New iMac - i5 or i7 CPU?

There seems to be a great deal of Internet chatter about fan noise due to high temperatures of the i7 chip. So, two questions:

1). Does anyone here have direct experience in this regard?
2). Is the i5 (21.5 inch 4K 1tb SSD) sufficient for LR use? My current machine is a 2011 i5 HDD which, of course, is quite slow by now.

Thanks in advance.

Depends on your intended use. Personally, I think 16GB RAM is a standard now for buying a new computer (which works well for a photography and video workstation). I don't have direct experience with the latest iMac i7: but it's acting like any modern laptop (from which the iMac is designed like...and personally why I think it's expensive for what it is). Most laptops try to be streamlined and have a relatively small CPU fan. When you're reaching processes that start taxing the CPU, it will start overheating (and require the CPU fan to kick in and try to drop the CPU temp...and you'll start hearing more fan). Since laptops are continuing to try to be more streamline, they have less tolerance for high CPU temps: they therefore throttle down the CPU clock speed (as their fans can't keep up with highest CPU speed/temps). From what I see with the current iMac specs, you're deciding between dual core i5 3.0-3.4GHZ to quad core i7 3.6GHZ processors. If this is purely Photoshop/Lightroom, then i5 with 16GB RAM should be a good system. If you want to get into video editing (which then utilizes multiple cores), then the i7 has advantages.

Thanks @davesrose. I usually buy the max spec as one of my goals is to future-proof as much as possible - especially because RAM can't be added later to the 21.5" iMac. I only use LR for now but could someday delve into PS and video editing (grandkids). My current iMac works well, albeit a little slowly, and I can have the drive swapped to 1tb SSD for ~$600. Perhaps that is the best approach for the next year or two.

I never buy top of the range. I buy midrange, which tends to save 30 - 50%, and I buy a new computer sooner if I need to.

Having said that, my PC based on a 2600K from 2011 is still working very well for me. If I was still doing professional photo or more family video I might upgrade, but everything I do is plenty fast enough still. It has 16GB RAM, 2 SSDs, a few hard drives.

i5 laptop will be almost as fast as the i7 when you're using it, but the batch conversion speed might be a bit lower. Just leave it run while you have dinner / overnight and it'll be fine. Though I wouldn't be using laptops to run batches or CPU heavy work.

Do you really want to go for an iMAc here?
I know of the various goods it carries but that doesnt justify the price they charge you for it. Not to forget the extremely low specs.

There are plenty of options that honestly nullify anything the iMac can offer you for the price it comes at. I would suggest looking at them

To be honest I feel you will regret not getting the higher spec.
The problem with Imac is, they are not really user upgradable with the exception of ram.
That said, I have a 2015 i5 27" mac which works flawlessly with regards photo editing and it's a much tidier option than a pc.

fordmondeo wrote in post #18616430
To be honest I feel you will regret not getting the higher spec.
The problem with Imac is, they are not really user upgradable with the exception of ram.
That said, I have a 2015 i5 27" mac which works flawlessly with regards photo editing and it's a much tidier option than a pc.

I considered this when I was looking for a new system a couple of years ago now. The problem I realised with the iMac was that as with the laptop based system that I was then using I would either need to carry on using the plethora of external drives and readers etc, or get a large external case that could house them all in one unit. Something that could house an optical drive so I could watch my collection of DVD's, as well as hold the drives and a multi card reader, since all of my cameras use CF cards. Looking round there are options that will do this, but they add several hundred pounds to the costs of the system.

What I did want was a 5K display, so I ended up going with a Dell XPS 8900 desktop system. For the same money I got a full i7 6700, not the laptop version of an i5, and 16GB not 8GB of RAM. In addition I got a 256 GB SSD for the OS and programs, along with a 2TB HDD, instead of the 1TB combi drive. I also got a multi card reader and DVD RW in the case. I went with the 2GB 960 GTX which was the minimum GPU that would drive the 5K display. This was all for exactly the same amount that the much lower spec iMac would have cost. At the time Win 10 also seemed to have much better screen scaling options than could be found in OSX, something to consider with a 5K monitor.

