The problem is the only tower that Apple makes starts at $2500. Most people can't afford this.
I have a Mac Pro myself, but I'm still pissed off at Apple for not offering an "enthusiast" machine at non-stratospheric price levels.
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Apple Restricts Hard Drive Replacements on New iMacs
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The problem is the only tower that Apple makes starts at $2500. Most people can't afford this.
I have a Mac Pro myself, but I'm still pissed off at Apple for not offering an "enthusiast" machine at non-stratospheric price levels.
This is an OUTRAGE!
I received my i7 iMac 27" yesterday and I can clearly say:
The HDD is by far the weakest point in this computer!
I got the 1TB since the 150 € for 2 TB extra are ridiculous. 2x the price of a new 2 TB drive and you don't get the 1 TB either!
And now I learn that this Mac only takes "special" HDDs?
And to make this sh¡tstorm perfect:
The WD1001FALS is from - tatatata - 2008! Yeah right! My ass!
Edit: Does this also apply to SSDs?
I received my i7 iMac 27" yesterday and I can clearly say:
The HDD is by far the weakest point in this computer!
I got the 1TB since the 150 € for 2 TB extra are ridiculous. 2x the price of a new 2 TB drive and you don't get the 1 TB either!
And now I learn that this Mac only takes "special" HDDs?
And to make this sh¡tstorm perfect:
The WD1001FALS is from - tatatata - 2008! Yeah right! My ass!
Edit: Does this also apply to SSDs?
This is upsetting. I've upgraded the HD in the last iMac I owned twice and three times on my MBP. It's something that I can usually count on happening. I'm interested in a new iMac too, if a suitable workaround isn't located come purchase time, I'll have to build my first hackintosh. I'm not opposed to hackintoshing it, I just like the form factor and screen on the iMac. Especially on the 27".
Argh, hopefully enough people will piss and moan about it and apple with correct this in the next revision. Like they did with that stupid iPod with no buttons.
Argh, hopefully enough people will piss and moan about it and apple with correct this in the next revision. Like they did with that stupid iPod with no buttons.
could it possibly be a new standard coming from all hdd makers? I mean, just.. is it possible. Could it be that 6-12 months from now, that all hdd on the shelves are using this connection? Now, the firmware... that's a diff. thing, possibly addressed in Lion, but I'm for sure not going to upgrade yet. I'm going to wait to see how things pan out over the next few months and prob wait till next iMac update to see if things have been changed.
Why would you "see this in a laptop?"
I have changed drives on my Mac Books for years -- the capacity for laptop drives expands rapidly and prices drop.
If Apple took that ability away, I'll seriously consider switching my whole business to Windows 7 (8 is coming up, too, and it looks good).
I am glad I did not jump on the new iMac - I'll wait to see how this shakes out.
Greedy bastards
Both iMacs and laptops are small devices with little air flow. This can cause heat issues. Most people who purchase either device don't upgrade them. Having the HD temprature sensor control the fans and perhaps throttle the system will probably prolong the system life and may increase the run time on battery.
A Mac Pro is a big device with lots of airflow that does not have heat issues and is designed to be upgraded. People who buy a Mac Pro tend to be the ones that add all the after market hardware they can cram into the box.
It is all about cost/benefit for each option. (Not price, performance over product life.)
I hope you are correct. I did kind of puzzle me as to why Apple would go to the trouble of creating a custom HD just for the Imacs.
your assertion was over exaggerated and assumption of average consumer wisdom is understated.
Non-tech savvy mainstream consumers are not fools who simply buy Apple products out of brand recognition. The majority of Apple's clients (average consumers) in fact rely on the opinions of their Apple enthusiast friends who are tech savvy and the trusting consultant when it comes to technology purchase. These are the very people who freely help sell Apple product with a passion, and should be extremely valuable to Apple.
I am certain any company cares a lot about its most loyal customers. They are worth much more than the revenue they bring, but the market these early adopters and loyal fans help cultivate.
Exactly. My 2010 Mac Pro came with an old-fashioned 1TB WDD black drive with a 32MB cache. Most currently for sale then had 64MB caches. Replacing it with a 2TB 64MB cache HDD made a noticeable difference. The price was about $150.00 US.
even if it is a standard it is an unused standard and stupid. Just like the micro sim card crap that only apple uses.
