Making a switch: should I?

[GuitarGuy]

HI. I am planning to purchase a new iMac. I use a really old 2009 version with no updates available etc. I do 2 things: word processing in Pages as I am a freelance writer; and Garage Band as I play music and make and sell my own CD's from stage. I rarely do any graphics other than basic CD covers.

My question: I am considering the Mac 21.5" 2.36 ghz Dual Core i5 with OS Catalina. Will this be a good choice?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

I too have an iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009), running macOS High Sierra 10.13.6. It won't update to the very latest versions of macOS and some applications, but most are new enough.

Yes, that iMac is a good choice, but if you budget can handle it, moving up to the $1499 model gains you a few things:
-A better 6-core processor
-Fusion Drive instead of the standard 5400-rpm hard drive. The SSD option is even better
-Dedicated Radeon graphics

NOTE: RAM is not user-upgradeable after purchase, so keep that in mind.

The standard 5400-rpm hard drive is very sluggish. iMacs used to have 3.5" 7200-rpm desktop hard drives in them, but Apple switched them to 2.5" 5400-rpm laptop drives The Fusion Drive is faster, but the SSD portion of it is smaller than in previous models. Personally, I would go for an SSD - even though it may be small at 256 GB for the base size, it is so much faster than both of the other choices. If you need more storage, you can always add an external Thunderbolt drive with SSD to startup from or store large files on.

You could actually consider the new MacBook Air $1299 model, as it has a quad-core processor, 8 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD storage. You could add an external monitor for home use, and have the ability to take it on the go with you.

Hope that helps and let us know if you have additional questions.

C

 

[Fognozzle]

HI. I am planning to purchase a new iMac. I use a really old 2009 version with no updates available etc. I do 2 things: word processing in Pages as I am a freelance writer; and Garage Band as I play music and make and sell my own CD's from stage. I rarely do any graphics other than basic CD covers.

My question: I am considering the Mac 21.5" 2.36 ghz Dual Core i5 with OS Catalina. Will this be a good choice?

Interesting question. Yes the Mac you are considering is a good choice and the other answers you've got are good too. I think that you will find the newer versions of Pages and GB a significant step forward, although I found the new GB to be a little difficult to get into. Whatever you do, It is important to be up to date with the OS, as your will find the future being increasingly blocked off, as time goes on. Another consideration is your CD burning. Make sure that you new Mac has either a CD drive or a compatible connection to your existing one. I use an old USB drive and it still does the job. Catalina has a few interesting little benefits that are really good but take time to get used to. I assume that you've got an audio interface for recording guitar, and it would be worth checking that it works with the new machine before buying.

Foggy