2010 vs. 2011 iMac (Buyer's Planning)

[AnimaLeo]

Hellhammer, what do you think the clock speed will be of the 21.5 inch quad cores? I guess it's gona be kinda low to keep the damn thing cool?

 

[TMRaven]

If you look at the list of sandybridge cpus, the quad core ones with 65tdp are 2.5 and 2.7ghz.

 

[Hellhammer]

Hellhammer, what do you think the clock speed will be of the 21.5 inch quad cores? I guess it's gona be kinda low to keep the damn thing cool?

2.5GHz (3.3GHz with Turbo) and/or 2.7GHz (3.7GHz). The normal frequency is low but they have very, very aggressive Turbo.

 

[Yamcha]

I would wait it out, actually I was also planning to upgrade next year, and I figured that it would be silly to do it right in January. Especially because the iMac upgrades are expected pretty soon.

I'm personally hoping we will see a redesign of the iMac, HD 6000 Series GPU's, Usb 3.0.. Although the ATI/AMD 6000 Series are slower then the previous generation, they are much cheaper, and they are also 3D capable, you can also hook up to 4 displays in eyefinity, but you probably can't take advantage of that on the Mac OS..

So yeah I would wait for it if I were you..

 

[jdavtz]

The other thing to bear in mind is that the SSD option (if it even remains an option rather than being the default) will probably tumble in price with the next revision.

 

[aonelas]

-I'm on a Sony Vaio laptop, I got it Jan 2009, running WIN7.

Looking to upgrade but I'm not too sure about this quadcore business. It costs more, so (in this case) I assume its better. Do I need this, or would I be fine getting the 3.2 i3? The woman at the apple store was no help at all.

I use the internet quite a bit, along with MS Office. Listen to music. Do a little bit of coding, and I'm looking to pick up photoshop or something similar (want to try skinning stuff on my iphone).

Oh and of course, should I be considering the wait for the new line, or would now be good.

 

[Hellhammer]

-I'm on a Sony Vaio laptop, I got it Jan 2009, running WIN7.

Looking to upgrade but I'm not too sure about this quadcore business. It costs more, so (in this case) I assume its better. Do I need this, or would I be fine getting the 3.2 i3? The woman at the apple store was no help at all.

I use the internet quite a bit, along with MS Office. Listen to music. Do a little bit of coding, and I'm looking to pick up photoshop or something similar (want to try skinning stuff on my iphone).

Oh and of course, should I be considering the wait for the new line, or would now be good.

You'll be fine with dual core. If you need it now, go ahead and buy it. The update won't be that dramatical for you since current ones are sufficient

 

[lowonthe456]

I'm the op's position though I won't have the funds until may-ish. For me the biggest disappointment would be missing lightpeak or hdmi. Today's CPU/GPU's are good enough for me.

With the Mac app store though I'd love to dump the optical drive and run a ssd for the OS and a 2nd hdd for data.

Oh well. I guess we will find out soon enough.

 

[brachson]

and do you think that look of iMac '11 will be refreshed or changed significantly?

I can think about:
1. 30'' version
2. Removing bottom silver panel from the front
3. Touch iMac
4. Make it thinner


Or even if new iMac will see daylight it will be more CPU/GPU updates like it was this summer?

 

[TMRaven]

Touch iMac makes no sense, especially after apple executives made the point of a touch screen on the macbook air was not natural and uncomfortable. If they think a laptop's screen is uncomfortable, they'll surely think a 27 inch screen at eye level will be just as uncomfortable.

 

[Nishi100]

Touch iMac makes no sense, especially after apple executives made the point of a touch screen on the macbook air was not natural and uncomfortable. If they think a laptop's screen is uncomfortable, they'll surely think a 27 inch screen at eye level will be just as uncomfortable.

Link

Apple said it would be uncomfortable vertical; they didn't say it'll be uncomfortable horizontal. But, I think the iMac Touch will be a different product; therefore, they could use something like this: " All the power of the iMac. All the Magic of the iPad." As a 27inch (or 22inch) touch screen will be expensive, they will need to use an "old CPU" like the *current* i5 / i7 (please, Apple, not a C2D); however, I think they will still use a decent 68** GPU.

