Apple May Launch 27-Inch Retina iMac With AMD Graphics as Soon as Next Month

[Malus120]

That bit of the article is quite misleading. The 4790K is a socket LGA1150 processor with an unlocked multiplier, designed for overclocking enthusiasts (it's the CPU I've got in my PC and I run it at 4.6GHz). Apple has never before used K-series (unlocked multiplier) chips before, since BIOS modification could potentially allow users to overclock the CPU and do damage to their machine.

It seems more likely that they may go for the normal 3.6GHz 4790 as a top option.

http://ark.intel.com/products/80806/Intel-Core-i7-4790-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_00-GHz

Sorry if you're not even interested in this stuff. You were the first person to mention it, so I thought I'd use your post for my reply.

Heh, I'm just glad someone else noticed the K series CPU

I realise that the 4790K is an "unlocked" CPU, and that Apple has never used K parts in an iMac before, that's why it was really more on my dream list (with 4K and 980M being on the more "realistic" side) until now.

That said, I think there are several good reasons for Apple to put the 4790K in the iMac despite their previous lack of interest in such CPUs:

1. Clock Speed: Both the base and Turbo Clock are 400Mhz faster than the locked counterpart (4.0/4.4 Vs 3.6/4.0), a significant difference compared to the usual 100mhz or less deficit between locked and unlocked parts. Furthermore, this would allow Apple to claim significant CPU gains on the high end, something they couldn't do with standard haswell refresh chips.

2. Value: Given the almost non existent clock speed advantage of (other) high end i7 chips vs high end i5 chips, the i7 upgrade option in the current iMacs is a pretty hard sell for anyone who doesn't absolutely need hyper threading. The 4790K would put some real distance between the "base" i5 and the upgrade" i7, likely encouraging more people to opt for that juicy (for Apple) $250+ upgrade.

3. The BIOS (in Apple's case EFI) controls the overlocking options available and given that Apple has full control over the implementation of EFI used in the iMac, I don't think you'll be seeing any iMacs frying eggs @4.7Ghz+.

Anyway, just my 2 cents, I know I'll pony up if they put the 4790K in there (otherwise I'll likely stick with the base i5).

 

[tommy/1984]

If you look at it this way - the difference for the iMac Vs Dell Display would be just the panel and not an entire display. And Apple might be able to get those panels cheaper than Dell.

For instance, the current iMac is also a 27" Thunderbolt Display which by itself sell for about $1000. So the rest of the iMac is about $800. That's a powerful 4 core Apple computer for $800. Combing the two lowers the cost dramatically.

That said, it could be they'll sell a Retina version for a couple or few hundred more than non-retina.

That makes perfect sense but I think we can agree that prices for that 5K-iMac would be way beyond the current price range.

Retina is 5K... I wonder if Apple would be tempted to make the Display 4K to increase compatibility.

Has that been established, yet? Couldn't they just sell the 4K 27" as Retina? Or would that not correspond to the PPI of a Retina MacBook Pro?

 

[wizard]

AMD? Oh boy... It's time for Apple to find a better solution.

Don't believe the non sense you see on the net, Apple has done very well with AMD hardware. If they do switch you can be sure that there are sound technical reasons behind the switch. AMD does some things in hardware very well.

 

[Aloft085]

I doubt that this rumor is true and here is why: price. Pure and simple. The Dell UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K will sell for $ 2,499. Now that's $ 500 more than the current 27" top of the line iMac. Could anyone imagine an iMac selling well above $ 3,000? Or am I getting something completely wrong here?

I think many of you are far overestimating the cost of producing 5k iMac displays. Samsung currently has one on sale for only $599, at 28". That's only about $300 more than a high quality 1080p display. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-28-In..._sim_pc_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FJ6PZFPRS03SC9Q6C2Z

Not only that, but iMacs currently carry an enormous profit premium, which I believe is around 50% on the high-end models. It's not unimaginable that Apple could release a retina iMac with only a small price increase, and simply eat some of the rest of the cost as the price of keeping us with the competition.

As for GPU's, Nvidia's 900 series of mobile GPU's are really quite remarkable. If Apple does go with AMD, I hope they're using an unannounced new product, or perhaps even a desktop-class GPU. Personally, if I were going to buy a 5k display, I'd want some serious graphics power behind it. Lack of graphics performance is why I'm using a windows desktop right now instead of an iMac. If anyone at Apple is listening, two GTX 980M's in SLI would be a great way to go. Either that, or give me a full desktop card.

 

[MagicBoy]

AMD?

I'm making a Marge Simpson style disapproving noise until they sort out the 2011 MBP issue.

 

[pokestuff]

Don't believe the non sense you see on the net, Apple has done very well with AMD hardware. If they do switch you can be sure that there are sound technical reasons behind the switch. AMD does some things in hardware very well.

