Apple Releases Updated iMac Models With 21.5- and 27-Inch LED Screens

[SirHaakon]

Seriously, why is there no 24 inch model? You either get a small or giant screen?

Agree with most of what you said, but people do need to realize that they've widened the aspect on the new iMacs and upped the resolution at the same time. Did you know the new 27" has the same resolution as their 30" does? That's pretty huge.

In the case of the 21.5", you can see a lot more on the screen than the old 20" (which had a paltry 1680 x 1050 screen) and the wider aspect makes it akin to a 22" screen. So you've gone from a 24" to a 22" and gained PPI at the same time. I wouldn't say it's a small screen.

 

[jmpage2]

I think you're less likely to see that on a desktop. It begs the question "Why the hell did you put it near a light source?"

I think you underestimate the kinds of houses and offices people live and work in.

My home study has five windows and the glare on the 24" iMac is horrendous, the best way to deal with it is to shutter all the windows so I am sitting in a cave.

Hopefully Apple comes to their senses with this, because I don't plan on changing my house out to accommodate their iMacs.

 

[jayducharme]

I am so there! This is the update I've been waiting for. The mouse looks terrific. And quad core! Woohoo! I have suddenly lost interest in my MacPro.

 

[SirHaakon]

Hm. If you're gonna do that, that's gonna be an unflattering vantage point, with the iSight camera towering above you.

I'm pretty sure the OP was talking about the glossy mirror screen.

I thought it was pretty funny.

 

[jhero]

Check out the 27" sheer size

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1301725528&play=1

 

[chrmjenkins]

I think you underestimate the kinds of houses and offices people live and work in.

My home study has five windows and the glare on the 24" iMac is horrendous, the best way to deal with it is to shutter all the windows so I am sitting in a cave.

Hopefully Apple comes to their senses with this, because I don't plan on changing my house out to accommodate their iMacs.

You don't have an Apple cave?

 

[gnasher729]

Not to bring up the endless debate of Mac Vs. Windows, but a comparablely spec'd PC would be several hundred dollars cheaper. The real battle these days between PC and Mac is the OS. So someone who is very comfortable in Windows is gonna blow $300-$500 MORE for a Mac...because of presumed superior OS experience? I doubt it.

Well, show us where you can get a comparably spec'd PC for even the same money. Obviously "comparably spec'd" means monitor with the same size and resolution, no big box under the desk or on the desk, no fan noise, design that allows it to live in the living room of a married person, remote control, multi-touch mouse, unlimited version of the OS, and comparable software.

 

[RazHyena]

That, and the lack of blu-ray, lackluster graphic options, and no price drop. Other than that, I'd say good job Apple

The lack of blu ray is disappointing, but as for the graphics, you're never going to get the best in the AOI's. That's what the Mac Pro is for. The ATI Radeon HD 4850/512 MB was from last year, but it's not a bad card.

 

[JCP21]

i am so excited have you seen the spec this is definatly my next purchase the screen looks amazing 27" thats nearly as big as my tv

 

[Todd H]

You don't have an Apple cave?

Don't you mean iCave?

 

[TennisandMusic]

I did last month. No need to look at them again. There is no difference because they're the same architecture.

~$200 is a budget chip now?

They are not the same architecture whatsoever. There are large differences between bloomfield and lynnfield. Bloomfield/X58 is better and that is what I will be going for when I make my new PC here soon. It will run at 4ghz, have 12 GB's of 1600 ddr3 (the new imacs run 1066), and have a better graphics card all for 1000 or so. It will be better than any mac machine by leaps and bounds, outside of the dual proc mac pro, and yet it will still outperform that machine in most cases. And all at a fraction of the price. Heck it's the same price as one of the mac mini's even! A joke.

I am pretty sure I am moving most of my work over to Windows 7. All things taken into account it's a superior operating system, whereas before I liked Leopard more than Vista (and especially XP) in general. But W7 is pretty great. I will keep using the apple laptops because I program some Apple software, but I won't be using their desktop "solutions" unless something drastically changes. I am not a fan boy of ANY OS or company. I use whatever the best offerings are, to get my work done (software dev, web dev, video editing, music composition, some other stuff). Right now it's definitely not OSX, or Apple, for many reasons.

