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Apple Announces Lighter, Thinner iMac Models with Fusion Drive

Sensamic said:
Apple loves fans like you.

Crazy...........
Click to expand...

What defines crazy, though?

I'm 31 years old, have no wife or kids to support and spoil, and I make a very decent living. That considered, is it really "crazy" to buy myself something I want when it's well within my means? If I were living paycheck-to-paycheck, or struggling to support my kids, or skipping a car payment to afford this purchase, then that would be crazy.

The whole purpose of me working hard in life is so that I can afford the things I need and want. And this redesigned iMac is something I really want plus I'm offsetting more than half of its cost by selling my current one. Will I upgrade at every refresh? HELL NO. My intent is to keep it until a new design is launched.
 
Why is everyone complaining so much? I personally do agree that there was no need to really boast how thin a desktop system is. The only upside to this is the fact that it's easier to carry around when you need to get parts replaced at the Genius Bar lol

But seriously... it's not like the thinness is an issue at all in any way. It looks like they have done a good job with the cooling, and also this chassis will start to show its 'strength' when Haswell etc. comes and pushes the power and heat further down. And, you have to admit the machine looks pretty darn slick. Best looking all-in-one system out there without a doubt, and with the top-end model having 16-32GB ram, a 3+Ghz IVB i7, and a nVidia 680MX with 2GB ram you're certainly not hurting. Don't forget what these machines are built for... gaming is never a top priority.

I think this system is the best value out of all their Mac lineup for the price. For the specs, and form factor it makes the MacBook Pro's look stupidly expensive unless you're willing to pay a bit extra for the form factor and mobility. I'd almost buy one of these if it weren't for the fact that I have the 15" rMBP fully-loaded hooked up to a 27" Thunderbolt display when on the desk.

Interested to see how much better the display looks with the bonded glass. I wonder when they will update the Thunderbolt displays? Perhaps not until they have retina panels for the pro's?
 
Caliber26 said:
I just bought my iMac in January but this new design is a must-have for me. Luckily, Macs have great resell value so my outta pocket expense won't be too bad.

:confused:The New Imac don't come with a Super Drive. So When they say no price increase The Super Drive will cost you if you want one for the New Imac!:mad:
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5400 RPM notebook HD.. in a 1300+ computer, never mind the weak as hell GPU, all for some absolutely useless thinness.

I'm glad I jumped off the ship before it sank. If you actually know what a 5400RPM vs 7200RPM means you're no longer a target Apple market, this is a $1500 Facebook machine for grandma.
 
chorner said:
Why is everyone complaining so much? I personally do agree that there was no need to really boast how thin a desktop system is. The only upside to this is the fact that it's easier to carry around when you need to get parts replaced at the Genius Bar lol

But seriously... it's not like the thinness is an issue at all in any way. It looks like they have done a good job with the cooling, and also this chassis will start to show its 'strength' when Haswell etc. comes and pushes the power and heat further down. And, you have to admit the machine looks pretty darn slick. Best looking all-in-one system out there without a doubt, and with the top-end model having 16-32GB ram, a 3+Ghz IVB i7, and a nVidia 680MX with 2GB ram you're certainly not hurting. Don't forget what these machines are built for... gaming is never a top priority.

I think this system is the best value out of all their Mac lineup for the price. For the specs, and form factor it makes the MacBook Pro's look stupidly expensive unless you're willing to pay a bit extra for the form factor and mobility. I'd almost buy one of these if it weren't for the fact that I have the 15" rMBP fully-loaded hooked up to a 27" Thunderbolt display when on the desk.

Interested to see how much better the display looks with the bonded glass. I wonder when they will update the Thunderbolt displays? Perhaps not until they have retina panels for the pro's?
Click to expand...

Personally, my daughter uses her iMac's optical several times a week. removing the drive in order to make it thinner is a nice sound bite but in reality the system will take up the about amount of space because of the base. However, we would now have to clutter her desk with another device, a USB cable and a power cable. Reducing the thickness in practical terms is ZERO gain but comes with additional costs. To add insult to injury, we pay another $100 for this.

Apple seem to think reducing thickness is always the answer and it's not.

Thats my personal opinion and the cause for my disappointment.


EDIT:
Macs have always been over priced considering the performance but I do love them. You pay for build quality, great looks and a great OS. This year it seems that the price / performance ratio is getting much worse though and for some it may be reaching an unacceptable point.
 
So is the Fusion drive going to be a hybrid? I was hoping it wouldn't. Even if it does give you control over what to install on the flash partition, the pricing premium is so two years ago.

