Apple Announces Lighter, Thinner iMac Models with Fusion Drive

[MSM Hobbes]

If you are concerned about graphics cards, they got updated and improved by a significant margin today. You should be happy.

lol, yes, honestly somewhat... besides losing the ODD and the card slot now on the back(?), yes, should be a durn good machine. I'm just amazed that so many here are hammering about "its so thin, its beautiful, nothing else matters, I don't care if it functions for others, its all about me" and "you dinosaurs who still care about ODD" and so on,,, so therefore, I'm taking the other side, to help make a point (probably not doing it too well ), esp. as we use ODD a lot, and we do not have blazing fast i'net connection, and I'm looking at this machine to perform for our needs, for many years down the road,,, w/ form-for-form's-sake being secondary. My pardons for repeating similar message again, just that have been hankering for this computer for couple years now, and was wanting more, but w/o items we use being taken away

 

[dennno]

I'm sorry but why do people STILL USE CDs??? I mean honestly.

Retail stores are exhausting their CDs and DVDs to make way for digital content. Who wants to have physical products prone to damage and takes up unnecessary space at home?

Most if not ALL major games/software companies offer digital copies of their software to download ANYTIME. Why bother using a CD that you know you're going to lose and scratch/break in the future?

USBs have far greater flexibility and size than CD/DVDs with limited 700mb and 4.5GB. There are VERY CHEAP disposable USBs that you can give to your friend for $2 or less if you want.

FINALLY, there's this thing called DROPBOX and various other cloud services for FREE! Yes, FREE! You can share your photos/videos or whatever crap you want with your friends there, if you're too cheap to buy $2 disposable USBs.

Seriously it baffles me why people complain about optical drives. At this age it's completely useless and is inferior to new technology widely available today. It's like going back to VHS or casette tapes. It's time to move on people!!

 

[eject]

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.

Really, I don't agree... DVD & BD old tech - I never use, if I do i'll just use the superdrive I bought for my Macbook Air. I never use that either.
All my movies are on a 3TB external which is FW800, so best upgraded to Thunderbolt anyway.

You cannot call No touchscreen, no retina, no new stand a fail.

You are the same kinda person that complains that the iPhone isn't redesigned each year.

Get with the program.

 

[RonDMC]

No you're right, the iMac is a great AIO. The best, period. I'm pretty sure this new iMac will be my mom's replacement desktop.

It's just that as a pretty keen gamer, I strongly disagreed with your statement that it makes for a great gaming machine in any sense of the phrase. The state of games today is simply such that it often does require a top 5 GPU for the best experience. Any Battlefield 3 player will attest to this.

If your a pretty keen gamer you wouldn't be looking at a Mac. End of story.

 

[dakwar]

What happened to the Mac Pro?!

 

[ArkRoyal]

its magically thin.... unless you're looking at it wrong.

 

[bayleaves]

Pre-orders

Apologies if I've missed this somewhere in this thread, but it is not clear to me whether we will be able to pre-order the new iMacs, or if we can't order them until they are available to ship in November (21.5") and December (27"). I did ask someone in Apple PR, and I specifically mentioned November and December. He actually wrote back to me and said repeated part of my question as a statement, "The 21.5-inch iMac will be available in November and the 27-inch in December." Obviously, we already know that's when they'll ship, but whether we can't order them until they are available to ship is not addressed by his lazy response. Maybe that's what he meant, but since I'm not a mind reader I don't really know. This from a guy who works in communications. I'm fine with someone saying 'I don't know' or 'I can't say', but being deliberately and unhelpfully vague is just annoying. I still want a new iMac, but that kind of crap is just annoying.

 

[RadiDoc]

I'm sorry but why do people STILL USE CDs??? I mean honestly.

Retail stores are exhausting their CDs and DVDs to make way for digital content. Who wants to have physical products prone to damage and takes up unnecessary space at home?

Most if not ALL major games/software companies offer digital copies of their software to download ANYTIME. Why bother using a CD that you know you're going to lose and scratch/break in the future?

USBs have far greater flexibility and size than CD/DVDs with limited 700mb and 4.5GB. There are VERY CHEAP disposable USBs that you can give to your friend for $2 or less if you want.

FINALLY, there's this thing called DROPBOX and various other cloud services for FREE! Yes, FREE! You can share your photos/videos or whatever crap you want with your friends there, if you're too cheap to buy $2 disposable USBs.

Seriously it baffles me why people complain about optical drives. At this age it's completely useless and is inferior to new technology widely available today. It's like going back to VHS or casette tapes. It's time to move on people!!

Physical media are still going to be around for many years. Blu-ray 4k is coming soon.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Physical media are still going to be around for many years. Blu-ray 4k is coming soon.

