I have a late 2015, 27" iMac that I need to replace. I am not up to date with processors, etc. like I use to be. In the Mac mini/Mac Studio line, which on would be an equal?
[Re-Titled By Moderator]
iMac 27″, macOS 12.7
The rough equivalent in today's product line would be a system consisting of
Unfortunately, the 27" Apple 5K Studio Display and separately-purchased Apple input devices alone will cost you about as much as a 27" 5K Retina iMac used to cost. That display is $1599+. Many people settle for third-party 27" – 32" 4K displays, which aren't quite as sharp, but which cost maybe 1/4th to 1/2 as much as Apple's 5K one.
Note that while RAM was user-expandable on all 27" iMacs, it is not user-expandable on any Apple Silicon Mac. I would recommend getting at least 16 GB. In the Apple Silicon world, RAM options vary by processor type. A M2 Pro Mac mini will come with at least 16 GB; a M2 Max Mac Studio, with at least 32 GB. On a 24" M3 iMac or on a M2 Mac mini, you can get 16 GB or 24 GB of RAM, but you might need to custom-order to get it.
The rough equivalent in today's product line would be a system consisting of
Unfortunately, the 27" Apple 5K Studio Display and separately-purchased Apple input devices alone will cost you about as much as a 27" 5K Retina iMac used to cost. That display is $1599+. Many people settle for third-party 27" – 32" 4K displays, which aren't quite as sharp, but which cost maybe 1/4th to 1/2 as much as Apple's 5K one.
Note that while RAM was user-expandable on all 27" iMacs, it is not user-expandable on any Apple Silicon Mac. I would recommend getting at least 16 GB. In the Apple Silicon world, RAM options vary by processor type. A M2 Pro Mac mini will come with at least 16 GB; a M2 Max Mac Studio, with at least 32 GB. On a 24" M3 iMac or on a M2 Mac mini, you can get 16 GB or 24 GB of RAM, but you might need to custom-order to get it.
Any of the new Mac's, the iMac, Mac mini or the brutish Mac Studio will run circles around your Late 2015 iMac.
For help choosing your next Mac, have a look at > Mac - Which Mac is best for me? - Apple
Whatever you choose, make sure to order it with equal or greater Storage Space.
While you have a lot of choices available to you it is irresponsible for us to tell you what to get without any knowledge of how you use your Mac. Apple makes a variety of different Macs for all types of users, some are creative professionals that do very computing intensive tasks like making movies or videos, however most of us use them for very basic items such as web surfing, e-mail, texting, doing a spreadsheet on occasion, writing some letters.
So if you would like to think a bit and tell us how you use your Mac and if you think your future looks similar then we can help point you in the right right direction.
Since you have an older Mac, you may be running many Intel-only applications. Apple Silicon Macs can run many 64-bit Intel-only applications under Rosetta 2 translation. There is a delay the first time you run an application – while Rosetta prepares an Apple Silicon version of the machine code. The Mac saves the translation so that when you launch the application again, you can skip the wait.
32-bit Intel applications won't run on Catalina or later, or on Apple Silicon Macs. If you have already upgraded your Late 2015 iMac to Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey, you will have already encountered this issue, so it will not present any further issues for your move from Intel to Apple Silicon. If you are still running Mojave or earlier, you may have some 32-bit applications, for which you'll need to look into updates or replacements.
+1 Den.Thed is absolutely correct, please follow his wise advice. To migrate from the 2015 to the new Mac please follow the directions below:
· Always connect your old Mac's Time Machine External Hard Disk prior to startup, this will allow a migration from your TM backup and it will be dead simple! When you start the new Mac for the first time it will startup Setup Assistant (SA), SA will get to a point where it asks if you are migrating from another computer, select Yes and follow the on-screen prompts and it's done! It is that simple! This is the easiest, quickest and most reliable method to migrate from the old Mac to the new Mac is to simply connect the old Mac's Time Machine External Hard Disk to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac.
· NOTE 1: You will likely need a USB A to USB C adapter, you can find them on Amazon for $10 or less.
· NOTE 2: If you have already done SA on the new computer then simply connect the Time Machine External Hard Disk using a USB cable and launch Migration Assistant (MA) which is located in Applications - Utilities - MA. Then follow the on-screen prompts.
· The ONLY difference between MA and SA is MA will create a new user account that you need to log into.
Both SA and MA migrate applications (not 32 bit apps), data files & settings. They do not migrate Mac OS itself. Some professional apps such as Adobe and Microsoft apps may require re-installing their apps as they will not allow them to be migrated. As long as you kept the security keys for installing their apps, it is not an issue.
Finally, never EVER use Wi-Fi when doing Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant. Why, it simply fails in most cases. Please read and follow the directions in Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant. If you do not have a Time Machine backup of the older Mac then create one! If you are not aware of Time Machine, please read Back up your Mac with Time Machine and finally if you need an External Hard Disk to use as a Time Machine External Hard Disk then many experience users on these forums prefer the OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to it's reasonable price, high level of quality and ease of use.
What's the best replacement for my iMac, a Mac mini or a Mac Studio ?
