Apple Announces Lighter, Thinner iMac Models with Fusion Drive

[AppleWarMachine]

...how about that (5mm iMac) for double down secrecy?

[tingly]

Media is hopping on the 5mm edge thickness. I don't know what thickness has to do with making vertical desktop buying decisions when the stand is what matters and edge thickness has nothing to do with anything. They could have glued a sheet of paper round the edge and got edge thickness down to .01mm. The middle of the case is much thicker than 5mm judging from photos

[swagi]

Originally Posted by super tomtendo

I'm 110% sure apple has an external optical drive via USB. Go buy that or buy a third party one.

I myself haven't touched a CD in....hmm... 4 years?

Yeah. Great for you.

I personally use an optical drive on a daily basis meaning it's the cheapest and securest way to give a copy of my customer's animals' X-Ray to them. Those DICOM-files need an accompanying viewer.

Yes - I could also use USB-flash-drives for that but this will drive cost up when there is no need for that (especially given the fact, that the optical will work for years to come).

So basically - people with a new iMac are screwed. Customers either had to give me their personal thumb drive (which I wouldn't allow due to security restrictions) or pay the upfront of getting one from me (thumb drives are way more expensive than opticals).

And no - I won't upgrade my internet connection to mail them that stuff or put it on an external server. Just to much hassle...

Optical still has its means in a real life situation.

[mac-nyc]

Too much form not enough function

[iBug2]

Originally Posted by jmpnop

I may not use it often but I do use it. There are a lot of people that value function over thinness.

Tbh, I also use it from time to time, time to time being 2-3 times a year, and I'd easily would let go the drive and use an external one 2-3 times a year. I already have an external bluray drive, so that one I'll keep around for the future it seems.

[spazzcat]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

Epic fail.

It's not a new design, it's just thinner. There's no optical drive, which kills it for me. When I use Windows on Bootcamp it means having to have an external optical drive on my desk to load certain programs or play DVD or BD movies in my collection, thus defeating the purpose of having an all-in-one machine. Another external device to add to my modem, external HDD, speakers, etc.

No optical drive

No new stand design

No retina display

No upgradability

No touch screen

No exterior design change (e.g. same chin)

No difference in available sizes

This is essentially little more than a spec bump with a thinner screen. I don't need a thinner screen. The only possible appealing feature is the 75% less reflective AG coating.

FAIL.

It will be awhile before they can make a 27" retina display that is affordable.

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by sigamy

Did they remove the FW800 port too? I have 4 FW enclosures on the floor connected to my 2011 iMac. Guess I won't be upgrading until Thunderbolt prices come down to my level.

http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[the future]

Originally Posted by CJS7070

Really not a fan of the fact that I can't order the previous-gen iMac before the new ones start shipping. Guess my office won't be getting a new iMac anytime soon...

Last gen machines are sold as "refurbished" for a reduced price, even when they're remaining stocks of brand new machines.

[curmudgeon32]

Originally Posted by vandeetz

consumers and professionals that have a ned for the drive are left in the cold now, especially with mac pro's being prohibitively expensive

You mean out in cold world where very inexpensive external optical drives don't exist?

All they've done is stopped putting the optical drive inside the chassis. They haven't stopped them from existing. Hell, Apple makes a very compact, bus-powered optical drive for just this reason — as a bridge for those buying Airs and Minis (and now iMacs) without optical. For the growing number of people who rarely/never use discs, it's not an issue. For the people (myself included) who still want to rip a CD or have to burn a DVD from time to time, there are plenty of options. I'm still using a FireWire LaCie DVD drive I bought like 5 years ago with my new optical-less Mini. It's not the end of the world.

[q64ceo]

THe only thing I want to know is the external optical drive technical information.

My internal optical **** the bed and the Apple store is a bit far away. I was hoping that I could finally have a solution to the crappy BIOS emulation that my 2010 iMac has of not booting from MBR USB external hard drives. I really would like for this optical drive to be able to have the ability to boot non-EFI CDs.

[inscrewtable]

I'll update my 3.4GHz imac at the next rev, and this release should make sure that my old iMac keeps a decent resale value ;¬)

[ethana]

Ignore this post. Wrong thread.

