What do you think is in the standard MBA configurations.... hamsters on treadmills ?
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Apple Launches New Cheaper 21.5-Inch iMac Starting at $1,099
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What do you think is in the standard MBA configurations.... hamsters on treadmills ?
Good point. And while we're in the "Jobs" frame of mind, I don't think he would have ever allowed an iPhone5C with 8GB or this putrid iMac. There used to be something that Apple/Jobs would hang their hat on- THE USER EXPERIENCE.
....and even watching streaming video while searching the web and writing an email is going to cause this machine to beach ball like a bitch.
This is not a good "entry point" for the Apple ecosystem. Macs will be even more maligned for their lack of horsepower. Kids won't touch them. Grandma will be calling you all day asking you why she her imac keeps offering here "a colorful pinwheel" instead of her Skype call. They need to make the machines superior "inside AND out" to be competitive with the WinDell market.
-Iamthinking
LPDDR3 is extremely like to be soldered. DDR3L can be on DIMMs.
http://blogs.synopsys.com/committedtomemory/2014/01/10/when-is-lpddr3-not-lpddr3-when-its-ddr3l/
It is another one of those 'odd' situations when generally more expensive tech is being used for the "less expensive" iMac. Apple's move is is highly likely in driving up volume of common parts buys to drive up margins while not making the configuration piggybacking more competitive in its own submarket.
Kind of strange since the iMac has been increasingly successful since Apple started transitioning laptop parts out of the iMac. Now appears to be reversing course.... Or intend to fundamentally split the 21.5 off from the 27?
The iMac needs soldered RAM like a 'another hole in the head'.
More likely not meeting their projections rather than mediocre (relative to rest of general PC industry). A sudden glut so a sudden incremental redesign on iMac? Probably not. This probably has been planned. Enabled as much in the slide of Broadwell as much as some "retina AIR" pause.
There are likely a large block who wish a "retina AIR" will slide in at the same prices are the current MBA... Probably won't and most waiting would just buy a newer (broadwell ) MBA at same (or lower) prices.
I do think Apple is testing the waters of more highly merging the parts components of the MBA with the iMac. If they sell enough of these I doubt it is temporary. In fact the whole rest of the 21.5 (smaller screen) iMac may go this way long term ( iGPU and Ultrabook laptop plateaued x86 core performance. )
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Some old 4+ year old Flash based streaming video? Perhaps. But for modern encoded video (H264 etc )? Not really. There are fixed function units in these Intel CPU+GPU packages that can decode modern formats with very little load on the x86 cores. Searching the web happens on the search engine service provider side... all the user client has to do is display the end results ( again no heavy CPU load). Writing email... email has been around for over 30 years. Didn't need GHz processors to write email back then... don't need it now either.
For everyday, extremely mainstream usage this entry CPU should be just fine.
I agree 100%. Can this iMac give a flawless OS X 10.10 experience? With the lowest ram config? I honestly don't know.
I feel Apple are just entering markets they never should. Or should be thinking differently. Netbooks are ****. Apple know this so they made the iPad for that market instead.
These cheap iMacs though having a good purpose are just not a good idea. It'd be better to offer education and others Mac Minis and screens. And when they upgrade their Minis they won't have to also upgrade the screens at the same time. Like only upgrade the screens every 2nd or 3rd Mini upgrade. That'd save a lot of money.
And the iPhablet mess? Phablets are jack of all trades and master of none. Same deal with the 5C. Last year's internals for $100 less?
Are Apple forgetting that most Apple customers (that are not education) buy Apple for quality. And they save up for a long time to buy quality. They would rather save up a few months more for that $100 more for a 5S or a better iMac or whatever. It's seems very anti Apple for Apple to be pushing the buy now and not save up $100 more for a much better user experience.
We actually have proof Jobs was against this. 1997 and the years around that happened is the proof. I think Apple is repeating history in part. Jobs left, we have a new CEO, and slowly too many SKUs are being made. Happened in the 90's and is happening in the 10's now too. Only difference is Apple can afford it with their billions in the bank. But it's a very worrying trend.
Apple would NEVER downgrade to a cheaper price if Imac's were selling! All this tell's me is that the new Imacs have been a flop! Clearly apple is starting to feel the heat from those cheap Chromebook/boxes! With LG's new all in one Chromebase coming in at a low $349!
