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Intel's New Haswell Desktop CPUs Could Arrive in May, Allowing for iMac Updates
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Yes, I'm surprised you're the first in this thread to mention the default drives! That is easily the biggest speed bottleneck in these machines. Nothing but spinning disks as standard in 2014?! Hard to understand—especially when they have the Fusion drive technology sitting there, and by all reports delivering huge speed gains. For buyers that don't know any better, and just buy off the shelf, this would make a powerful machine feel sluggish.
Manufacturers always get pre-production samples months ahead of time for just that reason.
E-mail a URL to time for this entry. Seriously if Apple doesn't hear about consumer desires, wants and needs they will just keep on producing these losing machines.
Well that is if we believe this reporting, I was under the impression that the iMac was the only thing selling well in Apples desktop lineup. Maybe the slide in sales is recent or simple doesn't exist in reality.
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100mHz speed bump!? SIGN ME UP!
Seriously, are they just phoning it in these days?
Actually they are! Unless there is some secret sauce that hasn't been leaked yet (like DDR 4 support) this is just something to hold the world over until Intel can figure out how to manufacture Broadwell.
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Actually this is misleading, the latest chips from Intel are a wonder of engineering. The problem is the industry (Apple especially) forced Intel to stress low power over higher performance. Between this and the fact that the desktop market is effectively dead has Intel putting energy into very innovative hardware.
The problem is the innovations aren't driving hardware speed ups that many of us would like. Contrary to popular opinion Core2Duo level of performance is crap.
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Engineering samples have most likely been out for the entire year now. Vendors like Apple will have built machines with prerelease hardware well before the public debut.
I just read an article on Intel's roadmap from 2009 that said we'd be at 4GHz/8 cores standard on desktops right now. Such optimism.
It's not just unwitting buyers. I'm fully tech savy, but when my MBP was on the outs last year, I needed a replacement machine that day. Go into the Apple store to get an iMac, but they only stock two models. The cheapest base machine, and the fully loaded custom rig with every upgrade option. Well I don't need half those upgrades on a work machine. Waste of $1000+ dollars. So my single option is a base model machine, and because those don't have fusion drives, I'm stuck with a low RPM spinning disk. And boy do I feel it. Every. Single. Day. In hind sight, I'd have been more productive long term taking a vacation while waiting on a custom order to arrive. I honestly can't believe Apple even sells spinning disk machines; they perform like crap. It makes their hardware and software seem like the very opposite of premium.
Sorry but starting in 2012 the iMacs are cooler then the rooms they are in. You don't know anything about the current models. THERE IS NO HEAT
Tom
Good point.
Yep. A really, really dumb decision. Seems like they were so preoccupied with making this super sexy design, that trying to reach a lower price-point came as an afterthought. Oh, what can we compromise now to bring the price down? I know, let's make this Fusion and flash drive stuff (that makes our machines really fly) an up-sell, and give everyone else last century's technology!
This.
I refuse to buy an iMac when retina is soon to come. That and the fact that the new oppo find has a 2560x1440 5.5 inch screen, same as the 27 inch iMac. They need to catch up.
Because I can still see jagged edges on my 21.5 1080p screen.
That and all the advantages that come with retina such as changing the screen resolution while still making it look sharper than native. 1440p real estate on 21.5? Yes please. Even higher than that on the 27? Count me in.
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Yes to the fusion drive.
I also won't buy an iMac till fusion/ssd is standard. Apple, sorry but I refuse to pay an extra 200 just to have an SSD. I don't even care how much, I just want to boot from an SSD, I can use external drives for files. HDD's as boot drives should be illegal in 2014.
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???
I'm sure the current Mini's will support another 4-5 OS X versions.
Yeah probably, and apple just lets them sit for a year.
I wouldn't be surprised...
I'm thinking the same thing; I completely forgot about this extra Haswell release when considering the Mac Minis, I'd already resigned myself to waiting for Broadwell.
With this extra Haswell release in mind I'm thinking maybe they could be just what the Mac Mini needs.
Personally I'm not sure how likely it is that these would be used in new iMacs; the iMacs aren't due for an update till September or so, and these Haswell chips aren't exactly a huge leap forward. I suppose they could get a quiet upgrade, but I think that the iMacs are more likely waiting for Broadwell themselves, especially as it may mean that Apple can trim even more discrete GPUs from their lineup (not my personal preference, but if it simplifies the units without too much of a sacrifice then I think Apple will do it), though of course it's not clear where Broadwell leaves them given the current delays, unless Apple can get their hands on them in time to keep to their update schedule.
The price wasn't the issue that slowed the iMac sales down. It was the redesign.
No DVD drive, crap speakers, pointlessly thinned down design, awkward SD card slot. The whole thing was a disappointment and the lack of retina display or 30" display put some off.
