Holiday 2012 iMac Buyer’s Guide

Mac laptops are more popular these days, and the iPad’s been stealing the show since it came out in 2010. There’s something to be said for an enormous, widescreen desktop computer, though, especially when it’s as elegant as the iMac. And when Apple unveiled the new iPad Mini at its October event, it also updated its desktop Mac lineup.

Thinking of getting an iMac for the holidays? Here’s what you need to know.

The screen comes in “medium” and “large”

The smallest screen option on the new iMac is 21.5 inches, which is roughly the size of a downscale HDTV but features 1080p resolution. This model starts at $1,299, while the larger, 27-inch iMac starts at $1,799. Its screen packs in more pixels, so you get more room for your desktop and apps, not just a bigger view of the same real estate.

You can choose between storage and speed

All of the new iMac models come with a 1 TB hard drive by default. Both models of 21.5-inch iMac have a laptop-speed, 5400 RPM drive, while the 27-inch iMac comes with a faster, 7,200 RPM drive by default. Neither kind of hard drive is particularly fast, though, especially compared to the iPad’s flash memory.

Need more speed? The 27-inch iMac lets you swap out its hard drive for a solid state drive (SSD). These are hundreds of dollars more expensive, and have much less storage space for more money. They’re extremely fast, though, and make loading files and apps much quicker than even on a computer with a faster processor.

Fusion Drive offers the best of both worlds

If you’re having trouble deciding between storage and speed, the 27-inch iMac (and the deluxe $1,499 21.5 inch iMac) lets you choose the Fusion Drive option, which pairs a smaller SSD with a 1 TB hard drive. (The 27-inch iMac has up to a 3 TB hard drive or Fusion Drive.) This costs $250 more on the Mac Mini, which also offers Fusion Drive — detailed pricing on the iMac option isn’t available yet. But it automatically keeps your most-used stuff on the faster drive, while still giving you plenty of storage space.

Need gaming or video editing performance?

For most people, Fusion Drive or an SSD will speed up what they do most with their computers. If you need gaming or graphics performance, however, like for editing photos or videos, you may need the more powerful processor and graphics options. Keep in mind that, like with an Apple laptop, it’ll be hard (if not impossible) to upgrade your iMac after you get it, so make sure that it has the performance you need right away.

What apps and peripherals do you need?

Each iMac comes with the iLife suite, for digital photo and video editing and music composition. If you’re a creative professional, you already know which other apps you need. Most people who don’t use their computers to make a living lean towards Photoshop and Microsoft Office for common tasks, but also worth considering are the Acorn image editor ($49) and Apple’s iWork suite ($19 per app). The free Seashore image editor and Bean word processor may also do the trick for lightweight use.

As for external peripherals, the new iMac does not come with a DVD burner. Evidently, it’s too slim to pack one inside. If you think you can do without one, that’s fine. But an external drive may be worth picking up otherwise, and it’ll probably be cheaper if you don’t buy it from Apple. Besides that, make sure that you have an external hard drive big enough to backup everything from your new iMac, unless you particularly like losing projects and memories to hardware failure.