Purchase New Mac

[HelenR]

In the market for new IMac and looking for input on where to buy. I see Amazon sells them as well as Apple. Is there any difference or advantage to purchase from either of these sellers?

Thank you.

 

[ferrarr]

One advantage is if you click on the Amazon link on Mac-Forums web pages, your Amazon purchase will help the forum pay their bills. Other than that, if you are buying a regular model, no add-ons, upgrades or changes to the device, both retailers should have them in stock ready to ship.

 

[Rod]

Only one caution; do buy the maximum storage you can afford. 512GB is simply not enough these days if you want longevity. Yes, I know 1TB seems unnecessary and overly expensive but, given that it's advised to keep 20% of your storage free for speed and efficiency that means you really only get 800GB of useable space. The alternative is an external storage device (EHD) and for good quality SSD EHD you will be up for at least another couple of hundred bucks, not to mention an EHD for Time Machine backup or similar.
Of course, if like me, you have been coping for years on a 512GB HD and are confident in your data managing skills by all means save some money and go for the minimum storage.

Last but not least, do consider the new M3 Mac Mini as an alternative. Even with a good quality screen, keyboard and mouse it's cheaper and you may already have a compatible Keyboard and Mouse.

See; Why You Should Buy a Mac Mini Instead of an iMac

 

[Jimmysb]

Only one caution; do buy the maximum storage you can afford. 512GB is simply not enough these days if you want longevity.

Though I do not fully disagree with the statement, it really depends on HOW, and WHAT you use your machine for. I have had my Mac since 2022, and also move a lot of stuff from my Windows machine, and 512GB is adequate for MY use.

 

[IWT]

it really depends on HOW, and WHAT you use your machine for.

Absolutely. No one would argue against that. But, in reality, your personal usage and the way you arrange your backups etc are at variance with the average user. No offence, just factual.

The message being conveyed to the majority is that you will almost certainly need more storage on your Mac than you think you need.

And indeed, Apple has recognised this over the years by offering larger and larger storage space on the Mac - at extra cost of course.

And the more that's stored on the Mac; correspondingly greater storage will be needed for External Hard Drives such as for Time Machine, Cloned backups and the like.

Each to their own

Ian

 

[pm-r]

And indeed, Apple has recognised this over the years by offering larger and larger storage space on the Mac - at extra cost of course.

And not forgetting that Apple no longer allows a user to remove Surplus system software from later Mac OS versions for those who used to do so to create extra storage space.
Those who store a lot of photos or video usually need a larger hard drive for their storage it seems. They both use a fair amount of storage space compared to other data types.



- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

In the market for new IMac and looking for input on where to buy. I see Amazon sells them as well as Apple. Is there any difference or advantage to purchase from either of these sellers?

If you are purchasing a new Macintosh, by far the best place to purchase one is from Apple's online refurbished store:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac

A genuine factory refurbished Macintosh, that you can only get online from Apple, will be indistinguishable from a brand new Mac in just about every way. It will even have the same warranty. But it will be hundreds less than you can get a new Mac for anywhere else.

 

[MacBiter]

If you are purchasing a new Macintosh, by far the best place to purchase one is from Apple's online refurbished store:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac

A genuine factory refurbished Macintosh, that you can only get online from Apple, will be indistinguishable from a brand new Mac in just about every way. It will even have the same warranty. But it will be hundreds less than you can get a new Mac for anywhere else.

I agree, though I would say “hundreds” is overstating rather - the average saving seems to be about 150, though that's still worth it for a Mac that's effectively better than new, as it’s been checked more thoroughly than average.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I agree, though I would say “hundreds” is overstating rather ...

I just purchased a refurbished Mac mini M4 from Apple. I got it with 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. I saved over $200 by getting a refurbished one!

 

[Slydude]

@HelenR There's lots of goods advice in this thread so far. No surprise there.

How long do you keep your Macs before you start to perceive that they are too slow and need to be replaced? The longer you tend to keep your machine the more you'll want to load up with as much RAM and Storage as you can reasonably afford.

 

[pm-r]

I just purchased a refurbished Mac mini M4 from Apple. I got it with 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. I saved over $200 by getting a refurbished one!

I would also recommend purchasing a new Mac from apples refurbished store and have done several times except for when they don't have or will never have a particular model available has happened to me recently when they no longer sold the 27 inch iMac model.

For such a situation I found another excellent source and that is Best Buy Canada and Walmart Canada's Marketplace sellers.

Full full guarantee just like a brand new one from Apple and I lucked out with a super sale price when I purchased during a Boxing Day Sale unsaved several hundred dollars and very fast shipping.

Both Walmart Canada Marketplace and Best Buy Canada's Marketplace, and maybe others, allows third-party sellers to offer products on BestBuy.ca, expanding the selection beyond Best Buy's own inventory. These sellers are carefully vetted and must adhere to quality standards. Customers buying from Marketplace sellers should be aware that returns are handled by the seller, not Best Buy stores.

I just thought I should mention the option and the Google search should show whether it's available in the users area or not.

I found it it was a very satisfying purchasing experience and prices so far exceeded Apple's refurbished savings and what seemed to be a larger selection to choose from.

I just thought I would mention the fact and have no association with any of the companies mentioned other than being a satisfied customer.



- Patrick
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[MacBiter]

I just purchased a refurbished Mac mini M4 from Apple. I got it with 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. I saved over $200 by getting a refurbished one!

It’s possible there are larger savings on the more expensive items? I don't usually look that far!.

 

[pm-r]

It’s possible there are larger savings on the more expensive items? I don't usually look that far!.

Hmmm... ??? May I suggest that next time you go looking, you extend your viewing range a bit further, you might be quite pleasantly surprised and also save yourself some extra money at the same time with a better model you would not normally have looked at.

Just a thought...



- Patrick
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[MacBiter]

Hmmm... ??? May I suggest that next time you go looking, you extend your viewing range a bit further, you might be quite pleasantly surprised and also save yourself some extra money at the same time with a better model you would not normally have looked at.

I just meant - I'm not in the market for expensive devices! I have the refurb pages sorted on price : Low to High .