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Apple Releases New iMacs with Upgraded ATI Radeon HD Graphics Cards
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I don't think it's unreasonable to be asking Apple to make a better effort in providing consumers with more innovative technologies in a product that has a refresh cycle of almost 7-9 months. By not including Blu-ray or USB 3.0, the iMac will look out-of-date by the time the next refresh occurs despite its updated processor. As more companies are putting Blu-ray and USB 3.0 into their computers, the iMac will look less and less innovative. I was planning on buying this iMac today but after seeing that it only received speedbumps in terms of processors and graphics, I really don't believe I will be happy with it in 9 months time.
Nevermind. I figured it out. That's a little disappointing you have to get the top of the line to get quad core in an iMac.
Where is the fun in that?
We'll have to find out what Mobility offerings Apple is using this time around.
It looks like Apple held off for the higher clocked Core i3 processors that were part of the second wave. The Core i5 680 is fast but you want more cores in this day and age.
Example
I'm running the last revision corei7 iMac and running x-Plane on that 27" panel with settings full out (or as Austin Meyer calls it "totally insane").
It's such a big screen it's like actually flying.
Even my friend who is more than a game snob than most was impressed.
It's not as fast as my overclocked nVidia 7800GS in my G5 which runs 2000fps OpenGL but then again the iMac i7 has a much higher resolution screen than the 23" flat panel on my G5. It's still fast enough. Memory and resolution is half the story: the 4850 is a much smoother card at rendering the data partially due to the extra memory and partially due to the i7 driving it.
7800GS 1920x1024:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/7800GS.JPG
4850HD at the same res:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/HD4850.JPG
4850HD maxed out:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/HD4850maxedout.jpg
I'm running the last revision corei7 iMac and running x-Plane on that 27" panel with settings full out (or as Austin Meyer calls it "totally insane").
It's such a big screen it's like actually flying.
Even my friend who is more than a game snob than most was impressed.
It's not as fast as my overclocked nVidia 7800GS in my G5 which runs 2000fps OpenGL but then again the iMac i7 has a much higher resolution screen than the 23" flat panel on my G5. It's still fast enough. Memory and resolution is half the story: the 4850 is a much smoother card at rendering the data partially due to the extra memory and partially due to the i7 driving it.
7800GS 1920x1024:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/7800GS.JPG
4850HD at the same res:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/HD4850.JPG
4850HD maxed out:
http://pod.ath.cx/video/HD4850maxedout.jpg
They did
Damn, and I was in Switzerland on vacation last week... if i'd still be there i could have saved me quite some money
What recession?!
Technically, you have been out of the recession for a year. There are hardly any countries in the world, where there is no economic growth. The problem is that the western world now has to pay hard for its previous mistakes and spending habits.
The term 'recession' now is regularly used to reflect hard economic times, thanks to the press, media, politicians and the people. But that doesn't change the fact that the term stands for two consecutive quarters with no or negative economic growth within a country or a given economically unified region.
Technically, you have been out of the recession for a year. There are hardly any countries in the world, where there is no economic growth. The problem is that the western world now has to pay hard for its previous mistakes and spending habits.
The term 'recession' now is regularly used to reflect hard economic times, thanks to the press, media, politicians and the people. But that doesn't change the fact that the term stands for two consecutive quarters with no or negative economic growth within a country or a given economically unified region.
Glad I bought the i7 at the first of the year. Not enough smut to upgrade this time around.
Besides, who plays games on their PC???
Similar thoughts here. Aside form a graphics card update, nothing strong enough here to move from my current i7 to this one... Maybe next imac rev...
Eh
Blu-Ray will never be included as long as Jobs has his iTunes movie store.
Just buy a third party BD burner and be done with it.
USB3 isn't really a compelling add-on for the consumer at this time. The conventional corporate enterprise isn't adopting it yet - just a few very high end video editing tools thus far.
What USB3 devices do you actually own?
And honestly what would you install beyond a speed bumped Corei7 anyway in a consumer based computer? A Xeon? The poor thing would melt into slag.
Blu-Ray will never be included as long as Jobs has his iTunes movie store.
Just buy a third party BD burner and be done with it.
