Why I Won’t Buy An iMac

Dave (owner of PCMech) owns three Mac computers. He has a Mac mini, a 15-inch Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro tower. They are all good machines with the best obviously being the Mac Pro.

There was a brief period of time when he was considering getting an iMac but decided on the Pro instead – and I wholly agree with that decision because the Pro is a true tower.

The iMac is not a bad machine by any means but those “all-in-one” computers really rub me the wrong way.

Having an iMac is like having the best parts of a laptop but put it in desktop form making it completely non-portable. This makes no sense to me whatsoever. And even Dave longs for a Mac mid-tower above the iMac but below the Mac Pro level. Unfortunately none exist.

When an iMac has problems (and trust me, Macs can and do have problems), you basically have no way of fixing it yourself without going thru a nightmare of a ba-zillion tiny screws and tiny ribbon connectors.

If you don’t believe me, watch this video of a Mac tech replacing a power supply on a 24-inch iMac.

Does any of that look easy to you? And bear in mind this is just for a power supply and nothing else.

This is why I won’t buy an iMac. It takes way too much effort to replace simple parts on the inside.

Now here’s the rub: On a Mac Pro tower, this stuff is so easy to locate and replace it’s not even funny. For those that have ever worked inside a Mac Pro tower, you know it’s the essence of simplicity. The guts of an iMac is anything but that.

This is why towers, be they regular PCs or Mac PCs, rule the roost. I won’t use anything else. If it takes as long as shown above just to replace a PSU on an all-in-one, no thanks.

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Dan Collier
I wish you had posted this about six months ago. I chose the iMac over the PRO & have regretted it ever since. I chose it because it was cheaper than a PRO of comparable power & performance, but am very sorry that I can’t get inside & change things as I could with my PC, & am also sorry that there are no free bays or slots to add anything. I would send it back if I could.
http://imwithjoe.com JK Swopes
Good stuff man. I’ve never had to repair a mac, but plenty of pc’s and the all in ones are definitely a pain in the butt. I’d imagine this is amplified working on an all in one mac.
I’ve heard how easy it is on the mac pro towers, everything just has it’s spot.
That video just makes my head hurt with all the little screws you have to remove just to get the dang thing open!
Allyn Rountree
I can’t see myself buying a Mac period. Those commercials haven’t fazed me. The last time I used an Apple machine was an old Macintosh from the early 1990′s.
http://geekadviser.com Walter
I think Macs are good for certain things like photography, and video. I have been using pc’s for years and I can see myself playing with a Mac, but not using one for my production machine. I’m a PC.
Jeff Gooch
Curious to see how long it would take to replace the PSU on a Dell AIO……
http://budgetingadvice.com/ Jody Palmer Model
I am planning to buy one also. Thanks for sharing these information now I know which one to buy.
dfroelicher
Yeah but think how long does it take to replace a power supply on a tower with all the cables you have to re-run and zip tie in place. I mean the power supply is one of the tricky things on either machine, just about the only things that dont take about ten minutes are the memory, video card, or slot cards. Even those are at least five, with the exception being the memory only because there are no screws holding the actual part down.
Devil’s Advocate
So far, the discussion was centered on Techie preferences, but there are two good reasons for anyone else to own an iMac -
1) No technical inclination to change the configuration since it works well out of the box.
2) Most people should buy the 3yr warranty (because nothing is infallible) AND so they don’t have to do the fixin themselves.
So, Techie preferences aside, the iMac appeals to those who prefer convenience over tinkering. Fewer cables/connections, cleaner look, easier portability/configurations… I have a MacBook Pro for similar reasons (plus mobility), but for those who need a desktop and a laptop, the iMac/MacBook option works well.
It’s also worth mentioning, it’s job security for the iMac Tech – they’re paid to work whether they’re turning screws or putting in memory cards, so “easy” isn’t the primary consideration when building convenience for the customer.