Does anyone know if HDDs will no longer be replaceable outside of AppleCare? If I can't get an SSD/HDD setup going without paying the Apple tax, I'm just going to go PC, resale value be damned.
 
BRLawyer said:
Sometimes people just don't know what they are talking about - a few facts here:

- the highest iMac GPU option is, right now, the best mobile GPU on Earth (680M);

- it is also the 12th most powerful GPU of all;

- ANY modern desktop GPU would be AT LEAST three times thicker than any optical drive (or the whole iMac for that matter). Therefore, removing the optical would never have helped in that regard.

Are we clear now?
Click to expand...

Oh wow... so my desktop computer has the best mobile GPU... golly gee, thank you so much.

But wait - you mean that my desktop computer, the one that I don't really give a rat's rump about how "thin" it is, may have to be a bit thicker to support better GPU, so that my desktop computer can help render and support all the graphic (photos, videos, etc.) processing that I desire, and want to do with my desktop computer (w/o having to spend two arms and a leg for an aged MP)?

Yea,,, thanks, so much,,, just really happily crystal clear.

All because some people think (a) everyone want thin, (b) everyone has hi-speed broadband 'net connections... sorry bud, but there are fools such as I that don't care about the thinness, and live in a rural area.

PS: So now, for us goofy non-hip fools that care more about function over form, we are going to have to have cord(s) dangling from this new iMac, over our desks, going to boxes now taking up real estate on our desks (or hidden out of sight, but then needing to open drawers / doors to access). Yea, that is good form right there... oh my, so clear.
 
I'm really not that bothered how thin it is as I never look at it from the side but I do care how it looks from the front. Once again they haven't changed that aspect at all. It still has the god awful chin and the huge black border around the screen. Why? Surely they could eliminate the chin by now and make the border half the width so that the overall size of the front is smaller. That way they could give it a larger screen without increasing the overall size or simply make it a bit smaller.
 
Thunderbird said:
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.
Click to expand...

Why don't you build your own iMac then? With BlackJack! And hookers! :eek:
 
MSM Hobbes said:
Oh wow... so my desktop computer has the best mobile GPU... golly gee, thank you so much.

But wait - you mean that my desktop computer, the one that I don't really give a rat's rump about how "thin" it is, may have to be a bit thicker to support better GPU, so that my desktop computer can help render and support all the graphic (photos, videos, etc.) processing that I desire, and want to do with my desktop computer (w/o having to spend two arms and a leg for an aged MP)?

Yea,,, thanks, so much,,, just really happily crystal clear.

All because some people think (a) everyone want thin, (b) everyone has hi-speed broadband 'net connections... sorry bud, but there are fools such as I that don't care about the thinness, and live in a rural area.

PS: So now, for us goofy non-hip fools that care more about function over form, we are going to have to have cord(s) dangling from this new iMac, over our desks, going to boxes now taking up real estate on our desks (or hidden out of sight, but then needing to open drawers / doors to access). Yea, that is good form right there... oh my, so clear.
Click to expand...

The iMac has NEVER had a desktop GPU. This is the fastest GPU they could put in it. Even if it was as thick as the last model.
 
Nevermind. Evidently, Fusion Drive really is, as I first suspected, a file level implementation of an SSD/HDD drive solution. The deciding factor on this one is whether there will be any possibility of user-installed drives.
 
battlekid said:
what an upgrade! :rolleyes:

So they remove the dvd/cd drive (because only people who are "stuck in the past" need to install software from a disk, amirite?). And they make the 21" one impossible to upgrade in terms of ram. And they make it thin, but add a tumor on the back (lol guiz the pyramids are soooo thin, just ignore that big base on the bottom, it's the tip that matters). Why not leave it thick? Oh wait, it's apple, "moar thin!!!".

image

onto the next subject! The sd card slot! "hey guiz, that sd slot on the side is too easy to use, let's move it onto the back!"

oh yeah, and that steaming pile of drive. The "fusion" drive. Aka intel smart response plus a proprietary drive package (there goes the days of upgrading the imacs ourselves!).

Oh yay, there's one benefit — slightly better graphics cards. Yay. They'll be underpowered and outdated in a year, but hey, might as well enjoy them while they last! Because thinness is much better than installing a desktop card, and, you know, some decent cooling for a change?

Oh well, i guess i'll be going down the hackintosh route from now on for desktops.
Click to expand...

+100
 
512mb vram...

Love the new design, but was extremely frustrated to find that every model under $1,999 is crippled by design. The Adobe CS6 suite requires 1GB VRAM minimum before it will utilize those Nvidia Chips; having only 512MB is like not having a graphics card at all as far as After Effects and Premiere are concerned. What's worse, Apple doesn't offer a graphics card BTO option on any of the models below $1,999.