 

[capebud1]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market

Compare 6850 with 5770. The difference is huge, 6850 runs circles around it.

I had forgot about all of the tests Anandtech did on the 6850 and 6870. The one that I think is significant most to me is the Crysis Warhead test that determines minimum framerates (1920X1200). The 6850 and 6870 are right on par with the current 5850 and 5870. To me, that means a future iMac with one of these types of chips could push it to the next level. Might be worth the wait if the release is on or near February.

 

[capebud1]

I would wait it out, actually I was also planning to upgrade next year, and I figured that it would be silly to do it right in January. Especially because the iMac upgrades are expected pretty soon.

I'm personally hoping we will see a redesign of the iMac, HD 6000 Series GPU's, Usb 3.0.. Although the ATI/AMD 6000 Series are slower then the previous generation, they are much cheaper, and they are also 3D capable, you can also hook up to 4 displays in eyefinity, but you probably can't take advantage of that on the Mac OS..

So yeah I would wait for it if I were you..

I think I agree. I believe I read recently that Jobs said that USB 3.0 is still behind the curve, and Intel is slow to adopt. That means potentially eSATA or better Firewire? Would not mind HDMI I/O for XBOX/PS3 fun as well. Hopefully the 27" display can adopt to more reasonable resolutions. Perhaps I'm being too optimistic.

 

[capebud1]

Touch iMac makes no sense, especially after apple executives made the point of a touch screen on the macbook air was not natural and uncomfortable. If they think a laptop's screen is uncomfortable, they'll surely think a 27 inch screen at eye level will be just as uncomfortable.

Agreed, but what about iOS apps (i.e. games) in OS X via the new Trackpad?

 

[The Final Cut]

I think it will be at least an another 1-2 years before a major design update.

 

[TMRaven]

Never tried the trackpad, but I tend to think it's apple's answer for incorporating multitouch into the imac.


That link of the touchscreen imac insinuates either two things:

a: the imac will be hovering above the desk, and the rigidness of the hinge might be akin to the current iMac's meaning you'd be having to left your hands like in the picture to apply minimum pressure.

b: the imac is hovering above the desk, and the rigidness of the hinge is very strong, so you can press down on the monitor with the natural weight of your arms, and feel more comfortable. However, the result will still feature a computer that is well above the user's comfortable height for using their arms. Most computer desks are just the right height to use keyboard and mouse with the maximum amount of ergonomics. Using an iMac like that would potentially mean having to get a desk that's lower in height than the standard.

 

[Icaras]

It amuses me how people still gravitate towards a touch screen iMac. This is almost becoming as persistent as the infamous headless xMac.

A lot of people are forgetting or completely dismissing a fundamental key point in touch based computing, and that's software. Please remember that Mac OS X was never designed to utilize touch screen technology. And please, for a moment, try and imagine yourself trying to navigate as something as simple as a standard menu in OSX with just your finger.

Since Lion hasn't even been released yet, to think there will even be touch based iMacs within one of the next immediate refreshes is really quite premature at this point. Realistically, we're probably looking at at least 2-3 years of traditional based "point and click" computing before we get anywhere near touch based desktop Macs, if ever.

The only way you're ever going to get touch screen iMacs is if Apple starts shipping them out with iOS preloaded. Now does anyone really want to see that happen?

...........

Didn't think so. 😎

 

[iDutchman]

All these people hoping for an touchscreen iMac. I won't happen. Ever.

Apple has said it's uncomfortable and decided to bring the multitouch experience to the desktop with their trackpad.

touchreen + imac = just isn't gonna cut it. Get it out of your brains, people!😀

 

[Icaras]

Personally, I'm just hoping that SSDs will make it to the 21.5" and if there will hopefully be a CTO option for 2 SSDs in there.

 

[peskaa]

and do you think that look of iMac '11 will be refreshed or changed significantly?

