What computer should I buy in 2017? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

The casual speculation at MacRumors has been for Spring iMacs. I don't know if their record is any good or they have sources. I think the assumed alignment to Intel's next release is a good prediction.

But I don't know. I've given up trying to guess the Mac schedule. The Mac Pro and Mac mini lines are pretty forked, and the iMac is no longer following a sensible schedule.

I hope for Spring. I also hope they don't do a mini-update like last Fall and then do a huge upgrade end of the year.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am hoping for Spring, for your sake, Dave.

 

[DaveF]

(drumming fingers impatiently, waiting for Apple...)

 

[Alf S]

I say you just get in the car (or on your phone/pc), and run out and get ya one of these. $100 off for limited. Play with it, have fun, enjoy life online again and in a few years, maybe your Apple folks will start taking care of you better.

https://www.microsoftstore.com/stor...n_US_homepage_whatsnew_2_SurfacePro150_170124

 

[DaveF]

I don't want a laptop. If I were to switch back to Windows for personal use, I'd probably build a custom PC. If I go all-in on tablets, i'd get an iPad Pro.

 

[Gustavo Woltmann]

And what about Macbook Pro 2017?, I want to change my old Macbook of 2012, I am thinking about it...
Gustavo Woltmann

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Gustavo,

Welcome to our forum.

We don't know much about the MacBook Pro 2017 yet.

What we expect is a refresh with the newest processor (which I believe is Kaby Lake) and up to 32GB of ram capacity.

Otherwise, it will basically be the same designed laptop as the 2016 model.

 

[DaveF]

On MacBreak Weekly last week, Rene Ritchie (of iMore.com) repeated the expectation that with Intel's 7th gen Kaby Lake CPUs announce last Winter, Apple would have new products this Spring, caveating that it might take longer depending on the complexity of integrating the new chips into Macs. Fingers crossed for Spring!

 

[DaveF]

Time to revive this thread as I've got refreshed iMacs to choose from. I built a Win10 HTPC last year (and continue to fiddle with it), so I appreciate the savings of going the WinPC route. But I want to stay with Apple for my (modest) desktop use. And as my wife uses a Mac, there's some simplicity gained in using the same OS.

Hackintosh is out. Because, obviously.

I have zero use for a laptop; what use I could find couldn't justify the massive cost/performance sacrifice a laptop brings. iPad suits my travel and living needs sufficiently.

So...iMac...

 

[DaveF]

I ruled out the 21.5" iMac. Going from a 24" iMac to 21.5" will be hard. And it doesn't offer 2TB fusion drive.

I'm leaning towards the base 27" iMac, upgraded to 2TB Fusion drive and Magic Trackpad for $2049.

Next is the same model, with 512TB SSD for $2149.

Finally, would be the top model, base config plus trackpad for $2349.

My needs are usually modest. I don't play games. this iMac will probably last me five years, maybe more. But sometimes I get a a hankering to do some Matlab.

 

[JohnRice]

If you aren't doing gaming or processing video, I expect the base model is just fine. I do enough video processing that the i7 has a real benefit, so that puts me at the mid model upgraded to the i7, and the 256GB SSD (not going into that again).

 

[DaveF]

Infinite monkeys typing randomly on the internet agree that DDR4 RAM is installed in pairs for best performance, but it isn't required.

"Does DDR4 need to be paired? Can I have one 8gb DDR4 and two 4gb DDR4?" (http://www.overclock.net/t/1518088/...ired-can-i-have-one-8gb-ddr4-and-two-4gb-ddr4)
Does DDR4 need to be paired? Can I have one 8gb DDR4 and two 4gb DDR4?

"Upgrade path for DDR4 - [Solved] - Memory - Tom's Hardware" (http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2255254/upgrade-path-ddr4.html)
Upgrade path for DDR4 - [Solved] - Memory - Tom's Hardware

"Do I need to install RAM in pairs? - Lenovo Community" (https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkP...o-I-need-to-install-RAM-in-pairs/td-p/3417057)
Do I need to install RAM in pairs? - Lenovo Community

 

[DaveF]

"PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End" (http://m.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html)
PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

"How We Tested Intel's Core i7-6700K And i5-6600K" (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skylake-intel-core-i7-6700k-core-i5-6600k,4252-4.html)
How We Tested Intel's Core i7-6700K And i5-6600K

I did some browsing of benchmarks to refresh myself on i5 vs i7 performance. Core i5 is comparable or fast than i7, at same price, for typical web and office use. Core i7 comes into its own for specialized tasks like video encoding and multi-threaded tasks that can use all 8 hyperthreads. For these cases the i7 could be 50% to almost 100% faster.

I'm not doing video transcoding on my Mac anymore -- I'd do that on my i5 htpc which is sufficient. And while I couldn't find benchmarks for Matlab matrix operations that I care about, I so rarely do scientific calcs at home that it's not worth the i7 price premium.

I'd like the step up for the faster boost speed, but it's a 10% increase for $100; not worth it for me.

I'm comfortable getting the base i5.

 

[DaveF]

Checking my data usage as I consider which drive to get. I've got 370GB data, less than 100GB of which is OS and Applications. Fusion or SSD will work fine. My documents are dominated by almost 100GB of music; I need to dig into that and see if that's all real or if I can prune it down. And I discovered I've got a 50GB Parallels blob I'd forgotten about, that I no longer use!

So with maybe 320GB of data needs, giving almost 200GB (about 80%) margin against a 512GB SSD, I'm getting more tempted. There's the price premium that I need to consider.

 

[Edwin-S]

I really don't get why anyone would buy an Apple PC. They are are overpriced. The all-in-one form factor makes them virtually impossible to upgrade. They are like laptops in that regard. Software, especially entertainment software, is limited.

Must be a status thing. If person can afford a shiny box that is virtually useless then a person has "arrived." LOL

Not that I'm knocking anyone for buying one. It's your money, and Lord knows I've spent more than my share on shiny electronic boxes. I just wouldn't be willing to pay a premium to have an Apple logo on my box, unless I was doing a lot of video editing. It might make sense in that regard.

 

[Sam Posten]

Not this shit again, tho I suppose Dave asked for it...

 

[Edwin-S]

It's not like I'm telling him not to buy one. I just have trouble sussing the appeal of a machine with microscopic market share in both hardware and available software.

I'd have the same question if the roles were reversed and Windows boxes were the minor player.

But since he is asking, if I was going to buy an Apple product I'd probably go with the Ipad Pro. When it comes to PCs, the Windows box. Even though I think Windows 10 still has a terrible UI.

 

[DaveF]

Not that I'm knocking anyone for buying one.

I don't think these words mean what you think they mean.

 

[JohnRice]

Hmmm. I have actually created a remarkable amount using something that's virtually useless. Not to mention running a business on it. But I don't use it to play games.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

It's not like I'm telling him not to buy one. I just have trouble sussing the appeal of a machine with microscopic market share in both hardware and available software.

I'd have the same question if the roles were reversed and Windows boxes were the minor player.

But since he is asking, if I was going to buy an Apple product I'd probably go with the Ipad Pro. When it comes to PCs, the Windows box. Even though I think Windows 10 still has a terrible UI.

I would pay even more not to own a Windows machine.