Hi, Im thinking of buying Mac 24 inch (2024)
I have a late 2017 iMac that I got advice from this site on speeding it up by using an external hdd boot drive (thanks Old toad) on how to set it up
I boot off a G technology 500GB mobile ssd which says it gives me up to 560 MBS.
It is fast and works well but I want the newer iMac 24, but I dont want to buy it and find its slower than what I have now
Please can anybody advise me
thank you
I have the new Mac Mini M4. The read and writes speeds of it vs a 2017 iMac with SSD are as follows:
2017 iMac:
Write speed:1872 MB/s
Read speed:2566 MB/s
2025 M4 Mini:
Write speed:3088 MB/s
Read speed:2444 MB/s
Boot speed (from power on to the Desktop visible and ready to work) is the big difference:
2025 M4 Mini: 2-3 seconds.
2017 Intel iMac: 45 seconds.
If budget is a concern consider the following: a Mac Mini M4 with 15 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD with a 32" LG 4k monitor w/speakers is $1418 w/tax which is $650 less than a similarly configured new 24" iMac.
You can save even more money by selecting a 27" 4k monitor.
It depends on which CPU you get. Here are are the comparisons between the two units. It appears that the Mini is a bit faster.
The price and the fact that I could get a lot more screen real estate sold me on the Mini.
Thank you so much for your prompt reply.
Is the Mac mini much faster than the iMac 24inch?
Not necessarily. Speed can depend on the size of the SSD. The larger capacity drives are usually faster. Your new Silicon Mac will be faster than your 2017 no matter what as the hardware is entirely different.
Final Q, I Promise I wont haunt you any more OT!!!!
Im gonna go for the iMac 24 inch, it was released late last year and I dont want to buy it then they release a newer faster model, do you think the iMac 24 will have a new version anytime soon?
It's possible that Apple may release a new model this year, but doubtful.
Even if they do, the performance jump from one generation to the next is not a showstopper.
I have an M3 based iMac and an M4 based MacBook Air. If I benchmark them, there is a difference. Real world performance... though there is a difference, it's really not noticeable.
The performance jump over your old intel based Mac is going to be phenomenal.
As KiltedTim said we don't know what Apple's plans are. They could announce a new iMac in the fall but had not heard any rumors to that or to a new CPU chip. The M4 chip was introduced not too long ago so if I were a betting man I'm say no to this fall.
Again as KiltedTime said the real world differences in the silicon Macs will not be that noticeable so if you need a new Mac get it now before tariffs kick in.
>>2017 iMac:
Write speed:1872 MB/s
Read speed:2566 MB/s
The Fusion models and SATA SSD ports are no where near that close in sustained real world (AJA, BlackMagic testing) -- the HDD is closer to 90 MBs in its faster cycles -- a Fusion setup in 2017/2019 iMacs is only 3% SSD and 97% HDD -- I would avoid them unless you want to upgrade
I have a 2017 i7 8core 64GB RAM with original Apple FLASH SSD -- it only gets 1831 MBs write and 2085 MBs read Blackmagic
then you have the distinction between SATA SSD (max 500MBs) and Apple 2017 FLASH SSD (max 2000MBs)
the 2017 and 2019 fusion iMacs can both be upgraded to retail NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD with an adapter and sustain 3000MBs speed in the tests
budget wise -- a fusion model 2019 iMac (for the Flash SSD port) -- with the NVMe and RAM upgrades -- would be my choice over the new iMacs unless you spring for extra RAM and larger SSD
the 2017 hardware stops at Ventura -- the 2019 still runs latest Sequoia (both will run Mojave if you need to run older software like CS6 Photoshop)...
Thank you
Thanks again OT
You're welcome. Let us know hot it turns out.
Thanks Kilted Tim, Im going to order it now.
Mac 24 inch 2024 faster than 2017 with boot drive?