AND they crippled the 21.5" model with a 5,400RPM drive.

Fusion Drive is great but it should be standard considering 128GB SSD costs $99 these days and Apple raised the price of the iMac by $100 (while reducing their own costs by removing the optical drive and saving significantly on shipping costs with the lighter design).
 
MSM Hobbes said:
Oh wow... so my desktop computer has the best mobile GPU... golly gee, thank you so much.

But wait - you mean that my desktop computer, the one that I don't really give a rat's rump about how "thin" it is, may have to be a bit thicker to support better GPU, so that my desktop computer can help render and support all the graphic (photos, videos, etc.) processing that I desire, and want to do with my desktop computer (w/o having to spend two arms and a leg for an aged MP)?

Yea,,, thanks, so much,,, just really happily crystal clear.

All because some people think (a) everyone want thin, (b) everyone has hi-speed broadband 'net connections... sorry bud, but there are fools such as I that don't care about the thinness, and live in a rural area.

PS: So now, for us goofy non-hip fools that care more about function over form, we are going to have to have cord(s) dangling from this new iMac, over our desks, going to boxes now taking up real estate on our desks (or hidden out of sight, but then needing to open drawers / doors to access). Yea, that is good form right there... oh my, so clear.
Click to expand...

Its not simply a matter of it "being a little thicker." The power regulation, cooling, and many other parts have to be updated to make that happen (and frankly, it's better off on a separate card). The typically undercooled GTX 680 that you buy in stores has a giant cooler for a reason. Engineering a system that has the power you want has actually already happened though. It's called the Mac Pro. Its not even thin :D.
 
JordanNZ said:
The iMac has NEVER had a desktop GPU. This is the fastest GPU they could put in it. Even if it was as thick as the last model.
Click to expand...

lol - I never said it did... ;)

However, my point is that that I, as an Apple user that does photography, videos, etc., I would like to have the best GPU available, esp. in this desktop computer. Now, granted I know and don't expect the best GPU that is available, but still - ain't there one out there that is better then "12th place" that would still be affordable, at the least as a build version?

While yes, I do like and think the new model is cool looking, the cooling, longevity, usability, and function of a machine should IMHO trump form, when it is just or mainly for form's sake.

As to the ODD - yes, I would like to have it still available... we burn CD's to use in our vehicles,,, yes, so old-school also. :eek:

:)
 
And they didn't upgrade the Mac Pro AT ALL....wtf is this crap...I need to be able to throw more RAM, Hard drives, etc. in...We don't need this stupid thin design because it sits on a desk or on a wall...I'm so pissed right now...as a power user I don't expect special treatment but I expect some decent options. God I really hate where Apple is going right now...only thing that made me smile a bit today was FCP X 10.0.6....
 
xVeinx said:
Its not simply a matter of it "being a little thicker." The power regulation, cooling, and many other parts have to be updated to make that happen (and frankly, it's better off on a separate card). The typically undercooled GTX 680 that you buy in stores has a giant cooler for a reason. Engineering a system that has the power you want has actually already happened though. It's called the Mac Pro. Its not even thin :D.
Click to expand...

Dammit... don't be talking reason with me!!! :mad: You have the people on the one side who want this machine to be wafer thin, so by gum I'm going to the other extreme and want the power of a MP in the form of my iMac!!! :mad:


;)
 
MSM Hobbes said:
lol - I never said it did... ;)

However, my point is that that I, as an Apple user that does photography, videos, etc., I would like to have the best GPU available, esp. in this desktop computer. Now, granted I know and don't expect the best GPU that is available, but still - ain't there one out there that is better then "12th place" that would still be affordable, at the least as a build version?

While yes, I do like and think the new model is cool looking, the cooling, longevity, usability, and function of a machine should IMHO trump form, when it is just or mainly for form's sake.

As to the ODD - yes, I would like to have it still available... we burn CD's to use in our vehicles,,, yes, so old-school also. :eek:

:)
Click to expand...

For any 'all in one', this IS the best GPU you can get (physical size+cooling limitations). If you want more, you'll have too look at a different form factor than an 'all in one'. This is currently as good as it gets anywhere in this form factor, pc's included. :)
 
rdlink said:
I still haven't seen that. I read that it was configurable to 32GB. Configurable means you can buy it from Apple. Since Apple wants about $600 for 32GB, and I can get it for $200 from OWC, I want to buy it aftermarket.
Click to expand...

No it's user configurable there is a little door where the RAM slots now reside on the back. Users can get access to RAM for upgrades.

27" is the way to go.
 
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