How to buy a "new" Mac affordably? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

My desktop mac is my wife's hand-me-down "Early 2009" iMac. (She's a graphic designer, so it made financial sense to upgrade her two years ago and me take her old computer to replace my 2007 MBP.)

I'm ready for a new Mac. it still works fine, but it's getting slow with El Capitan, new applications, and current websites. Particularly, the spinny hard drive is annoying slow to spin up and switch apps that were swapped out. And the 2.9GHz C2D gets hammered by today's websites.

But pricing a new 27" iMac -- because I'm not going down to a 21" from a 24" -- comes to about $2500. (This is the natural order of things. For 20 years every computer I've bought has cost $2500.) This is too much. My needs are modest. And I now have to buy iPhones and iPads, so I can't justify a $2500 new desktop.

I'm trying to figure out a reasonable way to upgrade my Mac experience for closer to $1000. I'd read a blog advocating buying a used 2011 27" i5 iMac and upgrading it with an SSD and 16GB RAM. The assertion was you could find these models for $350 on Craigslist and have it fully upgraded $600.

That is a myth, in NoVA. Used, those are still $1000 if I can even find one.

I glanced at eBay and there might be some opportunities, but I'm not sure.

Recommendations? I'm not in a huge hurry yet. I can put this off until next year, simply to pace my spending. But if an opportunity arose I'd consider jumping at it.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Dave,

This probably isn't going to help, but Apple does have a relationship with a credit card company that you could purchase a $2,500 iMac and pay it off in installments.

I know it's an expensive investment, but one that will last you for many years to come.

 

[Walter Kittel]

mac rumor's buyers guide has nearly every Mac model listed as don't buy based on the current product cycles. I don't know if you can get a decent discount on current models when the new models are released (or not) but I believe it might be worth waiting until the next model(s) are released. There are rumors that the iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air will get refreshes in October of 2016.

- Walter.

 

[Scott Burke]

I'm in the same boat, except I don't own a Mac. I have just wanted one for a very long time. I told my wife next computer we buy is going to be a Mac, however the cost is prohibitive. We have looked at Mac refurbished store, but we are having to save to get one in the future.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The only thing I can really add to this...

The costs of Macs are prohibitive to many people. I understand that. Apple really prices their product to be out of reach for many, but only for those who are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money to own them.

It has unfortunately turned out to be a winning strategy for the company.

On the other hand, I must say, when you buy an Apple product, you are buying something that is exceptional and will last you for years.

I don't find that to be the case with most Windows products.

So, I suppose my point is, as cost prohibitive as Apple products are, if you can make it work -- even through their credit card program -- it is an excellent investment that will pay off with product longevity and user experience/enjoyment.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I always buy second-hand Macs. I'm a big handy at fixing them up, too, so I've done alright with this strategy, especially as I don't feel the need to have the "latest and greatest" model.

My "new" Macbook Pro is a 2009 17" model I bought for about $400. My Mac Pro is a 2008 8-core model that I bought as a pallet deal at a University surplus auction, so cost me literally pennies when I sold the rest.

 

[Walter Kittel]

and will last you for years.

This. I'm currently running a Mac Mini from late 2009. Not the fastest thing, but it works well enough for how I use the system. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to update to El Capitan. (But that may be the end of the road.)

- Walter.

 

[DaveF]

The only thing I can really add to this...

The costs of Macs are prohibitive to many people. I understand that. Apple really prices their product to be out of reach for many, but only for those who are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money to own them.

Right. And I'm not starting the tired argument of "Apple is overpriced". I understand the pricing. As everyone here knows, I think, this would be my third Mac. Pre-iPad, I'd buy the $2500 iMac that fit my needs and go on. As you say, it'll last several years (I got five years from my MBP and this iMac is now seven years old).

My personal dilemma is that my computing needs are very modest, but enough that I need a desktop. And with an iPhone, iPad, brand new HTPC, and new Theater room, it's silly for me to spend $2500 on a new iMac. (Financing isn't my solution. I care about final cost regardless of paying now or paying later.) But I want a Mac. I'm all in on Apple for home use (except for HTPC stuff which is still better on Windows).

I'm ok buying a used Mac this go-'round, maybe doing some upgrades manually. But I don't know what the right system choice and pricing would be. (And I want an iMac. I don't need a laptop. I've got all the mobility I need with iPhone / iPad.)

