Apple Announces New iMacs, Mac Minis, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule

[headfuzz]

Check monoprice.com .... there are adapters out there and more will be coming in the future now that the miniDisplayPort

I did specify for the foreseeable future.

My comment was in response to someone who said they were really happy the new Mini supports dual displays. I was pointing out that for all intents and purposes it doesn't really, unless you're prepared to spend as much if not more (depending on screen size you wish to go for) on a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter cable (DisplayPort has yet to be picked up on the scale that DVI or HDMI are already in use and even so you'd still need a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable)...

2 x Mini DVI would have been much more suited to the target market of a Mini - ie people who don't wish to spend the Earth on their Mac and required accessories.

However, given Apple's new pricing, this argument is pretty null and void

 

[crisss1205]

Apple got greedy

- no firewire in most macbooks
- charging for remotes
- charging extra for a numeric keypad
- cutting down the number of firewire ports
- using last year's mid-range components (graphics cards and processors)
- charging more for RAM
- lengthening product cycles

A deliberate strategy of driving down costs by using inferior components to increase their margin.

But they haven't been paying attention to the competition. They really haven't. Forget about the exchange rate. If you go to a PC World, their imacs will now be the worst value for money of any computer there. They'll stand out for it. UK definitely. US I don't know but wouldn't be surprised.

They did this before when Jobs wasn't CEO - completely lost their way
There was a share option scandal at Apple a few years back. I suspect many executives there are just as short-term profit-focussed and greedy as the bankers. Sacrificing customer loyalty for short-term margin is terrible business strategy but it might line the pockets of a few execs quite nicely. I wouldn't be surprised to see sales fall off a cliff and the computer division close down in a couple of years.

There is no charge for the keyboard, and all companies charge more for RAM

 

[Darkroom]

Oh boy here we go again, Microsoft saved Apple blah blah blah. So many years ago. The way I see it Apple has pledged a huge contribution to the computer industry helping PC companies sell more computers with Windows. How so? The iPod and iTunes. The world has bought more computers to keep up with the latest electronics. Had we left the industry to Microsoft we would be still doing boring spreadsheets.
Apple's innovation has caused other companies to step up their game in features and style.

agreed...

Get over yourself, Apple is too big of a company where they have to be concerned if they lose a few customers.

oh, too bad you had to throw that last bit in there... now i disagree with everything you say... or will say... ever...

 

[DarkRyan323i]

Can someone answer this for me?

I just ordered the lower end 24" but I have been reading people saying the NVIDIA 9400M is not good enough for the 24" screen. I don't intend to play games or use resource hogging software. I actually don't play to use any software that doesn't already come with it, except maybe something like photoshop. I will mostly use this computer for music, movies, and TV shows. Should I switch my order to the 20" and save a few bucks or will the 24" with the 9400M be good enough for what I am using this computer for?

Thanks!

 

[BruceEBonus]

Looks like I timed my first iMac purchase .. a year last October just at the right time. I got Leopard thatd just come out ... a new designed, aluminium (instead of the then-current white plastic one) and a great discount for my then-student daughter's account. Great!. Also a cheap Mac Mini for about half the cost .. I think it worked out about £350 for that and about £800 for the iMac 24". Superb. However when I heard about the upcoming new version I seriously thought about upgrading. Sadly that wont be happening then. The new 24" iMac and Mac Mini are now nearly twice the price I paid about 16 months ago. Admittedly the former is pretty damn fast in comparison but really - I dont play games and the 350GB drive is enough for me even now. So what a wasted opportunity really. In the UK we get hit a lot harder with the terrible £-$ exchange rate and this is half the problem. I think Apple will have to rethink its pricing structure if it thinks the loyalty factor will make folks in Britain overlook the credit crunch - because it wont. And as PC prices work out about a third of Apple nearly - then the iPod buying public wont be saying Hasta La Vista, baby either .... all Im saying is .. be careful Apple. Your enthusiasm for change for change's sake may not be in keeping with what Joe Public really can afford or need.
As an aside. I also have another US product. A Harley Davidson motorbike. Like the Apple - well made, reliable and great fun in comparison to its competition. But like Apple their stuff is getting too overpriced. The designs are not in keeping with demand or need and similarly the UK buyership are turning away in kind. In other words - dont presume that 'cos people have been buying your products for years they can't see the bigger picture - and if that picture paints a situation where all you are paying for is a name and a big price tag and not much else to justify a new purchase - then folks will either keep what they have or go elsewhere. Loyalty isnt always a lifetime thing. Er .. thats it!. Cheers!

