What Are the Benefits of Buying a 2020 iMac Over Newer Models?

Question

What are the reasons I should choose a 2020 iMac over the newest series of iMacs?

Answer 1

The iMac 2020 has some advantages compared to the newer iMac models. One of the advantages is the larger 5K display, which is also of higher quality. Memory and storage can be upgraded at a reasonable price, which is one of the advantages of this product. There are a lot of ports on the device including USB-A, Thunderbolt, an SD card reader and Ethernet. The device is shipped with a keyboard and mouse too which makes it a complete package. Furthermore, if you are ok with using something like OpenCore, it may be possible to increase the soft support for the iMac in the years to come. Nowadays the iMac can be found at a very reasonable price; just wait for a discount and you will get very good value for what many iMacs are offering.

Comments

Important Note: The 2020 27" iMacs you can boot off an external SSD if you want to upgrade storage.  I do this on my 2017 and it works great.  If you want to add an SSD internally you will need to get the 2019 27" iMac which is very similar but note the difference in dates.  A viewer reminded me of this and it's something I wanted to note.  Booting off external SSDs is the best option for the 2020 if you need to upgrade your bootable storage (not just add an external ssd).  Thank you.✔

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I was lucky enough to get a 2020 model i5 for free from my employer who was swapping these out. I love it! Upgraded the RAM and it replaced my M1 Mac mini. I do a lot of graphics work in PS and this machine flies through it without breaking a sweat. This machine, with the gorgeous display, is a powerhouse to get some serious work done.

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I bought a 27" 2020  in late 2020 and glad I did. Its running like a champ and will last me another 2 maybe 3 years

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What a great content.  I've "complained" a bit that Apple has abandoned the larger iMac, but you're absolutely right about the 2020 27" iMac.  It holds up.  Mine is a core i7 with 40GB ram, 1TB SSD with the Radeon 5500.  I just use it for everyday home office and light business work.  The screen is a gem.  I've considered going to an Apple silicon Mac mini with a 32" Benq screen, but even that screen doesn't have the pixel density of the retina 5K iMac, and the cost for a two box solution starts going up dramatically if you want a comparable quality screen at 27" or larger. Truthfully I'd much rather have an elegant one box solution for my home office desk.  I appreciate the encouragement to hang on to it for a few more years.

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Thanks for the review Craig.  I transitioned from Windows to Mac hardware several years ago, and because I already had good peripherals when I made the move I could never justify (budget-wise) getting an iMac.  Which was a shame in a way because I've wanted the iMac you just reviewed ever since it released.

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Hi Craig. Thanks for the content. Today, I was able to score a brand new 2020 iMac (27 inch) from my nearest MicroCenter store for $999!! An awesome deal for what it is worth.

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Please note that the 2280 SSD slot on the mother board has been removed on a 2020 iMac 27". The last one were you can install a 2280 SSD is the 2019 iMac 27". Great Info Thank You

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I did this exact thing just over a year ago.  iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020), 3.6 GHz 10-Core Intel Core i9, 64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4.  But it only has a 500 GB internal drive so I run it from a 4TB LaCie external SSD.  It replaced my late 2014 27-inch iMac.  So far, I am quite happy with the setup.  I understand Apple has said no new 27-inch iMac is coming BUT maybe, just maybe, something BIGGER than 27-inches.  I have my fingers crossed on that.

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Was almost on the verge to sell my 2020 i7 10700k, 5500 XT, 16gb ram and 1 TB SSD, but most shops give 560 - 740 bucks for it. Only reason i was thinking about it, is because im not sure that Affinity Desinger will be updated if Apple drops OS support for it. It's my only concern about it, for the rest i don't use my Imac at all. Pure for graphic design, because i'm spoiled with that 5k screen.

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I bought mine in January 2022.  5K, 27 inch.  It was refurbished from Apple...  Its no longer available now...