Blu-ray 4k doesn't stand a snowballs chance in Hell of becoming the next replacement.

 

[RadiDoc]

Blu-ray 4k doesn't stand a snowballs chance in Hell of becoming the next replacement.

Why do you think that??

 

[Ubik1981]

The real irony of the situation is that it took Apple 539 days to deliver these ‘improved’ iMacs.

 

[Maux76]

I Post also here:

Hello boys !

So , now that we Know ne iMac hardware Componets:::

For my work of 3d render , on Luxology Modo, Lightwave and Cinema 4d,

if I buy a new MAXED OUT 27" iMac on December, with

768 GB SSD
GPU Nvidia Geforce 680MX with 1536 cuda core and
32 GB of Ram,

this iMac is good for manipulate in viewport opengl 3d software , milion of poligons???

Now that Know new iMac 27" Maxed out , it's good for this or Mac Pro 2013 can will be more good???

Thanks!

 

[nuckinfutz]

Why do you think that??

Because it'll mean everyone replacing their existing hardware and yet another round of lovely DRM from the Blu-ray consortium. I think UHD distribution is going to move to some other platform. We'll see.

 

[cardog]

I wonder how much the fusion drive option is.

On the Mac Mini, it's $250 for 1TB.

 

[ljonesj]

some of these people think optical is dead and hi speed internet is all around when its not i know of a few places around my area were they can only use phone line internet as hi speed cable or dsl is not even offered yet. plus even in areas of hi speed there are data caps that kill any use of streaming media

 

[eject]

Yeah. Great for you.

I personally use an optical drive on a daily basis meaning it's the cheapest and securest way to give a copy of my customer's animals' X-Ray to them. Those DICOM-files need an accompanying viewer.

Yes - I could also use USB-flash-drives for that but this will drive cost up when there is no need for that (especially given the fact, that the optical will work for years to come).

So basically - people with a new iMac are screwed. Customers either had to give me their personal thumb drive (which I wouldn't allow due to security restrictions) or pay the upfront of getting one from me (thumb drives are way more expensive than opticals).

And no - I won't upgrade my internet connection to mail them that stuff or put it on an external server. Just to much hassle...

Optical still has its means in a real life situation.

seriously, you want can afford a new iMac and don't want a fast internet connection? email the X-ray

 

[Loyalty4Life]

Bertrand Serlet was in attendance. Did anyone notice that?

 

[coolspot18]

Did they remove the FW800 port too? I have 4 FW enclosures on the floor connected to my 2011 iMac. Guess I won't be upgrading until Thunderbolt prices come down to my level.

I think the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter is only 30.00 from Apple.

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD464ZM/A

So even if the FW800 port is gone, it shouldn't be a deal breaker for you.

 

[dennno]

Physical media are still going to be around for many years. Blu-ray 4k is coming soon.

I disagree. The main customers clinging on to physical media are the older generations. The average old customer can't grasp the concept of the new technologies I mentioned and choose to use something they're familiar with. Blu-ray 4k won't take off, physical media is a backwards concept.

The new generation that grew up on digital content will find it redundant to use physical media that's unreliable and prone to damage. Especially when you can stream and use cloud services from iTunes nowadays on all your devices on the go. You can't and won't want to carry 20 blu-ray movies with you while travelling for example.

By the way this is coming from a guy that grew up on days when VHS and casette tapes were prevalent.

 

[Thunderbird]

So in other words, it is a new design.

Only by marketing logic. They didn't even change the color. if they only changed that, would it still be a redesign?

Get an external one. If you can afford Apple products, you can afford a drive that sits next to your computer.

Don't want to go out and buy an external one, only to have it take up room on my desk, thereby defeating the purpose of having an all-in-one form factor in the first place. You did read my post, right?

Why change it when there was nothing wrong with it? And actually, for the record, it's got a new taper.

Because [the stand] can only tilt. Almost every other all-in-one on the market has a more ergonomic stand. It's time to improve it. Apple has a patent for an iMac with a folding stand.

Completely unrealistic, given the cost of packing in the required number of pixels into such a large panel.

Not unrealistic, but yes, probably a little cost prohibitive at the moment. Still, the expectation was there that they could have moved in the direction of higher density pixels.

The new iMac has the same upgrade options as the old one.

In other words, practically nil.

If you want a 'Touchscreen PC', tune into QVC and get a HP.

Thanks, I might just do that.

What's wrong with 21" and 27"?

Nothing, but what's wrong with wanting another size? Many on here miss the 16:10 ratio of the old 24".

Get a grip of yourself.

Why, are you the emotion police?

 

[coolspot18]

How often do you use the optical drive?

All the time to rip DVDs and CDs.

