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New iMac?

Zenon Char
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · New iMac?

I have not been on the Apple website for 4 years. I'm not getting one yet but I decided to check out and my chin hit the ground. No more 27" iMacs. One thing I liked was I could install RAM on my own. You can only get 16GB unified memory on the 24". The lower end Mac Mini only has 2 usb and 2 thunderbolt ports. I'm struggling with 4 and 2. If you beef up the high end Mini you may as well spend a few more hundred on the Studio. Now comes the display issue. The mini and studio don't have them and I guess I couldn't use my current 27" retina as a monitor because I read about hacks in how to do it.

The M1 and M2 chips are the game changer. My lowly 2022 MacBook Air has the M1 chip (Metal 3) and generally faster than my 2019" iMac.

I won't need much. As long as I can get around 15 seconds for AI processing times and who knows what is coming next. Currently my only lengthly processing is Adobe's Denoise AI. Adobe is not yet utilizing Apple's M1/2 neural engine but that will change. Still won't help my 2019 iMac. This is Adobe's first release so it will get better.

My main concern is I may have to sell a kidney if I want another 27" screen and it won't get cheaper. If 32GB of unified memory can handle it I could go back to 24".

May 06, 2023 at 11:51 AM

Twells
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · New iMac?

I just bit the bullet on a M1 Studio and new monitor. Thinking that at 71, I should be set.

If I had wanted to stay at a 27" iMac, I would have investigated the eshop @ OWC.

May 06, 2023 at 12:06 PM

Chris Dees
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · New iMac?

I have a MBP 14” M1 Max 32Mb memory 1Tb SSD and 2 27” LG 4K screens.
I’m using LR, PS, DxO PL6, NIK and Topaz, everything is running pretty smooth.
The MBP was expensive, the monitors not that much. I use a OWC Thunderbolt dock for more ports.
My images and LR catalog are on an external 4Tb Thunderbolt SSD.
I choose the M1 Max because of the double bandwidth for the future. It was just a little bit more expensive than the M1 Pro.
For me the 32Mb is the minimum.
I can just disconnect the MPB from the dock if I want to take it with me.

May 06, 2023 at 12:14 PM

JBPhotog
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · New iMac?

Here's an option, I just bought a 2020 27" iMac i7 8 Core from Apple's Refurb store https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/refurbished to replace my 2014 i7 4 Core due to software restrictions on the older model. I couldn't wait for Apple to come out with a rumoured 27" M3 chipped version by years end and the current new models are lagging behind and not upgradeable. $$$ saving going this route. Ordered 64 GB of Ram from macsales.com

May 06, 2023 at 12:17 PM

EB-1
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · New iMac?

It may come around again.

EBH

May 06, 2023 at 12:37 PM

Peter Figen
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · New iMac?

Yep. No more iMac's. You gotta buy a separate screen now, but since the iMac screen was pretty mediocre anyway, you're better off buying an Eizo from Chromix with or without the calibrator.

My 2017 iMac 27 is getting pretty long in the tooth so I'm in the market but waiting for the next M2 or M3 chipped version of the Studio which hopefully will be released this year. The version of the M1 Studio I would buy if I were to buy today would run about $7K. Add another Eizo plus upgraded external SSD enclosures and drives and I'm easily over $10K.

The unified ram with that memory being part of the chip is, of course, what makes the new machines not upgradable, but it's also what makes them so much faster. I cannot see the point of buying an non M chipped Mac at this point. I already have two 14" M1 MBP's and they are amazing. Now I just need the freaking Studio.

Even so, that old iMac with 64 gb's of ram processed yesterday in Helicon, a focus stack with 208 600mb tiffs. Took a couple of hours but it did not choke. So I patiently wait...

May 06, 2023 at 12:51 PM

Oscarsmadness
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · New iMac?

Well, Costco USA is selling the base model of the Studio for $1499 now until May 14. They are offering the Ultra for $3199 if you want more power. I don't know what Costco Canada is doing, if anything. This is the lowest price on the base model Studio that I've ever seen.

While I've liked Apple's displays, I use Dell Ultrasharp now and I don't have much of a reason to go back to an iMac.

My big problem with the current iMac design is the white bezels. That in itself disqualifies the whole thing for me.

May 06, 2023 at 01:01 PM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · New iMac?

Yes I may have to look at the the mini or a studio and go with a different monitor.

May 06, 2023 at 01:21 PM

jwpstl
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · New iMac?

The iMac is back to being a basic home computer again, not a true work machine. I needed to replace my intel iMac Pro and was hoping there would be a new M1 iMac Pro but since that wasn’t going to happen I ended up going with the Studio.

May 06, 2023 at 01:27 PM

dallvr
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · New iMac?

I have an M2 MBPro on order as a replacement for my current aging iMacPro. I'll use it with a Pro Display XDR. RIP iMacPro.

May 06, 2023 at 04:29 PM

Rajan Parrikar
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · New iMac?

Peter Figen wrote:
Yep. No more iMac's. You gotta buy a separate screen now, but since the iMac screen was pretty mediocre anyway, you're better off buying an Eizo from Chromix with or without the calibrator.

My 2017 iMac 27 is getting pretty long in the tooth so I'm in the market but waiting for the next M2 or M3 chipped version of the Studio which hopefully will be released this year. The version of the M1 Studio I would buy if I were to buy today would run about $7K. Add another Eizo plus upgraded external SSD enclosures and drives and...Show more →

My iMac Pro is still holding up well from the point of view of processing power. Peter is right that the screen is not optimal (i1Display Pro colorimeter doesn't work as the Luminance value returned is not controllable due to backlight) and I have to calibrate via trial & error.

