27" iMac 5K

[Rosscow]

So, I ordered one of these yesterday for a shade under £2200.

Then I broke out in a cold sweat, crapped my pants and cancelled the order!

The wife really wants one, and if I'm honest I quite fancy one. I've recently invested in a really good HD camcorder ( http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cam... ) which records in both 35mbps MP4 and 28mbps AVCHD. I've also recently got a Sony RX100 M2 that I shoot in RAW.

Now, obviously I need a machine that can handle the processing and editing of the above video/picture formats.

I've never been a Mac owner or user (despite having an iPhone for 10 years and having an iPad at home). But I quite fancy giving it a go.

But the price is what is making me pause for thought.

I'm sure I can get a top spec PC for half the price (probably with a 4k display). But the intrigue of having a Mac still exists, as does the future resale values.

I'm not really sure why I've posted this other than to get some perspective from you guys!

[Bikerjon]

Rosscow said:

I'm sure I can get a top spec PC for half the price (probably with a 4k display)

Yes, you probably can and TBH if you're already thinking those thoughts then not much will sway you. But don't forget you'll have to put up with windows, viruses, 4K font scaling that works with some apps and requires a magnifying glass for others. You may also start to develop an unhealthy interest in graphics card specifications!

The 21.5 4K iMac might be worth a look as a cheaper option? Do make sure you spec 16GB RAM and an SSD though.

[steveatesh]

I've had mine just under a year, first Mac, always had Windows ( well apart from the Amiga but that's giving you an idea of timeframe!).

My experience has been absolutely positive in all respects. I use the iMac for a variety of tasks including home office and photography. The 27" 5k screen is a delight to use, especially for the text based home office stuff. The screen estate is enormous with the ability to have several windows open at the same time which really speeds up my workflow for what I do, a real unexpected bonus and something often overlooked when considering these machines. Text is crisp and easy to read.

The photography is covered by Lightroom 6 and Pixelmator, although I may add PS elements too. It is a superb machine for these applications being able to edit in virtually 1:1 on screen in so much detail.

The machine handles them all perfectly too, especially with LR6 now using the GPU and the release of El Capitan.

I have Windows running in Parallels for some applications not available on Mac. Sadly the above poster is right, some Windows programs don't scale very well making them difficult to use. Windows seems to be behind Apple in this regard.

Remember too that a 4K screen is only a quarter of the resolution of the 5k on the Mac (IIRC, althoug may be corrected on that!).

It's a big decision but one I have no regrets over. And you'll keep the Mrs happy too, bonus!

[boxst]

I just ordered mine, so I will let you know next week! It is on 6-8 days build time (32gb RAM/4GB graphics card).

I just fancied a change, I quite like Windows 10, and I expect I will have a dual boot.

[F18RSC]

I switched from a top spec windows laptop to a Macbook Air and love every minute using it! Best purchase ever and no want to replace it. Its 4 years old! I usually end up replacing a laptop every year!

[Stu R]

Wouldn't be without my 5K - it's a beautiful thing to use day-in, day-out.

[IATM]

F18RSC said:

I switched from a top spec windows laptop to a Macbook Air and love every minute using it! Best purchase ever and no want to replace it. Its 4 years old! I usually end up replacing a laptop every year!

I feel the exact same switching to a macbook.

Everyone who usually asks me so how is it... the first thing that I always say after a small pause is:

..... it just works.


and that is a BIG thing .

[stewies_minion]

I spent £1500 - gulp - on my 21.5 iMac in April.

Massive buyers remorse during the week wait for it.

All wasted energy. It's a delight. I love it. My kids love it. The Mrs loves it. Not given me a moments bother. Delightful to use.

By far and away the best computer I've bought. Jfdi. No regrets.

[Richyvrlimited]

steveatesh said:

Remember too that a 4K screen is only a quarter of the resolution of the 5k on the Mac (IIRC, althoug may be corrected on that!).

for a 4k screen to only be a quarter of the resolution of a 5k screen, the latter would need to have a resolution of 16384 x 8640.

I don't think technology has got quite that far yet, though give it time it will no doubt.

5k screens are 5120 x 2880 pixels. 4k screens are 4096 x 2160

You can guess where the 4/5 bit comes from

This image (stolen from google images) shows quite nicely how much more screen real estate the various HD/UHD resolutions give

[steveatesh]

Richyvrlimited said:

Stuff[

Thanks for that, I thought I'd be corrected, read too many Mac forums i think!

[iphonedyou]

Resale should help allay and concerns over capital spend, to be honest.

Macs hold their money like nothing else.

[rhinochopig]

Anyone in the family a public sector worker - you can get a healthy discount off the price IIRC.

[steveatesh]

rhinochopig said:

Anyone in the family a public sector worker - you can get a healthy discount off the price IIRC.

You are right, I got an education discount, made a big difference plus a free 3 year warranty

[parabolica]

I went for a 27" iMac around 4-6 weeks ago (just before the new models were announced) mainly because I fancied one... and I've hardly used it In fact if you fancy a decent deal on it PM me as I'm looking to sell on and I can forward the specs - it's a mid-range 27" model but it doesn't have the 5k screen.

[Digitalize]

5k is a must, made obvious by the fact they only do 5k 27" now.

Glorious machines and if I didn't need a laptop I'd be using one right now.

[zeDuffMan]

I bought a 5k iMac late last year. Fantastic machine and solidifies why I prefer to stick with Apple for desktops.

I ran an entry level 2007 iMac until last year when it finally got too slow for me to bear. That saw me through Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite. If I can get similar longevity from this machine I'll be more than happy. No PC I've had has been useable for seven years.

[RobDickinson]

zeDuffMan said:

I ran an entry level 2007 iMac until last year when it finally got too slow for me to bear. That saw me through Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite. If I can get similar longevity from this machine I'll be more than happy. No PC I've had has been useable for seven years.

The overall requirements of day to day computing have stopped increasing my much. A 5 year old PC is still quite a capable machine for browsing and average duties (word etc).

The 5k screen on the iMac is great, though I think its too high a pixel density for a 27", and IMO the iMac is not the best machine for 4k video editing.

[BGARK]

I don't get it... there is no way I would waste that amount on fashion:

http://4k.com/news/5k-pc-display-can-be-problemati...

[130R]

IATM said:

I feel the exact same switching to a macbook.

Everyone who usually asks me so how is it... the first thing that I always say after a small pause is:

..... it just works.


and that is a BIG thing .

It "just works" the same way any decent windows machine does, the only difference is it's more difficult for a non-technical person to screw up using OS X (which is a legitimate plus point depending on who is going to be using it).

[Leithen]

BGARK said:

I don't get it... there is no way I would waste that amount on fashion:

http://4k.com/news/5k-pc-display-can-be-problemati...

That article can't even get the name of the iMac correct and is entirely about PCs, not Macs.