So I have a 2011 iMac 24". It's still great but nothing is supported. Most video editing software won't work on my OS and Apple won't allow it to be updated.

I'm considering a new iMac or maybe a Mac Mini and some other monitor or something. It's all confusing on the website. Too much info really.

They all seem to come with 8 gig memory and I had to upgrade my current iMac to 12. So I'm think ing I need to buy the 16 gig for an extra 200. I think I want 512 gig storage.

But do I go with 24" iMac or some mini and some other monitor option? It may even be possible to use my current iMac as a display for a Mac Mini. But the answer isn't crystal clear online or even through chat with Apple.

What do you Apple guys suggest. To be clear I really only use it for browsing the web, maybe I will be editing video as a hobby. I use a few spreadsheets for keeping track of home maintenance, etc.

No hard computing. Is 8gb memory enough with todays computers?

I have a late 2013 iMac 24" running latest Catalina OS. Just messing about with a few things open I am using 7.5Gb memory out of 16Gb available. I do check activity monitor from time to time and have rarely seen memory pressure get out of hand with 16Gb.

I have, and have deployed, a number of the M1 or Apple Silicon based Macs. You will be fine with 8GB of Ram; but if you can wait the length of time it takes to save up and spend the $200 on an upgrade to 16GB, you will be fine for much longer.

Operating system developers never release an OS iteration that takes less system overhead than the one before it. In other words, Apple probably won’t update Mac OS to use LESS ram in future versions.

When I pull the trigger I'll get the 16 GB. I don't need to wait to save money. It's more that I'm cheap and don't like to let go of my money.

But after pricing out the Mac Mini and then trying to add a monitor I think I'm best off just getting the new iMac. Configured at 16GB and 512 I'm at about $2K. I'm currently only using 188 GB of storage on this iMac and it's 11 years old. And I have a lot of pics and crap I don't need.

Thinking the 2011 model was the last for an internal DVD ROM drive.

While that doesn't matter to most, I have about 50 factory shop manuals, parts and illustration guides, etc... from various vehicle manufacturers on DVD ROM.

The 2011 iMac will allow this drive to also be upgraded to Blu-Ray for video playback.

Why the newer models don't offer this I have no idea.

With the new M1 Macs, unless you do heavy video editing, 8 GB will be fine due to the memory being integrated on the processor instead of a different part of the motherboard.

Using your old iMac as a display is tricky due to the age of the unit. A newer one using a Thunderbolt USB port is doable, but I don’t think USB-C was around in 2011.

I have an M1 MacMini and an M1 MacBook Air.
For a desktop, I would feel limited with a 24 inch screen, so personally would opt for an M1 MacMini, and I would rather spend the money on a larger SSD (1 TB); as DanH said, the new Macs do fine with 8 GB of RAM.
That setup would run you $1100, then add a 27 inch monitor 4K monitor. A Dell with USB-C would run you $650. You would have much more flexibility to change monitors than with an iMac.

BTW you will be amazed at the speed of the M1 Macs.

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Originally posted by sjtill:
I have an M1 MacMini and an M1 MacBook Air.
For a desktop, I would feel limited with a 24 inch screen, so personally would opt for an M1 MacMini, and I would rather spend the money on a larger SSD (1 TB); as DanH said, the new Macs do fine with 8 GB of RAM.
That setup would run you $1100, then add a 27 inch monitor 4K monitor. A Dell with USB-C would run you $650. You would have much more flexibility to change monitors than with an iMac.

BTW you will be amazed at the speed of the M1 Macs.

Good advice here!

I have one of the new M1 laptops and like being able to use whatever monitors I want.

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Originally posted by .38supersig:
Thinking the 2011 model was the last for an internal DVD ROM drive.

While that doesn't matter to most, I have about 50 factory shop manuals, parts and illustration guides, etc... from various vehicle manufacturers on DVD ROM.

The 2011 iMac will allow this drive to also be upgraded to Blu-Ray for video playback.

Why the newer models don't offer this I have no idea.

