iMac now of next year !!!

NStocks said:

I was thinking of selling ym pc within the next 6 weeks, to get the latest base 24" model iMac. Just being reading through some threads, and there already 'talking' about the next model. I suppose i could wait but here's why i want advice:

My main use will be for photo editing, aswell as the basics ( Web, Music College Work etc.) I really like to have the technology about, but i don't know if its worh waiting another 6- 8 months ?

I heard that the official wireless N will be out end of this year, aswell as USB 3 next year, are these features worth waiting for or not. Would usb 2.0 be upgradable at all, even if it would void my warranty ( Get it after the warranty has expired)

I admit, i would like to say; yer i have the newst technology that not many people have ( given usb 3.0 is on the next iMac), but would i see much difference, doing what i do on a Pc.

Also the neleham ( sp) processors are suppost to be in the new iMac, this would be worth waiting for becuase its 8 cores, therefore it would be able to handle the latest editions of photo editing software etc.

So, the bottom line is, i can afford a current model iMac in 6 Weeks, should i get on, or wait until next year. ( bear in mind this will be my first ever Mac, and i want to have the best possible experience from it!

NStocks

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wow, your story is pretty much the exact same as mine...but truthfuly, usb 3 won't be much of a problem, they won't switch to non usb 2 compatible devices until these imacs are at the end of their lifetime

the Nehalem is what has me thinking....but its actually only 4 cores, hyperthreading makes it show up as eight(at least the one in the imacs will be 4 cores...the server and high end one will have physical 8 cores)

so i'm swaying towards wait, but i'd like to hear what others have to say

Nehalem and usb 3.0 will be more than 6-8 months. The desktop/mobile versions of nehalem aren't scheduled for release until Q2 of 2009, so they won't make it into iMacs till summer. To be honest, within 6-8 months of those coming out Apple will release another upgrade so the shiny new iMac you just bought won't be top of the line anyways.

ihabime said:

Nehalem and usb 3.0 will be more than 6-8 months. The desktop/mobile versions of nehalem aren't scheduled for release until Q2 of 2009, so they won't make it into iMacs till summer. To be honest, within 6-8 months of those coming out Apple will release another upgrade so the shiny new iMac you just bought won't be top of the line anyways.

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If that. I imagine Nehalem is 12 - 18 months away from being in the iMac and USB 3.0 is years off. eSata hasn't even arrived yet.

Get the iMac now and plan to upgrade in 36 months with the successor to the iMac you wanted. The next revision won't be that great. I think they are a year away from having a kick ass upgrade of today's iMac.

the new imacs are amazing..
they're beautiful and very powerful.

get one now.

BornAgainMac said:

Get the iMac now and plan to upgrade in 36 months with the successor to the iMac you wanted. The next revision won't be that great. I think they are a year away from having a kick ass upgrade of today's iMac.

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Jon.Stewart87 said:

the new imacs are amazing..
they're beautiful and very powerful.

get one now.

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Agreed. Nehalem would be awesome, but it's a long time to wait. And if you did, there's no guarantee that Apple would use the quad core Nehalem line, they could stick with the dual cores, which would be a shame, but is still possible. This revision has everything, really nice, fast CPUs, if you want to play games, you can't complain with the 8800, and they have bus speeds equivalent of the Montevina platform that is yet to be released.

There is nothing that you listed in your usage scenario that would even come close to taxing the present iMac. To wait 15 months for a Nehalem one would be crazy. Buy it now, and buy a Core 4 "Sandy Bridge" one in 3 years.

NStocks said:

So, the bottom line is, i can afford a current model iMac in 6 Weeks, should i get on, or wait until next year. ( bear in mind this will be my first ever Mac, and i want to have the best possible experience from it!

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As soon as Apple releases something new the rumor mill starts grinding out the features of the next replacement. You can count on Apple releasing an iMac update on average every 211 days.
https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#iMac

The current crop of iMac's are the fastest yet and are more then up to any task you might want to throw at them. The tasks you listed could be done on a Mac Mini, so I think any iMac will keep you grinning for around 200 days.

I like staying state of the art as much as anyone, but honestly Apple has never been at the bleeding edge for processors, graphics cards or features. The iMac didn't get USB 2.0 until 2003.
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/17in-imac-g4-1.25-ghz.html
That's late in the game considering USB2 was standardized in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

Where Apple excels is in design, function and style. They do a tremendous job writing efficient code that runs well across a wide range of hardware.

