AAPL - Apple Inc.

[rkbabang]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

I'm sure the SSD is faster and more reliable.  It depends on how much storage you need and how fast you need your disk access to be.  As far as reliability goes, I probably shouldn't write this and jinx myself, but I've been using computers heavily since the 1980s and have only had 1 hard drive fail on me in all that time. And that one failure was when I was living in an antique house with old wiring with no ground.  I always backup just in case though.

 

[intothebreach]

That's really the trade-off: Cost vs speed + lower risk of losing stuff.

 

All mechanical hard drives will fail eventually, that's just the reality of wear and tear over time (really driven by number of read+write on the drive rather than time itself), but many people reach the point where they upgrade their system before having a hard drive failing on them.

 

I lost a non-fusion hard drive on an older iMac. Only once, but it's a pain when it happens. (If you want to see failure stats for non-Apple HDD, I believe Backblaze had some on their blog at some point).

 

No experience with fusion drives; by all accounts they seem to be good. But SSD it one of those things that's hard to walk away from once you've gotten used to it. For me the speed and reliability are worth the extra cost but your mileage may very well differ.

[DooDiligence]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

[SHDL]

I never tried this myself but there was a guy who bought an iMac with an HDD, bought an external SSD separately, and set up the two so that the machine boots from the external SSD and the internal HDD is used for backup. He claimed he saved a good amount of money by doing so. Apple tax arbitrage for stingy value investors.

[DooDiligence]

I never tried this myself but there was a guy who bought an iMac with an HDD, bought an external SSD separately, and set up the two so that the machine boots from the external SSD and the internal HDD is used for backup. He claimed he saved a good amount of money by doing so. Apple tax arbitrage for stingy value investors.

 

A worthy suggestion, no doubt, but this unit will need to be frequently transported to different locations, along with a bit of other gear, and the convenience of not having to keep track of an external hd will be significant.

 

Why not a laptop? I need a biger screen & like the all-in-one portability of the iMac.

 

How it will work, in practice, remains to be seen (or rather, heard).

[Castanza]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

[SHDL]

I never tried this myself but there was a guy who bought an iMac with an HDD, bought an external SSD separately, and set up the two so that the machine boots from the external SSD and the internal HDD is used for backup. He claimed he saved a good amount of money by doing so. Apple tax arbitrage for stingy value investors.

 

A worthy suggestion, no doubt, but this unit will need to be frequently transported to different locations, along with a bit of other gear, and the convenience of not having to keep track of an external hd will be significant.

 

Why not a laptop? I need a biger screen & like the all-in-one portability of the iMac.

 

How it will work, in practice, remains to be seen (or rather, heard).

 

I see, in that case I would certainly lean toward an SSD. They are supposed to be more durable vs vibrations/heat/etc thanks to the lack of moving parts.

[Pauly]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

Those multi-multi core AMDs are absolute beasts, I'd still pick an Nvidia graphics card though. From a hardware standpoint it's hard to justify the price of a Mac desktop, though they are pretty. I just bought my wife a new Macbook Air, however, and the price/performance of those things is actually quite good at the moment.

 

[Liberty]

Good read by Gruber on the eventual transition to ARM CPUs for the Mac line:

 

https://daringfireball.net/2020/06/on_apple_announcing_the_mac_arm_transition_at_wwdc

[Liberty]

I never tried this myself but there was a guy who bought an iMac with an HDD, bought an external SSD separately, and set up the two so that the machine boots from the external SSD and the internal HDD is used for backup. He claimed he saved a good amount of money by doing so. Apple tax arbitrage for stingy value investors.

 

I do this on a Mac Mini that I use as media server. The spinning HD was starting to fail, so I got an external SSD and I now boot from it over USB 3.0 bus. It's faster than the original spinning HD by a nice margin and it's extending the life of that computer (it's otherwise fine).

[rkbabang]

I never tried this myself but there was a guy who bought an iMac with an HDD, bought an external SSD separately, and set up the two so that the machine boots from the external SSD and the internal HDD is used for backup. He claimed he saved a good amount of money by doing so. Apple tax arbitrage for stingy value investors.

 

A worthy suggestion, no doubt, but this unit will need to be frequently transported to different locations, along with a bit of other gear, and the convenience of not having to keep track of an external hd will be significant.

 

With that new info, I'd change my recommendation to a SSD.  My iMac was placed on my desk after I bought it and hasn't been moved since.  SSDs are better for laptops and all-in-ones that are going to be moved frequently because of their lack of moving parts.

