Mac Mini + Eizo or iMac

[Jacques Cornell]

Thanks for all your comments.

I will go for the Mac Mini and Eizo monitor.

I am living in Belgium and the Mac Mini 3,0‑GHz 6‑core Intel Core i5 , 8G RAM and 512G SSD is here for 1489 EUR ( 1680 USD )

The 3.2GHz version is only USD $200 more, and the Geekbench multi-core scores are almost 20% better. Seems like a good investment to me.

 

[Leon Wittwer]

There is gain with Photoshop with up to 4-6 cores in most operations but the 28 cores possible in the new Mac Pro likely will not gain much. At this point, 4 cores with a higher clock speed is as good or better than 6 cores with lower clock speed. Time will tell if Adobe gets much future improvement in some operations. Not all algorithms lend themselves to multi-threading. I don't do any batch processing so can't speak to that.

 

[lindaAZ]

My husband the software engineer still keeps telling me that his problem with Imacs is the "package deal" Vs having computer and monitor as separate investments/ longevity/replacements. Unless you are in the market for updating your system every couple years . Comments are appreciate. I am overdue on major overhaul of gear and now shooting Nikon Z7 raw files with lots of photoshop/ focus stacking and "plans" on video. It is amazing what I have gotten out of my NEC 27" and very old mac mini with lots of hard drives attached.

 

[Jacques Cornell]

My husband the software engineer still keeps telling me that his problem with Imacs is the "package deal" Vs having computer and monitor as separate investments/ longevity/replacements. Unless you are in the market for updating your system every couple years . Comments are appreciate. I am overdue on major overhaul of gear and now shooting Nikon Z7 raw files with lots of photoshop/ focus stacking and "plans" on video. It is amazing what I have gotten out of my NEC 27" and very old mac mini with lots of hard drives attached.

There are, indeed, risks associated with an all-in-one vs. a headless Mac. My biz partner's iMac is otherwise sufficient, but the display failed and the cost to repair out-of-warranty was prohibitive, so he bought a mini to use with his NEC PA272 (which he'd been using as a second display with his iMac).

Addicted as I am to NEC's pro displays and the superb Spectraview calibration system, I just couldn't bring myself to replace my old MacBook Pro (connected to an NEC PA271) with an iMac last year, so I got a used 2013 Mac Pro instead. Today, I'd get the 3.2GHz 6-core mini.

 

[lightandaprayer]

I've had iMac power supplies and displays fail. My 2006 Core2Duo display developed problems during the first year but I waited until it was more convenient since I had extended AppleCare. The repair invoice stated that the replacement display would have cost $1100 without warranty coverage. I had paid $1200 for the discontinued iMac model through a special deal at my wife's university bookstore. Having owned a G3 and G5 iMac, the Intel iMac was my last. . .

BTW, having received an email from Refurb Tracker I just ordered a 2018 Mac Mini 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD 3.0 i5 6-core for $1099. I had previously received a number of similar alerts since creating an account 2 weeks ago but this was the first time I got to the Apple Store first. My 7 year old NEC display will continue to serve until the desired refurb becomes available. . .