Crap like this pushes me towards putting together a hackintosh instead of buying hardware with ridiculous restrictions.
What happens if you are running the AHT to check the hard drive? Even brand new ones can fail...
I will address all three issues that I see in your statement.
1."One of the big reasons people keep recommending Apple computers to their friends and helping convert people to them from Windows PCs is the history of their systems outlasting the average useful life of a comparable PC." - This has nothing too do with why the majority of the current apple customers buy their products. Most customers are new to apple (last 4-5 years) and buy these products because they are the shiniest, and its the popular product to buy. I want you to go to your local mall, and look around. The average 15 year old girl with too much eye-liner probably has a few ipods, and iphone, and ipad, and a macbook pro (probably a big one so she can beat her friend when comparing them during their free period). She will get new ones of each of these things over her next b-day, xmas, or if she throws a big enough tantrum. This is a gold mine for apple and the demographic that they concentrate on most. It sucks but its true. Housewives are a very close second.
2. "Apple computers generally cost more than a Windows PC counterpart, but that's arguably not a big concern because Macs have better resale value in the long-run." - Most people don't re-sell their computers (complicated , and people are lazy), they just buy new ones.
3."they'll upset all those "2nd. owners" " - These 2nd owners account for an extremely small margin of profit for apple, and thus why would they worry about their opinion when creating a new product. They wouldn't, and don't.
-I am not saying that it is morally right (which doesn't really factor into to any big business decision) but is is fiscally sound.
...and the iMac gets even more locked down. This was one of the reasons i left the product line a few years back. It has become far too inflexible post-original iMac G5. You MUST like it the way it shipped from the factory or you're SOL.
These were the good days...a couple of screws and you're in just like the current MBPs.
It's also why i decided to jump on the current MBPs because i just have a niggling feeling that once they do the MBA-esque redesign things might go south in terms of accessibility. That, and i'm wary of Lion.
This latest move is simply perplexing. I can't think of any real justifications for it. If i were desktop customer right now i'd either get a 2010 i7 whilst i still could or i'd be heading towards the Hackintosh route.
Those iMacs were terrible. Those Non-ALS power supplies and Logic board failure rates were off the wall. 661-3350, 661-3351, 611-3599. Even after 4 years those parts numbers are engrained in my brain.
I would have to respectfully disagree with your opinion of who apple's biggest customers are.
Err, they realize that 99% of people won't care/won't give a ****, and 1% will get pissed off. To Apple, this is a reasonable trade-off I imagine, given the benefits of this approach in their mind.
doomed to repeat history
People (Apple) who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. One of the reasons Mac sales were dismal and the company just about died in the late 90's was because of **** like this...
Apple hardware was not compatible with anything and used expensive, non-standard parts. Nobody wants to deal with crap like that. Switching to Intel was the best move Apple ever made. It brought compatibility to the Mac like never before, and a corresponding surge in sales. If they start going in the opposite direction, we'll be back to the 90's situation again in short order.
What do you think will happen to any corporate purchases of iMacs the moment IT learns you can't replace the hard drive? And then the word spreads out to the street, and the pimple-face geek at Best Buy tells customers "oh, you don't want to buy an Apple computer cause you can't upgrade or replace the hard drive when it fails." Game over. Sometimes utter stupidity runs rampant at Apple. This is one of those times.
People (Apple) who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. One of the reasons Mac sales were dismal and the company just about died in the late 90's was because of **** like this...
Apple hardware was not compatible with anything and used expensive, non-standard parts. Nobody wants to deal with crap like that. Switching to Intel was the best move Apple ever made. It brought compatibility to the Mac like never before, and a corresponding surge in sales. If they start going in the opposite direction, we'll be back to the 90's situation again in short order.
What do you think will happen to any corporate purchases of iMacs the moment IT learns you can't replace the hard drive? And then the word spreads out to the street, and the pimple-face geek at Best Buy tells customers "oh, you don't want to buy an Apple computer cause you can't upgrade or replace the hard drive when it fails." Game over. Sometimes utter stupidity runs rampant at Apple. This is one of those times.
Holy Moly! Apple charges like $100 per GB!! But if I'm going to buy an iMac I'll just get the max amount of hard drive space anyways, so no biggie.