Apple's Input Design Lab Reveals Secrets Behind Development of New iMacs

[Max(IT)]

Perhaps, because they did roll out the iPad Pro in an attempt to reignite iPad sales which have been stagnating.

Will the average consumer really understand or care about iGPUs and 5400 rpm drives, or insufficient flash storage on the Fusion drive? No, but they will get frustrated when the computer feels slow.

So far the reviews I've been reading have been fairly positive on the iMac, though mentioning the lack of dGPU and the odd reason to use a 5400 RPM drive in 2015 but overall I've not seen a harsh review.

There is not a unique answer to that...
The average consumer surely can't notice the reduced flash storage on the Fusion Drive , due to the nature of the fusion drive itself.
The average consumer can't notice the lack of iGPU, unless he/she doesn't try to play a game at 4K resolution.
The average consumer surely can get frustrated by the 5400RPM HDD performance.

Every review I read so far, spoke quite well about the new iMacs (actually the only one not very happy about it was Ars Technica's you linked yesterday). On forums like this users are whining, crying and screaming about the new iMac.
But I've learn forums like this aren't a good representation of the real world.

My opinion ? Im not going to buy one. I don't like the price trend Apple is taking outside US. I won't buy a 2015 computer with a 5400RPM HDD (Fusion Drive 1 Tb is the MINIMUM requirement IMHO). But overall I think the 2015 iMacs are a good product.

 

[oldmacs]

OS X gets slow over the time ? Lol ...
You are speaking about Windows, aren't you ?

OSX performance on the same hardware has become slower and slower. Lion is faster on a 2008 era Mac than Yosemite/El Capitan.

There have been instances where OSX versions have improved on performance over the past version (Mountain Lion over Lion, El Capitan over Yosemite and Snow Leopard over Leopard) however.. in general things have gotten slower. It has been compensated in some by the fact that disk performance has increased with the introduction of SSDs, and faster data transfer, however on a 5400RPM HDD, its getting worse overall.

 

[oldmacs]

There is not a unique answer to that...
The average consumer surely can't notice the reduced flash storage on the Fusion Drive , due to the nature of the fusion drive itself.
The average consumer can't notice the lack of iGPU, unless he/she doesn't try to play a game at 4K resolution.
The average consumer surely can get frustrated by the 5400RPM HDD performance.

You've got to be kidding. 5400RPM Drives are hopelessly slow wiht OSX. And yes, your average consumer will notice poor graphics performance, now or as the computer ages.

It is a very poor update. The iMac is expensive computer, that should not have a 5400RPM Hard-drive as it is 2015. It should have a Discrete GPU, especially on the 4K model.

The real world will notice slow performance and thats the end of it. Its purely cost cutting and its a bit unacceptable being from Apple. In fact performance is one of the most noticeable to your average consumer. They don't care why its slow or how its slow, they'll just know that it is.

 

[maflynn]

It's a shame after all that effort that they forgot to put the lightning port of the end of the mouse so you can use it while its recharging!! WTF??

seems like a no brainer to me.

Its these finer points that Apple seems to be losing. I agree its a poor design choice, though it is mitigated a bit by the quick charging.

 

[Max(IT)]

You've got to be kidding. 5400RPM Drives are hopelessly slow wiht OSX. And yes, your average consumer will notice poor graphics performance, now or as the computer ages.

It is a very poor update. The iMac is expensive computer, that should not have a 5400RPM Hard-drive as it is 2015. It should have a Discrete GPU, especially on the 4K model.

The real world will notice slow performance and thats the end of it. Its purely cost cutting and its a bit unacceptable being from Apple. In fact performance is one of the most noticeable to your average consumer. They don't care why its slow or how its slow, they'll just know that it is.

every time I have just confirmation you are just an hater ...

There are NO POOR GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE on the iMac, unless you are going to play video games.
Actually every review so far stated the new iMacs are faster than previous model.

You are still speaking about 5400 RPM even if I wrote that's ridiculous. You know why ? Because you are not even reading my posts. You are so full of rage that all you can say is "5400RPM ... no dGPU ... " over and over again.

The Iris Pro 6200 is a decent GPU. It is not a GPU for gaming, for sure. But we already said the iMac 4K isn't a gaming machine.

