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LunchMoney

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2012
12
0
I've been planning to buy an iMac since 2010 and am ready to buy now but lack of new stock sent me out into the wild seeking a used machine. Lack of new stock seems to be driving the prices through the roof. Lack of a SuperDrive is sending the prices higher. Look on Craigslist and find people pricing slower used models with cracked or chipped glass over new iMacs. If it fell hard enough to break the glass I don't want to pay more than a new one costs. :rolleyes:

Did Apple announce a new iMac too soon?:confused:
They have acknowledged that not having any product to sell is hurting the company. Who blew it here? The forum is full of how long did you wait or how long do you think it will take stories. They have been saying a few weeks since November, that was 2 months ago. :(
I realize rolling out a brand new model isn't easy but I can't help but think if Steve Jobs were around this wouldn't be. If I was in charge of this and bungled this badly I would expect to be fired. :apple:
Sorry for the rant, I love Apple but if they keep dropping the ball like this I'll be stuck on my old computers forever. :mad:
 
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Kashsystems

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2012
358
1
I've been planning to buy an iMac since 2010 and am ready to buy now but lack of new stock sent me out into the wild seeking a used machine. Lack of new stock seems to be driving the prices through the roof. Lack of a SuperDrive is sending the prices higher. Look on Craigslist and find people pricing slower used models with cracked or chipped glass over new iMacs. If it fell hard enough to break the glass I don't want to pay more than a new one costs. :rolleyes:

Did Apple announce a new iMac too soon?:confused:
They have acknowledged that not having any product to sell is hurting the company. Who blew it here? The forum is full of how long did you wait or how long do you think it will take stories. They have been saying a few weeks since November, that was 2 months ago. :(
I realize rolling out a brand new model isn't easy but I can't help but think if Steve Jobs were around this wouldn't be. If I was in charge of this and bungled this badly I would expect to be fired. :apple:
Sorry for the rant, I love Apple but if they keep dropping the ball like this I'll be stuck on my old computers forever. :mad:

Actually I see the 2011 iMac for about 900 dollars all the time.

Honestly though get the new one. The one thing I dislike about my 2011 imac is the lack of usb 3.0.
 

bembol

macrumors 65816
Jul 29, 2006
1,058
51
I get it, understand. It's what I hate about Apple but I'm used to it.

Thank God I only go through this every 4-5 years, my last iMac was Mid-2008.
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
Yes newer used Imac are way over priced...but i bought my 2006 Imac 2.0GHx,2 gig mem,for $160 on craigs...i upgraded the harddrive to a ssd,and installed lion...it zips along with any thing i can throw at it (browsers,1080p,itunes,gimp,open office ect)...so if you don't need one for gaming,maybe look at my example...for little $$$ one heck of a machine.
 

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
5,751
2,337
Los Angeles, CA
I've been planning to buy an iMac since 2010 and am ready to buy now but lack of new stock sent me out into the wild seeking a used machine. Lack of new stock seems to be driving the prices through the roof. Lack of a SuperDrive is sending the prices higher. Look on Craigslist and find people pricing slower used models with cracked or chipped glass over new iMacs. If it fell hard enough to break the glass I don't want to pay more than a new one costs. :rolleyes:

Did Apple announce a new iMac too soon?:confused:
They have acknowledged that not having any product to sell is hurting the company. Who blew it here? The forum is full of how long did you wait or how long do you think it will take stories. They have been saying a few weeks since November, that was 2 months ago. :(
I realize rolling out a brand new model isn't easy but I can't help but think if Steve Jobs were around this wouldn't be. If I was in charge of this and bungled this badly I would expect to be fired. :apple:
Sorry for the rant, I love Apple but if they keep dropping the ball like this I'll be stuck on my old computers forever. :mad:

A couple things to address your rant:

1. The Late 2009-Mid 2011 generation of iMacs are horribly unreliable and prone to all sorts of issues both internally and externally. If you are that much in need of an iMac, stalk the Apple Refurbished Macs section in the iMac portion. Otherwise, I'd place an order for one of the newer ones.

