iMac help

[TC.]

Had iPhones forever but never made the switch to apple on the PC so no idea what the story is with them.

These 2 are available close to me, what one should I have a look at ?


This one is £450

This one is £420 and mid 2017

 

[Steve1986]

Realistically they'll both be pretty s**t, 7 years is a bloody long time in computing, let alone 10 years. What are you wanting to use it for?

 

[SC03OTT]

You got a monitor?

I’d be looking at a Mac Mini M1 off Backmarket or something for that kinda price. That’s based on 3 minutes of research.

What you using it for?

 

[TC.]

Realistically they'll both be pretty s**t, 7 years is a bloody long time in computing, let alone 10 years. What are you wanting to use it for?

Nothing that’s going to need any serious amount of spec. Buying and selling, spreadsheets and recording the odd set to.

 

[TC.]

You got a monitor?

I’d be looking at a Mac Mini M1 off Backmarket or something for that kinda price. That’s based on 3 minutes of research.

What you using it for?

The reason I want it is the monitor.

 

[Simon_16v]

For anything Apple computing now, you want an M1 processor at a bare minimum.

 

[Maccy]

The drives in both will be old mechanical disk drives most likely unless they’ve upgraded to SSHD which I did to mine, so unless that’s been done they’ll feel very sluggish.
I wouldn’t bother personally.

 

[boultonn]

Also worth considering that Macs stop getting the latest OS release once they get to around 7 years old, and stop receiving security updates after around 10 years so you wouldn't want to be using a 2014 connected to the internet in any scenario.
If you want the iMac form factor I'd be looking at getting a pre-loved M1 iMac from eBay or similar.

 

[AdDaMan]

Defo a second hand M1. Spend the extra. You wont have to upgrade for years and years for what you need it for.

 

[Mr Underhill]

My Macs usually last a few years from a productive standpoint at least.

I have 8 machines from over the last 20 years sitting in my cupboard at work. I’ve been using them since the mid 90s. They’re great for the first few years, then with constant OS upgrades they slow down to the point where they’re unusable. I’m using cloud based software so upgrading is impossible to avoid if you need to run the latest apps - which I do.

On saying that, if you clear the hard drive and reinstall the original software they’re as good as new. My MacBook Pro - 2007 - is running OS 10.4.4 and some Boss simulation software. I don’t run anything else on it. And my Blue & White G3 PowerMac (1999) is still running OS 9 and one of the first versions of iTunes.

So I guess if you can find an older machine that will run your applications and you’re not planning on trying to stay up with the latest apps, they’re a great bit of kit.

 

[TC.]

Thanks for the replies, I really wanted the 27” iMac for aesthetics and obviously a nice big screen. But I’m going to take the advice and go for one of these M1 minis and just grab a decent sized monitor.

Spotted this one close to me, looks ok price wise compared to the equivalent on eBay.

 

[Sash]

Also worth considering that Macs stop getting the latest OS release once they get to around 7 years old, and stop receiving security updates after around 10 years so you wouldn't want to be using a 2014 connected to the internet in any scenario.
If you want the iMac form factor I'd be looking at getting a pre-loved M1 iMac from eBay or similar.

Oh.. So my mid 2010 MacBook Pro that I'm using right now is pretty redundant?

 

[boultonn]

Oh.. So my mid 2010 MacBook Pro that I'm using right now is pretty redundant?

Certainly a high risk strategy haha

 

[Maccy]

Thanks for the replies, I really wanted the 27” iMac for aesthetics and obviously a nice big screen. But I’m going to take the advice and go for one of these M1 minis and just grab a decent sized monitor.

Spotted this one close to me, looks ok price wise compared to the equivalent on eBay.


View attachment 1687413

8gb memory and only 256gb drive? I’d be looking for more ideally.

 

[AdDaMan]

8gb memory and only 256gb drive? I’d be looking for more ideally.

Depends if you use icloud or not like most do.