 

[DooDiligence]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble of putting that together. It is impressive.

 

However, I really do like OSX + iOS & use nearly all the native apps.

 

Everything on my desktop stays automatically synced to iCloud ($0.99 a month for 50gb). I can work on a Numbers or Pages document on my iPad or iPhone & then pick up where I left off on my Mac (and vice versa). I have an extensive set of Notes folders / docs with text & images that also seamlessly work from platform to platform. Ditto for iTunes, iCal, Contacts, Mail, Photos, Safari, you get the idea.

 

A notable exception is GarageBand which simply can't touch Ableton Live.

 

I talked to the eBay seller I mentioned earlier & went ahead & ordered the MRT42LL/A with their upgrade to a 500gb SSD & 32gb of RAM.

 

The guy said they buy open box Macs & upgrade them using components that meet or exceed Apple specs. This one came originally with a 1tb Fusion drive & 8gb of RAM.

 

I checked Apples website & even with the student discount, this unit would cost $2374.68 with sales tax.

 

I got it for $1649.

 

It seems too good to be true but they have over 5000 seller feedbacks & they're 100% positive.

(it's "custombuiltmac" for anyone who's interested)

 

---

 

Thanks again to everyone for your input & buy Berkshire for exposure to Apple!!!

[Spekulatius]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

The hardware beats what you can buy at Apple for the same price, but will the system really perform better in real world application? I am not sure about this.

 

I am going to need to look at a new notebook later this year. My current one is a 2012 Dell running the now unsupported Windows 7. I probably are going to look at MacBook too because I hate Windows 10 (I have it at work)

[rkbabang]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

The hardware beats what you can buy at Apple for the same price, but will the system really perform better in real world application? I am not sure about this.

 

I am going to need to look at a new notebook later this year. My current one is a 2012 Dell running the now unsupported Windows 7. I probably are going to look at MacBook too because I hate Windows 10 (I have it at work)

 

Exactly.  I've always built my computers, the only ones I ever bought already build was my first one (a Commodore 64) and the last one (my iMac).  It is cheaper to build it yourself and you end up with a better system, but you are stuck with Windows or Linux.  Linux is as stable as MacOS, but doesn't have Apple's software.  I'll always have a few windows machine's kicking around in my basement in case I need some windows software for something, and I have to use Windows 10 and CentOS7 Linux at work, but I think I'm sticking with MacOS as my main computer at home from now on.

 

[Castanza]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

The hardware beats what you can buy at Apple for the same price, but will the system really perform better in real world application? I am not sure about this.

 

I am going to need to look at a new notebook later this year. My current one is a 2012 Dell running the now unsupported Windows 7. I probably are going to look at MacBook too because I hate Windows 10 (I have it at work)

 

Depends what your doing I guess. Personally I'm MAC laptop all the way and diy desktop all the way. If you're doing a lot of data processing and visualization I've heard the new AMD hardware is top notch. But for Music and maybe graphic adobe type stuff people seem to prefer MAC. But then again a lot of windows environments are used for autodesk. Might have more to do with available software than hardware capability.

 

I usually dual boot different environments on my desktop (Kali Linux, Windows 10). I enjoy MAC OS more for sure. Windows is buggy and shit.

 

From an investment perspective this is a good example of the moat Apple has solidified. Even though you can roughly double your compute power for roughly the same price, people still will choose MAC. The OS is nice and the devices look nice themselves. They create a nice synced environment without jumping through hoops, generally have less issues etc. The moat stops there imo. The high price tag is what will keep the general business from adopting MAC. A $400 windows machine will do the majority of processes the average person needs.

 

 

[DooDiligence]

Anecdotally, the company I used to work for (a very large, privately owned bayou boat company) uses Mac mini's on all vessels & shoreside. I'm not sure but there may be a few exceptions in their vessel design & drafting department.

 

Personally, if I consider the cost at all, I look at the higher up front cost on an annual, life of product, basis.

 

$1650 / 5 years = $330 / year = here, take my money.

 

I think many businesses will also consider the cost savings from reductions in tech support.

 

The company I was speaking of has tons of vessel based employees who are severely tech challenged & yet support needs were rare. These systems are absolutely critical in maintaining the rigorous record keeping required by Coast Guard & flag state for STCW, SOLAS, MARPOL and more. In addition, they maintain mission critical maintenance schedules, official inspections, stability calculations, cargo loading & offloading, you get the idea.

