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Apple Launches New Cheaper 21.5-Inch iMac Starting at $1,099

Off topic but puzzled

Slightly off topic, but all the talk about Retina iMacs in this thread has got me wondering: Why all this clamour for what people are calling Retina screens on an iMac? As I understand the term, it doesn't actually apply to anything specific, merely "...when viewed at normal viewing distances you can't make out individual pixels". Now, unless my eyes are really really bad, at a normal working distance on my 27" iMac I'm buggered if I can see the individual pixels. Surely by definition that makes it "Retina"?

And as for 4K TB displays - I hope they have a non 4K version too should one ever come out. Talk is you'll need TB2 to run one, which again will take a lot of Mac owners out of the Apple market for a second display since TB2 is only just beginning to be included.

Anyway, as for the main topic of this thread - I too think this "entry" level iMac is overpriced for what it delivers. Especially here in the UK. Even accounting for our rip off 20% VAT the base price for this new iMac is £749 (£899 with VAT) or around $1270. Usually the conversion is a little closer than that, or used to be anyway. I can't make head nor tail of US Sales Tax laws so I don't know if the $1099 on the US site is subject to sales taxes at all but even if it is I doubt any state comes close to our 20% :(

On the bright side, the other iMacs have had a price drop here.
 
I am fine with the 1.4ghz chip and so would most consumers. I have a 2013 macbook air and for what 99% of people do its easily fast enough. The real issue here is that they didn't make an SSD standard. If they could have hit that price even with a little 128gb SSD it would have been far more appealing. Especially since I am sure that you can't upgrade it after the fact easily. If they had a blade SSD instead of a HDD they may have been able to make a trap door to change it out if needed
 
elev8d said:
New Air, iWatch, New AppleTV, New iMacs are the rumored major updates this year.

I am personally speculating that they might bring back the MacBook made out of the Polycarbonate they used for the iPhone Color. But that's based on nothing other than what I would do if I was a product manager at Apple. The reason being is that it would be much lower cost than milling aluminum and they could possibly do a MacBook Color line that would be perfect for students... More durable, cheaper, and fun. It could be something like the a prettier version of the Colorware Air.
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Well yeah I hope apple will bring in the big drums later this year. Though there no substantial rumors about an iMac update coming this year though. If apple chose to skip 880m and this years intel processors we will most likely not see anything until early next year...sadly. Currently, I would say it's the dullest apple year of all time (even if Tim states otherwise) I liked it better when we got the updates spread across the year. It opened for more rumors and chatter and I could get iStuff more frequently. At least it felt more frequent.
 
I can see why Cook didn't announce this at the WWDC; he would have been laughed out of the hall.

The unfortunate innocents who buy this clunker might not know anything about technical specifications; when they do learn, their anger at being deceived will make their first Apple computer also their last Apple computer.
 
why would anyone get this when they can get a 27 inch used one for 500 with double the power and a real graphics card?
 
While I am all for price drops this isn't very enticing to me until I can spend this for an ssd and retina

Else I'm better off buying a MacBook Pro

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Thermonuclear said:
I can see why Cook didn't announce this at the WWDC; he would have been laughed out of the hall.

The unfortunate innocents who buy this clunker might not know anything about technical specifications; when they do learn, their anger at being deceived will make their first Apple computer also their last Apple computer.
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A few people would of cheered. The apple fanatics
 
Maybe next rev of imac will come with retina/nonretina lines. Retina will have the current configuration, and the nonretina will be even thinner with macbook air parts.
 
But whats the student discount on this? And what can schools pay for this?

$900, $800 ...
 
This is a pretty crappy iMac.. but then again they are servicing different markets where having a product like this makes a lot sense.
 
Thermonuclear said:
I can see why Cook didn't announce this at the WWDC; he would have been laughed out of the hall.

The unfortunate innocents who buy this clunker might not know anything about technical specifications; when they do learn, their anger at being deceived will make their first Apple computer also their last Apple computer.
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Exactly correct. And the idea that someone is going to drop over a grand on something just because it's "Apple" is at once pathetic and ludicrous.

