iMac v Mini Mac

I am old-school and prefer replaceable components. Macs are no longer really user repairable, so if the drive goes bad on an iMac, you have to buy everything again. At least with the Mini you have a separate display so if that goes bad you just replace the display. Maybe that is something Apple could repair, if your computer is not an old one they will no longer look at but i fine for your use another 3 years, and you don't mind paying Apple's price which is likely going to be a LOT more than if you went shopping for just a new display. Unless you have really tight space and don't like the tiny bit of extra space a Mini might use up, my preference is a Mini.

My 2017 27" iMac was great but my 2023 base model M2 mini blew it out of the water performance wise.

Without warning last month my iMac stopped working . . . most likely the Power Supply Unit.

I dare say it could be repaired but I suspect the cost would be not much less than the price of the base M4 mini and even then it would be really old tech and who knows what else might be due to fail?

So I won't be repairing it but I might be tempted to get an M4 mini later in the year.

Can you guess what I would advise?

8 years on iMac 2015 got stuck on MacOS 11 and apps stopped support. Recently moved to M4 Mac Mini on MacOS 15 hooked up to two Dell monitors from covid WFH era so I get twice the screen space for less cost and more flexibility than the awkward all-in-one, zero regrets and look forward to recycling the old iMac.

It depends what you want - but I think you can get the same/better outcome of an iMac with a Mac Mini and high quality non-Apple display(s), for less cost and more flexibility.

Either way highly recommend upgrading and get current on hardware and OS, see a lot of posts from people futzing around with old iMacs or having issues with old OS or app versions.

I had every version of Mac Mini until 2014, after, went for 2013 then 2015 5K iMacs (my spouse and I both have one each).

I really enjoyed the sleek, all-in-one iMac design with 5K display.

Fast forward to 2020, with M1 (24" iMac, Mac Mini and MBA for choice) -- I decided to go for Mac Mini again.

Like Limnos, at least I only needed to invest 5K monitor once. With docking station, I can connect my Mac Mini (few upgrades in between) without wondering what I am going to do with those two perfect, still function, 5K iMacs.

Best

With a new power supply, it would be a great give to a charity organization or student. Anytime now it will become officially obsolete and the power supply won't be available for replacement anymore (from Apple). Hurry! Limited time only!

MartinP550 wrote:

The community has made me re-think and wonder if anyone has made the change and advice if they were to do it again?

I started with a 2010 Mac mini's after my 2006 iMac started getting lines on the screen.

I replaced that working 2010 Mac mini with a 2012 Mac mini that is now our Media Server.

I replaced that 2012 Mac mini with a 2018 Mac mini that is now setup for the grandkids and guests.

I replaced the 2018 Mac mini with a 2023 M2 Mac mini that is going to replace the wife's old 21.5" iMac.

The wife gets the 2023 M2 Mac mini the day after my new 1T 24GB M4 Mac mini arrives and gets setup.

In all of those years, non of those Mac mini's has ever had a hardware failure or failed to perform the task at hand.

My late 2013 iMac worked for a good, long time. Maybe 8.5 years.

I replaced it with a 2023 iMac (Apple M3 chip). I got the yellow one, which is actually gold (IMO, a positive). If you work with the back of your computer facing a wall, you won't really appreciate it that much. I'm happy with this iMac.

Edited to add: At some point, Apple stopped providing OS updates for the late 2013 iMac. But even without the updates, the computer was functioning well for a while.

It depends - horses for courses https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/horses-for-courses. What’s your course 😁?

Well, like always and clearly, the wife gets the credit. Buy her dinner!