2013 iMac still worth buying?

[Dylanlewis2000]

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a mac. Originally I was looking at a Mac mini however, the prices they are commanding for the 2012 version is silly (£350-400 ish) so I started looking at iMacs.

I would love it get a 5k iMac with a 2tb fusion but cannot justify 2k on a computer. I have seen a second hand 2013 model,3.2 i5/8gb/1tb for sale for £600. Two things than concern me. The 1tb spinner being really slow - how difficult is it to upgrade these? And is buying old tech false economy in the long run? Would I just be better off buying the newer one and sucking up the £1400 difference?

Advice/ answers appreciated.

 

[harryb2448]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Keep looking Dylan. I just got a late 2013 (manufactured Feb. 2015) 27" i7 iMac with a 3.5GHz CPU, 4GB graphics card and a 3TB Fusion drive with 128GB of PCI-e flash storage as I did not like the Retina 2015 I had purchased last year and now my youngest son has, but then again I have glausoma. In English pounds they run about £700-800 here Down Under and with that flash and gfx card and the 32GB of memory I installed, it is future proof for quite a few years. You have Gumtree in the UK so keep an eye skinned. Also keep an eye on Apple Refurbished online sales.

I purchased mine from AppleHQ Sydney, when they got new models in as they do every 24 months. It is pretty much identical to the 4GHz retina 2015 model, which is still current, and they both have great GeekBench Test Scores.

 

[Dylanlewis2000]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Keep looking Dylan. I just got a late 2013 (manufactured Feb. 2015) 27" i7 iMac with a 3.5GHz CPU, 4GB graphics card and a 3TB Fusion drive with 128GB of PCI-e flash storage as I did not like the Retina 2015 I had purchased last year and now my youngest son has, but then again I have glausoma. In English pounds they run about £700-800 here Down Under and with that flash and gfx card and the 32GB of memory I installed, it is future proof for quite a few years. You have Gumtree in the UK so keep an eye skinned. Also keep an eye on Apple Refurbished online sales.

I purchased mine from AppleHQ Sydney, when they got new models in as they do every 24 months. It is pretty much identical to the 4GHz retina 2015 model, which is still current, and they both have great GeekBench Test Scores.

Hi and thank you for the reply. That seems like a very good price but over here they are more. The price quoted was indeed from gum tree. A similar spec from the apple refurb store is still selling for £1180 so it does represent a good saving.

2 things holding me back. I have emailed the seller as they have blurry photos of everything and I have asked for the serial number and a screenshot of the 'about my mac' screen. I am still waiting for them but I really don't know if I should hold out for a 5k imac.

 

[harryb2448]

To show the difference between the 3.2GHz and 3.5Ghz CPU's, Mactracker advises GeekBench test scores come in at 10,500 odd and 13,100. Strongly suggest not buying an iMac that does not have either total flash storage or at least a Fusion drive. And the 2013/14 models have an 128GB flash storgae on the Fusion drive, and later models Apple reduced it for some reason to 24GB, not even large enough to contain the operating system.

The worst thing in buying a computer like this is impatience as it always seems if you buy in haste, within weeks along comes a better machine at a better price. Murphy's Law I guess.

 

[chscag]

@Harry:

Keep looking Dylan. I just got a late 2013 (manufactured Feb. 2015) 27" i7 iMac with a 3.5GHz CPU, 4GB graphics card and a 3TB Fusion drive with 128GB of PCI-e flash storage as I did not like the Retina 2015 I had purchased last year and now my youngest son has, but then again I have glausoma.

Interesting. Seems there are folks who have problems viewing the retina displays. I've been tempted to buy a 27" iMac retina, but I think I'll stick with my Late 2013 27" iMac for a while longer and wait until Apple updates the iMac line next year. B&H Photo in NYC has the 2015 retina 27" iMac fully loaded with a 512 SSD for $2199.00, no tax and free shipping. Very tempting.

 

[harryb2448]

Not when they ship it down under at $184.00, plus 20% GST and import duty and current rate makes it about $2,800/3,000.00 AUD. I got my i7 from Apple HQ delivered and warranty for less that $2,000.00 AUD.

Alas I did take a hit having to give the Retina to my son and being a banker, he pays for nothing!!!!!