Best bang for the buck iMac 5K

[romatech]

I'm looking to upgrade my Late 2012 Mac Mini and am convinced that Apple isn't going to be producing another Mac Mini. Hence, I'm looking to replace it with an iMac as that's the nearest thing I can find that would be a decent replacement.

Unfortunately, a decently specced iMac with a fast i7 CPU is very expensive. I do a lot of photo (Photoshop) and video editing (videos edited in iMovie at 1080p at the moment, would like to try 4K video editing later this year).

So, which spec of iMac would be up to the job? The top spec iMac works out at a little over 2600 GBP, which is a bit too much for me.

Which spec of CPU and RAM would be enough for editing a couple of videos and around 100 photos per week?

 

[IWT]

Hi and good morning.

Before you go full out for the iMac, I don't think you should write off the possibility of a new Mac Mini.

Although these are only rumours, have a read at these sites:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/mac-mini-2018-3472956/
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/mac-mini-2018-release-date-news-and-rumors
https://appleinsider.com/topic/mac+mini

Ian

 

[romatech]

^ I really hope those rumours come true! A professional Mac Mini would be awesome. I already have a 34" widescreen curved monitor that I recently invested in that I'd like to continue to use. My current Mac Mini is literally held together by tape as I've opened the case up for upgrades over the years and was unable to put it back together properly. The HDD is also becoming noisy.

When in 2018 would a new Mac Mini be likely?

 

[IWT]

When in 2018 would a new Mac Mini be likely?

Toss a coin or look at your favourite horoscope

Joking apart, no one knows for sure; but there is a big Apple presentation day scheduled for this month which might include details of their intentions. If they do announce a new Mac Mini, it will likely be before the year end.

Ian

 

[XJ-linux]

I'm looking to upgrade my Late 2012 Mac Mini and am convinced that Apple isn't going to be producing another Mac Mini. Hence, I'm looking to replace it with an iMac as that's the nearest thing I can find that would be a decent replacement.

Unfortunately, a decently specced iMac with a fast i7 CPU is very expensive. I do a lot of photo (Photoshop) and video editing (videos edited in iMovie at 1080p at the moment, would like to try 4K video editing later this year).

So, which spec of iMac would be up to the job? The top spec iMac works out at a little over 2600 GBP, which is a bit too much for me.

Which spec of CPU and RAM would be enough for editing a couple of videos and around 100 photos per week?

I use Lightroom and iMovie which can be intense at times, and am doing fine with a 27" 2017 iMac 5K. I edit photos more than video - mostly Nikon DX format photos - and some 4K video. My first suggestion would be to buy from the Apple refurbished online store (assuming you have one in Europe) to save some cash. Mine has a 3.8Ghz i5. It can run hard enough for editing and batch processing and doesn't seem as prone to running up the fans constantly ie: getting really, really hot as often as the i7's seem to get in the current generation iMac chassis. I have the Raedon Pro 580 8GB video card which does a great job with the heavy lifting - needed to select using the card within Lightroom of course. I also splurged and added an extra 32GB of memory from OWC to the standard 16GB of memory for a total of 48 GB - total overkill for hobbyist photo and video editing. Very happy with the setup and my wife can even play some games in 4K resolution. Honestly, I'm not even using 1/2 the potential of the system.

 

[romatech]

I use Lightroom and iMovie which can be intense at times, and am doing fine with a 27" 2017 iMac 5K. I edit photos more than video - mostly Nikon DX format photos - and some 4K video. My first suggestion would be to buy from the Apple refurbished online store (assuming you have one in Europe) to save some cash. Mine has a 3.8Ghz i5. It can run hard enough for editing and batch processing and doesn't seem as prone to running up the fans constantly ie: getting really, really hot as often as the i7's seem to get in the current generation iMac chassis. I have the Raedon Pro 580 8GB video card which does a great job with the heavy lifting - needed to select using the card within Lightroom of course. I also splurged and added an extra 32GB of memory from OWC to the standard 16GB of memory for a total of 48 GB - total overkill for hobbyist photo and video editing. Very happy with the setup and my wife can even play some games in 4K resolution. Honestly, I'm not even using 1/2 the potential of the system.

Thank you for the info! My Mac Mini uses an i5 so I naturally assumed that I would need an i7. Would an i5 iMac would offer a significant performance boost over an i5 Mini?

We do have an Apple refurbished store here in the UK so I'll take another look there, but the last time I checked, I found the prices almost the same as new.

Is the memory easily upgradeable on a 2017 i5 iMac?

 

[IWT]

Is the memory easily upgradeable on a 2017 i5 iMac?

If it's a 27 inch iMac, then yes I think that is still possible although Apple are making it increasingly difficult to upgrade anything after purchase.

If it's a 21 inch iMac, then No. As I understand it, you have to stipulate the RAM (Memory) at time of purchase.

Ian

 

[chscag]

Is the memory easily upgradeable on a 2017 i5 iMac?

Yes, it's a 10 minute job. Very easy to do. But that only applies to the 27" models. As Ian pointed out, the 21.5" models are not upgradeable.

 

[XJ-linux]

Thank you for the info! My Mac Mini uses an i5 so I naturally assumed that I would need an i7. Would an i5 iMac would offer a significant performance boost over an i5 Mini?

We do have an Apple refurbished store here in the UK so I'll take another look there, but the last time I checked, I found the prices almost the same as new.

Is the memory easily upgradeable on a 2017 i5 iMac?

You can check speed tests online, but I'd have to believe a 5 year newer i5 chip is faster, if only due to firmware, command sets, bus speeds, etc... As others have stated, upgrading the memory on a 27" is about a 10 minute job. Easy as pie.