Rob wants to replace his 5K iMac with a Windows desktop. He loves the hardware, but he's just not a fan of macOS. Leo says that if he wants flexibility with his hardware, then Windows is a far better option. Leo says that he doesn't have to get rid of the iMac if he likes that hardware, he can just run Windows on it through Boot Camp. He'll just need to buy a copy of Windows 10.
Steve has a 2009 iMac and he's been waiting to upgrade. Now he's ready to get a 27" model, but it says he can only upgrade RAM to 32GB with the midrange models. Steve has read that he can go up to 64GB and it will work. Jason says that the midrange can go up to 64GB, but the lower end is only up to 32GB from Apple. Third party RAMs chips are available, but Apple would rather he spend $200 more to get the next level iMac. He advises buying the iMac with the least amount of RAM available and then upgrade the RAM from a third party. OWC and Crucial are good places to get them.
Al's iMac is starting to act up and he's thinking of getting a Chromebook. Leo says that before he does, he should take the iMac into the Apple store or call Apple Care and see if there was a recall. Leo had the same problem and they fixed it for free.
Edward is thinking about buying a 27" iMac with a fusion drive because he hears it's faster. Leo says it is, but only faster than a spinning drive. It's not faster than a solid state drive. It made a lot of sense a few years ago, but now it really doesn't because SSDs have gone down in price.
If Edward needs a large drive, it's OK, but Fusion is only slightly faster than a spinning drive. It's better to get an SSD and then add an external drive via Thunderbolt. Leo doesn't care for Fusion technology. It really doesn't give the benefits they want people to think it does.
Alex would like to make a video of his daughter growing up using video and pictures. He was thinking about getting a Mac for it. Leo says Macs have a great video editing program called iMovie that comes with all models for free. Leo expects new desktops to come within the next month or so, but even if he didn't wait, he wouldn't be losing out on performance. Apple's iMac would be ideal, but it would cost him more. He could save some money and get a 21", but Leo recommends spending more and getting the 27" iMac. The larger screen really helps.
Jeff would like to know how to speed up his Mac. Leo says to try starting up the Mac in Safe Mode and then go into the System Preference pane to see what's starting up in the background. Jeff can also try zapping the PRAM (Command + Option + P + R). That can make it run faster. He should also browse his System Extensions folder.
Jeff should log into his unused Administrator account and see if it runs faster. If it does, then he'll know something is running in his account that's slowing it down.
Randy wants to buy a new, pre-5K 27" iMac for $1,000. Good deal? Leo says if it's a pre 5K it should have a pretty hefty discount, and Leo says that is a pretty good deal. So Leo recommends buying it. The processors aren't really that much better with the modern versions. The resolution on the screen is the major difference. He can save a lot of money going with the pre 5K model.
John is worried that Apple will be phasing out the iMac. Leo says not any time soon, though they seem to be more interested in consumer grade products like the iPhone and iPad. Leo does expect new iMacs next year. It won't be lightyears ahead of the current model, though, so he should just go ahead and buy the 5K model now.
Ted called in to address Elizabeth's iMac reboot issue. He says that Apple has made a change to the OS and it causes reboots because the RAM is third party. The thinking is that over time, the iMac will "kernal fault" due to a change in the voltage of the RAM.
Joe is looking to get a new iMac. Should he buy now? Leo says sure. Even though there's going to be new models announced in the fall, the talk on the street is that it will likely be laptops, like a new MacBook Pro.
