I've had one of these for five years, purchased as a refurb from Apple. My plan was to upgrade drive and memory in the spring, but an ssd crash last weekend forced my hand. My Mac guy recovered most of my data, installed a new ssd , added 16 gig of memory, and upped me to Ventura. I would say it's not zippier (opening a big Word doc takes longer now), but it's perfectly adequate and allows me to use some newer apps. So I figure for about a third the cost of a new Mini and 4k monitor, I've got a nice "new" machine with a Retina display that will see me through the next 2-3 years. P.S. Five months later. Sadly, this iMac-which it thought had been fixed up well-is reverting to its bad old ways. Randomly crashing. Reluctantly booting (15, 20 tried to get it going). Getting extremely balky. So my gamble is not paying off. Had three iMacs, two of them troublesome. Never again. Next up for me, a Mini, maybe the new M4.
Same! I have this same one. 2017 version 21.5 Retina 4k running Ventura. It’s so slow. It reboots randomly, takes forever to even switch tasks inside an app. I don’t think it’ll last much longer. I got it in Spring of 2018 so I’m surprised I guess expected a little bit more out it.
I bought a 2017 iMac a couple years ago for about $400. It’s an Intel i5 with 16 gigs of RAM (I know, double the usual memory) and a 250 gigs SSD. Why was it so inexpensive? It had a small (and I do mean small) chip in the bezel that unless you’re looking for it is not noticeable and in no way affects either the screen or performance. And it’s 4k. Works like a dream and is fully functional for my needs today.
The RAM is actually upgradable in the sense it is socketed, and it can be upgraded to 32gig. The problem is accessing it. There are RUclips videos showing how to open the case, which is not exactly a simple process. I recently acquired one of these machines for $150, and am very satisfied with the machine.
I found one that someone was selling with a perfectly good Dell i5 for 80 bucks! I could not pass up. Will do upgrade in near future. I can finally let go of my 2011 MBP.
I went to a technical high school and my shop had a ton of these almost fully maxed out 32gb of ram with the highest tier cpu and gpu the 560 and the ssd which 500gb instead of 1tb and the teachers got the imac pros which were brand new in 2019 when they replaced the older 2011 imacs we used with the younger students they got the 2019 and they were not as well configured they had a lower end cpu and gpu but I remember editing countless videos on the 2017 imac and its pretty good and read and write speeds are also very respectable I highly recommend these imacs
@@TerrysTechTips I even remember editing 5.6K 360 degree footage and the machine did it with no struggle at all and all the macs with the exception of the 2019s all ran high sierra the 2019 imacs ran mojave but other than that were a perfect clone of each other overall is the 2017 imac 4k with the 560 and the ssd specifically worth it yes unless your needs exceed the gpu like mine did significantly for my senior project
@@TerrysTechTipsby the way I recommend trying open core legacy patcher it will allow you to install newer os versions and the program is very user friendly and even gives updates that will pop up when ready
I have this computer now and just added a SSD drive by sand disk I"m getting 900mb/s r/w. Not sure if that's good considering it advertised at 2000 mb/s . I"m using the thunderbolt connection.
I just got one of these with 32gb ram, 1tb (fusion) and the 4k display for $75 dollars. Looking to get the ssd upgrade and get this up to date to keep up. I don’t think I’ll upgrade the processor due to the process but I feel it can get away with the things I do (audio production mostly)
@@TerrysTechTips yes sir, buy of the year. I have a 2tb Samsung 860 qvo laying around and plan on dropping that in. Not sure above m.2 drive if that’s possible on this model
I have this same imac and though I can use capcut desktop version to edit videos it does take a bit of time. Editing with davinci resolve is sluggish and takes a long time as well. I'm looking to move over to a windows based laptop for video editing instead of trying to upgrade the imac.
I had this computer in the 2019 version and wanted something that matched apples quality of displays. I recently upgraded and needed a smaller display and wanted something as close to apple 4k/5k and was able to find a new 21.5 LG ultra fine in the box. The display is the same as the 21.5 iMac 4k with 4096x2304 with and has the glossy screen as well. I have a 5k studio display at work and this is just as good with 219 PPI, 500 nits of brightness and 4 USB-C ports.
@@TerrysTechTips the LG Ultrafine that Apple sold are not matte. The new Ultrafine monitors are and do not hold to what they did with Apple along with resolution. Once you go with a glossy or glass Retina display anything else just does not do it. I tried other monitors I just could not do it.
I've had one of these for five years, purchased as a refurb from Apple. My plan was to upgrade drive and memory in the spring, but an ssd crash last weekend forced my hand. My Mac guy recovered most of my data, installed a new ssd , added 16 gig of memory, and upped me to Ventura. I would say it's not zippier (opening a big Word doc takes longer now), but it's perfectly adequate and allows me to use some newer apps. So I figure for about a third the cost of a new Mini and 4k monitor, I've got a nice "new" machine with a Retina display that will see me through the next 2-3 years. P.S. Five months later. Sadly, this iMac-which it thought had been fixed up well-is reverting to its bad old ways. Randomly crashing. Reluctantly booting (15, 20 tried to get it going). Getting extremely balky. So my gamble is not paying off. Had three iMacs, two of them troublesome. Never again. Next up for me, a Mini, maybe the new M4.
