I have much the same use case. After iMac internals failed I moved on to MacMini. Have bumped
it up to max Ram and SSD after one of the 1-T HD failed.
My current moniter is bigger than iMac and at 32" is about as big
as I can fit on my desk. Would love to be able to up my current i7 chip to the latest level and keep
it going.
I admit at my age I am a desktop generation. I carry my iPad everyday when not in office.
I tried living with just the iPad when dealing with the HD failure. I COULD do it. I preferred
not. I have been spoiled to the big screen. Yes, there is airplay...that may be my solution
if current mini has catastrophic failure or cannot buy new. Unfortunately the upgrade path
for internals is getting almost impossible with their newer designs
February 2017