Member of the Month

theabortionator
April, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

IMac vs iMac (5k retina vs 27 with varying specs)

profile picture
VT_scratch
Posts: 8846 - Karma: 6,679
iMac vs iMac (5k retina vs 27 with varying specs)
Can anyone shed some insight on this? I went to the hectic apple store in vancouver and seemed to know more than the specialist who was helping me.

As far as the display goes, I'm not dying for the retina display. sure, it sounds nice- but necessary? Not for me, not at this point.

However, the Retina iMac comes with some parts your not able to get on the iMac 27 (non retina)- and I've had a hard time finding an answer on what these upgrades in the processor and graphics cards will actually do.

The awful thing about the imacs is that now you can only upgrade the RAM yourself (for much cheaper than through apple). It seems as though the rest of the customizable components no come soldered into the motherboard (or something...).

So- once you buy a machine... you're stuck with it. Will these options last a long while, and handle editing 4k throughout their life time? Is it just silly to spend this much money on an imac? Is it worth going through the trouble of building a hackintosh?

Sure, hackintosh's sound great, but in reality how much of a project is it... who has actually built one and used it for a while? how has it been dealing with software updates etc.

Any insight would be appreciated. Here are the 2 different imac options i've been pondering. Also I would update the ram independently to 32gb on either machine with crucial ram for a fraction of the cost that apple does it for.



Thanks
10 years ago
33 9
profile picture
cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
Stop just stop. 3000$ are you kidding me. I built my pc from parts for 2000$ CAD and it is 4x more powerful then that.
10 years ago
5 2
profile picture
cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
cdipStop just stop. 3000$ are you kidding me. I built my pc from parts for 2000$ CAD and it is 4x more powerful then that.


I guess Apple just rips you on the display. Also custom built you can always upgrade and swap parts.
10 years ago
1 1
profile picture
VT_scratch
Posts: 8846 - Karma: 6,679
cdipStop just stop. 3000$ are you kidding me. I built my pc from parts for 2000$ CAD and it is 4x more powerful then that.


cool man, care to elaborate? What are you running, what are some specs, how does it perform with different applications- what do you typically throw at it? what operating system do you use? I want something that is going to work. As I stated, I know building a PC part by part is clearly a better bang for your buck, but I don't know where to begin... that's why I made this thread...
10 years ago
1 1
profile picture
VT_scratch
Posts: 8846 - Karma: 6,679
some food for thought

http://9to5mac.com/2013/12/18/how-to-build-a-4k-hackintosh-on-the-cheap-for-fun-and-profit/
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
VT_scratchcool man, care to elaborate? What are you running, what are some specs, how does it perform with different applications- what do you typically throw at it? what operating system do you use? I want something that is going to work. As I stated, I know building a PC part by part is clearly a better bang for your buck, but I don't know where to begin... that's why I made this thread...


Mine is meant for gaming which in the end would be just the same as heavy video editing etc. windows 7 is my favourite 8 just pisses me off. https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/ is a great site it only lets you see parts that are compatible and shows the best deal for each part. You can build it yourself which is some work and patience and precision or take the parts to a local computer repair store and have someone build it for like 30$. They will do it faster, more organized and professional.
10 years ago
2 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,486
If you're getting an iMac, you have to buy the best one or you will fall behind in a few years.

That being said, i use a 2013 imac at work daily and its probably almost two years old and it fuckin crushes still, it will for another 2-3 years probably. But, thats because they got the most expensive ($3k, what youre looking at)

5k screen is worth $1000 at this point, but it will change in the next year.



That being said, I did hackintosh for about 8 months at work, did windows actually for about a year and only switched to mac because of my job. Windows really isnt that bad, when it comes down to it you're editing with premiere, its the same. There are some small things you have to get used to, but I would use my desktop mostly for editing and then my laptop for surfing and such.

Anyways, hackintoshing is dope, definitely do a ton of research before you do it, but its worth it. You basically do a clean install for each new operating system (towards the end of my ownership, i put mavricks on mine) and its super easy. Otherwise, I think you can patch updated if you wanted but they never fucking matter.

Hit me up if you need more insight/have more questions.
10 years ago
2 0
profile picture
MLJ
Posts: 1849 - Karma: 3,649
Are you sold on getting an iMac? I have a 15 inch rmbp and it is awesome.

