Apple Releases New iMacs with Upgraded ATI Radeon HD Graphics Cards

[nickarmadillo]

Well, good to know I wasn't just misreading the chart . So what do you think drove Apple to make this call? Maybe some concern about higher TDP, or just a matter of marketing (higher GHz?).



I remember when the 750 cost that much late last year.... I don't like it when my prospective hackintosh builds get *more expensive* with identical specs over time....

Microcenter has i5 750s for $150 and i7 930s for $200 if you have a store in your area. Might even be able to get another outlet to pricematch them if you don't.

 

[bas-macfan]

Well I am glad I didn't hold out for the new macs. My 27" i5 Quad Core which I paid $1699 for is still a great deal. It still would have cost me an extra $300 to buy a new one AND all I'd really get is a minor speed bump and better graphics (since I don't really game that is not an issue or benefit for me at all).

The SSD option would've been nice but at $600 it is way too pricey, and I am not about to bust open my mac and void my warranty.

I guess the base model upgrade is a bit better, but since my wife doesn't play any games what so ever she would not have benefited much from the video card either. Perhaps the speed bump could have been semi-worth it but I don't know if it would've been $200 worth it for her needs.

All in all, I am glad I bought when I did and at the prices I did. I'll keep my $500 in savings, and in around 3 years when AppleCare is about to expire I will sell and buy whatever the latest generation at that time is.

Same here, verry happy with my i5!

 

[Eidorian]

Well, good to know I wasn't just misreading the chart . So what do you think drove Apple to make this call? Maybe some concern about higher TDP, or just a matter of marketing (higher GHz?).

It's either marketing or cooling. Take your pick.

I remember when the 750 cost that much late last year.... I don't like it when my prospective hackintosh builds get *more expensive* with identical specs over time....

It was a killer deal for the processor only a few days after it launched. RAM prices skyrocketed until now as well. My DDR3 RAM went up from $82 to $109.

There was a time when you could get 2 x 2 GB of DDR2-800 for $39 back in the summer of 2009.

Microcenter has i5 750s for $150 and i7 930s for $200 if you have a store in your area. Might even be able to get another outlet to pricematch them if you don't.

Luckily my deal was online. The nearest Microcenter is 5-6 hours away.

 

[geoelectric]

No. This is more of a sidegrade than an upgrade. There is literally almost no speed difference to speak of.

I'm in the same boat. Originally bought an i7 27" just over a month ago (figured when WWDC didn't bear fruit, I was safe for a few months ) but had to do a yellow screen swap on 7/2, so within 30 days.

I'm probably going to give Apple a call just to see if they'll do anything (why not?) but I'm not going to fret if they don't. The extra 512MB of gfx card RAM would be nice for textures in games, but the speed difference between a 5750 and 4850 is literally 1-2FPS by most benchmarks, and a .13Mhz difference in the clock speed is completely negligible.

 

[WickedRabbit]

Wow - only i3s - apart from the highest end. I was expecting i5s at least in all.


No Mac Pros.. still.

Are the ATI Radeon HD 5670 any good for games? Did apple up the graphic cards due to Steam?

Unfortunately no and I'm a bit disappointed by what they did. In fact, the 5700 series actually has WORSE performance than the 4800 series in some games because it has lower memory bandwidth.

The real "sweet spot" for gaming is the ATI 5850 (would it have killed Apple to just go one more series up?). By sweet spot, I mean a great card that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. It literally has double the gaming performance of the 5700 series while literally being dollars more expensive.

 

[Durendal]

I'm not excited about this update.
1. No MacPro
2. Why can't Apple use Intel's 6-core processor in their iMac? 4-core is old.
3. No new iLife as speculated
4. No new LED display
5. iMac's memory still too expensive.

Wow. Try to check before you speak, Sherlock.