2. The Late 2012 (current) models of iMac are the first in a new design generation; otherwise known as a Rev. A. Rev. A is typically prone to all sorts of things like design flaws, manufacturing issues, delays in shipment (though usually not quite this bad). As was said by another poster, this is par for the course and Steve Jobs would've done nothing differently than Tim Cook save for being that much more irate and an ******* to his staff about it.

3. The Late 2012 models are worth waiting for. Personally, I've heard enough horror stories about the new 27" iMacs that I'm maintaining my previous advising strategy to friends and family who want a Mac desktop and I'm telling them to, once again, avoid the 27" iMac (though not with as much seriousness as before); though this time, I'm telling them to consider the 21.5" iMac as it appears as though Apple has fixed nearly every problem with that model in terms of reliability.

4. When it really boils down to it though, the iMac is, the worst Mac. It is the one Mac where form steamrolled over function and it's a DESKTOP where storage and, in some cases, RAM, is fixed, limiting the lifetime of your computer before it even reaches your doorstep. Not to mention that due to the obsession with thinness and sleekness, we can't have as powerful processors or graphics as mid-range PCs (read: consumer PCs that don't use workstation components) can. For what it is supposed to be, it's not a great option.
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
The "high end" 21.5" it is a very capable machine for 2-3 years at least.
Geforce 650M is a mid high end graphic card
 

AppleFan360

macrumors 68020
Jan 26, 2008
2,211
715
A couple things to address your rant:

1. The Late 2009-Mid 2011 generation of iMacs are horribly unreliable and prone to all sorts of issues both internally and externally.
Where did you get this from???

I had all those machines and they worked flawlessly and the people I sold them to are still enjoying them. They are not HORRIBLY unreliable.
 

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007
3,223
548
Where did you get this from???

I had all those machines and they worked flawlessly and the people I sold them to are still enjoying them. They are not HORRIBLY unreliable.

I agree, he does not sound well informed at all. Scary that his family are actually waiting on his advice, like something magical will happen with the next subtle iMac refresh that will make his advice worth following.

It's exactly BECAUSE the 2009-2011 iMac is so well engineered and designed that resale is so high on them. If they were highly unreliable as this person suggests, the resale would be that of a Dell.
 

harcosparky

macrumors 68020
Jan 14, 2008
2,055
2
Yes newer used Imac are way over priced...

They are not overpriced, buyers are paying what they believe they are worth.

If they were overpriced, buyers would not buy them and sellers would drop the price.

The higher resale value of newer units just backs up the thinking of many that Apple screwed up when it released a new model that does not have the optical drive.

As soon as I saw the optical was deleted I went to a third party reseller and bought another brand new 2011 27" model at their reduced price.

Maybe Apple has an overstock of external superdrives and figured deleting the internal from the iMac would increase the sale of those.
 

alexrmc92

macrumors regular
Feb 7, 2013
218
0
Strange, i just bought a 27 inch iMac with an external superdrive at the apple store in Cincinnati, Ohio (Kenwood Mall) They had 2 iMac's in stock and plenty of the drive's.
 

toddzrx

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2012
725
263
You either have a short memory or haven't been following Apple long. This is par for the course, both with and without Jobs.

Nope. At least not in the sense of a severely constrained supply as exists now with both iMac models, probably due to manufacturing issues.

I do think Apple goofed up the timing of this iMac release. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, but someone made a decision to go forward with production of this new iMac version before working the bugs out of the production line. It seems they jumped the gun on some production processes that didn't quite pan out.

OTOH, a simpler refresh of the prior model with Ivy Bridge and USB 3.0 would have probably kept everyone plenty happy. And they could have done so back at WWDC in June alongside the new MBP Retinas, and probably an updated Mac Mini (which was just a refresh to Ivy). After all, computers are normally the focus at WWDC, and this would have bought Apple an extra year or so to work out the production problems on this new model.

I'm well over Steve being gone, but I do hope that Apple stops this recent habit of trying to release products too early, whether it be their hardware or software. I'd much rather have a solid performing product that takes longer to develop than a half-baked one that arrives sooner.

Oh, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my 2010 iMac w/SSD. It's been terribly reliable and a joy to use!
 

