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Thoughts on iMac Display
- Thread starter ahbdesign
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I'm sure the screen on the new iMac when compared to any retina screen is going to be a let down. They don't have the same resolution. Period.
Anyone expecting the new iMac to look as good as a retina screen is fooling themselves.
I knew this going into the purchase, it had no sway on my decision.
Anyone expecting the new iMac to look as good as a retina screen is fooling themselves.
I knew this going into the purchase, it had no sway on my decision.
Well I wouldn't go that far. The mini's text display is fairly obnoxious once exposed to a Retina iPad.
I have a new 21" which sits next to a mini display port Apple Cinema Display. The two are on par. For 2012, not great, but not horrible. Certainly I've seen worse monitors at Best Buy. But it does illuminate that Retina has amped up consumer expectations of display quality. What use to be regarded as fantastic is now only mediocre. Problem is manufacturing capability lags to satisfy us.
Yep, retina is totally superior when working with text. Even if you sit far away from a "normal" iMac screen, you can still see the blurry edges of letters.
However, I still think the 27'' iMac screen is pretty awesome. But think of how demanding the retina 15'' screen is on the graphics card, and then imagine going 27''... Again, I just don't see it happen in the near future... But, then again, what do I know..
However, I still think the 27'' iMac screen is pretty awesome. But think of how demanding the retina 15'' screen is on the graphics card, and then imagine going 27''... Again, I just don't see it happen in the near future... But, then again, what do I know..
Maybe some things, when done right, just don't warrant any commentary.
...which, methinks, is the underlying Apple axiom: the best user experience is one which isn't noticed at all.
True.
While two opinions don't make up a majority user experience, the person standing next to me, holding his iPad Mini up to the new iMacs, made the same observation as I did
Which makes me wonder who is manufacturing the 27" displays
Just get a Air and an external display
Korean 27" IPS LED Monitor around $400(same basic panel as the iMacs I believe)
Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - $100
13" Air 8gb - Around $1300
Total - $1,800. This gives you both laptop and a 27" IPS display with resolution of 2560 x 1440.
Thanks for the info buddy! That said, I am really sorry to hear you can't see much of an improvement... I expected the improvement to be quite obvious....
Well, that's a positive way to look at it,
. I hope that's the case, because I am in the market for one (and I've been for a long time, ever since they messed up the imac by slapping this untreated mirror glass on top of the display... I was just thinking some people would echo the sentiments of the reviews (not the suck ups on the verge of course, but the more objective reviews out there), a lot of which were really impressed with the screen, engadget comes to mind who called it the no. 1 reason to buy this mac.We're on an enthusiast site, if the screen was THAT much better, there would be threads popping up. That said, it's not like its worse than the previous generation. It's just not a crazy improvement like some sites have reported (I think it was the verge that said it looked like images were sitting on the top the glass ). I was definitely hoping it was true...
). I was definitely hoping it was true...We're on an enthusiast site, if the screen was THAT much better, there would be threads popping up. That said, it's not like its worse than the previous generation. It's just not a crazy improvement like some sites have reported (I think it was the verge that said it looked like images were sitting on the top the glass
Well said.
That sounds good but I'd prefer to use one device. I think I have decided against any of the 13" laptops. Might do a 15" regular mbp and go high res on that. And I'll upgrade my iPad to retina display. In short, I've decided against the iMac
The screen isn't super different and the lack of upgradibility has pushed me away -_-
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Since the nearest Apple store is 2 hours away, I finally got a chance to check out the latest iMac at my local Apple reseller. It was sitting next to a 27" Thunderbolt display and I could see the reduction in glare and reflections immediately.
I think the new display looks great, and without the benefit of a side by side comparison, I think the reduction in glare is very comparable to the results I obtained by simply removing the outer glass on my 2011 iMac.
I think the new display looks great, and without the benefit of a side by side comparison, I think the reduction in glare is very comparable to the results I obtained by simply removing the outer glass on my 2011 iMac.
Probably a little off topic but does anyone know if you can install Mac OS X on an external SSD?
Did you check out the glare? I took a look at the new 21.5" at Best Buy and while I wasn't expect the screen to be any better in terms of quality and resolution I was impressed with the glare reduction. They had it next to a 27" Thunderbolt display and it did have far less reflections. I use an antiglare 17" MBP so the glare is my biggest issue with the iMacs.
As for the iPhone, was the brightness set the same on both? When we got the 5 the Verizon store had the 4s and 5 on display and the 4s brightness was set to half that of the 5. Changed the brightness and they looked the same except the 5 has the 16:9 aspect ratio vs 4:3.
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Yes, you can boot OS X off USB, FireWire, and Thunderbolt. You can also boot Windows 7 off Thunderbolt.
