2018 iMac for video editing?

That is -not- a 2018 iMac.

An NVidea GeForce GPU iMac running Catalina would be either a 2012 or 2013 model, both of which are rather dated compared to a 24" M chip.

At the very least there are compelling reasons to look for a Mac new enough to have USB-C (2017 and newer) to speed up video file transfers.

Meridian108 wrote:

Really, never on EBay, even with their ‘refurbishing dept? That’s useful to know, if there’s a lot of junk being disguised as a solid computer. Yes, caveat emptor always, but still, you gotta have some place to shop…

Never from eBay. I have seen SCORES of posts in the Apple Community Discussions from people who purchased Macs on eBay. With many used Macs, one is obtaining someone else's rejects. There is usually a good reason it is being sold. The worst situations are Macs with intermittent hardware problems which may not be readily apparent at first but later cause mysterious crashes or freezes. This can be memory, motherboards, internal drive issues, damage from heat, liquid spills, drops, you name it. Even worse than that are Macs that arrive locked to the previous owner's Apple ID or encryption and actually are completely unusable.

There are only three reputable sellers I would buy a used Mac from: (1) Apple, (2) Macsales OWC, and (3) my local Apple Authorized Service Provider, a third party store that once in a while offers excellent deals on used computers that run the latest MacOS and are well equipped, and there one can physically inspect and test the units. All three are experts in repairing/refurbishing/testing Macs, and all three will stand behind these products with a warranty (duration varies).

I will also chime in here and agree with what the others suggested; if funds are a major constraint, to start with the fastest Mac Mini brand new M2 or M2 Pro you can afford, make sure to get at least 16 GB and preferably 32 GB memory. If the Apple Studio Display costs too much, you can get excellent large external displays for a few hundred dollars (I am using large external displays at work and at home made by Dell). For video editing one needs lots of internal SSD space and if possible a lot of memory.

I don't recommend starting now with a 4-year old Mac, and certainly not a 6-year old Mac, for video editing. In a matter of a few years, you will be seeing beachballs as your older system tries to keep up with newer more demanding software and larger file sizes with higher resolution.

Padams is correct, in fact there is no 2018 iMac model at all. It sounds like the one you are considering is 2013 at best, which is an obsolete computer. Both hardware and software wise. You have been provided with multiple other better suggestions, but investing in a 2013 (or 2012) computer is not a good idea at all.

If the computer is being represented as a 2018 model, definitely stay away from that seller.

I'm not sure I'd invest in a computer that can't run the current MacOS (Ventura is the end of the line for the model you're looking at).

Have you considered looking at the Mac Mini lineup, and add your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor?

There are education and military discounts available for Macs...something you might look into if you're eligible for either of them.

Bhphotovideo.com is a good source for sales on new Macs as well.

Have you looked into a Mac mini and Apple Studio Display? This would give you a fast, modern Apple silicon Mac with a 27-inch Retina 5K display. Mac mini is available with either the M2 or M2 Pro chip, both of which are very capable and much faster than an Intel processor.

Otherwise, for a 27-inch iMac, I'd recommend the 2020 model over the 2017 model.

-Jack

Be sure that you look into the system requirements for whatever video editing apps you plan to use. That may guide you as to what era Mac to buy.

For example, Final Cut Pro always requires a very recent version of macOS at the time you purchase it. Currently, that's Ventura 13.5 ... and it won't be long before it requires Sonoma 14.2

Adobe Premiere currently requires at least Monterey 12

Davinci Resolve, on the other hand, is available for macOS Catalina 10.15 and later.

Meridian108 wrote:

The model I'm looking at:

2018 i7 32 GB RAM 2 TB SSD Hard Drive Mac OS Catalina GPU: NVidia GeForce Processor Speed: 3.5 GHz

2020 i5 64GB RAM 1TB SSD 4GB AMD RADEON PRO 5300 graphics card, 4.8GHz

From a purely hardware standpoint, both iMacs you are looking at will be fine for video editing.

I would, however, suggest a 2020 or later model so you can upgrade to at least the next 1-2 versions of macOS.

You might consider the combination of a Mac Mini + 27" Apple Studio Display - depending on the configuration it can come in at a lower cost than a comparably equipped 24" iMac.

You can do a search in the Discussions for "eBay Mac" or "eBay iPhone" or similar. What comes up will be scary.

Out of all the options for buying a used Mac, my preference is the local Apple Authorized Service Provider. (Not everyone is lucky enough to have one of these close by.) They are usually individually owned small businesses/stores, and while they do sell new Macs, they depend on repeat customers, repairs or simple tasks like drive replacement, battery replacement, etc., and other sales of peripherals and the like, which can often be non-Apple branded items (displays, etc.). If there is ANY issue, you can bring the product back to the store and they will address it. You can speak directly with the technician who will be doing the work. Sometimes they even let you go back into their lab to show or explain something if that helps with the situation. I think they make it a point to only sell used devices that are in excellent condition.

If you were just using the Mac for email, web browsing, photos, music and maybe some word processing, then an older Mac would probably be fine. I am typing this on a 2015 iMac, and I also have 2013 and 2011 MacBook Airs that are still running. But video editing is a different story.

I've never had a bad experience with eBay but the only things I have purchased there are small things.

Never buy a used Mac from:

your best friend

your local computer store

Ebay

Marketplace

craigs list etc.

the advice about a new MM is wise and you should consider that option. Also Apple refurbished Macs are great too.

Macs sold on the sites I mentioned are more often than not are a problem as the sellers don’t set them up correctly for resale which causes major issues for the new owners.

if you must buy used but from a reputable seller such as Macsales.com. However you would be wise to consider new.