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Level 1

8 points

Which iMac should I get? i5 or i7?

I'm about to get a new 21.5" iMac to replace my Mac Mini that went "fft" suddenly last Christmas. I currently have an 11" MBA 1.3GHz 4GB.

I'm torn between two configurations: i5 2.7GHz or i7 3.1GHz. Both have 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD. The i7 config is about $500 more. I plan to use it for apps like iMovie for editing 1080p videos. The question is the i7 model have any significant performance gains over the i5 model in terms of apps like iMovie? Is it worth the extra $500?

Thanks.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 11-inch, Mid 2013

Posted on May 5, 2015 9:29 PM

19 replies

fatboy_nf Author

Level 1

8 points

May 7, 2015 10:00 AM in response to Mendeldeas228

I did some more searching and found out that 3.1GHz i7 won't have much a difference with the 2.7GHz i5 in terms of video processing, even with four cores and HT.

But I also found out that if I ordered the 2.7GHz i5, it will take almost a month before it even ships, whereas the i7 is built in 3-5 days.

So which one do you think I should go with?

May 7, 2015 11:43 AM in response to fatboy_nf

Apple don't check if you're a student or not. You can get it shipped to your house. But you should double check on that..

I saved $250 using educational pricing.

fatboy_nf Author

Level 1

8 points

May 8, 2015 6:11 AM in response to fatboy_nf

I found out that the Apple WWDC is next month. I believe the long ship times may suggest that Apple is phasing out the Haswell iMacs and rolling out the Broadwell models. Should I wait until then, because some people are saying the iMacs won't be refreshed until next year when Skywell hits.

fatboy_nf Author

Level 1

8 points

May 26, 2015 7:10 AM in response to fatboy_nf

I already bought the i7 model. Thanks anyway.

Which iMac should I get? i5 or i7?