Need to buy an iMac . Buy now , or in the spring ? ( so many updates, so much confusi

another_casualty

Howdy !

I have a Mac mini which is now 11 years old . Wow! I managed to get as far as snow leopard . (Gasp!)
However, due to the many updates over the years, and 'high sierra'
on the horizon I just don't know when the time is right to purchase .

I have an iphone se which will go to OS X 11 , and an iPad mini 4 bought a few months ago , so these should be future proof in theory , for another 3 years or so.

Could somebody please advise if 'high sierra ' is on the current iMac as standard ? (Not with the older version as standard ).
Also, is there another version that is worth waiting for , like a totally different update altogether ?

Apologies for sounding over cautious , but I got screwed back in 2000 when I got my very first computer . I had os9 , and we all know how big the OS X update was :mad::rotfl:

Thanks

System

Purchase when you need one. The last several versions of OS X have been free, downloadable at no cost through the App Store so even if it isn't on High Sierra (which current stock is unlikely to be), it costs you nothing to upgrade other than time and takes about an hour.

There was very little change between Sierra and High Sierra, most of it was under the hood so it isn't a deal breaker and in fact given a few issues people have found, might be worth holding off for for a couple of months. I put High Sierra on my Macbook Pro a few days ago and it has been fine but others have had issues with the new file system and external storage.

another_casualty

Thanks tarambor:)
With so many money grabbing updates from mr. Crook and co. It's hard to know when to avoid being ripped off.
I'll probably get something soon. Having said that , Black Friday may be a good time to invest .

System

another_casualty wrote: »

Thanks tarambor:)
With so many money grabbing updates from mr. Crook and co. It's hard to know when to avoid being ripped off.
I'll probably get something soon. Having said that , Black Friday may be a good time to invest .

What do you mean money grabbing updates and a rip off?. i know you got burned in 2000 but thats 17 years ago. time to forgive and if not maybe switch to windows

All mac updates from apple have been free since around 2013. The updates support machines as far back as 2009/2010

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201475

As for black Friday deals Apple have not done anything these past 2 years (i think) so you might not get anything this year. Maybe a 3rd party will discount on Apple computers but don't get your hopes too high.

another_casualty

Thanks John .
The updates stop things being compatible after a while .
If I wasn't able to update to snow leopard , my iPhone 5 at the time would not sync with iTunes etc.
Also , when I purchased an Apple TV a few months ago, the family sharing would not recognise my snow leopard .
Then my iPhone 5 s would not backup on my Mac mini because of a software update .
I have an iPad 2 that should work fine but the updates make it too sluggish to use on wifi , so I had to buy an iPad mini 4.

Of course , I've been unlucky but surely you could understand why i
think that way about the updates .
We'll leave it there:)

Yes, you're right about Black Friday . I'll get a new Mac very soon .

almillar

Could somebody please advise if 'high sierra ' is on the current iMac as standard ?

If you buy one today, or in the next couple of months, from various retailers, you might get old inventory with the previous version (simply 'Sierra') installed. It's free and easy to upgrade, but if you want to avoid the hassle, you would need to check for the time being.

Also, is there another version that is worth waiting for , like a totally different update altogether ?

Good question. Check this website before buying anything Apple:

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac

Good news - it's just been upgraded so it's a good time to buy.

another_casualty

Thanks very much almillar:)
John Lewis here I come

Credit-Crunched

Do you need a mac?

I thought I did, a true apple die hard. I struggled with it for 3 years, unable to upgrade ram, cpu or HD.

I sold it, and I am in the process of making up an i5 with 16gb for half the price.

I am not an apple hater, just think if you need an apple (creative etc)

another_casualty

Good question c c

I used windows in all office jobs . Left click, right click , virus .
However I've always used Apple products at home, so it makes sense imho to stick with Apple despite my mumbling at times .

Could be wrong, but I think in the nrxt couple of years , the home computers will be touch screen like a large iPad .
It probably won't matter what format we use

System

another_casualty wrote: »

Thanks John .
The updates stop things being compatible after a while .

In many cases that is a good thing. One of the problems with Windows and its security has been that people expect really old stuff to run on it. The recent big exploit in Windows 10 was due to the fact that the SMB v1.0 file sharing protocol was enabled by default in Windows 10 to ensure backwards compatibility with Vista and XP PCs and SMB v1.0 has some gaping holes in it. SMB is now at version 3. So loads of people had their PCs compromised and lost data just so someone running a 15 year old computer could still access network shares on a Windows 10 PC.

At some point you have to say bye bye to the really old stuff because you end up hampering newer software just to ensure it will run on the antiquated stuff and everyone loses as a result.

SouthUKMan

As others have said, any Mac bought today should in theory (based on the past decade or so of experience with Apple products and their upgrade path) be great to use for the next four or five years, and I would suggest fine to use for the next three or four after that (depending on exact usage requirements).

I still use a Mid 2010 MacBook Pro (albeit with upgraded Ram and SSD) and for me the performance is totally fine. I've installed the latest OS, High Sierra, and I can't notice any performance hit. It's used for audio editing, photo editing and web browsing.

Choosing when to upgrade is a nice problem to have to worry about - do I spend a couple of grand now or wait a few months - but personally, I think you're worrying about nothing