1. Yes there is.
2. Because the thing costs a kidney and half a liver, that's why. You want to see the 27" jump to $3000 and blast the fan for extra cooling? Didn't think so. Quad core is FAR more than adequate for most. I've seen more people buy the quad core so they can surf the web and run iPhoto than edit HD video and run major audio mixing.
3. Boo hoo. It's coming, and the speculation said early August.
4. Yes there is.
5. What else is new?

 

[rayward]

Magic mouse is $69
Magic trackpad is $69

why not offer any one of them as free in iMac?

I suspect it's a packaging issue, in that the iMac boxes already have the Magic Mouse in them, and you get the Trackpad packaged separately. They don't have a different styrofoam form to put the Trackpad in the same box.

Annoying, and less than environmentally friendly. I can understand it for preset in-store purchases, but not for BTO purchases on the website.

 

[alent1234]

OK, so I need some honest opinions. I bought a 27" iMac, 2.8 i7, 4GB, 1TB, RadeonHD 4850 about a month ago. From a professional photography standpoint (disregarding opinions about the screen): should I try to sell this one and upgrade to the new one with, from what I can tell, not much more than a better graphics card?

still the same 45nm i7. i like the i5's better since they are based on the new 32nm manufacturing process

 

[Shanpdx]

Not according to Intel it doesn't. Scroll down to the Advanced Technologies section.

Intel website

i think it is a misprint in the apple site, if i am not wrong of the different between i3 and i5 processor are turbo boost

so definitely i3 does not do turbo boost or it is an i5 which apple mentioned as i3?

thoughts?

 

[macbook123]

The real question is: can I simply buy a HDD and add an SSD myself later??

 

[dolphin842]

Microcenter has i5 750s for $150 and i7 930s for $200 if you have a store in your area. Might even be able to get another outlet to pricematch them if you don't.

Ah, I didn't know they were that cheap again. I was near a Microcenter for a while last year, and by the time I left the area the 750's were more like $170.

There was a time when you could get 2 x 2 GB of DDR2-800 for $39 back in the summer of 2009.

Sigh, the good old days. I once saw a 4GB DDR2 stick for about that much in late 2008 (EDIT: bah nevermind, just doublechecked, it was a 2x2 kit as well). Sadly the iMac here only takes 2GB max...

 

[Icaras]

Dear Sir,

I made a brief calculation about your typing...

The term 'pissed off' requires 10 key presses. It takes 9 to type the term 'P.O.'ed' but I can imagine that it also takes a bit of additional thinking. Time, that as I proved it to you, some people have too much of occasionally.

Sincerely,

Am I the only who LOLed at this?

 

[hazerjohn]

I want to go for the high-end 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Core i7, 27" display. But why is everyone complaining about the ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphic card?

Will I be fine with games such as Starcraft 2?

 

[hleewell]

That Magic Trackpad is a thing of beauty!
It's about time to bring that brilliant finger gesture
multi-touch capability to the iMac line.

 

[Eidorian]

Ah, I didn't know they were that cheap again. I was near a Microcenter for a while last year, and by the time I left the area the 750's were more like $170.

It appears to be a more persistent sale. They want to entice you with the cheap processor and get you in the door to buy the remainder of the computer.

 

[Icaras]

The real question is: can I simply buy a HDD and add an SSD myself later??

Nope. At least not in a way that doesn't void your warranty. There is no mention in the product page. But once the manuals go up (hopefully soon today), we can confirm this.

 

[alent1234]

i think it is a misprint in the apple site, if i am not wrong of the different between i3 and i5 processor are turbo boost

so definitely i3 does not do turbo boost or it is an i5 which apple mentioned as i3?

thoughts?

i3 will give you rated frequency
i5 has minimum and max speeds. the max being with turbo boost. it will dynamically manage the speed for power savings. on my i5 laptop it even runs it lower than the minimum rated if i'm doing light work.
i7 is a waste of money

 

[azdude]

I'm in the same boat. Originally bought an i7 27" just over a month ago (figured when WWDC didn't bear fruit, I was safe for a few months ) but had to do a yellow screen swap on 7/2, so within 30 days.

