Apple iMac 5K

I've been looking for an upgrade from my 2015 5k iMac 27. Might finally pull the trigger on this version. What I will miss is the 27 inch 5k display. Also, my use case is exactly what this iMac is meant for - shared family computer that takes up little space in the kitchen.

> I thought that by 2024 we would have displays with 250+ dpi resolution, The "retina" iMac 27" (5K display, ~218 PPI) came out in 2014. I've been using this resolution since 2016. 32" 8K seems like the next logical step but it's disappointingly expensive/unavailable.

I have working hardware from every decade, oldest is from 1982, but my daily driver and what I'm typing on now is a 2019 iMac 5K and Apple still doesn't have anything all-in-one to replace it. My keyboard is from 2002 (the USB version of the Kinesis I bought in ~ 1993). My oldest computer still in 24/7 use is my 2014 FreeNAS, but it's using a monitor that's so old I don't even know. Old hardware is great, but I do appreciate just how much better LCD panels have gotten over time.

I've been using a new program called RetinaRelay[0] to use my 5k iMac as a second display for my M1 Macbook using an ethernet (or Thunderbolt for even better performance). Works brilliantly. It's definitely higher latency than a normal monitor (my ethernet connection is 45ms vs 5ms for a monitor) but it's not noticeable for coding and miles better than remote desktop or similar. [0] https://www.retinarelay.com/

As a both old Linux and now decade user of MacOS, after I got used to no middle-click paste and no focus-follows-mouse: 1. Keyboard shortcuts are Emacs, Ctrl-A: start of line, E: end of line, K: kill selected or to end of line, Y to paste, etc. https://support.apple.com/en-au/102650#text 2. Karabiner elements (FOSS) fixes keyboard mappings outside of the Settings: https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org/ 3. I have the dock on the left hand side, not bottom and I have a 2 monitor (iMac 5K 27"+ Dell 4K 27") setup with the iMac flat in front of me and the curve/2nd to the right. Menu bar is then close to the main windows. 4. Menu bar widgets etc are fixable with thaw https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw 5. Window management via keyboard is fixable with rectangle https://rectangleapp.com/ 6. Use Macports to add all the Linux/Unix utilities, works with MacOS properly (eg Python/Java frameworks). Ports can have variants, plus you can have multiple versions installed side-by-side with `port select`. https://www.macports.org/ Not sure about fonts, on a 5K iMac they're fine and the 4K Dell works too. You need to use a resolution that fits with Mac's ideas of resolution, so I've got the 5K and 4K both at 2560x1440, which is Mac's idea of 2x resolution.

It might be your better option, but it's not mine. I really value sharp text, and 4k@2x is vastly superior to 1440p. I really do miss my 5k iMac 27", but 60Hz doesn't cut it anymore these days, and I'm not about to drop £5k on a pair of Apple Studio Displays.

I went from a 27" 4k display to my 5k iMac I converted to work as an external display. You can definitely see the difference, especially with text. The 4k - although a HUGH improvement over 1080p monitors - will still have that fuzziness on fonts.

Indeed, leaving Windows behind for the odd application is easy. With the depreciation of my late 2017 Intel iMac 5k incoming, i however wonder how to ditch macOS for Linux and keep the one odd Mac App I kinda depend on - ideas welcome! If you’re wondering, the App is MoneyMoney and keeps track of all bank accounts automatically, sorts all spendings into categories etc. There simply seems to be no equivalent, and running Mac Apps on Linux just doesn’t seem to be a thing yet (at least in a half-viable way I know of, and yes, I at least read about Darling). Again, if anyone does have a pointer (running macOS virtualized? What’s the status there?) would be much appreciated.. Edit: oh and i fully intend to keep using the iMac, its an i7 with 64GB RAM and the 5k display is still so gorgeous to look at.

One of the best things I've done for my setup is convert old 5k iMacs to work as external display. Only downside are the massive borders by todays standards, but it still has the Apple aesthetics, the 5k resolution is beautiful for my use cases (spreadsheets, documents, photo editing), and has HDMI inputs so I can play PS5 on it.

I have the last gen 27” 5k iMac with nano texture as my primary monitor these days and you can immediately tell the difference between image quality, compared to a glossy MacBook pro. Don’t get me wrong, it’s by far the best quality matte finish I’ve ever seen and I would buy it again, because it works great in a room with south-facing windows, but it definitely affects the overall image quality noticeably.

Don’t landfill it please sell on eBay or locally. Crazy people like me that love the monitors and just surf the web will buy them. I was awestruck the other day how much I would have to spend to exceed the monitor quality on our ancient iMac. I bought a modern 4k one and it was still worse. They really put the magic in those old 5k monitors.

Try https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/ I recently used it on a 2014 5k iMac to install Sonoma (14.3) and it's been flawless in my experience - everything is buttery smooth as you'd expect. I also installed on a 2015 Macbook (12"...horrible Intel mobile processor.) It works, but the CPU is just too underpowered to do basic stuff like web browsing and messaging...if you're impatient like me anyway ;)

I tried the 2015 model for 1 year and ended up selling it. The CPU and GPU ran too hot and the fans were audible too often. Also impossible to use on my lap. Since I don't need much mobility these days I bought an iMac 5k and it was a great decision. Best Mac I've ever owned. When I need to move I have an old 2014 13'' MBP lying around.

I’ve use Mac laptops as my primary work machine since the nineties. This year, with the MacBook Pro problems, and noticing that I was almost always working from my home office these days, I got a 5k iMac instead of a new laptop. I’m delighted with iMac. The monitor is amazing, and it has quite a bit more horsepower than a comparable Mac laptop.

I've been using Linux for 2 decades, and this year I moved to MacOS, with the newest MacBook and a 5K iMac. Everything pretty much just works, is much prettier by default than I ever got my Linux installations to be. Given my experiences, I have full trust that the MacOS engineers will do good stuff with Mojave too, at least eventually. I still like Desktop Linux, though, and sincerely wish it will be as good some day. It most definitely is not today.

Ah yes for those use cases it makes perfect sense. Apple excuse for stopping the big iMacs was that when you bundle up the display with the compute it makes it hard to upgrade and the whole thing become useless. But in reality it just looks like some bad "reasoning" to force people to spend more on a less elegant solution that probably won't get upgraded that much. At least an old school 5K iMac can have some secondary use case, like you demonstrated or even just to watch movies, do some light document editing and such. And you can convert them to displays if you really want, but that should have been a built-in functionnality in the first place. I guess this is why they still commend a relatively high-price, a good large display still has many uses even if the compute is weak. The studio display is kinda useless outside of Mac use, so even though it's great quality its really not a good deal. I really hope Apple finally release another big iMac because I won't get another Mac Mini or a Mac Studio. I like macOS (less so nowadays) but the whole point of the Mac was the integrated hardware for base/mid-range power. Their small desktop boxes that cannot take any upgrades are really pointless as a desktop because you end up with cable galore and not much space saved. This is so stupidly inelegant, I can feel Jobs rolling in his grave. They added front accessible ports, so that's something I guess, but come on, they stink of greed and profit maximisation at all costs...

I can't even name one other than an iMac that I would want to use. The whole reason to want to use the older 27" 5k iMac is that it's an incredible display. Better than you can buy, other than the 27" Apple Studio Display.