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by Oracle1729

I just want to say I'm so happy I gave up waiting for this piece of garbage 3 months ago and built my hackintosh.

An $1800 desktop computer that has the performance of an obsolete notebook? Wow. It's a DESKTOP. Makes no difference to me if it's 5mm thick or 5 inches thick. All I care about is performance.

So, i7-3770, GTX 670 (not a crappy M model), SSD and massive HDD, all for under $1000 or this underpowered pile of junk for $1800? $90 for Mountain Lion and the trackpad was all I needed to spend with Apple.

It's a marvel you were ever waiting for this, as you're very clearly not apple's intended market (and never have been). Did you seriously think that an iMac would be your best choice if all you care about is performance and price? When has an iMac EVER been the right choice given only those two considerations? You either really don't know apple or are trolling.

[vikpt]

OMG I gotta this is so beautiful! (This or the 13 in retina Macbook Pro?! God, first world dilemma lol)

[theuserjohnny]

I'm surprised that they dropped the optical drive. I actually think that was a bad move on their part. It's a freaking desktop it's not going anywhere other than your desk.

I'm all in for thinner lighter laptops for a portability aspect and such but for a desktop?

The the hell cares... it's a desktop.

Plus using an iMac was a great option to use the discdrive for the Air/Retina Macbook Pro.

[Clive At Five]

Widen the gap between iMac and MacPro... that's _EXACTLY_ what Apple needs to do for us prosumers... [/sarcasm]

...Like I have any need for a $3k, 12-core monster!

Apple:

xMac.

That is all.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by nightmars

??? Really ??? You can select from Nvidia GT640, GT650, GTX (gaming grade) 660, GTX 675 and the monstrous GTX 680 -- what more do you want ????

Perhaps you should investigate mobile GPUs in greater detail. The GT 640 - GTX 660M are derived from the same 384 shader GK107. The GTX 675/680MX are lower clocked harvests from GK104. So even at +$2,000 on hardware you are looking at about $200 of GPU power if you decide on the BTO option. That is 1080p level gaming.

The GT 640M lets you squeak by at 768p.

[Lynn Belvedere]

Originally Posted by Lou3000

Wow, this is a tough call. It is time to upgrade, but I'm torn between two models.

There is the refurbished 21.5, 2.8gHz, i7, with optical drive, 4gb user replaceable RAM, and Radeon 6770.

or for roughly the same price

The new 21.5, 2.7gHz i5, no optical drive, 8gb of non-user replaceable RAM, and the GeForce 640M.

So for a computer that will be used for some light Illustrator/Photoshop and some gaming, which is the better option. Any insights into which might be a better choice? I'm leaning towards the refurbished model.

Are you joking? The new one is light-years better.

[Wuiffi]

Does anyone have the 2011 prices for entry 21.5" and 27".
Because in Austria prices now start at € 1.349,00 (~1750$) for the 21.5" and € 1.879,00 (~2450$) which I think is much more than the previous generation!

[Lukkee24]

£100 more expensive, gone from £999 to £1099 .

Oh and why is the iMac still red on the buyers guide ?

[HMI]

My sister just bought the 2011 21in iMac with 500gb hdd/upgrade to 8gb ram around the 28th of last month. I think it was about $1600-$1700 (including office and the trackpad).

How would she go about trying to swap it out for the newer model and retain as much of the dollar value as possible?

Please advise!

[Stella]

I expect the fusion drives to be adopted in next years 15" laptops.

An excellent idea, and something that has been rumoured for years, finally occurs!

[R3DH3R0]

5400rpm drives in the 21.5? Ehhh.....

[Lynn Belvedere]

Originally Posted by sockdoggy

Cool design I suppose but the specs seem to be relatively the same as the May 2011 iMacs. Or am I missing something? In any event, it'll be interesting to see the benchmarks on these new ones...

You are missing something.

- Twice as much ram.
- Twice as much HDD space.
- Better processor.
- Better graphics.
- USB 3.0

[StephenCampbell]

Something is very wrong here, psychologically.

"Apple Announces Lighter, Thinner..." does not make sense being followed by a product title that isn't designed to be carried around or used on your lap.

This is very weird. It's not just weird. It's a little mystifying. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what Apple is thinking.