An external drive is ugly.

Apple should really put a Blu-Ray player in there.


Also... why doesn't apple put the USB/Card reader ports on the buttom of the display? Reaching to the back is frigging annoying.

 

[Xiroteus]

Image

its magically thin.... unless you're looking at it wrong.

I noticed that at the time, they completely avoided looking at it like that.

I'm sorry but why do people STILL USE CDs??? I mean honestly.

CDs and movies one already owns, movies or music found for cheap that one wants to transfer to their computer.

Retail stores are exhausting their CDs and DVDs to make way for digital content. Who wants to have physical products prone to damage and takes up unnecessary space at home?

I like digital done right, I doubt Apple or anyone else will beat five dollar 1080P blu-ray movies any time soon. Plus I have had discs for over a decade that look brand new, keeping things from getting damaged is not a hard task. However I do dislike standard DVD cases, far too much wasted space.

Most if not ALL major games/software companies offer digital copies of their software to download ANYTIME. Why bother using a CD that you know you're going to lose and scratch/break in the future?

If the digital edition is cheap, sure, otherwise I personally like more control. And why would it be hard to NOT scratc, break or loose your media? Never have myself, rather easy to take care of ones belongings.

USBs have far greater flexibility and size than CD/DVDs with limited 700mb and 4.5GB. There are VERY CHEAP disposable USBs that you can give to your friend for $2 or less if you want.

I prefer flash drives over cds for file transfer, back up etc...

FINALLY, there's this thing called DROPBOX and various other cloud services for FREE! Yes, FREE! You can share your photos/videos or whatever crap you want with your friends there, if you're too cheap to buy $2 disposable USBs.

You may have much larger files? Personally CDs are dead when it comes to personal storage, I am all flash and hard drives. For music and movies it is still current. Even games unless Steam has it cheap.

Seriously it baffles me why people complain about optical drives. At this age it's completely useless and is inferior to new technology widely available today. It's like going back to VHS or casette tapes. It's time to move on people!!

It is still current tech, if you are one to use your computer as an entertainment center (me) you need an optical drive.

All the time to rip DVDs and CDs.

An external drive is ugly.

Apple should really put a Blu-Ray player in there.


Also... why doesn't apple put the USB/Card reader ports on the buttom of the display? Reaching to the back is frigging annoying.

Blu-ray should have been done years ago.

All the time to rip DVDs and CDs.

An external drive is ugly.

Apple should really put a Blu-Ray player in there.


Also... why doesn't apple put the USB/Card reader ports on the buttom of the display? Reaching to the back is frigging annoying.

Blu-ray 4k doesn't stand a snowballs chance in Hell of becoming the next replacement.

I doubt MOST people are even close to ready for that, cool and all, it would really have to be for new content only at best, I cannot imagine all but a few select people wanting to get a new television, player and then the movies just to get 4K blu-ray.

 

[Thunderbird]

LOL. Touch on OS X? Dream on... Won't ever happen

Hey, were you one of those who said the iPad mini "would never happen"? Just curious.

That would be going BACKWARDS in interface design.

Wow, so all those new PC all-in-ones that have come out in recent years are going backwards?

And why do you need a new stand?? The most recent AIO design from Dell uses an even worse stand, and that's on a computer obviously ripping off Apple. There are only so many ways of designing a robust stand with a hole in it to let the cable through...

The new Dell all-in-one has a more ergonomic stand than the iMac. It can tilt and fold down. Not sure how that makes it "worse".

 

[dennno]

All the time to rip DVDs and CDs.

An external drive is ugly.

Apple should really put a Blu-Ray player in there.


Also... why doesn't apple put the USB/Card reader ports on the buttom of the display? Reaching to the back is frigging annoying.

You've had plenty of years to rip your entire DVD/CD collection. Why bother buying DVDs/CDs that will take more time to rip instead of downloading a digital copy (saves time ripping) for $2? If it's software almost ALL software and games have downloadable digital copies.

A Blu-Ray player are you serious? Why would they do that when you can just download movies you bought off iTunes anytime on ALL DEVICES? Why limit users to a physical media that you can't play from mobile devices like tablets and phones?

 

[haruhiko]

Hey, were you one of those who said the iPad mini "would never happen"? Just curious.



Wow, so all those new PC all-in-ones that have come out in recent years are going backwards?



The new Dell all-in-one has a more ergonomic stand than the iMac. It can tilt and fold down. Not sure how that makes it "worse".

iPad mini is much more of a natural evolution of the iPad. Just a smaller one. Touchscreen on OS X will fundamentally change the way we interact with a computer, in a bad way (gorilla arms). Also, Apple has the Magic Trackpad now which is a perfect tool for touch gestures on OS X.