If you need a computer now, buy now. If you wait for the best iMac you will find yourself in an infinite loop. Apple always has something better cooking for the next release.

Just bought a new 24-inch iMac 3.06GHz 500GB HD 2GB RAM NVIDIA 8800 512MB about 4 hours ago. Can't say I'm disappointed at all. Replaced my Powermac G5... Would have kept the G5 around for another couple of years had it not been for the processor transition...

If you're always waiting for the next upgrade, you'll never end up with anything.

gehrbox said:

As soon as Apple releases something new the rumor mill starts grinding out the features of the next replacement. You can count on Apple releasing an iMac update on average every 211 days.
https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#iMac

The current crop of iMac's are the fastest yet and are more then up to any task you might want to throw at them. The tasks you listed could be done on a Mac Mini, so I think any iMac will keep you grinning for around 200 days.

I like staying state of the art as much as anyone, but honestly Apple has never been at the bleeding edge for processors, graphics cards or features. The iMac didn't get USB 2.0 until 2003.
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/17in-imac-g4-1.25-ghz.html
That's late in the game considering USB2 was standardized in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

Where Apple excels is in design, function and style. They do a tremendous job writing efficient code that runs well across a wide range of hardware.

If you need a computer now, buy now. If you wait for the best iMac you will find yourself in an infinite loop. Apple always has something better cooking for the next release.

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One thing I dispute is that Apple is at the bleeding edge of processors. Yes, you can get faster CPUs, but you can't get faster mobile CPUs, which is what the iMac uses. And when the next CPUs are released, the whole Apple line will be updated quick smart within a few months. They always are. I would also expect USB 3 to be a pretty quick addition, and can only hope that the introduction of the Mac edition of the HD 3870, and Apple's OpenCL implementation in Snow Leopard, that Apple will keep up to date with graphics cards too. But yes, in the recent past and present, Apple have been pretty woeful with their GPU choices. I will forgive them however if they put a NV9600M or AMD3600M (AMD3800M??? Possible? No heat sinks on that one!, or for a real dreamer, wouldn't it be fantastic to see a 3870X2 in a MBP?) in the next MBP update in a few months.

Erasmus said:

One thing I dispute is that Apple is at the bleeding edge of processors. Yes, you can get faster CPUs, but you can't get faster mobile CPUs, which is what the iMac uses.

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I see your point, Apple has made inroads to quicker adoption of new processor technology then in recent history, but I wasn't drawing a distinction between mobile and desktop processors.

gehrbox said:

I see your point, Apple has made inroads to quicker adoption of new processor technology then in recent history, but I wasn't drawing a distinction between mobile and desktop processors.

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They're pretty much on the bleeding edge of both their desktop and mobile processors. The only desktop processors that they use for the Mac Pro if they aren't bleeding edge I don't know what are.

ditzy said:

They're pretty much on the bleeding edge of both their desktop and mobile processors. The only desktop processors that they use for the Mac Pro if they aren't bleeding edge I don't know what are.

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Like I said, recently Apple has been making more moves toward getting new processors sooner, but the iMac is a desktop machine. You can call it a laptop built on a desktop if you like, but its still a desktop machine.

dont keep waiting

Hi I am a newbie to imac although I have been using computers since buying a `sinclair zx81 all those years ago. I want to say that I have been dissuaded from buying an Imac since the first alu models came out because of negative remarks on the forum. firstly about heat, condensation, bad screens, court cases, screen bit depths etc etc.
Well I waiting for the penryn's to be released and then tested screens at the Regent Street store whilst visiting London and for hours at my local PCWorld.
I decided to bite the bullet and buy a 20" 2.6 GHz from the medowhall store.

I have had it now for two weeks , I use it for music recording, surfing, ipod and Photography.

I can honestly say that I find the screen display 'FANTASTIC!
Colours are strong vibrant and far better than my Toshiba Laptop which does have a 24bit screen.
I love the glossy screen and yes sometimes you do catch a reflection but in the main it does not show at all. you mind seems to switch it off?

The machine is virtually silent and so far I have found the transition from XP on a PC to be so easy. everything just works.
I connected my Nikon D50 to it and it recognized it straight away and downloaded automatically in iphoto, Photoshop is a dream to use and Garage Band intuitively simple after struggling with windows midi mappers and sound interfaces etc.
Garage band just works everything I plug into the imac records beautifully.

I for one will NOT be putting XP on my MAC!!
moral of the post....
If your holding back DON't just go and get one: