About to pull the trigger, just a couple things holding me back

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Hi guys, brand new to the forum but thought I'd just jump straight in.

Currently I am a PC user but not at all unfamiliar with Apple products. Have owned every iPhone model and will be getting the next one when it is released. Own an iPad and have bought 2 iMacs for my parents as I was sick of forever helping them with Windows related issues.

I myself currently have a PC as I used to be a gamer and tinkerer. That all changed when 6 years ago I started working in IT as a systems engineer and stopped tinkering and gaming as I was sick of the sight of them when I came home. Now just recently started my own photography business and I am finding my now very old and obsolete PC is time for an upgrade. I love the Apple feel and stability which is important but here are my main points for considering an iMac for my next computer.

  1. 27" Screen at high res is a Photographers dream
  2. Apple Care is worth every penny
  3. It is going to help me get the most out of my iPhone and iPad where Windows is lacking for iCloud
  4. I enjoy playing around with the iLife suite
  5. Really getting interested in videography and Final Cut Pro looks amazing

But there are a couple things holding me back: Firstly I hate how the mouse feels within OSX or it could just be the magic mouse that feels so rubbish. I find it not very responsive and then when maxing out the sensitivity it has nice motion at high speed movements but feels twitchy at finer movements. This may just be something I need to get used to but I'll still be using a PC for other stuff and this may not every be something I can get used to.

The other thing is lack of HDD space. My current PC has around 3.5TB of internal storage before the 2TB I have of external and I am going to need a good 3TB internally for my Mac too. Firstly I know you can have a second drive but it's for an SSD which is a 2.5" form factor so does anyone know if a 3.5" can be added to make 2 of them? Does it void my warranty to add another drive by myself?

Thanks for reading!
 

cwa107


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But there are a couple things holding me back: Firstly I hate how the mouse feels within OSX or it could just be the magic mouse that feels so rubbish. I find it not very responsive and then when maxing out the sensitivity it has nice motion at high speed movements but feels twitchy at finer movements. This may just be something I need to get used to but I'll still be using a PC for other stuff and this may not every be something I can get used to.

I find the acceleration curve is terrible with non-Apple mice. Don't ask me why, but for some reason, the Magic Mouse changed all that for me. Before then, using all sorts of different mice from Logitech to Microsoft was a pain, with a lot of fine tuning needed with third party drivers like Steermouse and "USB Overdrive" (the latter of which doesn't work with BT mice).

Anyway, I totally relate to what you're talking about here. It was particularly noticeable at work, where I was shifting all day long from a Windows machine to my Mac, with a third party mouse. As I said, I was able to make it tolerable with Steermouse, but it wasn't until I bought the Magic Mouse that it felt completely normal. A lot of folks don't like the MM and I don't blame them because it's not particularly comfortable at first blush... but it grows on you after awhile (at least it did me).

The other thing is lack of HDD space. My current PC has around 3.5TB of internal storage before the 2TB I have of external and I am going to need a good 3TB internally for my Mac too. Firstly I know you can have a second drive but it's for an SSD which is a 2.5" form factor so does anyone know if a 3.5" can be added to make 2 of them? Does it void my warranty to add another drive by myself?

Thanks for reading!

Not sure on adding a second drive, but do note that Apple uses proprietary hard drive connectors in the latest iMacs that require a special connector on the drive itself for the fans to work properly. Personally, for a desktop, I'd much rather have a Windows machine that I can customize to my heart's content - but if I had to buy a Mac, it would be a Mac Mini with Thunderbolt.

The new Mini is a serviceable little machine and with the Thunderbolt port, you can add on anything imaginable - even a nice external RAID array or external PCIe cage. If I were in your shoes, I'd stick a smallish SSD inside and get a Thunderbolt external for mass storage. Even better, your not stuck with the iMac's case, which is difficult to get into (and voids your warranty if you do).

In short, don't underestimate the Mini. You can save yourself a good bit of money and still have a machine every bit as powerful.
 
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The main thing is that with the mini I would still need to purchase a screen. To buy a 27" monitor with the same res as what comes with the iMac is nearly the same cost. For me I am pretty much well set on the idea of buying an iMac 27" if I go Apple.

But you have cleared up a few things. Didn't know about the special connector so thanks for that and thought the warranty would be an issue so thanks again for clearing that up too. I might just have to go for a 2TB upgrade at the Apple store and I'll probably just get a GB switch and setup a storage box with all my files on it that can be stored off machine.
 

cwa107


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Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
The main thing is that with the mini I would still need to purchase a screen. To buy a 27" monitor with the same res as what comes with the iMac is nearly the same cost. For me I am pretty much well set on the idea of buying an iMac 27" if I go Apple.

But you have cleared up a few things. Didn't know about the special connector so thanks for that and thought the warranty would be an issue so thanks again for clearing that up too. I might just have to go for a 2TB upgrade at the Apple store and I'll probably just get a GB switch and setup a storage box with all my files on it that can be stored off machine.

That's what I do for archival storage. I have a D-Link DNS-323 Gigabit NAS that has worked well for me for a number of years now. With that said, you could always opt for a Thunderbolt external and still have all the performance of an internal drive. Just some food for thought.
 

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