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One could almost say that they did release a TB display. It has a 5K resolution and costs $2500, cheaper than the Dell version. You just have to use the iMac in Target Display mode.

Except that Target Display mode is not possible because TB 2 is not fast enough to support a 5K video stream. And combining two TB ports also doesn't help because the two TB ports share the same controller. And why do they share the same controller? Probably because the CPU and chipset don't have enough PCI lanes to provide the bandwidth for it.

And for Macs being able to drive a 5K display, at least theoretically, only the Mac Pros have more than one TB controller.

Exactly. My 2013 15" MacBook Pro can't drive 5K, but it can run a 4K display. I wanted a 23/24" 4K Thunderbolt display for 1080p HiDPI mode so bad. More than anything Apple announced today.
 
5k? Stop pushing specs and actually start innovating, Apple! :rolleyes:

I think powering 5k screen while still maintaining high performance is a very good engineering, I am pretty sure there's innovation somewhat inside that we don't know about.

Anyway I still want it. :p
 
It's called the Mac Mini and they've already been selling it for several years now. They even updated it today.

Yeah, but people don't want bits of a laptop in a small box. They want a somewhat bigger box with a proper removable graphics card and a degree of upgradability. Something with high-end mainstream desktop components to sit below the workstation-class Mac Pro.
 
yeah, if you're demanding pro specs. otherwise, enjoy your consumer grade all-in-one offering.

"back in my day" $2500 got you a 50mhz 486DX with a 14" SVGA monitor. and we liked it.

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say what? did you watch the event? of course you can do video editing at native 4k, that's the whole point of 5k -- to give you extra pixels for editing software UI. you wouldn't want the video at 5k because that's higher than any television can view it.


How far we've come :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbcFvUOGA44
 
Exactly. My 2013 15" MacBook Pro can't drive 5K, but it can run a 4K display. I wanted a 23/24" 4K Thunderbolt display for 1080p HiDPI mode so bad. More than anything Apple announced today.

Using the rMBP as a guide, Apple probably will introduce a smaller retina iMac at a later point. And doubling the 21.5" iMac resolution (1920 x 1080) gives 3840 x 2160 or 4K/UHD. While a pixel-doubled 4K monitor also makes sense as a 23 or 24" display, 21.5 or 22" is also reasonable. And no matter the physical size, 4K should allow Target Display mode via one TB2 cable, ie, all Mac except the Macbook Air (and the old 13" MBP) should be able to drive it as a display. Though, using an iMac as an external display probably only makes sense for iMacs that are old enough that their resale value doesn't surpass the cost of a standalone display.

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Yeah, but people don't want bits of a laptop in a small box. They want a somewhat bigger box with a proper removable graphics card and a degree of upgradability. Something with high-end mainstream desktop components to sit below the workstation-class Mac Pro.

Maybe people want it but for all we know, only about 1% of all computer buyers ever upgraded the graphic card later.
 
I think we might still need two TB 3 ports, on separate controllers, to drive a 5k display at 60hz. It looks like TB 3 will still have DP 1.2, not DP 1.3. Presumably they will incorporate MST this time, so a single TB 3 port will finally be able to power a 4k display at 60hz, but I'm not sure this will be enough for 5k at 60hz.

Yeah, but unfortunately TB2 doesn't have the bandwidth to drive a 5k monitor @ 60hz. TB3 can, which is why we'll probably see a Mac Pro update with TB3 next year, along with a 5k Cinema Display with TB3. But that probably means early adopter Mac Pro customers are SOL for 5k unless some third-party vendor rigs up a dual TB2 converter.
 
Does not matter if it is computer display or a TV it will still need a internet to stream a movie or a TV Show it least 4K or more, there might be things that does not need internet to get 5K but if it comes to Netflix than it is more than just a computer display.

That point of view is quantifying the display as a device simply to view content. But being a computer display it is much more than that. Of course there's no 5k content out there to be streamed from any source. The added resolution is tremendously beneficial to productivity. Who cares about games or TV/movies? They're not the target of a 5k display.
 
