A workhorse with everything you need.

I have been a Mac guy for a while now. My earliest experiences with Apple computers was probably in my sophomore year of college when I was dabbling with the idea of going into multimedia production, music, graphics and web. At the time, the iMac G4 existed, but it didn't have the power we needed to run the apps required to complete our projects, so our school outfit the entire mixing lab with G4 towers (I think mirror doors at the time). These machines were great, but they had too many peripherals to go with them, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. It wasn't until the G5 iMac, and ultimately the Intel iMac, that I was truly sold. My memory eludes me now, but I want to say around 2006 I switched to iMac as my main platform for ALL my work, be it music or otherwise, and I haven't looked back once. Since that first G5, I have had 5 iMacs, AND plan to get a new one in the next few months. As long as you max these babies out when you purchase them, they are VERY comparable machines and can take a beating year after year after year. I'm currently writing this on a late 2013 iMac, that is STILL my main machine for every single project I take on. Being as I have gotten more into 3D work lately (remember that multimedia comment earlier, SMH) the resources I need to complete jobs in a timely manner does require me to get a new machine, but if I was strictly doing audio work, this thing would still be perfect for the job. I have entertained the idea of getting and iMac Pro, but since the recent updates to the iMac 27" product line, I think I'm going to stick with what I know best. 5 out of 5. - JF

Amazing!

I just got it 2 days ago and so far everything works great! The pixels on the screen are wow, what a difference from the pc I use at home for work. Came with wireless keyboard and mouse as well as instructions to sync them with the iMac. You will need to buy batteries AA for the mouse and keyboard to do the installation/syncing if they are wireless. This iMac is fast, lovely looking, almost as new, I am in love so far. Mine came with a small dent in the front but nothing major and it looks as if it was new. Mouse looks used, has a few scratches but nothing out of the ordinary. Keyboard looks almost new. Well packaged and signature was require upon delivery which is great so that way package won’t get lost. I downloaded my info from icloud and it was fast and easy. Customer service answers quickly and I know because before buying the imac i was emailing them with some questions and answers were prompt. This is all I can say for now, let me keep using it and we will see. I hope it last a long time because I love it! Dent shown on pic so you could see is nothing major. We need to understand it is refurbished and not new. It won’t be perfect on the outside. If amazon lets me, I will keep you updated with reviews as I keep using it.

Base Model Does Its Job

It handled its job fairly well for the workload I have a 2014 model. But, I would suggest for music and if you have multiple tasks going on the go with 27in, 8 i9 core, 32GB, and 1-2TB of SSD for down the road. You can also expand memory. I got it more to work with school and garageband. If you upgrade to Logic Pro or ProTools then dont get a base model even if you dont use tons of tracks you may go plugin crazy that will pull it down. Lucky the newer models are stronger and faster.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Holy Grail

I've wanted an iMac for quite some time, and I finally received one as a gift from my wife for Father's Day this year. I absolutely love it. I know there are better computers out there for music production, but so many of my devices are Apple, so it only made sense for me to have this one. If you're familiar with Mac OS then you already know the ease of use of these machines.

Great machine, but back up your HD at all costs!

Great machine, excellent processing ability. Make sure to back up on at least three different mediums though, our hard drive had a melt down and needed to be replaced. Definitely utilize Backblaze (or cloud backup), external hard drives, dropbox and time machine. It cost $2k to recover all of our data. Apple made us pay $500 non-refundable to have the HD back to recover it from a third-party. If you need to recover, we definitely can recommend Secure Data Recovery.

Make sure to use an external HD for all of your samples, and run the software on the machine. Even though we were already doing this, it still crashed on us. Mac Pro will be the next computer for us, and hopefully better luck. We actually have two iMacs - one from 2013, and one from 2014. We use the new one for video work, and it has a Fusion Drive, which seems to correct the HD from having the archaic meltdown in the first place. Definitely spend the extra money for the Fusion Drive. Aloha!

The perfect studio centerpiece with power and design

The center of my studio. Love the huge glossy display, minimal design, plenty of power. I doubled the ram in it, and have never had performance issues. My DAW is Logic Pro 9. I've thought about a Mac Pro instead, but there's really no need!

Excellent computer for recording and production.

I use Studio One 3.0 and Logic Pro X on my iMac and after switching from analog recording to using a computer for just about everything, I have to say, I love it. I have everything Apple, I currently use an Iphone 6, iPad, iMac, and I still have a few iPods as well. I love these guys, and for art and music these computers are some of the best.

Trusty and Efficient

I use this as my main workstation for my home studio, gets the job done pretty efficiently and able to run everything pretty well. It's definitely over priced for a desktop, considering you could most likely build a PC with the exact same specs for way less, however seeing as I am a Mac user, this would be more suitable for me. Also, a PC is unable to run Logic.

got my new mac from Best Buy

sitting in my home studio right now. it is sleek and very clean looking! the most premium desktop computer available. would have to say its perfect for any dj/music producer looking for a high resolution screen to produce music on! it just looks so amazing sitting in my studio and does not take up a lot of space! every mp/dj should have an iMac sitting in their studio. if u have the room i suggest going with the 27 inch iMac but if u don't have enough space just grab the 21.5 like i did. it is still perfect and high quality!

This is a necessity!

My one is a late 2013 iMac but it gets the job done and I don't have any problems with it in the slightest. It runs both my Music DAW's with no hassle and it is still a very powerful computer even in 2019