09-14-2019, 04:03 PM
I understand jdc is big on fusion drives.
I've seen one dissenting opinion here that mirrors mine, having a Late 2015 27" iMac with a 2TB fusion drive that doesn't feel special at all. Booting from an average EVO SSD via a USB3 enclosure and port noticeably perks it up.
When I switch back to the 'Macintosh HD' (I got bored with renaming the onboard drive) I'm again made aware of how pokey it is.
gl, I'm not sure of your budget. As you stated, your needs are fairly lightweight, but you do want a 'transparent' experience without beach balls, etc.
So with regards to your budget, paying for an iMac with Apple's flash storage (not really an SSD as we think of it) is pricey. And the more storage you need, the pricier it gets.
There are a few options:
if your budget allows, get a fair bit of flash storage -- 256-512G. Keep the OS on that and and most of your data and media on an old school spinner HD. A 4T external is cheap.
if you don't have a ton of data, and can afford some onboard Flash storage, get an external 1TB SSD and get a noticeably faster experience than the above. Solid state storage all around.
if the budget doesn't allow for Apple Flash, then get it with a 2T Fusion drive and at some point add a an external SSD and make it your boot drive. This can be done well after purchase.
if you get a T-3 iMac (Thunderbolt 3, standard on newer iMacs) then the NVME SSD (very fast SSD) is more on par (I'm not going to dot i's and cross t's here) with Apple OEM storage, and you could at some point make it a boot drive and speed up the iMac considerably, but to what end and cost. But it's an option that I'd pursue even though I have no need or ROI. LOL!
Options, yours to consider as you may.
One option you won't have is adding RAM to a 21" iMac. At some point that stopped being a possibility. Whether early models could do it, I don't know. My 2013 21" iMac doesn't have a access door, but I knew that going in. At some point I think Apple began soldering the RAM, so that really reduces the chances of getting added, realistically, to zero.
The 27", though visually overwhelming, does have an easy to access RAM compartment with four slots. But that's overkill for your described uses.
As you tend to keep your computer for awhile, I'd recommend 16G of RAM. My personal experience is that 8G just isn't enough for later OSs, even with USB3 ports, enclosures, and SSDs, unless maybe you only do email and Sudoku. Much more and I believe you'll find yourself collecting beachballs.
That may not be the case with an NVME SSD, but price and storage become a consideration.
It may be that a Fusion drive is all you need, no Flash storage, no external SSD. That's a call your budget will help you determine. I'd go with the most Flash I could afford, and 16G o' RAM, as pricey as Apple memory is, because once you buy, that's all there is. Any of the other options are doable post-purchase.
I've seen one dissenting opinion here that mirrors mine, having a Late 2015 27" iMac with a 2TB fusion drive that doesn't feel special at all. Booting from an average EVO SSD via a USB3 enclosure and port noticeably perks it up.
When I switch back to the 'Macintosh HD' (I got bored with renaming the onboard drive) I'm again made aware of how pokey it is.
gl, I'm not sure of your budget. As you stated, your needs are fairly lightweight, but you do want a 'transparent' experience without beach balls, etc.
So with regards to your budget, paying for an iMac with Apple's flash storage (not really an SSD as we think of it) is pricey. And the more storage you need, the pricier it gets.
There are a few options:
if your budget allows, get a fair bit of flash storage -- 256-512G. Keep the OS on that and and most of your data and media on an old school spinner HD. A 4T external is cheap.
if you don't have a ton of data, and can afford some onboard Flash storage, get an external 1TB SSD and get a noticeably faster experience than the above. Solid state storage all around.
if the budget doesn't allow for Apple Flash, then get it with a 2T Fusion drive and at some point add a an external SSD and make it your boot drive. This can be done well after purchase.
if you get a T-3 iMac (Thunderbolt 3, standard on newer iMacs) then the NVME SSD (very fast SSD) is more on par (I'm not going to dot i's and cross t's here) with Apple OEM storage, and you could at some point make it a boot drive and speed up the iMac considerably, but to what end and cost. But it's an option that I'd pursue even though I have no need or ROI. LOL!
Options, yours to consider as you may.
One option you won't have is adding RAM to a 21" iMac. At some point that stopped being a possibility. Whether early models could do it, I don't know. My 2013 21" iMac doesn't have a access door, but I knew that going in. At some point I think Apple began soldering the RAM, so that really reduces the chances of getting added, realistically, to zero.
The 27", though visually overwhelming, does have an easy to access RAM compartment with four slots. But that's overkill for your described uses.
As you tend to keep your computer for awhile, I'd recommend 16G of RAM. My personal experience is that 8G just isn't enough for later OSs, even with USB3 ports, enclosures, and SSDs, unless maybe you only do email and Sudoku. Much more and I believe you'll find yourself collecting beachballs.
That may not be the case with an NVME SSD, but price and storage become a consideration.
It may be that a Fusion drive is all you need, no Flash storage, no external SSD. That's a call your budget will help you determine. I'd go with the most Flash I could afford, and 16G o' RAM, as pricey as Apple memory is, because once you buy, that's all there is. Any of the other options are doable post-purchase.