Apple Updates iMac Lineup With Up to 8-Core 9th-Gen Intel Processors and Radeon Pro Vega Graphics Options

[truthertech]

Still a HDD in 2019, can't belive it

They are trying to make it available across a broad spectrum of price points. The Fusion Drive is great for that as it gives you the great performance of an SSD for the vast majority of operations, and the storage at a still affordable price. If they took out the Fusion Drive, it would be much more expensive for everyone across the board.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Where is the up-gradable Mac Pro and the 30-bit Apple Display w/o glossy screen?
Where is the new USB port?
Or just remove the "i" from the name.

1)Mac Pro hasn’t been released yet, but is scheduled to be within the next nine months.

2) If you want a matte display you will be waiting for a very long time. Like maybe forever. Matte screens tend to spread out the glare into a larger area, and most users don’t prefer that, so Apple doesn’t use them anymore. You’d probably be better off re-arranging your furniture or getting blinds or curtains for the offending window(s).

3) Not sure what you mean by new USB port. Maybe you’re referring to USB 3.2? That’s mostly a renamed 3.1. I don’t think 3.2 2x2 is available until later in the year, but I’m not sure it’s going to see any widespread adoption.

 

[magbarn]

I suppose this would be funnier if Apple didn't charge $500 for a $250 value 1TB SSD (assuming a fast NVMe) upgrade AFTER they have given you credit for a 2TB Fusion drive in the high end 27"

$500 buys you a very fast top tier 2TB NVME SSD today! https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-...=samsung+1tb+970,aps,191&sr=8-4-fkmrnull&th=1

 

[cb3]

Wonder why the T2 chip was left out?

 

[wmagnum1]

I'm disappointed at how few outraged complaints there are about shipping 8GB systems. My 16GB MBP is nearly unusable due to RAM contention. I will never buy another system without at least 32GB. Still shipping 8GB should be illegal.

I love that they ship with 8GB RAM (27" with user access). This way, I can upgrade cheaper RAM myself instead of paying their prices.

 

[Ian4Mac]

I wonder why Apple is so obsessed in reducing the bezels of iPhones and iPads but so reluctant to change the thick bezels of iMacs.
The redesign is so simple. Reduce the bezel to a half and add the face ID. iMacs have the biggest room in Apple product lines for extra sensors.
They didn't do it.
Since the 2019 model just came out, I don't see any possibility for a redesign in next 12 months. So sad.
I can smell that Tim wants to cut the cost of designing/producing iMacs so they can still make a lot of money by keeping the old design.
Yes, the basic prices look unchanged, but come on, 5400 HDD in 2019? Isn't the SSD price dropping like a ball in recent months?

BTW, where are the Apple branded retina standalone displays?

 

[millerjs86]

I just want to know what brand that lamp is on the desk (seriously)... I love that lol

 

[truthertech]

Agree 1,000%. I do not need >2GB/sec transfer rate (nice to have yes - need NO way) but I sure as heck do not want an HDD. The performance step from a HDD to a SATA SSD is so much more than going from a SATA SSD to the super fast Apple SSD. I do not get why Apple does not offer a 1TB or 2TB SATA SSD as a low-cost upgrade.

0.5TB SATA SSD should be the baseline with the options to upgrade to a 3TB Fusion drive or the super fast Apple SSD.

A 1TB or 2TB "as a low cost upgrade." Where do you see this as being a low cost option for terabytes of SSD?

 

[patearrings]

Sorry for the noob question but what does BTO stand for?

 

[QuarterSwede]

That 5400 rpm HDD needs to go. It makes a profectly fine computer crippled

This exactly. I thought Apple valued user experience highly. A 5400 drive is not going to give a great user experience even paired with an i9. It just isn’t.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Sorry for the noob question but what does BTO stand for?

Build to order (basically customizable).

 

[redheeler]

I wonder why Apple is so obsessed in reducing the bezels of iPhones and iPads but so reluctant to change the thick bezels of iMacs.
The redesign is so simple. Reduce the bezel to a half and add the face ID. iMacs have the biggest room in Apple product lines for extra sensors.
They didn't do it.
Since the 2019 model just come out, I didn't see any possibility for a redesign in next 12 months. So sad.

The redesign I want to see is an internal one, with better cooling and desktop-class graphics, like what Apple did with the iMac Pro. Not sure why anyone cares about bezels on a desktop.

 

[Diode]

I paid 1,654.00 6 years ago for the mid range 21.5 inch iMac with quad core, 16GB ram, and a 1 TB Fusion. The current config is only $150 less (Education pricing and granted with a retina display). Crazy as at that price it should be at least a 500GB SSD.....

 

[kis]

Internals are ok, but man do these things look dated. Also, they got even more expensive in Europe lol - nobody in his right mind ist going to buy that here. For the price of an iMac with 32gb RAM, Vega Graphics and 1tb SSD you get the top spec Surface Studio 2 here.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

The redesign I want to see is an internal one, with better cooling and desktop-class graphics, like what Apple did with the iMac Pro. Not sure why anyone cares about bezels on a desktop.

I don't think the bezels should be shrunken for the sake of shrinking bezels, but if they can without sacrificing performance, I think they should. I do think aesthetics and design are important.

Of course improving the cooling is more important. But it looks like they didn't even do that.

