Upgrading Apple Imac to what?

[Brian Oates]

Hi,

I have currently a 2011 Imac 21.5 with 16 gb memory and 512mb graphic card. This is not fit for what I am doing now which is photo editing in affinity Photo and Topaz software. I'm tired of waiting for the beach ball to disappear or the lag when I move a slider.

I have max £1200 to spend so what do I go for a 16gb M1 Mini but need a screen! Imac M1 24 16 gb is out of my price range, or do I get a 2020 used Imac 27 with 32gb memory and 8gb graphics card? I'm 62 and want this to last me a good few years. Any comments or ideas on which direction to take would be very welcome.

Thank you 

[thomaso]

Since there are many individual/personal aspects to the satisfaction/disappointment of expectations, you might want to read this recent similar thread:

Also you might consider how the current version of Affinity runs with the various ARM / M1 chips. A search especially for issues or bugs might shed some light on this. Accordingly, if you plan a used mac then a search for reported issues of this specific model & year is useful, for instance there had been certain macbook builds with a display issue, others with keyboard issues over several hardware updates. Although Apple offered a free exchange programme for some issues at the time, it may have since been discontinued and you may no longer benefit from it.

49 minutes ago, Brian Oates said:

or do I get a 2020 used Imac 27

It depends where you search for. There are many sources around offering used macs. You could start with the Apple shop for used refurbished devices:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac

[RichardMH]

I found I could get a higher spec pc than a mac for the same money. Low end gaming PC's were competitively priced so maybe look around.

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, Brian Oates said:

... or do I get a 2020 used Imac 27 with 32gb memory and 8gb graphics card?

As indicated by the system info in my sig, I use a 2020 model 27" iMac with 32 GB of RAM, a 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7, & an AMD Radeon Pro 5700 8 GB GPU. It meets & mostly exceeds my performance needs -- I rarely get spinning beachballs even when working on large photo files, & with few exceptions even when I do they do not last long.

So if the asking price was low enough & the seller offered a guarantee (like Apple does for its refurbished products) I would at least consider this.

[Brian Oates]

Thanks for the info, at the moment I am leaning towards a 27" Imac, 2020 but no older than 2019 with 32gb and 4-8gb graphics. If I had an open wallet it would be different as I would love M1 based Studio, over kill for what I would use it for but fun to have.

 

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, Brian Oates said:

Thanks for the info, at the moment I am leaning towards a 27" Imac, 2020 but no older than 2019 with 32gb and 4-8gb graphics. If I had an open wallet it would be different as I would love M1 based Studio, over kill for what I would use it for but fun to have.

FWIW, at one point a few years ago one of the staff said that for most users 4GB of built-in GPU memory would be enough for the  Intel Macs but of course on the used market there may be little or no difference in the cost of one with 8 GB vs. 4 GB.