5k retina iMac, now what?

[TallManNY]

If you need to buy a new iMac, this is the one you get. If you don't need a new iMac, you wait until you need one.

No sense in buying an iMac with an inferior screen at this point. Not when the cost to get the better computer is so reasonable.

Unless you have a unique use case where you need to see on your screen something closer to what your customers see or something like that. Maybe those folks should buy the older iMacs.

These things are going to FLY off the shelves once folks see them in person at the Apple stores.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Hmmm. To me it looks more like the sort of executive toy you'd see in the boss's office. I can't see it displacing Mac Pros from the desks of those who are actually producing billable work. I'd say it's aimed firmly at the 'everyday user', albeit those with healthy bank balances.

It's certainly is that, but there are many photogs with 15-30 megapixel cameras and neither the need nor budget for a Pro.

 

[phpmaven]

This iMac is a premium computer, not for the everyday user. Unless you're doing coding, graphic design or film/photography editing this isn't targeted at you. This is why for many the $2,500 price tag is high. However, for a person who is in these types of fields working...that's not expensive.

In fact that's the cost of just my camera body. Great computer. I won't be getting it anytime soon, but perhaps the next update so this one will be at $2,000.

Coding? You could use a dumb terminal for that.

P.S. If you haven't guessed, I'm a coder.

 

[mrmarts]

I am more keen to see where Apple is taking the iMac in the future in terms of design, hardware and software. At the moment a 5k retina iMac does not cut it for me as I have late 2013 iMac maxed out.

I am interested to see if the retina display improves over time like the iPhone and iPad by getting a laminated screen more dpi etc. I am also curious to see where the design will go, given the iMac design has not changed since 2008.

Will we see an overhaul in the design like the Mac Pro (from a cheese grater to a cylinder) in the near future. In terms of software I am awaiting the introduction of Ultra HD content in the iTunes store and to see whether the file format changes and how will it affect the HD content I already own.

Finally Hardware is another reason why I am holding back given that there will be revisions to USB 3.0, processors, and hopefully hard drives as my 3tb is already full.

For me its too early to put my money down on a retina display where there is little difference between the mac i own and new one. In addition to fact that there is no ultra HD content on the iTunes store, the wallpaper i get (games wallpaper and CGwallpapers) do not support ultra hd resolution yet. Hence it is rather pointless to have retina display when there is nothing i use that supports it.

Hopefully next years model will show us more direction where Apple is headed given the software is pushing towards IOS, i even heard rumours at one stage that they may dump intel again for their own ASX processors.

 

[munakib]

This 5K iMac is going to be an eye candy and will definitely sell like crazy.

My position is - the screen is future-proof but the internals (proc/ram/hdd, although upgradable to a certain limit) wont be. I would rather wait a year and grab the cinema display (5K) instead.

 

[iSayuSay]

Hmmm. To me it looks more like the sort of executive toy you'd see in the boss's office. I can't see it displacing Mac Pros from the desks of those who are actually producing billable work. I'd say it's aimed firmly at the 'everyday user', albeit those with healthy bank balances.

LOL Nice .. I am fully agree, iMac is so often become a status symbol for offices and also bosses. It stands on the table doing nothing but a bit of facebook or maybe some Pong session? Hardly anything a cheap Windows PC cannot do. But it's got Apple logo on it and it costs like $2000 so yeah .. It's boss' computer, doing nothing

 

[BeachChair]

Hmmm. To me it looks more like the sort of executive toy you'd see in the boss's office. I can't see it displacing Mac Pros from the desks of those who are actually producing billable work. I'd say it's aimed firmly at the 'everyday user', albeit those with healthy bank balances.

I see a lot of web developers and graphical designers getting this paid by their employers. HiDPI screens are steadily spreading through the market, and artists need to develop content that looks good on the user's screens. They finally have a good platform to do that.

I know an art director who would love to see and test her content in retina, but so far hasn't been willing to step down from a 27 imac to a retina Macbook.