Dell announced a 5k display, it's probably based on the same panel..

Link

A pull quote from that link:

"the UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K is a pair of smaller displays tiled together. If so, it may require a pair of DisplayPort 1.2 connectors using Multi-Stream Transport (MST) technology. Whether that turns out to be the case or not, the monitor doesn't come cheap: It's expected to run around $2,500 when it supposedly becomes available in December."

Dale
 
I just bought a 13' MBA with all upgrades and was hoping for a new Thunderbolt Display for the desk at home. Anyhow the 5k iMac looks nice.

Any ideas one can use it as display from the MBA at all?
 
Really, I wasn't aware we had an insider who can tell us what unreleased parts cost. Marginally more than a 4k display. Right.

Economics of Scale.

How else do you explain 5k displays hitting the market before 4k even becomes mainstream?

OK you have a nice machine there. Add a decent Crossair 780T case and you are at $2450. Assuming 5K IPS monitors are about $1500 in the near future and you'd be at $3595 (minus your $355 monitor in the spec).

The price for a spec'd iMac Retina with 4Ghz (4 core=16Ghz)+512 SSD+16GB DDR3 is $3199. Add an external USB3 1TB hard drive for <$80. $3279.

At those specs you still win by an extra 3.8GHz speed, faster DDR4 RAM and 2x faster 980GTX. Plus better cooling in your big case. This is a great setup for a gamer.

But the iMac looks nicer and oozes quality (the Apple premium). I'm actually quite surprised this Retina iMac is really good value. It is going to sell bucket loads. I honestly don't think I could convince someone who is looking to spend $2500-$3500, to choose a PC system over this machine. Oh and it comes ready made!
I'm using a modified Power Mac G5 case for my build so it too oozes Apple quality.
 
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I was just about to get envious of the new iMacs finally but my late 2009 one is still looking awfully good right now even though it doesn't have tapered edges or a 5K screen at a 2.5K price point.
 
I think we might still need two TB 3 ports, on separate controllers, to drive a 5k display at 60hz. It looks like TB 3 will still have DP 1.2, not DP 1.3. Presumably they will incorporate MST this time, so a single TB 3 port will finally be able to power a 4k display at 60hz, but I'm not sure this will be enough for 5k at 60hz.

Yeah, it's all speculation, but the leaked slide points to 40Gbps bandwidth for Thunderbolt 3.0, even with DP 1.2, which would most likely be enough to drive one 5k display at 60.
 
You are kidding right? They are shipping it with the fastest intel i7 CPU and one of the the fastest mobile GPU's out there. I suppose you didn't see the CTO options.

The CPU seems fine for the job, but when the r9 290x desktop GPU has trouble handling a 4k display a mobile variant is definitely not the answer to a 5k display. The smart choice would've been using the recently announced gtx 970 for base, and 980 for the higher tier.
 
5K is awesome and to be fair $2500 is actually quite cheap for what you get, especially from Apple.

But the spec beyond the display, like the CPU/graphic won't last. Simple as that.

Like others sais, might as well sell a 5K TBD instead an all in one with great display and "crappy" computer inside.
 
I just bought a 13' MBA with all upgrades and was hoping for a new Thunderbolt Display for the desk at home. Anyhow the 5k iMac looks nice.

Any ideas one can use it as display from the MBA at all?
MBA can't support 4k displays, it's max is 2560 by 1600.
 
You are kidding right? They are shipping it with the fastest intel i7 CPU and one of the the fastest mobile GPU's out there. I suppose you didn't see the CTO options.

I believe he wasn't kidding, maybe you did?

Even fastest desktop gpu is barely able to drive 4K gaming and video editing. Now you say fastest mobile graphic is competent to drive 5K?

What do you do with that computer? Open itunes, making memes, watching 1080p movies, maybe a bit of pron?
You don't need 5K display to do those things, so yeah maybe fastest mobile graphic will be sufficient in that case.
 