Noting to do with nonsense on the net, loads of well used software cannot use AMD GPU's, full stop the end. Thats it. Useless to so many designers that are the core market, as is the current Mac Pro.

 

[bounou]

Not to be the bearer of bad news for all of you who are hoping that Apple will release a retina Thunderbolt Display at the same time but i really don't think there is much chance.

I think its much more likely we see a new Thunderbolt Display next June when they have managed to upgrade the entire lineup with displayport 1.3 support so you don't need 2 cables to run one monitor.

I could be wrong mind you, just my opinion

 

[FuNGi]

OMG I cannot imagine the flood of threads if this is true:

retina iMac image retention...
retina iMac yellow screen...
post your retina iMac FPS and temps here...

 

[scott911]

5K display - great - and when a new 'computer" process, bus, etc. is available, I'll just swap that out and keep using that beautiful display...

on - it's an all in one? - hmmm.

 

[Malus120]

After taking some time to think about it, something definitely smells a bit off about the "AMD graphics" part.

Why would Apple and Nvidia take the time to add support for the Geforce 980 and 970 series GPUs in the Yosemite beta (see the thread in the Mac Pro forum), if they didn't plan on putting them in the iMac?

From what I've seen Apple's (and by extension Nvidia/AMD) support for graphics cards which Apple doesn't plan to sell some variant of in an upcoming or current mac tends to be abysmal.

This would seem to suggest high end Nvidia cards in upcoming Macs but if you think about it, what else could they put it in besides the iMac?

Mac Mini: Apple's never put a serious GPU in these before and even if they decided to start doing so, I wonder how well the 980M would fit within the Mini's thermal/power constraints.

Mac Pro: Possible, but Apple seems fairly committed to AMD at this point (Custom-ish dual GPUs and better Open CL performance for AMD) (and if they were changing to Nvidia for the Mac Pro, why in the world would they then switch the iMac to AMD?)

Macbook Pro 15: This makes some sense, although Apple already "refreshed" this line this year, and the 970M and 980M are a cut above what Apple usually puts in this lineup (although I'd certainly be pleased if they surprised me on this one)

Macbook Pro 13/MBA: Almost no chance, but hey, I'd love to be wrong.

iMac: Perfect fit

Just saying...

 

[Nightarchaon]

Sadly my early 2011 iMac is probably the last apple computer ill own, since the decline from computers to disposable items seems now complete with these units being effectively sealed and non-user up-gradable/repairable to encourage people to keep buying new ones every year, im done.

I was planning on buying a mac-pro, then they turned it into a tiny useless box with a mess of wires behind it, so i had to buy a PC to do that job,

I wanted a tablet, but also wanted that tablet to be a usable computer, so i ended up with a Surface PRO because apple didn't think that perhaps the macbook air with a dockable keyboard would have decimated the tablet market because it wanted to keep the iPad and Macbook lines separate so it could sell both to people.

So ill keep my iMac, which i love, and which i have replaced the HDD on, removed the Optical drive and added an SSD which i boot from, and which i purchase and added my own RAM for a fraction the price apple charge.

And i shall feel very sad that apple have gone from being a supurb manufacturer of excellent equipment and transformed into a new money making evil empire.. all hail the new face of corporate greed, Microsoft hand over the crown.

 

[AppleInLVX]

oh, hell no!

Its useless to me with out a Nvidia card, might as well buy some boat anchors...

Forgive my ignorance, as I do not push the limits of my iMac all that much (beyond converting video). Are all the the people upset about the choice of video card upset because it won't work worth a fig in any situation, or it won't work for extreme graphics use such as high end gaming or CAD? I totally see the merit in the upset if people consider this machine an essential tool for pro users (although then I wonder why they'd have a Mac Pro and an iMac, which is more consumer-friendly). But for those of us who just want a far more beautiful, sharp-text display, will the graphics card matter if it can drive common use cases?

 

[JoeG4]

This is exciting!!!

Except for the and part. Maybe they're using low power chips so they can make the new iMac thinner lol

 

[Aloft085]

Anyway, just my 2 cents, I know I'll pony up if they put the 4790K in there (otherwise I'll likely stick with the base i5).

I'm running the 4790K in my current desktop. It's a great processor. Although I find it ridiculous that Apple charges $250 to upgrade from the i5, when the i7 only costs $340 at full retail price.

 

[DavidG328]

just bought a maxed 2013 model a few days ago due to my 2010 dying

LOL, that's the way the world works with these things. I'm gonna wait until the Spring and see what's on the table at that point, and then upgrade to a 27".

 

[The Economist]

Am I the only one who thinks this isn't a good idea? Cramming double the resolution into the same size screen? My eyes aren't getting any younger, and while I can increase the font size etc. why should I have to?

At a certain point such high resolutions don't make sense without a corresponding increase in monitor size.