 

[satchmo]

Many are disappointed with the choice of GPU, but the fact that the Retina imac with BTO options included the best available component by brand/subsystem available today.

The Retina iMac has highest frequency (fastest) 4-core intel i4790K desktop CPU currently available, the highest non-workstation AMD mobile GPU currently available, PCIe Flash SSDs way better than SATA 6G (which high end PC motherboards have just recently started including PCIe flash connectors), and the highest resolution LCD display.

Ok, so no 10Gb-E, or display port 1.3, or nVidia graphics, but they did put in the current best available AMD option. Next year will have faster components and guess what, so will the year after that.

Specs are one thing, but lets wait for real world performance. Look at the iPhone 6 with it's 'paltry' 1.4 gHz processor, yet it outperform most phones and feels fast in everyday usage.

 

[RyanJWilliams]

I see a lot of web developers and graphical designers getting this paid by their employers. HiDPI screens are steadily spreading through the market, and artists need to develop content that looks good on the user's screens. They finally have a good platform to do that.

I know an art director who would love to see and test her content in retina, but so far hasn't been willing to step down from a 27 imac to a retina Macbook.

This is a big factor for me working with the web. It's gotten to the point now where so many people are forgoing computers entirely for their day-to-day web browsing and using tablets with high-density displays (i.e. Retina) that I can no longer afford to pretend it isn't happening and carry on producing websites with images that only look good on 'normal' screens.

Now that Apple has formally shot a bullet into the air to begin the race for high-density displays penetrating the laptop and desktop markets, the proportion of people using such devices is only going to grow. It's already pretty high, there are more people using mobile devices to casually browse the web than you'd think.

So from a project point of view, it's now an absolute necessity that I have a retina display that I can actually work on and not just view things on. There is currently only one device on the market that can provide this. Even the Mac Pro is currently unable to cater for this unless you go drop $2500 on that Dell monitor that's due soon.

That's my justification for these crazy dollars, anyway.

 

[fathergll]

Well I just took delivery of a refurbished current generation 27" i7 w/1TB SSD to edit my still photos. I thought about waiting for the new retina iMac, but when you stop to think about it, other than the pleasure of actually working with a retina display, it will be 10 years before 4K becomes mainstream. Right now the largest photos I post for web viewing are 1920x1080 or 1200 pix on the large side, so what good is a 5K iMac going to really do for me? Maybe in 10 years or so...

Yeah it depends what you are doing. I could see the retina iMac being a very cool thing to have if you had a studio and could show clients immediate feedback on it. The refurb you are getting is plenty for photography. Smart thing would be to wait for a second generation retina iMac if you can.

 

[edry.hilario]

This 5K iMac is going to be an eye candy and will definitely sell like crazy.

My position is - the screen is future-proof but the internals (proc/ram/hdd, although upgradable to a certain limit) wont be. I would rather wait a year and grab the cinema display (5K) instead.

it seems that you will be waiting til 2016 for that then.. thunderbolt two cant handle 5k and intel processors that will handle this kinds of stream wont come out til late 2015 and intel is always late so.... yeah.

 

[Cape Dave]

This is a big factor for me working with the web. It's gotten to the point now where so many people are forgoing computers entirely for their day-to-day web browsing and using tablets with high-density displays (i.e. Retina) that I can no longer afford to pretend it isn't happening and carry on producing websites with images that only look good on 'normal' screens.

Now that Apple has formally shot a bullet into the air to begin the race for high-density displays penetrating the laptop and desktop markets, the proportion of people using such devices is only going to grow. It's already pretty high, there are more people using mobile devices to casually browse the web than you'd think.

So from a project point of view, it's now an absolute necessity that I have a retina display that I can actually work on and not just view things on. There is currently only one device on the market that can provide this. Even the Mac Pro is currently unable to cater for this unless you go drop $2500 on that Dell monitor that's due soon.

That's my justification for these crazy dollars, anyway.

You, sir, are absolutely 100% exactly right. Now is precisely the time to cross over to "retina" grade graphics for work. I must follow in your path.