Just went to a mac store myself, and compared an 2011 27'' iMac with a 2012 21'' iMac. There's definately a difference in reflections, and the 2012 iMac is one beautiful machine.
I did some comparisons with the 27'' display and the retina MBPs, and the 27'' is one great display if you keep it at a reasonable viewing distance. Even when going back and forward between the 27'' display and the retina models, it still look very good. I feel totally comfortable with my iMac 27'' order, and plan on keeping the iMac for at least 3-4 years. It is possible that we'll get a retina 21'' mac display in a year's time, but there's a big difference and resolution going up to the 27'' display.
I also tried the iMac 27'' at the next highest resolution (1920x1200 I think), and it still looked quite good. I imagine this resolution will work just fine for gaming (for those extra demandig games).
I'm definately not gonna hold out for retina 27'', that's gonna be a loooong wait.
I did some comparisons with the 27'' display and the retina MBPs, and the 27'' is one great display if you keep it at a reasonable viewing distance. Even when going back and forward between the 27'' display and the retina models, it still look very good. I feel totally comfortable with my iMac 27'' order, and plan on keeping the iMac for at least 3-4 years. It is possible that we'll get a retina 21'' mac display in a year's time, but there's a big difference and resolution going up to the 27'' display.
I also tried the iMac 27'' at the next highest resolution (1920x1200 I think), and it still looked quite good. I imagine this resolution will work just fine for gaming (for those extra demandig games).
I'm definately not gonna hold out for retina 27'', that's gonna be a loooong wait.
I also just had my first look at the new 21.5" iMac in the store today. The reflections have definitely been reduced.
Which leads to a question: what will happen to the MacFrames business now ?
The airs have the highest PPI of non retina macs, but the iMac is sharp too. The only thing where sharpness bothers, is with text. But text will be harder too read on the MBA than on the iMac, as everything is smaller, yet fonts have exact the same detail on both machines.
If you want sharp: install windows 7 on your iMac. OSX font rendering is quite soft and targeted at accurate object placement for layout, where Windows is more about crisp display with the sharpest possible fonts.
We're on an enthusiast site, if the screen was THAT much better, there would be threads popping up. That said, it's not like its worse than the previous generation. It's just not a crazy improvement like some sites have reported (I think it was the verge that said it looked like images were sitting on the top the glass
I would hope it is an enthusiast site, but I see very little of a product coming out and saying it's great. When products come out the threads are usually Apple did this wrong, that wrong, I'm not buying etc. As much as they have done right in these macs you would read the forums and think that performance has dropped etc.
People rarely go on forums to say something is working, however the moment it doesn't we are all here moaning.
I have seen people mention just how much better glare is though.
I don't agree, there were a lot of threads raving about the retina screens on the ipad (besides the understandable complaints about the yellow hues etc.), not so for the imac, even though glare had been a no go for many people, you 'd expect to read somewhere a few "oh great, finally apple has dealt with the reflections properly", or echoing the sentiments of engadget that the display looks like it sits on top of the glass.
This is correct, and I am thinking very much indeed of going with windows in my work mac at least for that very reason. I 've ****ing had it with apple, unless they bring retina resolutions to the imacs their font rendering will remain sub par in terms of sheer clarity and also in term of size customization. To add insult to injury where they do have retina as in the rmbp their software implementation and/or their hardware for the retina is creating a choppy laggy interface in may apps....
It's accurate though. Windows has an advantage with cleartype and they also have an advantage with custom dpi settings, which might not always work 100% in terms of layout, but at least on windows the rmbp does not stutter or lag in the ui, because ms's implementation is much less taxing on the gfx. Scaling, and to a lesser extent font types (because some may claim is a preference issue, I don't though) are major drawbacks of os x. At the moment windows can take advantage in terms of font scaling on any high ppi screen, imac 27" included, apple can only do it (with a lot of hick ups) on retina screens. Hence the tons of complaint and work around threads on the small font of the 27" imac, put windows on these babies and your problem is solved. As I am getting older that has become a priority to me, so I am seriously thinking of ditching os x and going with windows on the imac, at the very least I am going to dual boot.
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This article has no facts/proof. Ofcourse the future will bring new tech and new screens but I doubt the iMacs will get retina in 2013, the new imacs dont even have SSD as standard and you would think that they should. Also think of the cost this will bring up.
I could not agree more owning a macbook pro retina and having spent 3,400 on my 2010 iMac putting in a extra 4gb of ram, bumping the cpu and getting apple care, the new iMac may have better features and look slim but my 2010 imac is still working fine for me and at the front it still looks like the new imac, hence i prefer to wait for the retina imac too before cashing in another 3,400 to Apple.