Worth upgrading to 5k iMac ?

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Justin
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After some iMac help please.

I am in the lucky position to have 1k to spend - so am thinking of upgrading my 2012 27 iMac to a new model.

Will I notice any difference with the 5k retina screen ? My current machine is still very good but LR is slower than it was....

Thanks in advance :)
 
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I hear different experiences.

I went from a 2012 to a 2015 5k and was a little underwhelmed, the difference wasn’t as profound as I was expecting. Also 5k is such high res that you need to zoom to 2:1 to see details properly, which kind of negates the point. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the 5k screen but only you can know if it’s worth the money.

Others swear that the difference is huge, especially with colour accuracy. YMMV.

One thing is clear is the difference having an SSD makes, mines in a 2TB fusion drive and it really makes things snappy. LR Classic is still a bit lame though.
 
After some iMac help please.

I am in the lucky position to have a 1k to spend - so am thinking of upgrading my 2012 27 iMac to a new model.

Will I notice any difference with the 5k retina screen ? My current machine is still very good but LR is slower than it was....

Thanks in advance :)
'New' new or new to you?

The new models start at £1,750 for the base 5K.

I've a late 2014 27" 5K (I think it was the first generation) - speed wise, there's no impact on the 5K screen for photo's so later should equal faster (mine is plenty fast enough).
If I could I would swap the fusion drive for an SSD, so that's one upgrade to consider up front if you get the opportunity.
 
'New' new or new to you?

The new models start at £1,750 for the base 5K.

I've a late 2014 27" 5K (I think it was the first generation) - speed wise, there's no impact on the 5K screen for photo's so later should equal faster (mine is plenty fast enough).
If I could I would swap the fusion drive for an SSD, so that's one upgrade to consider up front if you get the opportunity.

Yes realise 1k won’t get me one - should be able to get circa £400 for mine and then I’ll add the rest.
 
you definitely want a one with a SSD, Fusion is OK, better than normal spinners but nowhere near as quick as an SSD. You can then keep your catalogues and images from Lightroom on an external drive, I have two Samsung SSD's connected via USB 3 and they are pretty quick in reading, much faster than normal disk drives.
 
When I've looked at 5k Macs in PCworld and John Lewis, I can't honestly see any difference in the display. I'm not say that the 5k display isn't better, only that I can't personally tell. So I'm in no hurry to upgrade my late 2012 Mac.
 
you definitely want a one with a SSD, Fusion is OK, better than normal spinners but nowhere near as quick as an SSD. You can then keep your catalogues and images from Lightroom on an external drive, I have two Samsung SSD's connected via USB 3 and they are pretty quick in reading, much faster than normal disk drives.


There is a hefty price difference and in day to day usage there isn't really a difference in performance (comparing my Fusion iMac to my SSD MBP).

I would, however, avoid the 1TB Fusion drive as it has a TINY SSD that could easily get filled. The bigger Fusion drives have 128GB SSDs, which should be enough for pretty much everyone's app requirements.
 
5K screen with proper wide gamut colours should make a hell of a difference. I am yet to make the move and it will sure be a used one. I am not feeding evil Apple / Communist China directly from my pocket.
 
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