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I bought one from a private party, barely used, to replace my 2013 iMac.  I love the 2020 model.  So happy I did this.  The 24 inch screen is not big enough for my needs.

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I have the 2019 running on an external NVME drive using the fusion for other documents. I expended the RAM to 16GB. It's great & very responsive for day to day tasks, but I don't do video editing. It has a 3.1GHz 6 core i5 and Radeon Pro 575X 4GB.

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I have the base model 2020 27” and I upgraded the memory to 24 gig. I didn’t like it for a long time because it seemed to struggle if I had more than 2 windows open. I found out that safari was the cause so I started using Firefox and now it’s a beast of a machine. It’s relatively fast and no longer crashes after 10 minutes. I recommend one for anyone wanting a budget machine with a 5k screen.

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Here is my take, IMHO. I recently purchased 2 used 2015 27" iMac's with 32GB RAM, 2GB GPU, internal TB SSD's (1TB and 2TB upgraded), both for a total of $550 (in near new condition). Where else can you get 2 5K screens for that price. Granted, they are not as powerful as my Mac Studio M1 Max or my Mac Mini M1, but the content editing/photo editing I do, probably in line with 90% of most people don't require that much power from the newer M1/M2 systems. I recently rendered a pretty decent size content, the Mac Studio only rendered the 1080p content slightly faster than the iMac. Let's see, Mac Studio M1 Max $1700 (Approx), Apple Studio Display (Approx) $1499 equal $3298, iMac $250, and what did it get me? A slightly faster render time. This is not rocket science, according to my calculations; it cost me $513 per minute (equipment performance) for the faster render time? The older iMacs are worth it and more, IMHO. Oh, I forgot to mention that I used Open Core and upgraded both systems to Sonoma, and they run and perform with no problems at all. As mentioned earlier, they are not at the same performance level as the newer M1/M2 systems; however, they can do 90% or more of the work most use their systems for, it may take a few more minutes to render/photo edit. But what the heck, I'm sure the huge majority of users are not even close to using their systems in a professional way? Excellent content BTW.

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Thanks for the honest review, Craig. I completely agree as I've bought the same model just a month ago.

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My dad bought this iMac December of 2022 for my sister to use for school/homework, I don’t know the specific specs when he bought it but it’s our first ever Apple computer (we all use iPhones) and it’s beautiful, the screen and volume/speakers.

We had to buy something quick since our old 2015 AIO Samsung HDD failed and was something completely unexpected, I should’ve been more aware about that but it caught me by surprise when it would just be stuck on a “bootloop” windows 10 blue screen loop head ahhh

Now looking back we should’ve just bought an M1 iMac instead… oh well
Am interested in a 16” MacBook Pro M1 Pro so we’ll see if I can even find one at a good price…

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I have been reading your content and I was almost ready to buy a refurbished 2020 IMAC from OWC, but then I read something about it not being supported for much longer. What does that mean? I would only be using it for photo editing as a hobbyist. I would go with the newer 24" IMAC, but I love the size and screen display of the 27inch.

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i doubt you'll need oclp for the last intel imac, the last macos that will support x86 will probably be made for that computer

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I have a 2020 imac 27 and it is awesome. I did buy the imac 24, but not the same experience at all, too small. I read reviews of apple silicon machines and I like the longer battery life and less heat but as reg user, all the reviews seem to talk to video and film editors. I just dont care about exporting video 2 minutes faster or Final Cut Pro. LOL

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Thank you, for this excellent and timely post.  Noticed last week, that Apple had removed all of their refurbished space gray 27-inch iMac Pro models.  This is an outstanding deal if, you buy from Apple and add Apple Care.  Just in case something needs to be repaired, you will be covered with a warranty until almost the year 2027 (smile...smile).

