Should I upgrade unified memory or storage for a 24-inch iMac?

Priorities:

1. At least 16GB RAM. This is now standard on new Macs sold by Apple, but third party resellers may have old stock with only 8GB.
2. A 500GB+ SSD. For better longevity if you hope to keep the Mac 6+ years. Also even if using external storage for libraries/videos/archives it helps to keep applications on the internal. 256GB is usually but not always enough.
3. (optional) additional memory/storage. Probably not needed for stated use, but spare capacity for if future demands increase.

What Mac model do you currently have..?

How much storage space are you currently using on that Mac..?

The 256GB and 512GB storage drives are small compared to most of the larger HD drives it the previous iMac models.

(if you have under 150GB on your old Mac and not adding much, then you might get by with 256GB of storage)

(if you have 250GB + on your old Mac and not adding much, then go with the 512GB storage upgrade)

(if you have 400GB + on your old Mac and adding to that, then go with the 1T storage upgrade)

The 16GB of RAM should be fine for "basic stuff, photos, documents e mail, watching videos etc"

(if you plan on adding and using any Pro App's in the future, then go with the 24GB option)

Hi,

You'd pay for more unified memory, rather than storage since you can purchase external SSD and connect it to your iMac via fast USB-C ports.

I am seeing posts here from people with 256GB storage complaining they do not have enough room to update their OS versions. I see 512GB as the minimum for today's fat OS versions.

You're welcome.