

Those Beats Solo3 headphones are going for about £100 new right now on eBay (sold prices). I'm sure tons of UK students are getting that same deal and selling the headphones. I wouldn't be surprised if those prices plummet. As eBay, Craigslist, LetGo, &c will get flooded with them.