To be honest, few people use them so keeping them in does not makes sense. You can purchase an external DVD drive, and easily fit the content from those manuals you have on the SSD drive, and keep the DVDs for backup. It will be a lot faster to load the DVD content when it is located on the SSD.

I too have some content on DVD including old videos and photos in storage. I don't find myself pulling out my external DVD frequently, but it's pretty easy to do.

This makes sense to do the mini then. One thing I had not thought of is that I will also be able to use the separate monitor with my work laptop, which is a PC. Since I’m working from home so much now it will be nice to have a huge monitor for work at home.

If you are current or former military, be sure to check https://www.apple.com/shop/bro...me/veterans_military. That address will divert you to ID.me to verify your eligibility, then it will bounce you back to an Apple website which looks identical to the non-military Apple site except for pricing.

Military / veteran discounted price, instead of the regular retail price, will be shown for all eligible items, including Apple re-furbished stuff.

I got my M1 MacBook Air via this site, using both the veteran and re-furb discounts.

I went through almost the identical situation. 2011 iMac, though this was the 27". Kept waiting for the release of a refreshed iMac. In the end Apple refreshed only the 24" version.

So I opted for a Mac Mini with a 3rd party monitor. Very happy with this arrangement. Whole deal for about $1700.

M1 Mac Mini w/16MB RAM & 512 SSD HD. BenQ monitor.

Okay so set on Mac mini and monitor.

So folks, recommend a monitor with links to Amazon if possible. I don't need top of the line, but big and bright clear picture would be great. I'm seeing them from $350 to $650 but don't really know what to look for.

Following along. I need a new one.

My 2011 mini works fine, but more and more things won’t play along with the old OS. And I don’t want to push my luck too long and have it die.

What holds me back is it’s been so long, and worked so problem free, I don’t remember how to do anything. Setting up all my email accounts, Internet and router settings. I have NEVER had one of this automated integration things work on ant computer, tablet, phone.

The other is I’m dreading the connection game. Can’t hook up this, can’t hook up that because they phased this plug or that port out. Have to buy overpriced adaptors.

cas, you shouldn’t have to set everything up again. You should be able to migrate everything from a Time Machine backup, or directly from old computer to new computer. I have never had the migration NOT work on a Mac, or an iPhone.

Do the ne M1 minis still only support one monitor? If so, it would make sense to get the largest monitor that it supports.

This BenQ monitor is the one I decided on. The main reason for me was the integrated speakers, somewhat of a rarity now (most people hook up a standalone audio system, but I didn't need or want that as I rarely listen to music or watch movies on my computer). But it's also a great monitor.

It's maybe on the more expensive end as far as monitors go, but my entire deal was the same cost as if I were to have gone with a 23" iMac ($1700), but with the larger 27" display.

Transferring to a new Apple is ridiculously easy using Migration Assistant, as long as you don't do what I did and neglect to transfer multiple drives (my old iMac had 2 HDs, a mechanical and as SSD, and MA didn't see the second drive). Other than that, piece of cake.

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Do the ne M1 minis still only support one monitor? If so, it would make sense to get the largest monitor that it supports.

A new M1 Mini will support up to 2 monitors, one on USB-C and the other on HDMI. I could easily hook up a second monitor, and in fact wonder whether I should do so.

I’m basically there with a 2013 27” iMac with 24GB. Can’t upgrade to the new OS due to a now non-supported display, otherwise a completely usable machine. I’m probably going with the M1 mini with 16GB & 256 SSD. I’ll hang a hub and an external SSD off it for every day storage to keep from reading/writing the internal to death. At my age, it’ll likely last me forever.

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...but don't really know what to look for.

The big selling point these days is HDR (High Dynamic Range), once you look at a model that has all the basic quality and feature points. First you have to decide whether HDR is even desirable (some think it's unnecessary icing on the cake, others swear by it). If you decide why not, it turns out there's a huge range of how each manufacturer designs its color algorithm, and some are definitely better than others.

I decided I do like the basic HDR setting on mine, but do not like BenQ's proprietary "intelligent" HDRi.