I bought direct from Dell, for both the system and the monitor, since I really could not be bothered to build the system myself at the time. Getting the XPS also ensured that I would have a system with full compatibility with the monitors requirements. When I fill the internal 2TB HDD I still have plenty of space to add more drives in the case, or of course just upgrading the one that is there. I might as well add another though, at least until I fill the case. I would have more than filled the drive that would have came with the iMac by now though.

Alan

I have two 4tb discrete usb drives for my mac. One I use as an archive and the other for time machine backups.
I have a usb optical drive but it sits in a drawer most of the time.
It's a shame I couldn't find software that would allow me to run a mirrored raid sytem for external drives.

I guess with a mac it's form over best possible functionality.
I only use mine for picture editing and internet browsing so, whilst it may be limited by comparison to a pc, it suits my needs.

I too considered Dell but I just liked the look of the mac and it fits in well with my surroundings.

fordmondeo wrote in post #18616520
I have two 4tb discrete usb drives for my mac. One I use as an archive and the other for time machine backups.
I have a usb optical drive but it sits in a drawer most of the time.
It's a shame I couldn't find software that would allow me to run a mirrored raid sytem for external drives.

I guess with a mac it's form over best possible functionality.
I only use mine for picture editing and internet browsing so, whilst it may be limited by comparison to a pc, it suits my needs.

I too considered Dell but I just liked the look of the mac and it fits in well with my surroundings.

I apologize if I'm not reading this right..but you're saying you can't run an external mirrored RAID on your iMac?

I have a two drive box that I am running in Mirrored mode. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to maintain backups.

https://bombich.com

Not with portable usb drives as far as I know.

My 27” was the last version before the Retina display and it’s still going strong.

Either will be fine for LR and PS. I’m not sure why laptops and overheating are being brought up in this thread.

Make sure to get 16GB of RAM and if you can swing it the 27” model do it. My 27” at home is so much more enjoyable to work on than my 21.5 at work. The extra screen size is really great. You can buy a cheaper 21” monitor and run it for your palletes and such.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #18616589
Either will be fine for LR and PS. I’m not sure why laptops and overheating are being brought up in this thread.

Because an iMac is built like a laptop: it's essentially a monitor with laptop in back (has no expansion slots, less cooling then comparable desktops, doesn't allow for easy self upgrades/maintenance, etc).

There are a few very distinct differences that make your comparison apples to oranges:
1. iMac sits tall, up off the table
2. iMac has a HUGE physical surface area compared to a 13 or 15" laptop.

IF you are having an overheating problem with an iMac I'd guess your:
- vents are clogged
- you live in a very warm climate
- you are overclocking the system with some serious video rendering or running external video sources
- something is physically wrong with the machine.

Keep the vents on the bottom clear of obstruction and you should never have a problem. I'm on my 5th iMac now and have never had a problem.

That being said, they are an almost enclosed box stuffed with electronics. Open space is at a minimum. Use your head and set up your workstation with ample room for airflow.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #18617731
There are a few very distinct differences that make your comparison apples to oranges:
1. iMac sits tall, up off the table
2. iMac has a HUGE physical surface area compared to a 13 or 15" laptop.

But the internals are not a "HUGE" difference in area compared to different 15" laptops. Look at tear down videos of the iMac and you'll see more laptop then desktop: the actual area for the main board, HD, RAM modules, passive cooling (and features I mentioned previously): it's all designed like a laptop. When I described power management with processors, note that I wasn't saying the iMac overheats: I said that clock speeds can throttle down due to passive cooling (when the BIOS begins to detect the possibility of overheating). Since the iMac is not running on battery, the processor options can allow for a Xeon processor with the pro version....but you're still not getting dedicated graphics, RAID options, and the kind of dedicated graphics you'd get with a true desktop workstation.

All true.

I can only speak from my experience with these machines. All-in-ones do have certain downsides of course. I don't render video. If I did I'd opt for some kind of big box I suppose.

In a year or two I'll have to reconsider a new machine and Apple has not been that user friendly since Jobs passed away so it might be difficult making a choice. Many things frustrate me with the forced user experience, one being that the new ones do not let you swap RAM.

For now I'm very content with my late 2013 (pre-Retina) 27" iMac. It does everything I've ever needed it to do and I've not had any problems whatsoever (knocking on wood).