The next machine I'm looking at is the Mac Studio with M3 chip. Chatter in Apple circles suggests that the Studio will not get the M2 as Apple does not want it competing with the Mac Pro. Some say the Mac Studio will never be upgraded (I hope they are wrong) and it was a stop-gap product just like the discontinued iMac Pro.

May 07, 2023 at 02:57 AM

hoodlum90
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · New iMac?

The Mac OS changed about 3 years ago with how it does scaling. Those looking for an external monitor will want to read this first.

https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays2/

May 07, 2023 at 06:23 AM

schlotz
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · New iMac?

If you are very use to the 27" iMac display of 5120 x 2880 like I am, other monitors won't look the same. At least for me they didn't, so I bit the bullet and added the Studio Display to my 2021 MBP M1 Max. At the time the LG 5K UltraFine models were out of stock. The SD is expensive but I'm very happy I made that choice.

I do need to replace to my late 2015 27" iMac which is now 8 yrs old, and struggling in a few areas plus its maxed out at Monterey. At this point I'm not that enamored with the size of the Studio M1. If I were to buy today it would probably be the Mini M2 Pro fully loaded, but for now I remain on the fence.

May 07, 2023 at 08:46 AM

static age
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · New iMac?

I just upgraded from my late 2013 27" imac (24gb ram and 1tb SSD) to a Mac Mini Pro Base (16gb and 512mb SSD) and a 24" BenQ SW240. I'm so far happy with this upgrade. It has 4 thunderbolt ports, and I also did a Qwiizlab dock / hub that allows for a nvme ssd and a sata ssd.

Supposedly there will be another 27" imac coming out? I couldn't upgrade my adobe to the latest version so I couldn't edit my R6II files which led me to having to upgrade instead of wait it out.

May 07, 2023 at 09:42 AM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · New iMac?

hoodlum90 wrote:
The Mac OS changed about 3 years ago with how it does scaling. Those looking for an external monitor will want to read this first.

https://bjango.com/images/articles/macexternaldisplays2/ppi-chart.png">

Thanks for that.

May 07, 2023 at 02:01 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · New iMac?

jwpstl wrote:
The iMac is back to being a basic home computer again, not a true work machine. I needed to replace my intel iMac Pro and was hoping there would be a new M1 iMac Pro but since that wasn’t going to happen I ended up going with the Studio.

Similar issue. iMac Pro 64GB, 16 GB VRAM 8 core 2TB SSD. As the raw files get bigger and I do more crazy things (like a 36 image pano), I can see it's starting to chug. The above merge took about 10 minutes and the iPro sounded like a steam engine. Overall things like Ps take longer to load and compute.

It seems as if the Studio devices are the only replacement possible. And if I'm reading it properly, they can be upgraded? Would be interested what others have done in this situation.

Thx

May 08, 2023 at 10:51 AM

RoamingScott
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · New iMac?

OntheRez wrote:
Similar issue. iMac Pro 64GB, 16 GB VRAM 8 core 2TB SSD. As the raw files get bigger and I do more crazy things (like a 36 image pano), I can see it's starting to chug. The above merge took about 10 minutes and the iPro sounded like a steam engine. Overall things like Ps take longer to load and compute.

It seems as if the Studio devices are the only replacement possible. And if I'm reading it properly, they can be upgraded? Would be interested what others have done in this situation.

Thx

While Studios lack part-to-board soldering, they are NOT upgradable.

That said, a well-spec'd Studio should last you for years and years for photo editing. I would spec up an M1 Max model and save $500 even compared to that M1 Ultra Costco deal. The difference in M1 and M2 is not huge for photos.

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/21/mac-studio-ssd-not-user-upgradeable/

May 08, 2023 at 11:12 AM

gregfountain
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · New iMac?

I have the lower end Studio M1 Max and it's more than I'll ever need. I paired it with a BenQ 27" QHD 1440p monitor and it works well for me, but I'm just an enthusiast, so if you get paid for hyper critical color work, you might want to consider something else. Besides the quality of the graphics, the tilt-height-rotations adjustments are actually superb.

May 08, 2023 at 12:52 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · New iMac?

The bad news:

My older 27" iMac finally gave up the ghost after years of use and I replaced it with a new one... right before Apple came out with the M1 chip.

Since my little MacBook Air was also getting very old and quite beat up, I replaced it at the same time. Right before the M1 Air was announced.

Don't know whether to ;-) or :-(

Good news? The iMac — the last one with the non-M1 chip — actually handles Photoshop quite well still. (The Air, not so much.)

Dan

May 09, 2023 at 02:15 PM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · New iMac?

gdanmitchell wrote:
The bad news:

My older 27" iMac finally gave up the ghost after years of use and I replaced it with a new one... right before Apple came out with the M1 chip.

Since my little MacBook Air was also getting very old and quite beat up, I replaced it at the same time. Right before the M1 Air was announced.

Don't know whether to ;-) or :-(

Good news? The iMac — the last one with the non-M1 chip — actually handles Photoshop quite well still. (The Air, not so much.)

Dan

I did the same as you with the iMac. Last year I got the Air with the M1 chip. It’s faster.

May 09, 2023 at 03:14 PM

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