Double the resolution with double-sized assets. Everything is legible but sharper. That's the point of these screens.

 

[Aloft085]

But for those of us who just want a far more beautiful, sharp-text display, will the graphics card matter if it can drive common use cases?

The graphics card is primarily for any kind of gaming, not just high-end stuff. Also, at 5k of resolution, even more average tasks are going to prove extremely taxing. You'll be able to check your email and read Facebook just fine, but computers should be able to do a variety of more complex tasks if needed.

 

[keterboy]

Finally! Im preordering TWO 5K's when it comes out, yaaaaaaay

 

[raybo]

AMD graphics? surly the lower power and lower heat of the Nvidia would have been much better option, the 27"models get so hot!

Ebay is littered with blown 27" iMac's because of overheating, I know cos I have one!! only way I can start it is with a PRAM reset.

I expect this was made before Nvidia lowered their prices however.

HDD Fan Control is your friend...solves all heat issues I had in my 21.5".

http://www.hddfancontrol.com

 

[pokestuff]

Forgive my ignorance, as I do not push the limits of my iMac all that much (beyond converting video). Are all the the people upset about the choice of video card upset because it won't work worth a fig in any situation, or it won't work for extreme graphics use such as high end gaming or CAD? I totally see the merit in the upset if people consider this machine an essential tool for pro users (although then I wonder why they'd have a Mac Pro and an iMac, which is more consumer-friendly). But for those of us who just want a far more beautiful, sharp-text display, will the graphics card matter if it can drive common use cases?

No it won't "work" with quite a number of 3D rendering and video composing and mixing programs, so you won't be able to use the GPU rendering for example. Same goes for the current Mac Pro.

 

[The Deepness]

Are you serious? Do you not know what an iMac is?

No, I wasn't serious. As stated in my post, I have two of them.

When has Apple ever offered a display upgrade on an iMac? You'll want the rest of the machine upgraded anyway. I expect to ride out another year or so on my 2011 model before demoting it. Yeah, I have to wonder if certain people are trolling.

Not trolling, just dreaming. Lighten up, guys. I'm actually quite happy with the performance of both my 2012 and 2013 27" iMacs. I expect they'll more than satisfy my needs for several years to come.

Ha, Apple's idea of upgrading is buying a whole new device. C'mon guy.

I know, right? I'm so spoiled by all my other retina devices, it's hard not to dream about how nice a retina iMac would be.

I doubt your GPU could push that many pixels.

Probably not, even if the physical connectors are the same on the panel/ Logic board, the older machines internal display port wouldn't support the Resolution i believe.

That's what I figured. I also figured that a retina iMac would require a Broadwell processor, so when this rumor suggested the retina iMac would still use Haswell, well I thought maaaaaaaybe…

 

[Mago]

A new iMac retina it's coming, that's sure, but I fear this article is wrong at least on the GPU selection, since new drivers on Yosemite point out some new mac actually testing nVidia 9xx series gpu, we could speculate at least one of this it's an iMac since the retina Mac book pro it's too young since last update.

On the other hand, while a 5K resolution seems the logical next step for the 27" iMac I think it's unlikely for a while to happens, it's too expensive both panel and the required gpu, also requires an heavy redesign just to handle the extra heat from gpu/cpu, 3rd only 4k content producers are really interested on a 5k monitor, but actually most studios found more convenient having 4k preview on one monitor or TV dedicated to this purpose while keeping all the other tools and Windows on a 3k monitor.

So maybe the next iMac either would have only 4k resolution or kept current resolution but adding tb2 output 4k capable with an slightly updated internals (i7-4790/nVidia 9xxM)...

Let's see the keynote

 

[wizard]

Very surprised about these AMD rumours. The new GTX970 and 980 are incredibly powerful and power efficient. Still hoping they would go NVIDIA way, unless AMD has something new up their sleeves.

Of course they have something up their sleeves, for the most part they use the same fab houses as NVidia which means they have the same performance potential. Beyond that Apple has hired a lot of AMD engineers so who knows this could be a custom processor for Apple.

Honestly I really doubt Apple would switch without good reason. We may not know that reason but it is pretty obvious that AMD and Apple work well together. The Mac Pro is good evidence of this.

 

[Macboy Pro]

You can upgrade the RAM in a 27 inch iMac.

I understand that. I just remember that when they created the rMBP, they soldered RAM to save 1mm thickness making the laptop not recyclable in a few years and forcing it to be obsolete and customers to purchase a new one when the RAM requirements are more than they have or the RAM fails.

 

[Thunderbird]

I think many of you are far overestimating the cost of producing 5k iMac displays. Samsung currently has one on sale for only $599, at 28". That's only about $300 more than a high quality 1080p display. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-28-In..._sim_pc_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FJ6PZFPRS03SC9Q6C2Z

That Samsung is a 4K, the rumor is about a 5K.