Same! I have this same one. 2017 version 21.5 Retina 4k running Ventura. It’s so slow. It reboots randomly, takes forever to even switch tasks inside an app. I don’t think it’ll last much longer. I got it in Spring of 2018 so I’m surprised I guess expected a little bit more out it.
I bought a 2017 iMac a couple years ago for about $400. It’s an Intel i5 with 16 gigs of RAM (I know, double the usual memory) and a 250 gigs SSD. Why was it so inexpensive? It had a small (and I do mean small) chip in the bezel that unless you’re looking for it is not noticeable and in no way affects either the screen or performance. And it’s 4k. Works like a dream and is fully functional for my needs today.
i got one for 100 in 2024. nuts how great value these are in 2024
I got one for 190$ in ebay and shipping included, amazing price and specs
@@kevinreyes2918 dope stuff, i got the 500g ssd 4k 560 4gb and with the i5
I brought one for my classroom. My plan is to use a ssd hub and have it start-up off the ssd. Great value for the lite workload.
Considering buying one just for Homework and video streaming.
same just got one for that
@@ukus982does it lag? Thinking bout getting one
@@brayanlucas9537no it doesn’t if you can upgrade the ram even if you have 8gb it should be fine
@@brayanlucas9537awesome machine make sure to get it with a ssd tho
The RAM is actually upgradable in the sense it is socketed, and it can be upgraded to 32gig. The problem is accessing it. There are RUclips videos showing how to open the case, which is not exactly a simple process. I recently acquired one of these machines for $150, and am very satisfied with the machine.
I found one that someone was selling with a perfectly good Dell i5 for 80 bucks! I could not pass up. Will do upgrade in near future. I can finally let go of my 2011 MBP.
I literally ordered one just for reading manga and watching movies. It’s a gorgeous looking machine.
For what your paying for it’s a nice display 🖥️
I went to a technical high school and my shop had a ton of these almost fully maxed out 32gb of ram with the highest tier cpu and gpu the 560 and the ssd which 500gb instead of 1tb and the teachers got the imac pros which were brand new in 2019 when they replaced the older 2011 imacs we used with the younger students they got the 2019 and they were not as well configured they had a lower end cpu and gpu but I remember editing countless videos on the 2017 imac and its pretty good and read and write speeds are also very respectable I highly recommend these imacs
Wow!
@@TerrysTechTips I even remember editing 5.6K 360 degree footage and the machine did it with no struggle at all and all the macs with the exception of the 2019s all ran high sierra the 2019 imacs ran mojave but other than that were a perfect clone of each other overall is the 2017 imac 4k with the 560 and the ssd specifically worth it yes unless your needs exceed the gpu like mine did significantly for my senior project
@@TerrysTechTipsby the way I recommend trying open core legacy patcher it will allow you to install newer os versions and the program is very user friendly and even gives updates that will pop up when ready
I have this computer now and just added a SSD drive by sand disk I"m getting 900mb/s r/w. Not sure if that's good considering it advertised at 2000 mb/s . I"m using the thunderbolt connection.
I just got one of these with 32gb ram, 1tb (fusion) and the 4k display for $75 dollars. Looking to get the ssd upgrade and get this up to date to keep up. I don’t think I’ll upgrade the processor due to the process but I feel it can get away with the things I do (audio production mostly)
Wow! For 75$?
@@TerrysTechTips yes sir, buy of the year. I have a 2tb Samsung 860 qvo laying around and plan on dropping that in. Not sure above m.2 drive if that’s possible on this model
@@guitardude32787where did u get it for $75?
Fro me I’m almost out of ram 8 gigs is not enough for me
Same for me too...
Has anyone used one of this for video editing in 2024? I want a computer that can at least get trough a few years (2 it's enough) for video editing
I have this same imac and though I can use capcut desktop version to edit videos it does take a bit of time. Editing with davinci resolve is sluggish and takes a long time as well.
I'm looking to move over to a windows based laptop for video editing instead of trying to upgrade the imac.
Wow my lovely $2k computer is now worth like $200? Good lord.
IKR
I had this computer in the 2019 version and wanted something that matched apples quality of displays. I recently upgraded and needed a smaller display and wanted something as close to apple 4k/5k and was able to find a new 21.5 LG ultra fine in the box. The display is the same as the 21.5 iMac 4k with 4096x2304 with and has the glossy screen as well. I have a 5k studio display at work and this is just as good with 219 PPI, 500 nits of brightness and 4 USB-C ports.
I have a similar display, but with a matte screen.
@@TerrysTechTips the LG Ultrafine that Apple sold are not matte. The new Ultrafine monitors are and do not hold to what they did with Apple along with resolution. Once you go with a glossy or glass Retina display anything else just does not do it. I tried other monitors I just could not do it.
I just got one from my sister for $150