 

[HLdan]

agreed...



oh, too bad you had to throw that last bit in there... now i disagree with everything you say... or will say... ever...

Ha ha, don't read too much into that last line. All I was basically saying is that Apple is no longer a mom&pop company trying to get into big business. They have accomplished this. Some of the posters (including the one I quoted on this) act like Apple can't afford to piss off a few customers or their doors will be closed. Then they go so far as rehash what happened over 10 years ago in terms of Apple getting money from MS to save their company. Apple doesn't owe MS a thing, Apple's contributions have created sales for other PC companies henceforth putting money into Microsoft's pockets.

 

[jackfrost123]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/

Do your research about mobile cards

Thanks I am aware of this site, but I couldn't find a h2h with last years ati and the macbook's nvidia 9800m, so you are positive about the ati being better?

 

[Lord Lagg]

Well my initial reaction to the prices was

I'm in the UK, and coming down the pipe are all sorts of rise in prices for electronic goods, specifically for anything made in the far east...the UK going bankrupt is not going to help in that regard

However if u think about it, Apple has always relied on peeps ponying up above average cash, peeps who like good design, solid build, reliability and who aren't going to trawl and compare specs for hours.....

I paid £1400 or so for he G5 Imac im using here, and the £1499 Imac now on sale is a pretty solid machine...
If u had the money get one it's not bad value, if u dont have the money then don't!

That said in a year when most businesses game play is to just stay in business this is ballsy by Apple.
Akin almost to a builder who is busy quoting 10k to lay block paving on your driveway, just on the off chance someone will bite....

For me the best value computer apple do now is the new white Macbook and that will be where my spends go i think..

 

[rushmere]

Can someone answer this for me?

I just ordered the lower end 24" but I have been reading people saying the NVIDIA 9400M is not good enough for the 24" screen. I don't intend to play games or use resource hogging software. I actually don't play to use any software that doesn't already come with it, except maybe something like photoshop. I will mostly use this computer for music, movies, and TV shows. Should I switch my order to the 20" and save a few bucks or will the 24" with the 9400M be good enough for what I am using this computer for?

Thanks!

Not exactly the same setup, but I use a Macbook that has a Nvidia 9400M with an Apple 24" display, and it copes well. In fact, the display is stunning. You should be just fine.

 

[dolphin842]

I was pointing out that for all intents and purposes it doesn't really, unless you're prepared to spend as much if not more (depending on screen size you wish to go for) on a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter cable (DisplayPort has yet to be picked up on the scale that DVI or HDMI are already in use and even so you'd still need a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable)...

Actually...

Mini-DVI to DVI adapter is $9 from monoprice
Mini-DisplayPort to DVI adapter is $15 from monoprice (available on the 15th of this month)

The only expensive adapter is for a dual-link DVI adapter, only needed for a 30" LCD. Previous mini-DVI Macs couldn't even power a 30" display.

 

[NT1440]

Can someone answer this for me?

I just ordered the lower end 24" but I have been reading people saying the NVIDIA 9400M is not good enough for the 24" screen. I don't intend to play games or use resource hogging software. I actually don't play to use any software that doesn't already come with it, except maybe something like photoshop. I will mostly use this computer for music, movies, and TV shows. Should I switch my order to the 20" and save a few bucks or will the 24" with the 9400M be good enough for what I am using this computer for?

Thanks!

Where did you hear that about the 9400? Of course it will be enough for what you do.

 

[mudenza]

not necessarily. It's quite possible the NVIDIA parts are going to get all the acceleration-goodness and the ATI parts won't. We don't really know at this point...

What do you mean?

Cool thanks, Which is better out of HD2600 or GT 120?

120 GT

Are you sure about that, links?

