cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

IMHO, 16GB is adequate for Lr/Ps but 32GB would be a better choice. IF, and this is a BIG IF, the memory in whatever you buy is designed to be user upgradeable, get the minimum and do the upgrade yourself to save some money. If the memory upgrade requires disassembling the machine, you have just voided your warranty. (In some cases memory is actually soldered to the motherboard and is not upgradeable at all). For Lr/Ps I would also recommend an I7 (at least). For your internal drive I would recommend a 1TB SSD. The newer machines have Thunderbolt 3 and that is definitely the way to go for photo storage. IF you can afford it, the base model of the iMac Pro is ideal for this work as it includes a very good graphics card which really accelerates processing speeds. Yes, it's $ 5k, but you will be very happy. I switched from an I5 to that about three month ago and it really makes my life better. (Understand that I use Lr almost every day.) . I also have a LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt 3 storage device with 16TB of drive space, 8TB in RAID 1, but I shoot in excess of 100,000 images a year and store ALL current year images on this device. Everything else is stored on Synology NAS devices which are online as well but are bottlenecked by the 1GB Ethernet they are attached with (soon to be 10GB). Best of luck.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Always hate seeing swap get used on my iMac! 32GB ram or more!

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Before I get any older, I really need to dump this crappy Dell all-in-one and return to an iMac 27-inch. I see many Hogger are using iMacs and not Windows based machines.

John O.

Consider a video card to be added by Apple when you make your purchase! If you are not stuck on Apple, consider a PC. PCs are about $1.000 to $1.300 less expensive. Our club has just purchased 3 Apple pcs and they were about $2,100 each with proper memory and a separate video card. Out tech guy prefers the PCs over the Apples for Lightroom and Photoshop CC.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

I'm curious....what model apple computer, what memory is proper and what video card optionally?

iosa Loc: Fairbanks, AK

Find the specific computer you're looking at on ifixit.com. This site has really simple-to-follow instructions on pretty much any type of field repair/upgrade for Apple products (and a bunch of other stuff, too, these days). Their instructions will give you a generic difficulty rating, as well as a list of specific tools you'll need, from the commonplace to the obscure. You should get a good idea with how comfortable you will feel adding memory down the road if you decide to do so. Generally speaking, it's much cheaper for you to add memory than to have it done at a service center or even the factory.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I agree. I have 32 Gb and never have regretted the expense. I have the 120Gb SSD and use external 4 Tb and 2 Tb La Cie drives for backup. Never a problem.

JennT Loc: South Central PA

I have been using the 27 inch iMac 2017

with only 2 memory slots filled-- and 2.11 TB --- for about a year ---almost EVERYTHING is on 3 externals so I use most of the 2.11TB for Lightroom/Photoshop--- work. (I do not do videos). This works especially well for me--- and should I need to get another computer, the externals will transfer seamlessly. When I bought the computer we did speak of using all four memory slots---I decided to try it with just 2, but was told that it would be easy to add the other two!

snapshot29 Loc: Texas

This message is old, and I am new to the forum. I have a MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and I also have a 27-inch iMac with 32GB of RAM (can be configured to 64GB RAM). Since I have both, I thought it would be good to provide a quick personal preference/reference for anyone who sees this post. If you edit a lot of photos and have the money to get the 27-inch iMac, purchase it and thank yourself later. The time difference with batch editing in Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, and doing batch automation in Photoshop is huge. Example, exporting 400 raw images from camera raw to jpg on a MacBook Pro (16GB ram) can take about 3.5 hours plus, on average 4 hours. Using the 27-inch iMac (32GB ram), around 2 hours. Another good reason to get extra RAM is because when opening an image directly from Adobe Camera Raw into Photoshop at the same time there is a noticeable speed increase. I agree with @PhilliPeake, you can never have too much RAM.

Bottom line, more is better.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Welcome to this forum. It offers lots of very useful info. ~FiddleMaker

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

ONLY the 27" iMacs have that door.

Most 21.5" iMacs require major surgery to upgrade, if you have a model that can be upgraded.

I do. It's a Late 2013 21.5" iMac, Model 14,1.

This weekend, I'm putting 16GB RAM and a 2TB SSD in it, using OWC's excellent videos (playing on my iPhone) as guides. I'll install my old drive in a portable external enclosure. The new drive will get a virgin installation of MacOS 10.14.1 Mojave, along with fresh installations of all my software. Then I'll import essential files from the old drive.

I have to admit, I'm no stranger to working with tiny electronics. I've repaired or upgraded half a dozen Apple notebook computers, more than a couple dozen desktop Macs, and some PEE CEEs over the years. I understand cleanliness practices, and good static elimination practices. I wear a static-bleeding wrist strap, and work on a soft, grounded surface, to avoid zapping the microcircuitry. I never touch any terminals with my fingers, unless I'm wearing nitrile gloves to keep finger oils off of them.

Joe 88

What you need is a game machine. Dell has them. 32 RAM 1 TB up. I hard in my PC 1 TM, 5 TM, 3 externals a 1,3, 5, TB. It works for me.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

He specifically indicated he’s an Apple/Mac dude.
Mark

pappleg

Thanks all, I got the message and it follows the old Cowboy maxim- Strong whiskey, sweet guitars, faster horses and more RAM!!! I'll pull the trigger in the next week or so and fill all in on my decision. Thanks again for your willingness and input/

Pat

Larry Powell Loc: Columbus OH

I have been a MAC user for 30 years and have a great relationship with MicroCenter. I just ordered a new iMac 27 inch 5K, 4.2 Ghz i7, 3 TB fusion drive, graphics card has 8 gb of Vram. My contact at MicroCenter helped me configure my special order Mac. We started with 27 inch i5 and picked upgrade options.

The iMacs have 8 GBs of ram and I am upgrading it to 40 GBs by buying 2ea 16 GB memory cards from OWC at macsales.com. and keeping the 2 installed 4Gb cards. It takes about 5 minutes or less to install the memory. OWC even has a video to instruct how to do it. The 32Gb of memory is $278 with no tax when shipped to Ohio and shipped free.

I have bought from One World Computing for years. They are always great. I had a memory card fail and they sent me one that day no questions asked. I had to return mine and they even sent the packaging to do that. Call them for tech support or info and they give it. Great supplier. I don't think you can go wrong there and the prices are usually the best.

The total cost of my Imac is $2579.99 + Ohio Tax of $193 Additional ram is $278 for a total of $2857 not counting the Ohio tax. I feel like this should be a kick butt iMac.

I do a lot of image post processing withPhotoShop and video with Final Cut Pro and Resolve. My needs are pretty high and I am satisfied this will handle it. Since it was a special order thru MicroCenter I am awaiting shipment.

Unfortunately, with iMacs thee is no internal hard drive or SS drive additional space. So external drives will be required. With my 2008 Mac Pro I have 4 drives internal and a couple external. I will pull the internal drives as I need them and put them in a 2 drive docking device I bought from OWC for $38. Inconvenient but that's what we have.

In summary, consider doing what I did. Of course the i7 will make a difference but the biggest gain is probably the upgraded graphics card and 32 extra Gbs of ram. MicroCenter was not trying to upsell me. Adam is extremely knowledgeable and guided me to the best configuration for me.
Larry