tmgoonan

I have a 2017 iMac which recently upgraded myself (for the same reasons you have) 1. I upgraded to 32 gb of ram 2. I put a 1tb SSD drive in it . The difference is amazing, especially after the SSD drive upgrade. A mechanical drive is a bottle neck.

Mark7S

not sure where you see you cannot add RAM to the 27" 2018 iMac -8GB (two 4GB) of 2400MHz DDR4 memory; four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible Configurable to 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB. You cannot add to 21.5" - have tp specify 8 or 16 with order

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Most 27” iMacs have user-upgradable RAM. In most cases, it takes minutes and no tools.

Many 21.5” iMacs can be upgraded, too, if you want to have it done. You can do it yourself, but it’s major surgery.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac

Be sure to watch the free installation videos on the OWC site linked above.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

Get as much memory as you can. If available get the SSD drive. Much more faster and reliable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That ability ended last year. Now you have to pay an extra $400 for an extra 16GB.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac/27-inch-3.5ghz-1tb#

snapshot29 Loc: Texas

More RAM is better. SSD drives are faster. Good upgrade.

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Macsales/OWC shows the 2017 iMac being able to be upgraded:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2017-27-inch

The next 27" iMac update in 2019 (?) will probably take away that ability.

jayluber Loc: Phoenix, AZ

I got the 4.2G i7, 2T fusion, 27" iMac. It came with welded 8 gig of ram and I purchased another 16 for upgrade - plugged right into the bottom - it has two slots for additional memory. Upgraded from late 2009. My new iMac rocks compared to the older one. Aurora HDR processing takes about a minute for a 7 photo set and much less for a 3 shot. Purchased from BH video as "used" but in original packaging and clean hard drive. Great price - no tax or shipping. iMac and memory about $2100. My advice is to with the i7. The i5 may be good for now - but you never know what you'll be doing in 3 or 4 years from now. I may pick up an additional 16 of ram but I have not really needed it for any of my processing. Purchasing and installing RAM is way less expensive than purchasing installed - and it takes all of 40 seconds.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

If you plan on keeping the machine for eight years like your last, then max it out. Me? I cannot afford a Mac, so I take less money and get more machine in the PC world. But for those like you with the cash, get all the machine you can.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

I bought a new 27" iMac last month to upgrade from my mid-2010 27" iMac. I bought it with the i7 processor, a 1Tb SSD (don't get a hard drive or Fusion drive for your internal), the 2Gb video upgrade and 8Gb of RAM. I then bought 16Gb of RAM from Crucial for about $170 (about half what Apple charges for the 8 to 16Gb upgrade on the new computer. The two 4Gb boards that come with the 8Gb computer slip out and two 8Gb boards plug in. It takes about 15-20 minutes to upgrade it yourself.

I have the old and new computers side by side and linked so that the old computer is a second monitor allowing me to run both LR and PS together with one keyboard, trackpad and Wacom Tablet. It works very well as an editing system.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

That depends upon whom you talk to in an Apple Store. Most Apple Stores hire a broad range of people who have specialties in certain areas. The manager will know how to direct you to the right person to answer your questions. There is usually at least one person with Adobe experience.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

32 GB? If finances allow, go for 64GB. You will never be sorry and you'll probably never have to rely on 'swap space' on your hard drive to complete an edit. Just saying .....

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

No reason to buy more than the base quantity of RAM, when Crucial, Kingston, OWC, and other vendors sell perfectly good RAM for it.

The 27" is a snap (literally!) to upgrade. Unplug the power cord, press the button above its socket to release the RAM door, ease the door off, release both RAM modules using the clips on either side, note the slot along the pin side of the new RAM, orient it correctly with the socket, press firmly in place, repeat with the second RAM module, put the door back on, plug it in, and boot it. A geeky eighth grader can do it...

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

About 3 months ago, from Apple, I purchased a refurbished 21" with 16gb, with all the bells and whistles, for nearly $500 less than the same new-with a warranty same as new.
This is my second refurbished and my reason for the last purchase was the first one wore out after nearly 4 years of continuous use.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Hi. I have a 27" iMac which is about 7 years old. I upgraded the ram (was not hard) to 16mb. These are amazing machines. I have been doing video editing photoshop etc and even 4k video a small amount and have had no problem. The other day I loaded 50gigs of Sony hybrid video and starting to review.
the Sony footage needs to be covered into Final Cut Pro X and it works great. I use a bunch of WD external drives. I wonder what I will do soon
if this machine gives up. Hardrive doesn't need a lot of memory in my opinion. Would love 32gigs but 16 might be OK. The Macs are so expensive
now that this will be an issue. The MAC I would like is 5k. My question is if you want it upgrade 16 to 32 Ram can you do this in the future?
My rules for mac. Never use more than 30% of the hard drive. Put all work on externals. Video resides like this and the Mac is great at finding.
and putting work into my editor. Don't know why loading 50gigs of video with no problem would be different then large raw files. The Mac
editing has a great feature while you are working immediately it continues to fully load your video of origin source.
Read the other day that Apple makes it very hard to upgrade or service their machines on purpose. Will your machine be upgradable.
Good luck.