Mobility Radeon 2600 HD

3D Mark 06 Score : 3134
Cinebench : 2659
Doom 3 HQ: 68 FPS


9400M

3D Mark 06 Score : 2067
Cinebench : 4402
Doom 3 HQ: 83 FPS


I'd say that the 9400M is marginally better than the 2600 in some respects, but in general they are equal

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

EDIT: Added source

 

[joubex]

30 inchs display and mac mini

Do you think the new mac mini is able to run my 30' Dell display ?

joubex

 

[NT1440]

Interesting, so your saying that hldan has to say exactly what you want he/she to day in order to get your approval? Get real dude, who died and made you the king of MR?

I think the last line was more of a joke actually....

 

[jackfrost123]

@mudenza, great post, thanks.

 

[stix666]

Well my initial reaction to the prices was


I paid £1400 or so for he G5 Imac im using here, and the £1499 Imac now on sale is a pretty solid machine...
If u had the money get one it's not bad value, if u dont have the money then don't!

Compared to what you bought before maybe. But the competition wasn't as good before. Compared to what you can get from other PC manufacturers now, it's terrible value for money. The iMac used to be superb value for money compared to Pcs

 

[Jimmdean]

What do you mean?

Snow Leopard is supposed to be adding a lot of parallel processing and GPU-acceleration features native to the OS. This obviously depends a lot on vendors and driver support.

At this point it's impossible to know what cards are going to be included/excluded.

All we really know is these current parts (the 9400s) are in newer machines and
span across the entire line.

If I had to guess right now, I would say the NVIDIA cards are going to have much better support in Snow Leopard than the ATI ones.

(this is just a guess)

 

[fagosu]

The only thing that matter for screen res is the amount of GPU Ram available. It will be fine for everything but gaming. Let's face it the 9400M is not a gaming GPU so even at 1024x768 you would be hobbled.

If you want a gaming system build a PC... if you want an everyday user buy a mac. I think this has been established.

If you want the best of both worlds and don't care about stability *I have built many a hacks for fun so even the BEST of the using HLC proved parts... you don't get close to 100%*, build a Hack![/QUOTE


Well, speaking of stability, I have been using my hack for more than a year and a half now, and besides the usual updating song and dance it has been rock solid. I'm even looking into building one to run my legit copy of Creative Suite 3

 

[dolphin842]

Do you think the new mac mini is able to run my 30' Dell display ?

joubex

Yes it will. However, you will have to get Apple's MiniDisplayPort->Dual-link DVI adapter, which costs ~$100.

 

[david6545]

TECHNICALLY. the UK has received a price cut, for more features. As I said, if you aren't happy with it, blame Darling.

For non-UK residents, Alistair Darling is a politician. Please don't blame your wife or husband.

 

[kabunaru]

Yeah, thats the deciding factor here. Should be better IMHO

ATI Radeon HD 2600 should be better.

 

[jackfrost123]

Yes it will. However, you will have to get Apple's MiniDisplayPort->Dual-link DVI adapter, which costs ~$100.

DAMN!!! What about some cheap ebay clone of that, any luck?

 

[Phormic]

I wouldn't be surprised to see sales fall off a cliff and the computer division close down in a couple of years.

Yeah. The record sales of Macs over the past few quarters are obviously a sign of imminent collapse.

I can see the headlines now.

"Apple files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Dropping of the Firewire 400 port blamed."

Some people seem to operate in some weird parallel universe.

 

[DarkRyan323i]

Where did you hear that about the 9400? Of course it will be enough for what you do.

In this thread people seem to see it as a downgrade from the previous model. I just wanted to make sure it would be okay with the larger display. Glad to know I should be fine!

 

[dolphin842]

DAMN!!! What about some cheap ebay clone of that, any luck?

It will be more difficult because the dual-link adapter needs some beefier hardware inside than generic DVI. As I mentioned in an earlier post, keep an eye on monoprice.com every so often... they've got the basic DVI and VGA adapters coming soon. It all depends on how difficult/expensive the actual hardware and engineering is.

The only other option is to find a cheap previous-gen MacBook Pro or late-model PowerBook, which have dual-link DVI built-in. Or go the hackintosh route as many have suggested .