[Liberty]

https://stratechery.com/2020/apple-arm-and-intel/

[RadMan24]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble of putting that together. It is impressive.

 

However, I really do like OSX + iOS & use nearly all the native apps.

 

Everything on my desktop stays automatically synced to iCloud ($0.99 a month for 50gb). I can work on a Numbers or Pages document on my iPad or iPhone & then pick up where I left off on my Mac (and vice versa). I have an extensive set of Notes folders / docs with text & images that also seamlessly work from platform to platform. Ditto for iTunes, iCal, Contacts, Mail, Photos, Safari, you get the idea.

 

A notable exception is GarageBand which simply can't touch Ableton Live.

 

I talked to the eBay seller I mentioned earlier & went ahead & ordered the MRT42LL/A with their upgrade to a 500gb SSD & 32gb of RAM.

 

The guy said they buy open box Macs & upgrade them using components that meet or exceed Apple specs. This one came originally with a 1tb Fusion drive & 8gb of RAM.

 

I checked Apples website & even with the student discount, this unit would cost $2374.68 with sales tax.

 

I got it for $1649.

 

It seems too good to be true but they have over 5000 seller feedbacks & they're 100% positive.

(it's "custombuiltmac" for anyone who's interested)

 

---

 

Thanks again to everyone for your input & buy Berkshire for exposure to Apple!!!

 

Honestly, if you're going that route, why not get the imac mini, LG 4 or 5K screen, and then upgrade the RAM as needed with third party components? EDIT: Unless you need the graphics card, in which case the imac mini requires the eGPU and that will add another $700+ (but also allows you to keep it customized and updated to bring RAM up to 64gb and install whatever GPU you like).

[DooDiligence]

I'd go with an internal SSD and use an external drive if you need to store a lot of data.

 

I'm typing this on a 2019 27" iMac 5K with a 1tb SSD and 32gb of RAM

 

Thanks for all the responses.

 

I found a guy on eBay who offers a custom iMac 21.5 Retina 4k 2019 3.0ghz i5 with a 500gb SSD & 32gb DDR4 2666mhz memory, for $1649.

 

The items are listed as "open box" & they have over x5000, 100% positive feedback.

 

They operate out of Tulsa, OK & even with all the glowing feedback, I'm skeptical, given the astounding prices.

 

I'll probably get over my skepticism this evening.

 

If you're really on a budget or simply want to get the most bang for you buck why not build a system?

 

If you like MAC OS then it's understandable.

 

I attached a sample build that would be magnitudes better for $1900.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble of putting that together. It is impressive.

 

However, I really do like OSX + iOS & use nearly all the native apps.

 

Everything on my desktop stays automatically synced to iCloud ($0.99 a month for 50gb). I can work on a Numbers or Pages document on my iPad or iPhone & then pick up where I left off on my Mac (and vice versa). I have an extensive set of Notes folders / docs with text & images that also seamlessly work from platform to platform. Ditto for iTunes, iCal, Contacts, Mail, Photos, Safari, you get the idea.

 

A notable exception is GarageBand which simply can't touch Ableton Live.

 

I talked to the eBay seller I mentioned earlier & went ahead & ordered the MRT42LL/A with their upgrade to a 500gb SSD & 32gb of RAM.

 

The guy said they buy open box Macs & upgrade them using components that meet or exceed Apple specs. This one came originally with a 1tb Fusion drive & 8gb of RAM.

 

I checked Apples website & even with the student discount, this unit would cost $2374.68 with sales tax.

 

I got it for $1649.

 

It seems too good to be true but they have over 5000 seller feedbacks & they're 100% positive.

(it's "custombuiltmac" for anyone who's interested)

 

---

 

Thanks again to everyone for your input & buy Berkshire for exposure to Apple!!!

 

Honestly, if you're going that route, why not get the imac mini, LG 4 or 5K screen, and then upgrade the RAM as needed with third party components? EDIT: Unless you need the graphics card, in which case the imac mini requires the eGPU and that will add another $700+ (but also allows you to keep it customized and updated to bring RAM up to 64gb and install whatever GPU you like).

 

Your suggestion is valid but I decided on what seems to me the simplest solution & the price is pretty good too.

 

I'll see how well it works soon.