Obscenely overpriced for what it is.
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
It pretty much already did happen the way you said. Touchscreens and light pens predate the mouse (at least in mass distribution, if not invention). They were very unergonomic on vertically upright displays. The mouse was a superior replacement.
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I did not know that.

I've yet to see an advantage a desktop with a touch screen has over one without. Not only that, the sales speak for themselves and it seems the majority of other users agree.
 
Yvan256 said:
There is no MHz myth when we're talking about the same CPU architecture and roughly the same generation of architecture.
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But people were comparing the base speeds rather than the turbo boost speeds. The processor will stay at the turbo boost a lot longer in the iMac because it doesn't need to save power and has better heat dissipation than a MacBook Air.
 
derbladerunner said:
How does this compare to a faster processor and only 4 GB of RAM?

I would think 8GB of RAM and a slower processor on average makes more sense for casual users, no (?).

This could be a smart move by Apple.

I personally don't see the CPU speed as the bottleneck for casual computer users..
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It isn't just the processor - they also included a worse gpu and half the drive space. All for only a $200 savings. It's not a good deal for anyone but buyers who only want the absolute lowest price, value be damned.
 
Thermonuclear said:
I can see why Cook didn't announce this at the WWDC; he would have been laughed out of the hall.

The unfortunate innocents who buy this clunker might not know anything about technical specifications; when they do learn, their anger at being deceived will make their first Apple computer also their last Apple computer.
Click to expand...

I suspect anyone buying this on price alone really doesn't have huge processing needs and will be perfectly fine with it. It's basically a MBA in desktop format.
 
dred67212 said:
why would anyone get this when they can get a 27 inch used one for 500 with double the power and a real graphics card?
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That's a pretty large price increase.

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Jyby said:
But whats the student discount on this? And what can schools pay for this?

$900, $800 ...
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I tried the education discount and it dropped the price to $1,049, so not great.
 
iMcLovin said:
july, and this is all apple can come up with?? not even an update to the i7 with 880m and the latest i7 processor with tb2 (that wouldnt be a complex update for them to do). geez I hope this and the MB air isnt part of what tim cook and eddy cue looks upon as a year of impressive product upgrades...effortless upgrades IMO.
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The butt hurt is strong in this one.

First you claimed that there would be new iMacs at WWDC. Wrong.

Then you claimed the new iMac would have near Mac Pro specs. Wrong.

Then you claimed that current models would get cheaper. Wrong.

Meanwhile, those that have some sense, including myself, have been saying:

No hardware at WWDC. Correct.

No major iMac refresh until Broadwell. Correct.

No price drop on current models. New lower spec model for lower price point. Correct.

Good job, iMcLovin. All that arguing you've done, and you've been 100% wrong all along. You nailed it. :rolleyes:
 
I just wonder if this is really all we're getting for the rest of the year. I have a feeling they would not go in with this lineup into Christmas of this year.
 
bobenhaus said:
Also using mobile cpu. Not good :(
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Nothing wrong with using a ULV CPU in a desktop. It's going to use less energy and generate less heat, which are important considerations in many environments.

As shown by GeekBench, the differences in performance are actually pretty minimal for many applications.
 
Someone whose needs would be filled by a Clunker iMac would likely have their needs filled by a ChromeBook or ChromeBox for far less money.

New ChromeBooks, starting at less than a quarter of the price:

http://www.walmart.com/cp/1103213

Note the Mac Mini look-a-like ChromeBox for US$180
 
KPOM said:
But people were comparing the base speeds rather than the turbo boost speeds. The processor will stay at the turbo boost a lot longer in the iMac because it doesn't need to save power and has better heat dissipation than a MacBook Air.
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And as can be seen in the benchmark, Turbo Speed doesn't seem to help as much as we'd like to think. It's still an ULV 1.4GHz CPU that should have stayed in a thin laptop.
 
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