Intel Mac - Buy now?

Currently have a 2013 27" iMac and a 2019 13" MacBookPro - basic spec bought when I went to the UK last year.

I have a few Windows apps I need to run on Parallels so will need to keep an Intel machine for the foreseeable future…

The iMac won’t run Big Sur so I’m wondering;

  • Get a new iMac 2020 27" now ands keep 7 years like the last one
  • Wait and see what comes while using the MBP mostly - it’s Intel but fairly low spec for Parallels (haven’t tried it yet)

I’m thinking of getting the iMac, but how I wonder how long Apple will keep releasing OS updates for it - don’t want to find MacOS 2022 is Apple Silicon only :frowning:

Too many decision

Oh and if someone knows of a great finance app that’s MacOS based AND caters for Australian users - would be happy to ditch Quicken. That would be one less app

Regards,
Brian

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I think the 2020 iMac was released for people in your exact situation. I’m sure it’ll be supported for years—after all, they might as well as long as they’re supporting the $50k Mac Pros. :wink:

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True - how long was the PowerPC architecture supported for?

It honestly didn’t seem that long - fog of memory?

If there was a guarantee that there was going to be an Arm version of windows and if your windows apps have arm versions then I might wait.

As it stands and if you need parallels I’d stick with intel.

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1st Intel Mac - early 2006
1st non-PowerPC OSX - Snow Leopard, 2009
1st OSX without Rosetta - Lion, 2011

So - if you installed Leopard (2008) and ran with it until it was out fo support, you’d have been OK with a PowerPC Mac until 2011.

So 5 years - not too bad

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Perhaps contraverisally, I’ll be running the new Mac Mini, but will have a Windows machine machine setup on my desk as well - an Asus PN50. Accessing the machine via Remote Desktop (on iPad with Jump Desktop) currently is like I’m using it natively. Some added outlay perhaps in terms of cost for the Windows machine, but it’s handy for other reasons and always nice to have a spare machine.

As to your finance software, I use GNUCash - perhaps more Linux friendly/orientated than Mac, but it’s powerful and works. I’ve also used Moneywiz in the past and found it to be very good. However, I also use YNAB online (though UK based, and the auto import functions of YNAB don’t work with UK banks)

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I’ve discovered Banktivity which used to be iBank and it seems to now cover Australian banks and shares. I’ve exported data from Quicken in QIF format and imported in to Banktivity which seems to work well so I stil have a decade or more of data :slight_smile:

Anyone else used it? Happy to pay (its less than Quicken too!) if its good and gets regular updates

Brian

I ´ve used it for a year (Banktivity 7). It´s a decent app, but from my experience (and from what I ´ve read from other users), app development is quite slow, as far as bug fixing and feature improvement is concerned.

With the release of Mac OS Big Sur the developer decided not to support this version anymore (Banktivity 7), launching a new one (Banktivity 8), which is payed by a subscription.

I don´t feel tempted to pay a subscription for an app which suddenly becomes unsupported and whose developer doesn´t have a reputation for improving it.

But who knows? Maybe it´ ll start getting more frequent updates and blossom :slight_smile:

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I too have been using Banktivity 7 for a little over a year. My needs are relatively simple and I have been pleased with the product. With that said, it is not worth $80/year and I will not be upgrading to B8. Upon reading about B8 moving to a subscription, I exported all my accounts to CSV and will do this monthly as long as I continue to use the software.

I’ve used several personal finance programs in the past 30+ years (CheckFree, MS Money, Quicken, GNUCash, MoneyDance, etc.) and will be ready to replace Banktivity 7 when that becomes necessary. My primary computer is an iPad, so I guess it’s time for me to look at online options.

My bank, like many today, offers the ability to track multiple checking and credit card accounts. I think I may start there.

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I ´ve also tried and used several financial apps. Although my needs are fairly modest (I just want a relatively bugless app for envelop budgeting, that runs locally on my hardware), it´s been hard to find a good replacement for my beloved YNAB 4. This app was regularly maintained throughout several years, but met her demise with the end of 32–bit support in MacOS Catalina.

Since then I´ve tried several others (Actual budget, Banktivity 7, Budget with buckets, Finances 2, Debit and credit), but it´s hard to find a good budgeting app that runs in your own hardware and offline, is reasonably priced and is actively maintained.

I ´ll also stick to using Banktivity 7 for the time being, since it still works in MacOS Big Sur. I ´ve also began trying out MoneyWiz2020. Although it´s subscription app, it´s more reasonably priced and seems to offer what I need.

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If MoneyWiz2020 doesn’t work out give MoneyDance a look. It been around for 23 years and would be the first one I’d re-evaluate if I was looking for a Mac program.

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I’ve been using “Reckon Personal” which is the Australian-ified (is that a word?) version of Quicken for over a decade. It’s Windows only and looks like an early 2000s app despite being “updated” every year, really it’s only the basic and a subscription for share price updates for 12 months. It’s a lot more than then subscription to Banktivity.

I looked at iBank years ago, impressed that the direct access works for a host of Aussie banks now although it doesn’t update Australian share prices yet - blog post says “coming”…

Given it’s significantly cheaper than Reckon, one less reason to use Windows and is Mac native I’ll run a trial of it for a month alongside Reckon until I need to decide.

Just had a quick look at MoneyWiz2020 - looks good. I’m happy to pay a reasonable subscription for regular updates (the cost of managing your tax records is deductible here :wink: ) - provided it interfaces to Australian banks, imports .QIF from Quicken and handles shares it should be good.

I’m mainly interested from a record keeping and planning point of view rather than some of the ‘game-ified’ budgets apps “you spent $100 this week on beer” etc

Happy to see more options - when I first went Mac there was’t a lot.

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