Honestly, if one of the frequent upgraders here was looking too sell their current iMac to make their next purchase, I might be interested.

 

[DaveF]

mac rumor's buyers guide has nearly every Mac model listed as don't buy based on the current product cycles. I don't know if you can get a decent discount on current models when the new models are released (or not) but I believe it might be worth waiting until the next model(s) are released. There are rumors that the iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air will get refreshes in October of 2016.

- Walter.

That's something to consider. In the past, price drops on prior gen models were only about 15%. I think I need to look at 3-yr old models to get the price down where I want it. And performance with the i5 series combined with an SSD is so good, that I'd be ok buying an older model.

This. I'm currently running a Mac Mini from late 2009. Not the fastest thing, but it works well enough for how I use the system. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to update to El Capitan. (But that may be the end of the road.)

- Walter.

In principle, I'm ok with the Mac Mini. I had thought to go that way. But the last refresh was underwhelming. So, violating my own statement, I do think the Mac Mini is overpriced. And that keeps used models priced high as well. So I can't make that work out for my tastes.

 

[Sam Posten]

I'll certainly post here when I'm ready to trade up from my non retina iMac but it could be end of 2017 or into 2018 before they build enough in to tempt me. My iMac is exclusively for photo and video editing, my other devices cover mobile, gaming and light duty office work.

 

[Thomas Newton]

If you take the cheapest 27-inch 5K iMac, and custom-order it with 256 GB of Flash instead of a 1 TB HDD, the damage comes to $2000, before tax. Not $1000, but not $2500, either.

Maybe you could get more speed out of the current iMac? You could try using Sleep instead of Shut Down when there are no electrical storms (if you are not already doing so).

 

[DaveF]

If you take the cheapest 27-inch 5K iMac, and custom-order it with 256 GB of Flash instead of a 1 TB HDD, the damage comes to $2000, before tax. Not $1000, but not $2500, either.

Maybe you could get more speed out of the current iMac? You could try using Sleep instead of Shut Down when there are no electrical storms (if you are not already doing so).

That's not a bad idea, but I can't get by with only 256GB storage. I need upwards of 400GB. And for performance on a Mac, you want the 2TB Fusion Drive rather than the 1TB Fusion. That's how I get up to $2500-ish.

My 2009 iMac's performance problems aren't waking up -- and I haven't "shut down" on a daily basis for over a decade

I could upgrade my iMac's drive to an SSD. But I don't think that's money well spent putting $150 and a day's effort into a seven year old computer. I'm both Drive speed and CPU speed limited and this is on a Core 2 Dual system.

 

[DavidMiller]

I love my MBP I think about upgrading but I just come back to my needs are surfing the net and finishing photos. If I just surf the net I would just buy the new iPad pro and move on.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well here's an offer from Apple to take $250 off one of their products.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Well here's an offer from Apple to take $250 off one of their products.

It looks like something that would have run in Creative Computing or BYTE – more than 36 years ago, given the computer in the photo, the multi-colored Apple symbol, and the contest ending date.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Rocking a 21" Imac from 2011 I5 with 12gb ram, and it still fills my needs, even hosts my Plex server. If I buy a new Mac in the future it's going to be a Laptop like an Air or Pro, I'm starting to grow tired of paying 1000 or so for Ipads, I have an Ipad Mini 4 that serves that need, i just wish Apple and really other manufacturers as well would put LTE into a Laptop, I know you can hotspot but is no where near convienient

 

[DaveF]

If I found a 2011 27" iMac with i5 for about $500 I'd probably buy it. Then upgrade to SSD and more RAM.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Here is one of the lowest prices reported on a 5k iMac

 

[DaveF]

I realized that the 2011 iMac is USB 2.1, no USB 3. I don't think I want to still be limited to USB 2 speeds and CPU burden after spending $600-$1000 on an upgrade in 2017.

So the iMac 27" 2011 is out, for me.

I'll get by with my 2009 iMac for a while longer until it's a good time to upgrade. Maybe I'll put an SSD in it to get a little better use for the next six months or year.

 

[Walter Kittel]

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/1...-coming-this-month-11-inch-air-could-go-away/

Didn't see any mention of desktops in the article, but something to keep in mind.

- Walter.