[scarface74]

And a fully deck out Mac Mini wouldn’t suit the needs of an average self employed developer?

What expansion do you need that you couldn’t do externally on an iMac if you have “modest means” and so assume modest requirements?

[_ph_]

A desktop graphics card, a larger desktop CPU. Expandable storage.

[BackBackBack]

Mac mini has no expansion and is very thermally constrained. If you are a web developer and never do anything else it might be fine, but there are many kinds of developers, and some need custom hardware, custom PCI cards, multiple network adapters, normal consumer grade GPUs not on an external bus. In short, not the most extreme processing power but customization options. To be able to change hardware without throwing away the whole machine.

Anyway, I love how Apple has convinced everybody that a ~$3000-$4000 machine cannot be pro and is not worthy of their engineering prowess because only modest, unsuccessful developers would spend such a small amount in a computer.

[scarface74]

So in your personal case - a $4000 iMac wouldn’t meet your needs? The performance difference between an external GPU would be a deal breaker?

[BackBackBack]

After this I’m not answering any more of your questions because you are clearly not reading my responses. But to others that might stumble upon this thread:

- I already have a monitor, 3 in fact. I do not need to pay for another, specially one that is glued to the cpu.

- The gpu is not the only hardware I listed.

- I do not want to cover my desk with external boxes and adapters, each requiring their own psu, that can only be used within 2ft, forcing them to be right next to the computer negating any “benefits” of taking them out of the machine in the first place for a desktop that never moves.

- I do not want to pay for the overhead an external box will bring, in money, noise, or in mess to my desk.

An iMac is a fine machine. It is not the machine for everyone.