Apple Updates iMac with Haswell and Faster PCIe Flash Storage

[iBug2]

This obsession is really, really dumb. The current generation is 109ppi which at a normal viewing distance pretty much is Retina.

No and it's not even close.

rMBP is 220 ppi. For the iMac to be retina at 109 ppi, you'd need to sit at a distance twice as long as you use your macbook, which is not the case. I use my Macbook at an approximate distance of 60cm. There's no way anyone uses an iMac at 1.2 meters. At most it'll be around 70-75cm's. So you need around 200ppi for a retina iMac. And that's feasible today. Just cram the 4K into the 27 inch screen and you are done.

 

[Nightarchaon]

Would you buy one with a Retina Display for 2x the cost?

And then complain because the video card was WAY underpowered to run a retina 27" display

 

[Gav2k]

Will a Haswell really make any difference in the iMAc?

Yes less heat means more time on boost

 

[gloryunited]

Neither, really. Same performance on most applications. OpenCL will shine when developers use OpenCL compute in their apps. Apple's pro apps are heavily optimized for OpenCL, as is OS X.

Is it correct to say that models other than low-end 21.5" got a bigger upgrade, in terms of graphics performance then?

 

[Gav2k]

I'd be happy with Iris Pro gfx in my next Mini.

I may just wind up building a cheap Steambox for my games though. Aside from graphics my current server is just fine.

Or buy the upcoming steambox

 

[Bear]

so PCIe is available for Fusion Drive as well?

Yes, the SSD portion of the Fusion Drive is PCIe based now.

 

[cuencap]

iLife Included?

What is Apple's stance with Pages/Numbers/Keynote now? As I'm going through the options for the new iMacs, these three pieces of software are listed as "Pre-Installed Software" but yet there is an option to pay $19.99/each.

I thought these were going to start being free with new hardware?

 

[trip1ex]

Not much of an update this time around.

 

[TheKDub]

still no Retina Display so still won't be getting one :-(

Still a lot of pixels to push but they only need to make it 200ppi or so to qualify for retina right? Since the viewing distances are farther away than the 15" macbook pro.

Of course if anyone is expecting a 260-300 ppi 27" iMac screen, that's probably overkill.

 

[Bear]

...
No, only for the flash storage. There is absolutely no point of doing PCIe for Fusion Drive and hard drives, they're not fast enough to need the faster PCIe storage.
...
There is no PCIe Fusion Drive, it's just Fusion Drive and PCIe flash storage, they have nothing to do with each other.

The SSD portion of the Fusion Drive is PCIe based in the new iMac. It's an SSD why wouldn't it be fast enough?

You're right that the Hard Drive will still be SATA based.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Fusion Drive should have been standard

Come on, its 2013. I think I am going to go with the Retina MacBook Pro.

 

[leman]

Very nice! This is a decent update, nothing surprising but also no unpleasant surprises. Very happy about GPU and CPU options. SSDs could have been cheaper, but hey...

Performance wise its more like a decent laptop. Wouldn't call it a 'gaming' monster.

Uhm, the 780M is more or less on par with the desktop 680 GTX, which is a $450+ part. So the high-end iMac's performance should be in the top 10% (or better) of all currently existing gaming machines.

 

[jetjaguar]

Not much of an update this time around.

pretty nice update .. wireless ac .. PCIe based flash and the 780 4gb .

 

[Exotic-Car Man]

I wonder how the Iris Pro compares with my mid-2011 iMac's Intel 3000 HD + AMD Radeon 6750 with 512MB VRAM. The Iris Pro is supposed to be pretty good, but I'm still skeptical about using solely integrated graphics.

 

[Bear]

What is Apple's stance with Pages/Numbers/Keynote now? As I'm going through the options for the new iMacs, these three pieces of software are listed as "Pre-Installed Software" but yet there is an option to pay $19.99/each.

I thought these were going to start being free with new hardware?

Free with new iOS devices.