I think it's unfair to judge that based on the entry level. I myself want to get this.
  1. 4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
  2. 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
  3. 1TB Flash Storage
  4. AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5

:eek:

Ditto. I'm away from home at a Starbucks in a different town. Just saw the Apple store. Ordered exactly as above, delivery 3-5 days. :)
 
Me too. Mine's a year older but I had it made fully loaded. And it too, is Yosemite-capable.

My only concern is have they upped the computer's ability enough to keep up with this display over the long haul. Will I still be able to run the latest OS 7-8 years from now. This is a concern, as I will also fully load my next iMac and that's over $4,200CAD. It's a lot to spend if it can't. I might wait another gen. I thing a gen or two will make the price even more reasonable. Remember how much more the rMBPs were compared to the regular MBPs at first? Though the gap between the fully loaded iMac and fully loaded riMac is only $400CAD.

Mine's also maxed-out and still going strong.

But you know that time will come when our iMacs will not be able to transcend the technological rubicon, and the upgrade will be necessary.

How long will that be? For me, I'm think another 2-3 years at the most which is 8-9 years of intensive, productive use of my iMac. That is an impressive shelf life in this day and age of the year-to-year turn over product cycle.
 
5K? DAMN! Seriously, how many 4K's are even in homes yet to even go a step higher and talk about bandwidth when watching a Movies or TV Shows in 5K. I do not mind new technology and improvements but they are jumping too fast, not one cable TV Network even broadcast in 1080p only in 480i, 720p and 1080i still.


Get ready for Comcast to slow your internet, good luck with getting anything even at 4K when watching Netflix. I appreciate what Apple is doing this but Apple also needs to find a way to work with ISPs to provide such a high resolution picture.

5k isn't a standard, never will be. It's just what happens when double the pixels of a 27" iMac. And is great marketing because no one will manufacture 5k because it's not standard, and apple will be the only one marketing a 5k. The next standard is 8k.
 
5k? Stop pushing specs and actually start innovating, Apple! :rolleyes:
Feel free to move along. Have you read any of the early reviews? LOL

Here is one of the many early reviews of the new iMac. "TechCrunch says that the iMac's display shows "full resolution photos with zoomed crops that look better than most originals coming out of the camera" and credits Apple for fitting such a panel into the same tapered design. The screen is noted as being a "huge step up" from the one found on the Retina MacBook Pro. Overall, the new 27-inch iMac is described to be "the future of desktop computing" and is even said to be right up there with Apple's Mac Pro in terms of choices for power users."

....and do tell what innovation would you like to see?
 
Mine's also maxed-out and still going strong.

But you know that time will come when our iMacs will not be able to transcend the technological rubicon, and the upgrade will be necessary.

How long will that be? For me, I'm think another 2-3 years at the most which is 8-9 years of intensive, productive use of my iMac. That is an impressive shelf life in this day and age of the year-to-year turn over product cycle.

Agreed. I also figure OS updates will leave us behind in the next year or two, leaving another year or two before real obsolescence. That gives me 10 years and I'm happy with that. Although this model's a tempter. But so was quad-core when it came out and I'm still hanging on.

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Feel free to move along. Have you read any of the early reviews? LOL

Here is one of the many early reviews of the new iMac. "TechCrunch says that the iMac's display shows "full resolution photos with zoomed crops that look better than most originals coming out of the camera" and credits Apple for fitting such a panel into the same tapered design. The screen is noted as being a "huge step up" from the one found on the Retina MacBook Pro. Overall, the new 27-inch iMac is described to be "the future of desktop computing" and is even said to be right up there with Apple's Mac Pro in terms of choices for power users."

....and do tell what innovation would you like to see?

He'd like the computer to be 150cm, 55kg, blonde and blue and wildly better than his current inflatable date.

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5k isn't a standard, never will be. It's just what happens when double the pixels of a 27" iMac. And is great marketing because no one will manufacture 5k because it's not standard, and apple will be the only one marketing a 5k. The next standard is 8k.

Dell seems to think otherwise.
 
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