Buy now or wait for the 2017 release.

[JoRai]

I was looking at upgrading my 27' iMac. I have the mid 2011 model, with 32 GB Ram. My question is do you suggest waiting it out and buy the future 2017 model that is  (hopefully) coming out some time soon, maybe March prob more like Oct time. Or just bite the bullet and buy the 2015 one now? 

My iMac is working ok, just getting a lot of beach balls.

TIA

[Brian]

I would hold for now. Apple has been pre-occupied with getting its iPad line stable and manufactures like Intel haven't given Apple the latest and greatest stuff. iMacs have been flat technology-wise these last few years, and the only #amazeballz update is the new MBP with the touch bar thingy. 

Apple usually does upgrades to their iMac line in the spring, around April-ish. Waiting a few more months won't kill you. 

As for the beach balls...

How full are your HDs? How much crap do you have on the desktop. Do you own and use CleanMyMac from MacPaw to keep things from getting gunned up? What MacOS are you running? 

[JoRai]

Thats what I was thinking. Hope they release something amazing!!

As for the Ball. Running Sierra.

Have 562GB left on my internal, and am running 2 externals: One 4TB with 62GB left and One 2TB with 1 TB left.

Could be have too much on my desktop, looking at cleaning that up today. 

And no I don't have cleanmymac, maybe I should invest in it. 

Thanks for the advice and wisdom.

 

 

[Brian]

I use CleanMyMac weekly. You should be able to find a coupon code online. It's worth the money. You can download it and have it do a scan, but in order for it to delete stuff, you have to pay for it.

Just buy it.

I found a coupon code: SPECIAL20.

Hopefully it will work for 20% off.

23 hours ago, JoRai said:

One 4TB with 62GB

That's not good. I'm sure it's just data files, but you are in dangerous territory with that drive. Macs treat ALL hard drives as if they were like the Internal HD. You really don't want to go above 75% full on ANY Hard Drive for two reasons:

1. Performance takes a hit and the spinning ball becomes more frequent
2. HDs that are above 95% full can become corrupted without any warning.

I would eject that 4TB HD and see if your performance improves. Oh, completely clean off your desktop. No files or folders. The only thing that should be on your desktop are the HD icons, and things called "Aliases," which is Mac-Speak for Shortcut. The reason is the MacOS treats all those files stored on your desktop as open files. So those 1000 images of the Smith-Jones wedding that are on the desktop are 1000 images that are considered to be "Open" and are utilizing resources.

THE FASTEST WAY to improve performance and stability on a Mac is to clean off the desktop. You don't need any fancy software, and it's easy to do. What I do, is create a folder inside the Macintosh HD called, "Desktop Stuff" or "Junk Drawer." Then I right-click and choose "Make Alias," then drag the Alias to the Desktop. Then all you do is drag the stuff on the desktop to the Alias Icon and it puts it in either the Junk Drawer Folder or Desktop Stuff. This is how clean it should be, and I actually have a couple of icons more than I should:

[JoRai]

Just want to amend my typo It should have said 622GB NOT 62. But as you stated thats still more then 75% full. I will have to decide if I want to separate the stuff on there to another HD. 

I have cleaned up my desktop as you suggested, Love the shortcut idea THANK YOU.

And am on the way to buy the Cleanmymac now... What external HD would you suggest I get if I plan on up grading the 1TB one and plan on the iMac update in 2017,  would you wait to see what the new iMac holds in new tech specs?

here is a link to the 4TB HD I have now, the 1TB is the same type just smaller

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZTRXFBA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Brian]

Personally, I like G-Drives myself. They are a little on the pricey side, as I tend to avoid the "$79 Special" at a big box store, but that's just me. Here is the drive that I have, as pictured on the left in my photo. Since I have a 2009 iMac, I only have a FireWire 800 Port and not a Thunderbolt Port. If I were to buy a drive today, I'd get a Thunderbolt Version.

[Brian]

Some info on the 2017 Spring releases. USB-C look like it will make its way to the iMac line. http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/20/usb-c-imac-touch-bar-magic-keyboard/

[JoRai]

I am really really hoping for something amazing, but looks like I will be out of luck...

[Brian]

I don't think it will be anything amazing, just a natural progression technology-wise. USB-C & Thunderbolt 3, maybe a Bluetooth Keyboard with a touch-bar (sold separately of course,) though I wouldn't hold your breath. Different video card with more video RAM, maybe the RAM will increase to 64GB max, another don't hold your breath thing, Maybe a larger Fusion Drive, such as a 4TB model  

The removal of the DVD drive and then the 5000k screen was the last two big "Things." 

Still it's worth waiting a few months, just to see. 

[Brian]

Even the very expensive Mac Pro is getting long in the tooth, again.