I'm probably going to give Apple a call just to see if they'll do anything (why not?) but I'm not going to fret if they don't. The extra 512MB of gfx card RAM would be nice for textures in games, but the speed difference between a 5750 and 4850 is literally 1-2FPS by most benchmarks, and a .13Mhz difference in the clock speed is completely negligible.

Same interpretation here. I mostly have no regrets buying my 2.8 i7 27" on May 29. However, OH MY I wish I had the space and an interface inside my iMac to add a 2.5" SSD internally. That would be just ideal as a boot/apps/scratch disk.

Actually, I'd already been considering removing my optical drive to accommodate this, like I did on my 15" MBP (for a 2nd standard HDD). Then I'd just take my little slimline USB LG DVD drive out of the drawer whenever either machine needs it.

Yeah. I'll do that.

 

[Eidorian]

i7 is a waste of money

Maybe if it's an Arrandale.

 

[Shanpdx]

still the same 45nm i7. i like the i5's better since they are based on the new 32nm manufacturing process

just a correction, dual core i5s are 32nm

and quad core i5/i7s are 45nm

i know it is weird; at a times very difficult to understand what is what ...

 

[blinkin182]

i think it is a misprint in the apple site, if i am not wrong of the different between i3 and i5 processor are turbo boost

so definitely i3 does not do turbo boost or it is an i5 which apple mentioned as i3?

thoughts?

First of all, am happy the wait is finally over. Now comes the big dilemma though.

From what I can tell the 21.5 inch iMac with i5 3.6Ghz BTO is only about 300 CHF (I'm in Switzerland) cheaper than the 27inch iMac i5 2.8Ghz quad core!

Considering the latter comes with a huge (maybe too big) screen, a much better video card and quad core processors... well it's difficult to decide between the two... I don't really need such a big screen but quad core performance, better video card do seem worth the 300 CHF difference.

Anyone know what kind of difference in performance between dual core i5 and quad core i5?

or what about dual core i3 and dual core i5?

Thanks for your inputs!

 

[WickedRabbit]

I want to go for the high-end 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Core i7, 27" display. But why is everyone complaining about the ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphic card?

Will I be fine with games such as Starcraft 2?

Because the card really isn't an upgrade. Don't let model numbers fool you, the 5750 is going to deliver virtually the same performance as the 4800 and depending on the game, worse performance because of less memory bandwidth. For Starcraft 2, I'd imagine (without knowing the requirements) will be fine because I doubt that game requires a high end card or setup since it's an RTS.

At the end of the day though, the 5750 is a lateral move, not a forward one.

 

[Shanpdx]

These reasons alone are worth the wait and extra cost:
Faster RAM (1333MHz versus 1066MHz)
Newer intel i7 chip
Dedicated Graphics card rather than integrated slower chip
Optional SSD

add hyper threading in the Core i3/i5 dual core models; Core 2 duo do not have hyper threading - if i am right.

solid upgrade but not ground breaking, the display is costing them a lots of money so they are bit stingy on the CPUs in the standard configs

 

[mac-covetor]

European customers paying for all those iPhone 4 bumpers

Just broken down the UK pricing.

Taking the VAT (sales tax) out of the equation to run a like-for-like comparison, using today's exchange rate of 1.55403 (thanks to xe.com).

i5 iMac

UK price (including VAT) UK£1649
US price (excluding sales tax) US$1999

UK price (excluding VAT) UK£1403
UK price (excluding VAT converted to US$) US$2180

Apple's European tax equates to US$181 (UK£115).

Seems like we're paying for Apple's iPhone woes. (please don't reply by telling me I don't have to buy one)

And before Steve claims otherwise, it does NOT cost US$181 more per iMac 'to do business here'.

 

[Benedict]

I have bought the 27" i7 with 8gb of ram. Due to the store being messed up I called to make the order. They gave me a 100 euro plus gift so I got the new pad and a few extra goodies

Good times.