 

[StellarVixen]

Core i9-9900K inside this form factor? Really, Apple?


OK, Ok, I get it you only care about services now. Then please, stop making hardware, and spare us from this, please.

 

[mikeboss]

Wonder why the T2 chip was left out?

economics and lazyness, I guess. I expect the main logic board to be more or less the same as it was in the 2017 model.

 

[deconstruct60]

My pet wish was that they would remove the HDD options to make room for the iMac Pro’s dual blower cooler. Even with chips in the same wattage, it would allow more boosts and stay quieter.


As speedbumps go this is entirely fine though.

We'll see over time. Unless there is some substantive improvement on the cooling system internals, these have a decent chance of being landmines waiting to go off at the 8 core level . When the 8 cores are all running hard, they are going to blow way past the TDP limits that Intel documents.

Apart from HDD-only options being criminal. And strangely no T2, when products ranging from the Macbook Air to the iMac Pro got it?

Those two are highly coupled to each other. HDD boot drives pretty much put aside T2 SSD boot drives. Pragmatically T2 is a SSD boot drive only solution.

Probably Apple was aiming a much more cost sensitive group and kept the HDD around for those who have "just enough" to get an iMac at these prices. The performance ( especially on the 21.5 HDD only) options is probably going to be annoying with macOS 10.14 (and future versions).

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Given the crashing issues with the T2, I'm not missing its presence here. I hope that an improved T3 is a feature of re-designed iMacs, though.

 

[truthertech]

Wonder why the T2 chip was left out?

Evidently, the T2 doesn't currently work with Fusion Drives, so Apple would have to put substantial resources into making it work. If Apple plans on phasing out the Fusion Drive in the next year, likely not worth it.

 

[redheeler]

I don't think the bezels should be shrunken for the sake of shrinking bezels, but if they can without sacrificing performance, I think they should. I do think aesthetics and design are important.

Of course improving the cooling is more important. But it looks like they didn't even do that.

If Apple shrinks the bezels, the iMac's edges are likely going to have to become thicker to avoid sacrificing something. That something would likely be be the sound quality of the internal speakers, as they take up a lot of space inside the iMac to achieve that surprising amount of bass.

But honestly, I wouldn't care if the iMac did get thicker, although it would just be an aesthetic trade-off rather than an aesthetic improvement.

Edit: I could be figuring this wrong. The display on 2012 and later iMacs is incredibly thin, and it looks like there is some room to put in a larger one and have smaller bezels without any design or functionality tradeoffs. I would definitely welcome a larger display.

 

[aylk]

Am I the only one who LOVES the iMac design and doesn't want it to change?

It's iconic and beautiful, and I can't find anything wrong with it visually. The last major revision, to make it thinner and lighter, pretty much perfected it.

The only thing I'd be happier with is better serviceability, but iMacs, especially with SSDs, have gotten so reliable that it doesn't matter as much as it used to.

Thermal management is terrible.

 

[QCassidy352]

Pretty underwhelming. When they updated the iMacs in 2015, I posted that I couldn’t believe we were still seeing spinning hard drives. I don’t even know what the word is for still having them in 2019, with the cost of SSDs what it is.

 

[deconstruct60]

Standout feature is no T2

Given that implies systems sold running on HDDs .... that is a matter of perspective. Current and likely future macOS version running on HDD and APFS probably will not be a "standout" feature ... at least in a positive sense.

The seems to be more a Scrooge McDuck move. Apple addicted far more so for goosed high SSD capacity pricing than something that is generally good for a broad spectrum of buyers. Since Apple can't get off higher than mainstream priced SSD cash flow they are 'stuck' with having to use HDDs to hit the current standard configuration price points.
Since there are HDDs the T2 doesn't match ( and cheaper to punt it too. ).

 

[oldmacs]

It's beyond ridiculous at this point. Apple embraced SSDs very early on in the MacBook Air and Pro, and with basically every iMac refresh since 2014 I had expected them to eliminate the HDD-only configuration from the new models.

The real-world difference between a 5400 RPM drive and even a cheaper SATA SSD is massive. A used 21.5" iMac from 2012 will literally perform better than a new 21.5" iMac from 2019 if the 2012 has been upgraded with an SSD.

Only possible upside is that it helps the market for upgraded used iMacs a bit...

Exactly it is ridiculous. You get about 5 times the read and write speed with a SATA SSD. I regularity use a 2017 21.5 inch iMac with the 5400RPM drive, and performance on the 2019 models with HDDs is going to be the same and I have a 2009 White MacBook Unibody which for most tasks feels so much faster.
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Agree 1,000%. I do not need >2GB/sec transfer rate (nice to have yes - need NO way) but I sure as heck do not want an HDD. The performance step from a HDD to a SATA SSD is so much more than going from a SATA SSD to the super fast Apple SSD. I do not get why Apple does not offer a 1TB or 2TB SATA SSD as a low-cost upgrade.

0.5TB SATA SSD should be the baseline with the options to upgrade to a 3TB Fusion drive or the super fast Apple SSD.

Yep! I live very happily with a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro with a SSD upgrade performed by myself. 550Mb/s is more than liveable compared to whatever the max from a 5400RPM drive is (Less than 100Mb/s?)