Another thing, that is a very small amount of ram, to be honest you really need 16 these days, especially for 4k video editing or more resource intensive tasks. I would go with a smaller hdd and get the extra ram and just keep an external raid bank or something, itll be faster and cheaper, and if you're on a desk the whole time portability isn't really a concern.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
HarkStudios
Posts: 243 - Karma: 121
Are you sold on an iMac? Consider a mac pro, you can buy a decent monitor, and then upgrade it/put more monitors in at any point, you arent stuck with the same components..
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,486
EDolloStoneAre you sold on an iMac? Consider a mac pro, you can buy a decent monitor, and then upgrade it/put more monitors in at any point, you arent stuck with the same components..


IMO Mac pros are a complete waste of money. Not to mention you need $4k+ to buy one. The new versions are garbage too.
10 years ago
5 0
profile picture
zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
You can upgrade the RAM your self on the 27in iMacs, on the 21in you have to get it done at purchase.

Linus has a lot of good videos on the 27in Retina though
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8mG-RkN2uTxk-i5le7KJUx-zLmDuBiWD

I was looking at getting the 27in or 27in Retina but settled on the 21in because of cost. I would seriously consider the Hackintosh route if your looking at spending $3000 on an iMac, and especially if your doing video. iMac's use laptop size GPU's.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
cdipStop just stop. 3000$ are you kidding me. I built my pc from parts for 2000$ CAD and it is 4x more powerful then that.


Stop just stop. Does your pc fit in a chassis the size of what's essentially just a monitor?

NO.

Unless you manage to do that your comparison is very flawed, outdated and frankly embarrassing.
10 years ago
6 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,486
Laurent.Stop just stop. Does your pc fit in a chassis the size of what's essentially just a monitor?

NO.

Unless you manage to do that your comparison is very flawed, outdated and frankly embarrassing.


Yeah but you sacrifice so many things when your computer is small like an iMac, I don't see the point other stand a status symbol.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
Laurent.Stop just stop. Does your pc fit in a chassis the size of what's essentially just a monitor?

NO.

Unless you manage to do that your comparison is very flawed, outdated and frankly embarrassing.


LOL!!!! Clearly you know nothing if you think everything revolves around the size.
10 years ago
0 2
profile picture
Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
eheathYeah but you sacrifice so many things when your computer is small like an iMac, I don't see the point other stand a status symbol.


Of course, but the "I can build X for X and it's better and cheaper than X!" are just lame and you know it.
There's pro's and cons to both and some are more important to one person than the other. I personally don't own one, I can see why people would though.

Also that delicious Mac resale value.
10 years ago
3 0
profile picture
Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
cdipLOL!!!! Clearly you know nothing if you think everything revolves around the size.


You don't get this do you?
10 years ago
2 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,486
Laurent.Of course, but the "I can build X for X and it's better and cheaper than X!" are just lame and you know it.
There's pro's and cons to both and some are more important to one person than the other. I personally don't own one, I can see why people would though.

Also that delicious Mac resale value.


I don't think its lame at all. I spent $1700 on a dope custom desktop and it was leaps and bounds better than the current 2013 $3k+ iMac. I have used both for the applications and my desktop blew it out of the water. This guys wants a powerful computer that will last him a long time, a custom build is by far the best option.
10 years ago
1 0
profile picture
cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
eheathI don't think its lame at all. I spent $1700 on a dope custom desktop and it was leaps and bounds better than the current 2013 $3k+ iMac. I have used both for the applications and my desktop blew it out of the water. This guys wants a powerful computer that will last him a long time, a custom build is by far the best option.


re mother fucking tweet
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
lcoopman
Posts: 275 - Karma: 1,842
I have a $1200 Toshiba Satellite that out specs everything on that apple. Apples a fad.
10 years ago
0 1
profile picture
MLJ
Posts: 1849 - Karma: 3,649
lcoopmanI have a $1200 Toshiba Satellite that out specs everything on that apple. Apples a fad.


my mom has gone throough three of those while ive had the same mbp, kept getting real slow and just getting screwed.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
lcoopman
Posts: 275 - Karma: 1,842
MLJmy mom has gone throough three of those while ive had the same mbp, kept getting real slow and just getting screwed.


I had mine for about 2 years. Runs fine. I just do a system clean up every few months.
10 years ago
0 0
All times are Eastern (-4); Currently it's 4:56PM