LunchMoney

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2012
12
0
A couple things to address your rant:
2. The Late 2012 (current) models of iMac are the first in a new design generation; otherwise known as a Rev. A. Rev. A is typically prone to all sorts of things like design flaws, manufacturing issues, delays in shipment (though usually not quite this bad).

4. When it really boils down to it though, the iMac is, the worst Mac. It is the one Mac where form steamrolled over function and it's a DESKTOP where storage and, in some cases, RAM, is fixed, limiting the lifetime of your computer before it even reaches your doorstep. Not to mention that due to the obsession with thinness and sleekness, we can't have as powerful processors or graphics as mid-range PCs (read: consumer PCs that don't use workstation components) can. For what it is supposed to be, it's not a great option.

This is something I didn't mention before because it really is a can of worms but my brain is saying wait another year before buying a new iMac.

I really want a 27" monitor and thought about just getting a 27" monitor and a new mini. Maybe it's just my experience but I currently have a mini that doesn't perform as well as I feel it should. The company where I used to work bought a brand new mini in early 2010 and maxed out the ram and it would geek bench decently but when I threw some heavy duty photoshop it's way, it would hang and crash and didn't want to do what I needed. My boss grew tired of me kicking my feet up on the desk and leaning back when the mini chewed through some filters and went and got a 27" iMac.:apple:
The two machines should have performed comparatively but the iMac smoked it every time as well as having a beautiful display. Can anyone else with any experience with the mini tell me why it wouldn't perform as well?
:confused::confused::confused:
The iMac ran a little hot but we found an app to regulate the fan better and set the temp lower and it still runs as good as new.:apple:
My brain says wait for the bugs to be worked out of the new design but I've been waiting for so long now I'm getting impatient.
 

Mike in Kansas

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2008
962
74
Metro Kansas City
Nope. At least not in the sense of a severely constrained supply as exists now with both iMac models, probably due to manufacturing issues.

I'm well over Steve being gone, but I do hope that Apple stops this recent habit of trying to release products too early, whether it be their hardware or software. I'd much rather have a solid performing product that takes longer to develop than a half-baked one that arrives sooner.

So I guess you aren't counting the white iPhone 4 in 2010 when Steve was firmly at the helm...
 

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
5,751
2,337
Los Angeles, CA
This is something I didn't mention before because it really is a can of worms but my brain is saying wait another year before buying a new iMac.

I really want a 27" monitor and thought about just getting a 27" monitor and a new mini. Maybe it's just my experience but I currently have a mini that doesn't perform as well as I feel it should. The company where I used to work bought a brand new mini in early 2010 and maxed out the ram and it would geek bench decently but when I threw some heavy duty photoshop it's way, it would hang and crash and didn't want to do what I needed. My boss grew tired of me kicking my feet up on the desk and leaning back when the mini chewed through some filters and went and got a 27" iMac.:apple:
The two machines should have performed comparatively but the iMac smoked it every time as well as having a beautiful display. Can anyone else with any experience with the mini tell me why it wouldn't perform as well?
:confused::confused::confused:
The iMac ran a little hot but we found an app to regulate the fan better and set the temp lower and it still runs as good as new.:apple:
My brain says wait for the bugs to be worked out of the new design but I've been waiting for so long now I'm getting impatient.

The 27" iMacs have always used more powerful CPUs than have been found in the Mac minis. The former uses low-voltage desktop CPUs, whereas the latter uses laptop CPUs. The two will never perform comparably; as the 27" iMac will always smoke the Mac mini.

If you are dead set on an iMac, especially a 27" iMac, waiting for the next rev, where they hopefully work out all of the many issues in this one, is a solid idea. That said, it's still a very impractically designed Mac, let alone the most impractically designed Mac. In most cases, I'd opt for <insert non-iMac Mac here> and a Thunderbolt display over an iMac any day.

----------

Where did you get this from???

I work at an Apple Authorized Service Provider as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician. I have seen more 2009-2011 style iMacs in for service than I have any other Mac (save for liquid spills and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT repair extension program repairs); and they are all either for heating issues, sensor failures (those iMacs also have more temperature sensors than are in any other Mac), hard drive failures, optical drive failures, power supply failures, screen yellowing, power button failures, and logic board failures. And yes, I've named off literally every major component in those iMacs, save for the MXM video cards, which tend to be relatively reliable though not exactly helpful when it comes to further heat generation. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

I had all those machines and they worked flawlessly and the people I sold them to are still enjoying them. They are not HORRIBLY unreliable.

