I’ve owned my current iMac for more than a decade. It’s a late 2014 iMac Retina 5K, with a beautiful 27-inch screen and it’s served me well. All good things must come to an end, however. I’m saying goodbye to my iMac and replacing it with something else altogether.

I’ve Held Onto My iMac for Too Long

Eleven years with the same desktop computer is a very good run. The reality is that I should have replaced it a long time ago, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. There have been plenty of signs that it was time to do so, however.

The Problems With My iMac

Firstly, the computer is so old that it can’t run the latest version of macOS. In fact, it can’t even run some of the older versions of macOS. The highest supported version is macOS 11 Big Sur, meaning there have been four subsequent versions of macOS that it’s not able to run.

This also means that there is a ton of software that is no longer supported. For example, although I was able to install an older version of the excellent Raycast app on my iMac, the vast majority of the Raycast extensions won’t work as they’re only supported on more recent versions of macOS.

Worse still is that my iMac uses Apple’s Fusion Drive. This is a hybrid drive that contains both a hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD). The intent is that information you access frequently is stored on the SSD for faster access, while also giving you more storage space on the less expensive HDD.

The problem is that Fusion Drives are prone to failure. Two drives in one increase the chances of something going wrong, since if either of the drives fail, the Fusion Drive will die. It got to the point where my iMac would regularly crash due to problems with the Fusion Drive.

Why It’s Been So Hard to Say Goodbye

A huge part of the reason why I’m still using my 2014 iMac is the 27-inch 5K screen. It has a resolution of 5210 x 2880 pixels and it just looks beautiful, even after more than a decade of use. The trouble is, the last time that Apple sold an iMac with a 27-inch screen was 2020, with 24-inch monitors being the norm for all the Apple silicon iMacs.

Despite being tempted to buy a new iMac, it’s just been too much of a wrench to have to leave the 27-inch screen behind and live with something smaller. I regularly work with two apps tiled on the iMac’s screen, and to have to do the same with a smaller screen is something I’ve been unwilling to do.

The fact that you could still manually upgrade the RAM on the late 2014 iMac 5K meant that I was able to max out the RAM on it relatively cheaply, so it’s never felt painfully slow to use. It was good enough that the thought of shelling out a lot of money to replace it just didn’t seem worth it.

Why I’m Finally Making the Change

I managed to work around the problematic fusion drive by installing macOS on an external SSD. However, the crashes have started to return, and they always seem to hit at the worst possible times. It’s not sustainable any longer to use a computer that is clearly beginning to die.

It’s also reached the point where having to run an outdated version of macOS is just not worth it any more. There are so many apps that I’m unable to run or features that I’m unable to use, that it’s beginning to get frustrating. Things that I can do with a quick key combination on my M2 MacBook Air using Raycast I still have to do manually on my iMac.

As sad as it will be to say goodbye to a computer that feels like an old friend after so long, the time has come to replace it.

The Current iMac Can’t Match What I Have

I always assumed that when it finally came time to say goodbye to my iMac, I would replace it with the newest iMac model, which would hopefully then last me another decade. However, this isn’t the case. I’m not going to be opting for another iMac at all.

One of the biggest reasons is that big, beautiful screen. All the Apple silicon iMacs have come with 24-inch displays. There’s nothing wrong with a 24-inch display, but after living with a 27-inch screen for so long, I really don’t want to go back. When I bought my current iMac, a big part of the appeal was that I was getting a computer and a 27-inch 5K monitor in one, and currently there are no options available from Apple that can offer that.

The other big reason is the price. The cheapest model of the latest version of the iMac has an M4 chip with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The only option is a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, and the whole package costs $1300.

In other words, I’m getting a smaller display, lower resolution, half the RAM, and a quarter of the storage of my current iMac. For $1300. If I want to get as close as I can to the specs of my current iMac, I’d need to pay $2300, and the screen would still be smaller and have a lower resolution. Paying so much for a downgrade just doesn’t sit well.

I’m Buying a Mac Mini Instead

Realistically, it doesn’t make financial sense to buy a maxed-out iMac to replace my current one. I don’t really need one; I’m not using it for video editing or other intensive uses; if I was, my current iMac would have been out the window a lot sooner.

I still need to upgrade, however, and none of the current iMac models can offer what I want the most: a 27-inch monitor. There is a compelling alternative, however: the Mac mini.

The latest M4 Mac mini has the same M4 chip as the new iMacs, but the base model has a 10-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU which the iMac can’t match. The base model Mac mini with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is just $600. Those specs are plenty enough for my needs and will fix all the problems I currently have with my iMac for a very affordable price.

There’s one thing missing of course. The Mac mini doesn’t include a display. It doesn’t include a mouse or keyboard for that matter, but I’ve got those already. If I want a like-for-like replacement, I could buy the 5K 27-inch Apple Studio Display for a cool $1600.

However, I don’t need a 5K monitor. I just want one that’s a similar size to my current iMac, and there are plenty of 27-inch 4K monitors available for a few hundred dollars. It means I can keep my 27-inch screen, get a computer that’s more powerful than the entry-level iMac, and still pay less than what the iMac costs.

My one frustration is that I still have a 27-inch 5K screen on my iMac that’s working perfectly fine. Sadly, there’s no easy way to use it as a display for a Mac mini. Some people have managed it by taking the iMac apart and swapping out some parts, but it’s not an easy task and not one I have the time to take on.

The value offered by the Mac mini is just too good to ignore. Even factoring in the purchase of an additional monitor, I’ll still be getting the whole package for less than the price of an iMac, and with better performance.

While I’ll miss the simplicity of an all-in-one, the flexibility and affordability of the Mac mini make it the best option for my needs. Despite how well my iMac has served me, it’s time to try something different.