USB3 isn't really a compelling add-on for the consumer at this time. The conventional corporate enterprise isn't adopting it yet - just a few very high end video editing tools thus far.
What USB3 devices do you actually own?
And honestly what would you install beyond a speed bumped Corei7 anyway in a consumer based computer? A Xeon? The poor thing would melt into slag.
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
Then of course the biggest reason I waited...let Apple get the manufacturing problems behind them as it related to the beautiful 27" screen.
Superb, I held off from the 27" when it came out as my iMac wasn't that old (1st gen aluminium) but I've been getting an ichy wallet finger lately and having seen the acreage of the 27" screen that my mate got I knew I couldn't resist much longer, I've been checking in on mac rumors for news of an update for a month or so now and today it arrived
I went for the 27" 2.93GHz, added 8GB RAM and 2TB Drive switched to the wired Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and had to try out that new trackpad doohickey so I ordered the Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad.
Says 4 days delivery, ohh excited
I went for the 27" 2.93GHz, added 8GB RAM and 2TB Drive switched to the wired Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and had to try out that new trackpad doohickey so I ordered the Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad.
Says 4 days delivery, ohh excited
Mostly meh update.
low-end got the biggest boost going from integrated to discrete.
i3 is better, but not going to make much of a difference for day to day stuff. It will boost video encoding times, but not much else.
Maybe some other under the hood improvements.
sd card slot supports future faster sd cards, but that's mostly meh. May have been that way before even.
Maybe this iMac outputs sound along with video over displayport like the new Macbook Pro? All you need is displayport to hdmi adapter?
Apple will hold off with USB3 until LightWave hits next year.
Lame you can't select Trackpad instead of mouse. INtroduce new peripheral, but make us buy both. The Apple way.
Thinking about replacing my early 2009 iMac with new lower end model. It's quite an update over that. But no 1tB drive option? STuck at 500gb? What does it cost for 1tb drive? Another $10 or $20?
But might wait until new iMacs have new iLife.
low-end got the biggest boost going from integrated to discrete.
i3 is better, but not going to make much of a difference for day to day stuff. It will boost video encoding times, but not much else.
Maybe some other under the hood improvements.
sd card slot supports future faster sd cards, but that's mostly meh. May have been that way before even.
Maybe this iMac outputs sound along with video over displayport like the new Macbook Pro? All you need is displayport to hdmi adapter?
Apple will hold off with USB3 until LightWave hits next year.
Lame you can't select Trackpad instead of mouse. INtroduce new peripheral, but make us buy both. The Apple way.
Thinking about replacing my early 2009 iMac with new lower end model. It's quite an update over that. But no 1tB drive option? STuck at 500gb? What does it cost for 1tb drive? Another $10 or $20?
But might wait until new iMacs have new iLife.
Like I said ... I would rather have a decent 1920x1080 27" monitor and actually have a monster video card/cpu to drive it at native res for much less money
I'll give you that the iMac monitors are very nice, but they are not worth the price premium and they don't have the hardware to back them up. High resolution monitor + slow components = fail
I don't know if you're referring to the yellow screen effect but there is no reason that this should now miraculously be an issue of the past. I'm guessing it's the same screen / part number which will just as likely suffer the same issues many owners experienced. Be interesting what the tear downs reveal or if Apple have introduced any additional engineering that may prevent the yellowing?
According to Apple's online store, within 24 hrs (stock) and 4 business days (BTO)
Except LGA1156 chipsets only allow use of one at a time. Which means if you have Sata 6 gb/s then your USB will work at USB 2.0 speed.
What is apples policy if you purchased a imac in the last 2 weeks. Do they allow you to return for the new imac?
I'm trying to order the i7 from the online Apple Store, but each time I try to add the system to the cart, it advances to an error page. Looks like they aren't able to yet handle the sales or its still being revamped.
I'm really P.O.'ed about the taxes. ITs a few hundred dollars on top of an already pricey computer.
Does anyone know of a state which Apple ships to that doesnt have to pay tax or would I have to order from an out-of-state Reseller?
I'm really P.O.'ed about the taxes. ITs a few hundred dollars on top of an already pricey computer.
Does anyone know of a state which Apple ships to that doesnt have to pay tax or would I have to order from an out-of-state Reseller?