Congratulations, you got lucky. I see way more of these machines per week than you have ever sold; I have a higher amount of sampling to source my data from.
 

eXan

macrumors 601
Jan 10, 2005
4,731
63
Russia
I work at an Apple Authorized Service Provider as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician. I have seen more 2009-2011 style iMacs in for service than I have any other Mac (save for liquid spills and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT repair extension program repairs); and they are all either for heating issues, sensor failures (those iMacs also have more temperature sensors than are in any other Mac), hard drive failures, optical drive failures, power supply failures, screen yellowing, power button failures, and logic board failures. And yes, I've named off literally every major component in those iMacs, save for the MXM video cards, which tend to be relatively reliable though not exactly helpful when it comes to further heat generation. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.



Congratulations, you got lucky. I see way more of these machines per week than you have ever sold; I have a higher amount of sampling to source my data from.


This info surprises me. In my mind iMacs were always the more solid Macs, save for their optical drives. So far I know 2 people with 2011 iMacs and they work as new (yes-yes, the sample is miserable).
 

AppleFan360

macrumors 68020
Jan 26, 2008
2,211
715
The 27" iMacs have always used more powerful CPUs than have been found in the Mac minis. The former uses low-voltage desktop CPUs, whereas the latter uses laptop CPUs. The two will never perform comparably; as the 27" iMac will always smoke the Mac mini.

If you are dead set on an iMac, especially a 27" iMac, waiting for the next rev, where they hopefully work out all of the many issues in this one, is a solid idea. That said, it's still a very impractically designed Mac, let alone the most impractically designed Mac. In most cases, I'd opt for <insert non-iMac Mac here> and a Thunderbolt display over an iMac any day.

----------



I work at an Apple Authorized Service Provider as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician. I have seen more 2009-2011 style iMacs in for service than I have any other Mac (save for liquid spills and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT repair extension program repairs); and they are all either for heating issues, sensor failures (those iMacs also have more temperature sensors than are in any other Mac), hard drive failures, optical drive failures, power supply failures, screen yellowing, power button failures, and logic board failures. And yes, I've named off literally every major component in those iMacs, save for the MXM video cards, which tend to be relatively reliable though not exactly helpful when it comes to further heat generation. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.



Congratulations, you got lucky. I see way more of these machines per week than you have ever sold; I have a higher amount of sampling to source my data from.

That still doesn't say much. You work at 1 service center. There are many all over the country. Also, of course you will see more 2009-2011 iMacs. There are probably more of those in circulation than any other models.

Unless you have actual stats of how many are sold and how many fail, your assertions are pretty much useless.
 

LunchMoney

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2012
12
0
If you are dead set on an iMac, especially a 27" iMac, waiting for the next rev, where they hopefully work out all of the many issues in this one, is a solid idea. That said, it's still a very impractically designed Mac, let alone the most impractically designed Mac. In most cases, I'd opt for <insert non-iMac Mac here> and a Thunderbolt display over an iMac any day.
I see your point about the impractical design.
The previously mentioned 27" iMac would get very hot, almost hot enough to burn yourself around the edges.
So hot that we looked for an app to regulate the fan better though once we did the machine ran much cooler though the fan was slightly louder.
I wonder if the redesign is an improvement or step backwards as far as the heat issue is concerned.
What is your opinion of the 21" Yebubbleman?
 
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toddzrx

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2012
725
263
So I guess you aren't counting the white iPhone 4 in 2010 when Steve was firmly at the helm...

....except that the white iPhone example proves my point: Apple didn't release it until they had the production bugs worked out. And when they were released, most of the (pent-up) demand out there was met relatively quickly because of a lack of production bugs. This is in stark contrast to the current iMac situation.

Please note: I'm not one of those claiming that Apple is doomed because Steve is gone; far from it. Steve didn't create everything at Apple. I will continue to buy their products for some time if they continue to build the great stuff that they've been making since Steve returned in the 90's. I just hope that the principles he enforced at Apple continue to live on without him.
 
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