Should I upgrade my current iMac or get a latest model?

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unite2020 Author

Level 1

8 points

Should I upgrade my current iMac or get a latest model?

Hi everyone,

May I know, according to my current iMac's requirements, is that suitable on either:

To upgrade by adding more RAM (to another 8GB and become 16GB in total, got the quotation from authorised centre and they said the new RAM will install and use at my own risk because no warranty will be provided); or
To get a new unit of iMac (27" Display + Mac Mini); or
To get a new unit of just Mac Mini (where I will use back my current iMac but will connect to the new Mac Mini separately)

Recently, I went to the nearest Authorised store to tryout the latest model of 27" Display (but not sure whether it is with Mac Mini or Mac Studio, not realised at all) and its performance is blazing fast no matter when I opened Maps, scrolling around, opened other softwares. Every action returned with smooth and rapidly fast performance without having any coloured ball spinning around and loading.

I am using Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma and other softwares like Loom, Notion, Acrobat, Microsoft Office.

No gaming no video editing softwares but I plan to install video editing software soon.

Need all of your advice, thank you very much.

Have a great day.

Regards,

Jeff

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 13.6

Posted on Mar 24, 2024 6:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

padams35

Level 4

3,613 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:50 PM in response to unite2020

The new Macs are naturally faster, but I would suggest trying a RAM upgrade first. After all RAM is cheap and memory upgrades for the 2017 27" iMac are easy enough to be considered user serviceable. Install memory in an iMac - Apple Support

Go to either Cruical or OWC (macsales.com) and search for compatible memory (DDR4 SODIMM 2400 MHz, or just search by iMac model). Look for an 8GB kit (2x 4GB), or maybe even a 16GB kit (2x 8GB). Should be less than $50. Follow the instructions in the above link to install the RAM modules into the two empty slots to give yourself 16GB or 24GB total installed.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,470 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:02 PM in response to unite2020

27” iMacs ceased production in model year 2020. You current iMac is obsolete so I would recommend replacing with a current Mac Mini and a 27” display. A 27” display for a mM would be anywhere from about $100 - 1500. For about $1000 for a nicely configured MM and about $350-400 for a nice display you have a NICE system for everyday use.

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2024 7:54 PM in response to unite2020

From the combination of 27" iMac, 3.5 GHz Core i5, and Radeon Pro 575, it would appear that you have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017). That Mac

Can take up to 64 GB of user-installable RAM.
Has modern ports (two USB-C (USB, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3) ports and four USB-A (USB 3.0) ports).
Has Gigabit (10/100/1000 BASE-T) Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth
Came with a Fusion Drive or Flash Storage
Can run Ventura (but not Sonoma)

If your iMac has a 1 TB Fusion Drive, then you might benefit from getting an external SSD and setting it up as your startup drive. While the SSD component of the Fusion Drive uses a fast PCIe connection, Apple included merely a very skimpy 32 GB of SSD storage with the 1 TB Fusion Drive. It's prime real estate, but there isn't enough of it. A larger (2 or 3 TB) Fusion Drive from the same year would have had 128 GB of SSD storage.

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Answer 4

Tesserax

Level 10

157,896 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:02 PM in response to unite2020

Your iMac is still considered "supported" by Apple; however, it will soon enter the "vintage" category meaning it will lose most support within the next year.

Software-wise it cannot be upgraded past macOS Ventura, so it is already one version behind.

Not sure what you meant by the item 3 in your list, but if you were planning on getting a new Mac mini, but continue to use your current iMac as a monitor for it, that won't work.

The one thing you didn't state is your spending cap. That is what is the maximum amount of money do you want to spend? Whether that is to upgrade your current Mac or get a new iMac or Mac mini.

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Answer 5

Mar 24, 2024 7:44 PM in response to unite2020

8 GB of RAM is enough for a lot of applications – but I know that Adobe recommends having 16 GB or more for running Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic.

If you run Activity Monitor and watch the Memory Pressure graph as you are doing normal work, the color-coded graph may give you some idea for what your RAM situation is now.

Green = You have enough RAM for what you are doing
Yellow = RAM is marginal for what you are doing
Red = You don't have enough RAM for what you are doing, and it is hurting performance

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Answer 6

Mar 24, 2024 8:33 PM in response to unite2020

If you do upgrade RAM, I would suggest buying it only from Other World Computing or from Crucial – and buying the RAM they recommend for your specific iMac model.

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Answer 7

unite2020 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:37 PM in response to Tesserax

Hi friend,

Thank you so much for your reply and suggestions.

For budget wise, I am actually didn't have any spending cap as I will using my credit card and to request for installment from my local bank once I have purchased it later.

I just have one headache problem (but I will try to figure out later) that where I can resell my current iMac because in my region there is not much places are accepted for that unit.

May I have another question?

If I use select option A where I use back my current iMac but to upgrade the another 8GB RAM which is no warranty but I am totally fine without having any further upgrades of the OS version, would that be a good decision? Or, actually just upgrading the RAM won't be as much better as getting a new model which has latest model of processor, graphic card and RAM (which is option B)?

*and I am getting clear now on your answer regarding my previously mentioned of item 3 in my list).

Thanks for everything.

I do hope you have a wonderful day.

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