However, when Mavericks is released, Apple could announce free iWork with new Macs as well. Then again, they may not.

 

[Arni99]

i think is the base specs of the 780M but with 4GB vRAM....
so with maveriks and 780M i think a 20% better performance than 680MX with Mountain Lion...so yea it is worth it

According to Notebookcheck.com it's 30% faster.
http://www.notebookcheck.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-780M.88992.0.html

 

[bearda]

Decent laptop? Seriously? lol

For 3D work, yes. The gap between mobile CPUs and desktop CPUs is closing, but the gap between mobile GPUs and desktop ones is still pretty significant.

 

[ionjohn]

it wouldn't be 2x the cost... when they launched macbook pro with Retina Display wasn't 2x the cost.... When they launched iPhones with Retina Displays it wasn't 2x the cost.

It's not the same with a 4K panel, first of all, the display would probably sell for $2000 and that's only the display. And you would need a real graphics card to run this, not intel graphics or a mobile video card.

 

[fekimoki]

Are the updated the 21 inch with memory or hdd hatch for easy access like the 27 inch?

 

[WilliamG]

No and it's not even close.

rMBP is 220 ppi. For the iMac to be retina at 109 ppi, you'd need to sit at a distance twice as long as you use your macbook, which is not the case. I use my Macbook at an approximate distance of 60cm. There's no way anyone uses an iMac at 1.2 meters. At most it'll be around 70-75cm's. So you need around 200ppi for a retina iMac. And that's feasible today. Just cram the 4K into the 27 inch screen and you are done.

4K is simply not enough for a 27" iMac. I want 2560x1440 actual usable real-estate without scaling, like it is now! This will only happen when we see 5120x2880 27" iMacs. I don't want an effective 1080p 27" iMac (which a 3840x2160 would be).

 

[leman]

Will it have to take that long? http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/PQ321Q/#overview

Quite expensive thingy, though and I understand that screen will be difficult to drive even with Iris Pro (if it's even possible, I think not). But maybe you're right. Within two years perhaps, hopefully not three.

All Haswell IGP's are able to drive 4K (3840 x 2160) displays. Now, there is a difference between driving a display (which is not that hard) or playing demanding games with that resolution (for this, you'll need an SLI setup).

 

[jonnysods]

A mac update! So refreshing....

 

[Shanpdx]

SSDs or Fusion Drive

should be the standard...

anyway iMac on the way out and going the same direction as Optical Drive.

 

[The-Author]

Why do people always want to compare the Iris Pro 5200 with the 650? 650 is old... it's like comparing software with an old software... IF comparisons are to be done one should compare it with new hardware that is comparable. I don't want to have in my new MacBook Pro hardware from last year or hardware that isn't any close to last years hardware. That's crap, I say.

And I seriously can't imagine Apple NOT putting in a dGPU and only putting in the Iris Pro that is only comparable to the last years dGPU, if at all.

Apple has a reputation to defend. NO ONE would get the MacBook PRO and Apple would fall back enormously.

My prediction plus also hopes:

at least dGPU 750 for the 15" as the top high-end model and the 13" getting the Iris Pro ... because if they'd do the Iris Pro for both models... there wouldn't be enough difference to justify the price "Pro" name, etc.!

THAT'S my prediction.

cheers.

Edit: I just calculated the price for the lowest iMac in Euros and comparing that with the top 15" rMBP with the same or similar specs. it's about just around 1000 Euros more for the high-end 15" rMBP... around 1000 bucks for ONLY the retina display and the portability... in my point of view: doesn't justify the price difference. plus you can pay more if you've got 786 GB SSD... and and and... they'll definitely include the dGPU! end of discussion ;-)

 

[leman]

For 3D work, yes. The gap between mobile CPUs and desktop CPUs is closing, but the gap between mobile GPUs and desktop ones is still pretty significant.

Well, the 780M is still faster than 95% cards currently on steam hardware survey