I can think about:
1. 30'' version
2. Removing bottom silver panel from the front
3. Touch iMac
4. Make it thinner


Or even if new iMac will see daylight it will be more CPU/GPU updates like it was this summer?

1. 30" isn't happening. 27" is the new 30".
2. Doubtful, Apple still need the space currently for components.
3. Nope. As said, it's all about the Magic Trackpad for multitouch.
4. Doubtful again, simply as the TDPs of components aren't getting lower. Same heat output, therefore the same size.

 

[Mc Kane]

IMO, the iMac Touch will be released either with or shortly after Lion.
Let me explain why I think the iMac Touch could easily be reality :

1) The technology exists. Dell will be selling a 21.5" IPS Multi touch screen in the coming months. It will probably be fitted with LED backlight too, just like the 21.5 current iMac.

2) Lion will clearly be built with multi touch in mind (first bullet point of the unveiling of Lion). What we saw at the preview is only the tip of the iceberg IMO and it already showed that you will be able to do a lot of thing only with multi touch gestures.

3) As said before, Steve Jobs only said that multi touch is dumb when the screen is vertically oriented. With the patent showing how an iMac could transform in a computer with horizontal screen, I think this problem is taken care of.

4) I can already see the reveal showing the crappy Acer and HP, with Jobs explaining that it wasn't done right : slow computer, OS which isn't built with multi touch in mind, poor screen, multi touch that suck, etc...

5) The whole "Back to the Mac" clearly apply to the hardware as we've seen with the MacBook Air. What's a better way to express that philosophy than a full fledged desktop Mac with a multi touch screen ?


As for the specs of the next iMac line, I think (as always 😀) Hellhammer is pretty spot on.
We know the CPU in the top of the line will be great, that's why I'm much more interested in :
1) What's the deal with the Mobility Radeon 69XX performance ?
2) Will Apple finally ditch the Super Drive ?
3) Will Apple put some kind of MBA-like SSD ?
4) Will Apple put light peak and or USB3 which would make the iMac more future proof and much more extendable ?

I really think that the 2011 iMac (the 27" of course) has the potential to be a killer computer if Apple does the right choices !🙂

 

[Trinite]

I'm the op's position though I won't have the funds until may-ish. For me the biggest disappointment would be missing lightpeak or hdmi. Today's CPU/GPU's are good enough for me.

With the Mac app store though I'd love to dump the optical drive and run a ssd for the OS and a 2nd hdd for data.

Oh well. I guess we will find out soon enough.

I completely agree about the CPUs, but I AM curious about the potential GPU changes.

Does anyone know if there's likely to be a substantial difference between Whistler (67xx, according to Hellhammer) and the current ATI 5670 (aka 5730M)?

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the setup on the high-end 21.5". Is it worth waiting for the Whistler GPU? If it's not much a a bump, maybe I should just buy now....

Thanks, all!

 

[Hellhammer]

I completely agree about the CPUs, but I AM curious about the potential GPU changes.

Does anyone know if there's likely to be a substantial difference between Whistler (67xx, according to Hellhammer) and the current ATI 5670 (aka 5730M)?

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the setup on the high-end 21.5". Is it worth waiting for the Whistler GPU? If it's not much a a bump, maybe I should just buy now....

Thanks, all!

There is absolutely no info about those chips, yet. At least I haven't heard any, media is focusing on higher-end chips. Sure it should be better but we don't know how much. It also depends on what GPU Apple decides to use as there will likely be 2-4 Whistler based GPUs with different clocks. That makes it even harder.

If you need it now, go ahead and buy it. There will always be something faster

 

[Mc Kane]

I don't think Whistler will bring big improvements in performance. In the 21.5, the biggest improvement you could be looking at is the addition of a quad-core model but even that is not sure. It will depend on wether or not Apple artificially segment the iMac line (ie : 21.5"=dual core, 27"=quad-core).

GPU wise, Blackcomb (and thus, the 27") will be where it's at. 😀

 

[Trinite]

Yeah, you're right of course. But the 27" is just too big! It's really annoying: what's someone who wants the 21.5" to do?