Seems too underpowered for a desktop... I'm guessing this is just the first step in refreshing the iMac product line though and introducing retina models. The question is, what will the price point of those babies be and what will be the gap between them and this cheaper offering? Or will there still be a product offering in between? Guess we'll see later this year once Yosemite is out since it is hinting at the retina models.
Why have they released this turkey ?? I hope noone buys it to send them a clear message that such messing will not be tolerated!
Just for clarification, I believe what your point is is more than just the actual technology of the RAM (lPDDR3 v DDR3).
SODIMM refers to the package the RAM is on, not the technology. For example, Laptops had always used SODIMM packages for RAM since they were smaller, more dense, and better energy efficiency compared to the Desktop DIMM variants.
The actual RAM technology that was on each DIMM varied. We started seing DIMM's (DUAL INLINE MEMORY MODULES) take place around the Pentium 2 era, replacing the SIMMS (Single Inline Memory Modules). And the extension from that was SODIMM for mobile parts.
What it looks like in the new iMAC here, at lower cost, is that they have gone away from using SODIMMS and are now soldering the RAM chips directly to the logic board. Similar to their current trend in laptops.
What this changes is that you can no longer swap modules to upgrade RAM. it is impossible to upgrade the System memory unless you are willing to replace your entire logic board, which, usually contains your CPU, GPU and the main bulk of your computer anyways.
and doing so.. I have to ask. WTF are you smoking apple.
Sure, in a MBA, that kind of makes sense due to the insane power restrictions and pure size, but this is a desktop based computer. There is absolutely no logical reason to go this route except for their own profit margins or some desire to lock your system down so that 3 years from now, if you want to ugprade, yo have no choice but to buy another brand new $1000 computer.
Funny seeing people defend this. I got a terrific IPS ASUS monitor 23" from amazon for $205 and it has every port. Apple is charging at least $600 more than this computer is worth. Sorry but its true. Imacs suck anyways. I have 3 here I bought for my kids and they all have had major problems like power supplies going bad to screens turning yellow etc and those Imacs that I have replaced 3 imacs that just were too slow to use anymore and or have broken completely. If you can't stomach an extra cable or too on your desk then you deserve to get ripped off with this new offering. Smart folk will invest in a cable tie or two and pick up a mini, or macbook air with an external display.
not to mock you but what you consider terrific may not be terrific for all. For example, I can bet your Asus monitor wasn't pre-calibrated at the factory.
indeed. IT's a fact that Apple monitors, other than it's reflective screen, have recently always been considered among the best in consumer grade monitors
And still no Haswell Mac mini.
maybe it will get the Broadwell Y CPU, shipping this fall
Machine is not terrible but I think $899 would be better for those particular specs. Wish Apple made something with OSX that you see with Windows machines for that price. Seen some i7's with 760's for $800-$1000, although form factor comes into play for some.
Certainly does with Ive. *Insert Ive talking pompous for ten minutes about beauty and elegance*
Certainly does with Ive. *Insert Ive talking pompous for ten minutes about beauty and elegance*
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Correct. About three months later when Johnny becomes a Macophile and reads the Mac Websites he will figure out that he got screwed. For a couple of hundred extra dollars, euros, pounds, whatever he could have purchased a far more capable machine. He is stuck with a non-upgradeable, iPad-on-a-stand that does not run iOS.
Speaking only for myself, I use a Mac Mini as a personal server. It runs 24x7. Haswell or Broadwell would significantly boost performance while potentially reducing its power cost from ~$40 per year to somewhere more in the neighborhood of $15. And I'm limping along using my home theater machine as a server, because my previous server box died, and I don't want to replace it until I can get either a Haswell- or (preferably) Broadwell-based Mini.
And no, I would never consider any Apple hardware other than a Mini for that purpose. I don't have room for an iMac in addition to my current Mini and monitor, and an iMac can't double as a monitor for my other hardware without a couple hundred bucks worth of converter hardware.
still pretty high price
but it's something
under 1k would have made people feel like they are getting a deal
but it's something
under 1k would have made people feel like they are getting a deal
I agree! Anything better and you're paying more money.
Not that those higher end monitors aren't great though.
A bit off topic, but I really wished HP would have made the new DreamColor's with Thunderbolt cables and ports.
Of course, but only because of the OS, not the hardware.