For me, the put-off was the lack of DVD drive. I know they are trying to push everyone to downloads but it doesn't suit everyone. What's the point of an all-in-one if you then have to add things to make it useable.
Not to mention that the cost cutting didn't actually cut the cost... ok so maybe price was a bit of an issue.
No DVD drive, crap speakers, pointlessly thinned down design, awkward SD card slot. The whole thing was a disappointment and the lack of retina display or 30" display put some off.
For me, the put-off was the lack of DVD drive. I know they are trying to push everyone to downloads but it doesn't suit everyone. What's the point of an all-in-one if you then have to add things to make it useable.
Not to mention that the cost cutting didn't actually cut the cost... ok so maybe price was a bit of an issue.
I commend you for your patience.
Broadwell looks to be another Ivy Bridge: delays, leakage issues, yield issues, and no big performance/W gain until the "tock" cycle of Haswell/Skylake.
Skylake may double the L1 and L2 cache, add SIMD extensions, allow DDR4, and likely standardize quad core. DDR4's extra bandwidth will help with integrated graphics, where bandwidth is an agonizing limitation. Skylake should be huge.
No, sorry. Most Haswell desktop CPUs use the HD4600 and so does the 4790.
The only Haswell desktops using the HD5200 have "R" as a suffix such as the i5-4670R or i7-4770R.
Broadwell will change that, if your parents can wait a little longer.
I think it depends on what you need it for and how long you intend to keep them.
I am on a 4/5 year cycle with replacing my machine. I bought a late 2013 iMac and maxed it out. Is it a shame it's glued shut? Yes. If anything goes wrong, i'll need to take it to Apple, but it's covered with Applecare.
Will I need to upgrade it in any way in the next 4/5 years?
I really really REALLY doubt it!
I'm a web designer/illustrator and online marketer and every so often I get roped into some other task such as video or audio editing.
Until December last year, I was running a late 2008 unibody MBP (15") from new. It was running fine (though I upgraded the RAM - which can still be done on a 27" iMac) and only noticed it feeling a bit slow and 'laggy' lately so installed an SSD which put a spring back in its' step! It's not ideal for everyday work (which is why I replaced it with the iMac and keep it for taking to meetings), but it is still good enough for photoshop etc
With regards to my new iMac, it already has an SSD, 32GB RAM, 3.5Ghz i7 and GTX 780M (4GB) and I cannot imagine this will feel slow in the next 4/5 years.
When you say your hackintosh was a lot less than a mac pro... does that include your time to build it?
I'd gladly pay extra to NOT have the integrated monitor.
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My friend bought one without doing her homework, and was genuinely ticked off by the lack of a DVD.
Nor was she particularly impressed with the "Thin" approach.
Not only spinning, but spinning slowly.
Last time I checked they were all 5400rpm drives. Can't see how more resolution helps that.
No it isn't. On the other hand 100 MHz doesn't mean much on a 2Ghz processor much less a 3GHz processor. We need substantially better performance out of future CPUs and support for far more cores to enable the apps and operating system features of the future. Here I'm thinking a real AI operating within the operating system providing local intelligences in combo with the remote Siri AI capabilities.
As I see it we are a long ways from an always on AI capability built right into the device. Much of that due to hardware capabilities which by the way may require Apple to introduce substantially different processing capabilities into its chips.
For many users fusion drive isn't all it is cracked up to be. It is great for those that it works well for though. Sometimes though it makes more sense to simply split user data off onto a slower drive and keep apps and OS files on the SSD.
All of that is nonsense though as it makes even more sense to integrate higher capacity SSDs in the machines instead or raping people for the tiny drives they currently install. Really a 128 GB drive is small these days, too small for most users really and worst they are dirt cheap. So the whole Fusion Drive meme goes out the window if Apple simply offers a sizable drive that suits the needs of far more users.
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Which would have been easy if Intel didn't change things up by focusing on the GPU. More interestingly Apple appears to be the primary cause of Intels refocusing on then GPU, probably pushed substantially by AMD offering significantly better GPUs on its APUs.
You look at Intels XEON hardware and you will quickly see that 8 cores is a real possibility especially if caches and extended features are rip trimmed for the desktop. Intel basically abandoned supporting the performance desktop user in preference for the mobile user.
iMac Refresh
Make sure that the cooling is spot on so I don't end up with ugly dark splotches on my screen! It's $550 for a replacement LCD, unfortunately out of warranty. So don't worry about super thin, make it super reliable and that means good heat management!
Make sure that the cooling is spot on so I don't end up with ugly dark splotches on my screen! It's $550 for a replacement LCD, unfortunately out of warranty. So don't worry about super thin, make it super reliable and that means good heat management!