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Last year I was upgrading my late 2012 27'' (had custom disk/full 32GB ram). I found a very good offer on 2020 27'' model (1450EUR for i7 3.8GHz, 1TB disk, Radeon Pro 5500 XT 8GB with 64GB ram). I bought additional 64gb ram to max it out and enclosure for my 4TB nvme stick. It's perfect for my workload. I had to stay with x86 as I need VMware Fusion/qemu for my work.

That display is really, really awesome. I would not imagine how nice can font in iTerm2 look like :)

The only (long term) problem with Apple is its politics. The UEFI firmware being stored on raid0/chips is biggest middle finger to customers yet. For that reason even my ~ is on external disk to minimize writes to that disk. It's a pity this model doesn't come with more TB ports too.
One could argue that it's a bit louder too. When workload increases that fan is spinning like crazy. Sometimes even during content (though less crazy then).

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Great vid! I am going through this right now. I'm not a power user. Internet, YouTube, watching movies, a little editing and photo work. My 10 year old 27" IMAC is getting a little long in the tooth and it's time to upgrade. But to what? I don't like the idea of a screen size down grade with the 24" IMAC. Mac Mini? but then I have to give up the 5K Apple screen. I wouldn't mind the M2 chip but do I really need it for what I do? I decided I'd be happier with a 2020 27" IMAC. It's a big upgrade from my current model anyway. I was pretty convinced but still researching. Your vid helped me to decide. I figure I'll get at least 4 years out of the 2020 IMAC.

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Hi there Craig! Thanks for your content! I'm thinking of buying an Intel i5 iMac of 27 inches 2020 3,3 for 1 thousand dollars here in Chile, (new).
 I'm into music production, basically Logic Pro and Reason and a lot of my work is on Photoshop. I'm thinking if I'm buying this machine upgrading RAM and SSD.. Is it a smart thing to do? Or just going for an M2 Mac Mini 16GB with 512 GB? I have already a Samsung 4K M8 monitor but I don't consider a very good one (for its color calibration)
Hope you can answer me and thanks again
Sorry my bad English

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Great advice Graig. I have a question... we are in February 2024 right now, still a smart purchase for this 2020 27" iMac? I am looking for some options in Macofalltrades and Amazon because refurbished ones from Apple are a bit expensive, how reliable are these sites?

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So now it’s 2024 guys and I’m in the market of getting an iMac and I’m interested in getting the 2020 27 inch iMac it has a 10th generation until for I Semon with 512 GB SSD hard drive with 32 GB of ram for $1000 is that worth it especially now also another question is I found a MacBook Pro 13 inch but the same specs for $750 is that also worth buying as well please let me know in the comments and how long will Apple continue to support updates for it and is it still worth it?

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I have a 12 year old iMac 27" that's been flawless all these years - now I can't update the OS, so I've been looking at all the options. I wanted to get another iMac 27" but disappointed the new ones offered are just 24".  I really appreciate your content saying it's still worth getting the 2020 27" because after days of trying to wrap my head around which mac mini, which monitor, an external cd drive, and external storage drive, etc my head is spinning.  My question is:  Over time I have upgraded my current iMac 27" with a 2 Tb drive and upped to 8 gb RAM (installed myself).  Are those compatible with the 2020 27"?  I.E. can I take it to my computer guru and have them swapped into a 2020 27" if I go that route?   Thanks so much!!

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I saw that deal on Amazon this morning and pulled the trigger on it, $1069 is a nice deal and the savings will pay for the RAM.  Sold by Woot who is owned by Amazon, less than 4:45 left on the deal at the time of this comment.

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THE ANSWER IS YAY

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Too bad, this is the most powerful Intel Mac. The day it’s no longer supported, OpenCore Legacy won’t work because macOS will run exclusively on ARM, with no way to make it work on x86.

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hi buddy, thanks for the content! i have this iMac and i love it, but im not sure about the speed of the USB-A ports. I've a QNAP TR-002 that has a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10GBps), if i connect this unit to my iMAC to one of the USB-A port, will i get less speed than if i connect it to a USB-C thunderbolt? thanks!