I still can't believe they got rid of the 24 inch model. A 21.5 1920x1080 and a 27 inch 2560x1440 choice is completely asinine, especially paired with the graphics options they have. It's laughable. If the 21.5 had an i5 with the 4850 at the same base price, I'd say it was an ok choice for a general user. Assuming they could replace the hard drive themselves. So again, an ok update, but certainly not a "great" one.

The new mouse looks neat though. Might want to try that with my laptop.

 

[Apple!Fre@k]

WHEN

in November is the Quad-Core iMac going to be available? November is a big month. If Apple could have even just told us "First half of November" or "Second half of November" that would have been very helpful!

Not knowing causes me to lean towards getting the duo-core 27-incher.

 

[Eidorian]

They are not the same architecture whatsoever. There are large differences between bloomfield and lynnfield. Bloomfield/X58 is better and that is what I will be going for when I make my new PC here soon.

You're looking too far off the core and cache. They're the same architecture.

 

[ariel]

Now we know what that "extra air freight" stuff from the conference call yesterday was about...

But is this really anything out of the ordinary in terms of shipping? I'm still wondering if there isn't something else. Why would this be any different (other than hopefully a bit more sales) than the older iMacs?

Shouldn't we be looking for something else special?

 

[powers74]

Wow

Aluminum all 'round, desktop specs, on and on. nice update. Surprised they didn't have an event. There's your X-Mac whiners. Oh, I forgot, you still don't have blueray. OK, you can still whine.

 

[chrmjenkins]

You're looking too far off the core and cache. They're the same architecture.

Agreed. They're the same. Most of the differentiation is at the platform level, not the core level.

 

[Ropie]

I love the new borderless look. The last iMac with the border around the screen looks very dated now. Would never buy a glossy screen, though.

 

[davidwarren]

wow, four memory slots? I wonder what the chipsets max out at.

 

[3.1416]

It's not a matter of "DRM" or "licensing issues" or any number of excuses Apple has given us.

It's an unfortunate fact that if an OS vendor wants to support BR playback, they're required to implement complex and invasive DRM at very deep levels. Personally I'm glad Apple has resisted crippling OS X in that way.

Sure, they don't mind that the lack of BR may drive some extra iTunes sales, but I doubt that's a significant factor. If they could push a button and magically have BR support, I believe they would.

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

WHEN

in November is the Quad-Core iMac going to be available? November is a big month. If Apple could have even just told us "First half of November" or "Second half of November" that would have been very helpful!

Not knowing causes me to lean towards getting the duo-core 27-incher.

given apple's history, i would expect late november, probably in time for black friday shoppers.

 

[Giuly]

Is the Superdrive in there SATA? If so, you could put a Panasonic UJ-235 in there, and you have BD.

 

[Imagineer707]

WHEN

in November is the Quad-Core iMac going to be available? November is a big month. If Apple could have even just told us "First half of November" or "Second half of November" that would have been very helpful!

Not knowing causes me to lean towards getting the duo-core 27-incher.

Yeah I called and the guy was not sure.

 

[vincebio]

The last iMac with the border around the screen looks very dated now

eh?


u need to change your optician, the one that tells you that only the very latest stuff is nice

 

[SirHaakon]

It's an unfortunate fact that if an OS vendor wants to support BR playback, they're required to implement complex and invasive DRM at very deep levels. Personally I'm glad Apple has resisted crippling OS X in that way.

Sure, they don't mind that the lack of BR may drive some extra iTunes sales, but I doubt that's a significant factor. If they could push a button and magically have BR support, I believe they would.

Well neither of us have any concrete proof, but we'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm certain their reasons are for iTunes protection and nothing else. If they could push a button and magically have BR support, they'd lose sales.

Also, as far as "complete and invasive DRM" is concerned, Windows XP has had it for two years+ running now. I'm pretty sure that if Ballmer can figure it out, Jobs can too.

 

[PrismaticRealms]

Ok, try downloading 1440p with lossless audio content or whatever other higher resolution HD format that comes out to supercede blu-ray and see how fast you can "watch away".

Broadband infrastructure, at least here in America, will not keep up with HD technology.

I agree. Toronto's major carrier Rogers Cable has already implemented a bandwidth cap on all of their cable internet service tiers. This translates to 4 HD movie rentals PER MONTH! I am not happy about this as I love to rent Apple TV movies in HiDef. I believe San Antonio's Time Warner has also already tested a cap in Austin, TX. I think we'll be seeing more and more of this as more and more data is being transferred back and forth.

The infrastructure to distribute so much data by an ever-growing online community is simply not here yet.