I want to purchase an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) for my desktop computer - a 5K iMac, 17-inch screen, 3.3GHz. To size the UPS, I need to know how many watts the iMac draws. I've looked on the Apple site, looked elsewhere online and read the iMac tech specs. But I've have not been able to locate the wattage number. Can anyone point me to a reliable source?
iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)
It should be in the small print on the back of the iMac.
it is about 40W when idle and 120 W when maximum CPU use...
I advise a UPS that can handle twice or thrice the max, and connect the modem and Wifi router too.
If you go to the Apple Menu on the top left of your screen and click on "About this Mac", then the "Support" tab, then select "Specifications" you will go to a web site that contains the Apple specs for your machine (year and model info) you can scroll down to the power requirements. It should look like the cut & paste below. This was for my mid-2010 i-Mac, yours may be different.
Thanks Lexiepex. I carefully checked on the back of my iMac, but there is nothing printed there. Thank you also for the suggestion to protect my modem / router. They are located in a separate room from my iMac, and already are connected to a UPS.
And thanks Pokey. I followed your suggestion, and I see in your example that there is a line for Maximum continuous power: 241W. Below is what I see when I follow the same steps, which unfortunately does not include that line.
We get A LOT of lightning storms and (brief) power outages where I live. I want the UPS for two reasons: For good surge protection during storms, and so that my iMac and connected drives shut done smoothly and safely during power blips. So I think I need a UPS that will run just for 5-10 minutes. I do not intend to use my iMac during storms and power outages.
If my iMac draws around 250 watts, then for my intended "smooth shutdown" use, would the APC BE 550 be sufficient? It has 300 watts of power and costs about $60 in the USA. Or do I really need something more, like the APC BE 750, which provides 450 watts and costs around $90?
Thanks again!
Lexiepex wrote:
It should be in the small print on the back of the iMac.
it is about 40W when idle and 120 W when maximum CPU use...
I advise a UPS that can handle twice or thrice the max, and connect the modem and Wifi router too.
Actually the 5K 27" iMac consumes 240 watts, not 140.
Go to APC's website, there is a RunTime calculator you can use there.
A UPS is typically made as cheap as possible. Therefore battery life expectancy is about three years. To provide sufficient power in three years, a 241 watt computer might need a 350 watt UPS. For this and other reasons.
UPS has one purpose - temporary and 'dirty' power so that unsaved data is not lost (and so that one need not wait for the computer to reboot). UPS does not claim surge protection - quantitatively. It claims protection qualitatively - subjectively. Then we include numbers How many joules does it claim to absorb? Hundreds? Destructive surges can be hundreds of thousands of joules. Never ignore and always demand these numbers.
Claims made without numbers are how lies, myths, and advertising gets promoted. That UPS is for protecting unsaved data.
Hardware protection is about an anomaly that can overwhelm superior protection already inside every computer. Nothing adjacent to a computer provides better protection. Protection means hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate harmlessly outside; need not be inside hunting for earth ground destrutively via appliances.
If a Mac needs protection, then everything needs that protection. Effective 'whole house' solution costs about $1 per protected appliance. With spec numbers that quantify that protection - even from direct lightning strikes.
In my experience it is virtually impossible to protect yourself 100% from power surges due to lightning strikes. If they are not too close, and you simply lose power, yes, the UPS will give you an excellent opportunity to power-down your computer to preserve all data during the last work session. However, if lightening strikes the pole outside your house, as I have had happen, it is likely that nothing will protect you. Surges protectors, UPS, etc. Your circuits will likely be fried.
How many watts does an iMac draw?
