compare current imac specs with refurbished imac

current:



refurbished:

The most important thing you need to know about iMac's is the year. After about 5 Years you can't upgrade to the current OSx version, that means it will be more or less obsolete after that. So with a 2015 year iMac I don't think it is worth looking at refurbishing or upgrading it. Those things just have a very limited lifespan, so it is better to avoid Apple stuff.

Is it an upgrade?

The CPU is better, it has more RAM. But that isn't the point. If it is an iMac 2015, it is as obsolete as your current iMac 2015.

Thanks for the answer to the question posed.

The refurbished computer is a late 2013 21.5" iMac according to Apple's webpage on older models. It is older than your current computer. I wouldn't call it an upgrade.

Macs hold their value much better than Windows boxes. For reference purposes, take a look at the refurbished computers being sold by a Mac-centric dealer I've purchased from for many years. Because they sell upgrades, their refurbishing goes beyond the typical "blow the dust out and make sure it boots" products offered elsewhere.

OK.  So what do you think of this imac to replace mine?  It is an i3 processor not i5.  Is it an upgrade becuase of the year?

Looks like I can go to i5 for $90

Sorry, I more question. Is going from 8GB to 16GB give better performance if I stay with i3, or does going with i5 and sticking to 8GB give better performance?

"Macs hold their value much better than Windows boxes."

No, they don't. As I mentioned earlier, after 5 Years you can forget upgrading the OS. That makes them obsolete. With Windoze you can keep on using Windoze 10 until 2025, & I haven't seen any older PC not being able to upgrade to the newest version. Of course that is a different story with Windoze 11...

But you can still keep on using a "Windoze" PC after that, just install a Linux Distro.

More RAM generally is more important than the CPU. But it also depends on what you use your PC for. Core i7's normally have more cores, & hyperthreading, along with greater speeds, while the lower end models have lees cores, some don't have hyperthreading, & they run at lower speeds.

Now it depends mainly on your OS & Software, whether it can take advantage of your CPU.

It probably depends what software you want to run, whether it is better to invest in CPU or RAM. I was always more comfortable buying a computer with upgraded RAM and SSD hard drive but base CPU and graphics chip, though I can understand how a gamer might feel otherwise.

My newest Mac is a 2016 MacBook Pro (15"). As an Excel power user, that box works good enough. I'll replace it with a laptop using an Apple M series CPU whenever Apple decides my old computer can't run the latest O/S. 

My two iMacs are late-2015 (runs latest O/S) and mid-2011 (runs O/S High Sierra, the most recent it supports). The newer one runs Adobe Creative Suite while the older one is used for programming, a crypto side hustle and a web business.

It's a good thing I'm not needing to replace them every five years.

@Rindi - You are saying you cannot upgrade a Mac after 5 years? Where do you get your information from? It is ok to express your preference for one OS or another but please do not tell things that are not true. I'm using a MacBook from early 2015 that can still be upgraded to the latest version of Monterey, the current MacOS release, that is 7 years. I'm estimating I can use it for at least another year with Monterey and after that the OS would still get security patches. See this document: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212551 - it mentions several 2015 models, and even a 2014 and 2013 model.

Sorry, I more question. Is going from 8GB to 16GB give better performance if I stay with i3, or does going with i5 and sticking to 8GB give better performance? 

You really need to get 16 GB on Intel Macs for anything that uses Monterey (OS X 10.9) or newer if you plan on opening more than a few tabs at a time and not want your system to swap to disk, which slows the system down.  Yes, SSDs are faster than HDs, but it's still slower than RAM.

I like both macs and windows pc’s for different reasons. Two pieces of advice. First, go with a machine that has an ssd drive. It will make a bigger difference in how you perceive speed than 8 vs 16 gigs of ram. It is mostly on start up but also some programs including your browser. This is my own personal experience. If you are using video editing tools, that is when16 gigs of ram makes a difference. Second, look at the new M1 macs. For just a few hundred more, you have a new machine.

OK. Not sure if I can go with a refurb.  Is there NEW imac (or mac mini...I could do that as well) that is under $1000 that would be better performance than my current 2015 imac?  Any suggestions?

A Mac Mini with M1 CPU would run much faster than your old iMac. They start at $699 new. 

The MacBook Air is $1000, mini starts at $700 and imac $1300.  Check out apple.com for the specs and options. If you know you will only use as a desktop and don’t need a camera, mini is a good option. I would go either the air for the price point.

After about 5 Years you can't upgrade to the current OSx version,

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624
5 years after Apple stops distributing a model for sale, Apple considers them Vintage.  7 years after the end of product distribution, Apple considers them obsolete.  End of distribution can be a few years after date of first release, which means Apple will support products beyond 5 years, you just won't be covered by AppleCare.

Anyone still using an obsolete/EoL system no matter what environment is inviting trouble, unless you're "expert" enough to understand and mitigate risks.  Just don't be recommending that to any regular user, they're going to be hacked no matter the platform.  I was playing on a G4 iMac 2003 (the Luxo Lamp model) that I found in someone's storage a month ago, and all the old software was working fine.  I could still still get on the internet, but it's not something you should ever leave connected continuously or use on a regular basis.  You're going to get hacked.  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212551 You can install Monterey on a 2013 Mac Pro, a product first released/produced nearly 9 years ago, but continued being distributed for a nearly 4 years after the initial release date.  Most of the others are 2015, so almost 7 years old, not 5, meaning they were in distribution for almost 2 years before the next model came out.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683 Apple still provides OS X Yosemite (10.10) through Monterey (12) for users to download and install, so you can still update an obsolete Mac to one of the previous versions.  If you still need 32 bit apps, just get Mojave, don't go to Catalina.  Mojave is also more "Stable" than High Sierra.

My rule of thumb is that even number major versions are "stable" release updates 10.12.x,10.14.x, 12.x.  Odd numbers are feature releases 10.13.x, 10.15.x, 11.x.  I wait until minor version point 1 for "stable" releases.  I wait until Minor version point 3 for feature releases, when setting things up for production environments.  If you have spare systems and want to get them before that, then it's fine to play with them on a few systems for testing.  Following this rule of thumb reduced general system and user issues.  I'll roll them out earlier if something useful comes along that I needed sooner or if something was fixed.  Just don't go for that minor version point 0 for full production use.  Beta testers are a small, self-selected pool of people that won't be able to test/encounter/review everything before the point 0 release..  El capitan 10.11 was an Outlier and was decently good enough that I just rolled it out before the 10.11.3 version.