[RadMan24]

Yea, hopefully it works out. I've been looking myself, but the refurbished market on Apple.com is gone like crazy - there's barely any deals out there. And graphic cards are a dime a dozen. I'm also playing with the eGPU concept, but its an interesting concept, whether or not it will take off.

[DooDiligence]

Yea, hopefully it works out. I've been looking myself, but the refurbished market on Apple.com is gone like crazy - there's barely any deals out there. And graphic cards are a dime a dozen. I'm also playing with the eGPU concept, but its an interesting concept, whether or not it will take off.

 

Check out the ebay seller I mentioned.

[DooDiligence]

Update on my recent eBay iMac purchase.

 

FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!!!!!

 

I messaged the guy last week because I saw that the 1TB SSD was only an additional $50 & he said no problem, so I sent the funds.

 

It arrived this morning & is basically brand new.

After a 3ish hour restore from Time Machine backup & subsequent setup, I'm in business.

 

My late 2013 MacBook Air with 256SSD & 4GB of RAM is still plenty fast but this iMac is a beast in comparison. I can actually see the screen at a distance now & there'll be no more offloading files due to HD size constraints. I'll find out tonight if latency gets reduced when sending MIDI data from a synthesizer to Ableton.

 

I found a Gator case made specifically for traveling with a 21" iMac & just ordered it.

 

I can carry everything I need into a venue in one trip (for now just friends houses for jams) if I use the 61 key Yamaha & 2 trips if I bring the 88 key.

 

This includes the Yamaha 61 key with pedals in a Gator backpack case,

a Bose compact L1 PA in one hand, & the iMac with accessories in a Gator case in the other hand.

 

---

 

Anyone looking for a Mac should check this guy out.

[villainx]

My late 2013 MacBook Air with 256SSD & 4GB of RAM is still plenty fast but

 

256SSD was original?  I self upgraded mine to 512. Stuck with the same lame 4GB RAM however.

 

Always thought I'd stick with laptop, but you got me tempted!

[rb]

RAM is everything man, and 4 GB is lacking these days. Gotta crank that up man.

[gfp]

Ahh I see now why you were focusing on the 21" size.  You take it places.  I've had 27" iMac beasts for a while now and love them and always recommend the 27" size but mine don't move off the desk.  I used to use a Mac Pro (the big, old aluminum things) with 30" screen but these 27" screens are so much better.

 

current apple products in use:

27" iMac 4 Ghz i7 with 27" apple screen next to it, 24 GB ram, 5k retina or whatever they call it.  Good screens

13" MacBook Pro 2.7 Ghz i7, 16 GB ram - the one with the shitty keyboard but apple already replaced it once for free.

newest iPad Pro - recent gift, 11", 256 GB storage, good floating keyboard case thingy with trackpad

iPhone 11 Pro max, green color.  Very good phone, battery lasts at least 2 days

 

my wife wears the Apple Watch in the pool every day.  Still seems so strange for some reason.  Uses it to jog so she doesn't have to bring her phone to listen to music and track the run in one of those apps.  AirPods Pro seem to stay in while running better than the first version

 

needless to say, I am a devoted customer / fanboy.

 

-- I had to use a windows laptop to program a new key on our Toyota yesterday and it was painful.  I am sure they have improved a lot and all that but it sure was annoying with all the little pop up stuff in the system tray and little messages you have to "x" out of to continue what you are doing. --

 

Update on my recent eBay iMac purchase.

 

FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!!!!!

 

I messaged the guy last week because I saw that the 1TB SSD was only an additional $50 & he said no problem, so I sent the funds.

 

It arrived this morning & is basically brand new.

After a 3ish hour restore from Time Machine backup & subsequent setup, I'm in business.

 

My late 2013 MacBook Air with 256SSD & 4GB of RAM is still plenty fast but this iMac is a beast in comparison. I can actually see the screen at a distance now & there'll be no more offloading files due to HD size constraints. I'll find out tonight if latency gets reduced when sending MIDI data from a synthesizer to Ableton.

 

I found a Gator case made specifically for traveling with a 21" iMac & just ordered it.

 

I can carry everything I need into a venue in one trip (for now just friends houses for jams) if I use the 61 key Yamaha & 2 trips if I bring the 88 key.

 

This includes the Yamaha 61 key with pedals in a Gator backpack case,

a Bose compact L1 PA in one hand, & the iMac with accessories in a Gator case in the other hand.

 

---

 

Anyone looking for a Mac should check this guy out.