You’re staring at a listing for a used iMac 27 inch 2017 and wondering if it’s a steal or just a high-resolution paperweight. It’s a fair question. Back in the day, this machine was the king of the creative studio, boasting that massive 5K display that made everything else look like pixelated mush. But technology moves fast, and Apple’s transition to its own silicon has left a lot of Intel-based Macs feeling like relics.
Honestly? It's complicated.
The 2017 model, internally known as iMac18,3, represents a specific era of Apple design where the hardware was peak Intel, but the thermal limitations were starting to show their teeth. It’s the machine that brought us the first real taste of desktop-class Kaby Lake processors and bumped the graphics to something actually respectable for video editors. But if you buy one today, you aren't just buying a computer; you're buying a very specific set of trade-offs.
The 5K Display is Still the Star of the Show
Let's talk about the screen first because that’s why anyone even considers an iMac 27 inch 2017 in the first place. This is a Retina 5K display with a resolution of 5120 x 2880. It hits 500 nits of brightness and supports the P3 wide color gamut. Even in 2026, finding a standalone 5K monitor with these specs will easily set you back $1,000 or more.
When you buy this iMac used, you’re basically getting a professional-grade monitor with a computer accidentally attached to the back of it.
The colors are deep. The text is incredibly sharp. If you’re a photographer or someone who spends eight hours a day staring at spreadsheets, your eyes will thank you. However, there’s a catch that most sellers won't mention. These LG-manufactured panels from the 2017 era are notorious for "ghosting" or image persistence around the edges. If you leave a window open for too long, you might see a faint shadow of it after you close it. It’s not a dealbreaker for most, but it’s something to check before you hand over the cash.
Why the Fusion Drive is Your Worst Enemy
If you find a "good deal" on an iMac 27 inch 2017, check the storage immediately. Apple was still pushing the Fusion Drive back then. It was a clever idea on paper—pair a small SSD with a massive spinning hard drive to give you speed and capacity.
In reality, it’s a bottleneck.
A 2017 iMac running a Fusion Drive feels sluggish. Apps bounce in the dock. Boot times are long. If you're planning on doing modern creative work, a spinning platter drive is like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops. If the unit you're looking at has a pure SSD, grab it. If it has a Fusion Drive, you’ll either need to crack the case open—which is a nightmare involving adhesive strips and steady hands—or run your entire operating system off an external USB-C SSD. Most people choose the external route. It’s easier. It’s safer. It just works.
Performance: Kaby Lake and the Thermal Wall
Under the hood, you’re looking at 7th-generation Intel processors. The base model came with a Quad-core i5, but the top-tier build featured the Core i7-7700K.
Now, "K" usually means overclockable, but not in an iMac.
Apple’s thin chassis is beautiful, but it’s not great at moving heat. When you push that i7 during a 4K video export, the fans kick in hard. It sounds like a small jet taking off on your desk. The performance is still "fine" for 1080p editing or heavy office work, but compared to an M1 or M2 chip, it gets smoked.
One area where the iMac 27 inch 2017 actually beats modern Macs? RAM. This was one of the last iMacs with a user-accessible RAM door on the back. You don’t need tools. You just pop the door and slide in more sticks. You can cheap out on the base 8GB model and upgrade it to 64GB of DDR4 RAM for a fraction of what Apple would have charged you. For memory-intensive tasks like running virtual machines or massive Chrome sessions, this is a huge win.
The Software Ceiling is Real
Here is the bitter pill: macOS support. As of now, the 2017 iMac has been dropped from the latest official macOS updates. It officially tops out at macOS Ventura.
While Ventura is still perfectly usable and will get security patches for a while, you’re officially on the "legacy" list. You won’t get the latest shiny features. Some newer versions of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Creative Cloud might eventually stop supporting it.
There are workarounds, of course. The OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) community is incredible. They’ve figured out how to get newer versions of macOS running on this hardware. It works surprisingly well, but it’s not "official," and it requires a bit of technical bravery. If you aren't comfortable tinkering with bootloaders, you have to accept that this machine is nearing the end of its software life.
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Real World Usage: What Can It Actually Do?
I’ve seen people use these as dedicated Zoom stations or secondary monitors. Because the webcam is a measly 720p, it’s not great, but it’s functional. The speakers, however, are surprisingly loud and full.
For a student, it’s a dream machine for writing papers and watching Netflix. For a pro, it's a budget-friendly way to get a 5K workspace.
- Video Editing: 1080p is buttery smooth. 4K is doable if you use proxies in Premiere or Final Cut.
- Photo Editing: Excellent. Lightroom runs well, though library scrolling can stutter if you don't have an SSD.
- Gaming: Don't bother. The Radeon Pro 570/575/580 graphics cards were decent for 2017, but they struggle with modern titles at the native 5K resolution. You'd have to drop the resolution to 1080p, and even then, it's not a great experience.
- Office Work: Complete overkill, which makes it feel very luxurious.
Connectivity and Ports
One thing Apple got right in 2017 was the port selection. You get:
- Four USB-A ports (the rectangular ones).
- Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.
- An SDXC card slot.
- Ethernet.
- A headphone jack.
You don't need a forest of dongles to plug in a mouse or an old hard drive. The Thunderbolt 3 ports are the real MVP here because they allow you to connect fast external storage or even a second 5K display if you’re feeling truly wild.
What to Look for When Buying Used
If you're scouring eBay or Facebook Marketplace, you need to be picky. Ask the seller for a screenshot of the "About This Mac" screen.
Look for the Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB of VRAM if you can find it; it’s significantly better than the base 570. Avoid the 21.5-inch model at all costs—it's harder to upgrade and lacks the screen real estate that makes the 27-inch version special.
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Check for "pink tinging" on the edges of the screen. It's a common sign of an aging panel. Also, ask if the internal drive has been replaced with an SSD. If it hasn't, factor in the cost of a Samsung T7 or similar external drive to use as your boot disk.
Actionable Steps for New Owners
If you just picked one up, don't just plug it in and go.
First, upgrade the RAM. Don't pay for "Mac-certified" RAM; standard DDR4 2400MHz SO-DIMMs will work perfectly. Aim for at least 24GB or 32GB to give the system some breathing room.
Second, if you're stuck with a slow internal drive, buy a NVMe external SSD and a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure. Install macOS directly onto that external drive. Your "old" Mac will suddenly feel five times faster.
Third, get a can of compressed air. Dust accumulates in the bottom intake vents over years of use, which leads to thermal throttling. A quick blast can help keep those temperatures down and the fan noise at a minimum.
Finally, consider the OpenCore Legacy Patcher if you find yourself needing features from newer macOS versions. It’s a bit of a rabbit hole, but it breathes entirely new life into the iMac 27 inch 2017, making it feel like a much newer machine than the calendar suggests.