 

[oldmacs]

every time I have just confirmation you are just an hater ...

There are NO POOR GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE on the iMac, unless you are going to play video games.
Actually every review so far stated the new iMacs are faster than previous model.

You are still speaking about 5400 RPM even if I wrote that's ridiculous. You know why ? Because you are not even reading my posts. You are so full of rage that all you can say is "5400RPM ... no dGPU ... " over and over again.

The Iris Pro 6200 is a decent GPU. It is not a GPU for gaming, for sure. But we already said the iMac 4K isn't a gaming machine.

I'm not a hater, i'm just someone who can seperate myself from ardent fanboism and realise when Apple is charging huge prices for machines and putting in specifications that much lower priced computers would have. Everyone I just get confirmation that you'll stand up for Apple no matter what it does. It annoys me when people will stand up for Apple, when it is not releasing the machines it should be. This is Apple we're talking about, we shouldn't be getting computers with compromises like this iMac has as a result of cost cutting.

You said that the average user won't notice a 5400RPM Drive. I did read your post.

Integrated GPUs in a very expensive machine is not really good enough. And it will become even more noticeable in the future. Especially in the 4K model. Pushing a resolution like that with the iMac is not a great idea.

Apple has a history of releasing Macs and iOS devices with underpowered GPUs. Simple fact. Its usually not apparent straight away, but its obvious fairly quickly as the device ages. Take a look at the GPUs that Apple put into for example, my White 2008 Macbook... Useless GMA x3100 graphics, that led to a mere 3.5 years of OS support before being dropped in 2012.

Discrete Graphics should at least be an option in the 2015 iMac. The 21.5 inch iMac is a machine also used by prosumers and people who want more out of their Macs then integrated graphics can deliver, so it should be an option and standard on the 4K model.

 

[Max(IT)]

I'm not a hater, i'm just someone who can seperate myself from ardent fanboism and realise when Apple is charging huge prices for machines and putting in specifications that much lower priced computers would have. Everyone I just get confirmation that you'll stand up for Apple no matter what it does. It annoys me when people will stand up for Apple, when it is not releasing the machines it should be. This is Apple we're talking about, we shouldn't be getting computers with compromises like this iMac has as a result of cost cutting.

You said that the average user won't notice a 5400RPM Drive. I did read your post.

Integrated GPUs in a very expensive machine is not really good enough. And it will become even more noticeable in the future. Especially in the 4K model. Pushing a resolution like that with the iMac is not a great idea.

Apple has a history of releasing Macs and iOS devices with underpowered GPUs. Simple fact. Its usually not apparent straight away, but its obvious fairly quickly as the device ages. Take a look at the GPUs that Apple put into for example, my White 2008 Macbook... Useless GMA x3100 graphics, that led to a mere 3.5 years of OS support before being dropped in 2012.

Discrete Graphics should at least be an option in the 2015 iMac. The 21.5 inch iMac is a machine also used by prosumers and people who want more out of their Macs then integrated graphics can deliver, so it should be an option and standard on the 4K model.

Are you at least able to read my post???
English isn't my first language, but I made it clear enough.

I wrote THIS:

The average consumer surely can get frustrated by the 5400RPM HDD performance.

I actually criticized a lot of things about the iMacs (and not only these , since the iMac lineup in my opinion is underwhelming since a while...).
I just don't like exaggerating people like you.
iGPU like the Iris Pro 6200 are just fine on base model. It's a pity they dont give an option for a better one, for sure, but that's not the biggest problem because I don't consider an iMac, especially a 4K, a good gaming machine.

 

[maflynn]

iGPU like the Iris Pro 6200 are just fine on base model.

The problem is the 4k iMac is not a base model and that GPU is being tasked with pushing a lot more pixels then the actual base iMac.

I don't consider an iMac, especially a 4K, a good gaming machine.

No of course not, given the anemic iGPU being used which is sad because what will happen is people will walk into the Apple store for a new computer, see the 4k and be really impressed with display quality (as they should be). They'll buy the computer for the family as is a natural occurrence, only to be disappointed when they or their kids look to play a game on it (which is also a natural occurrence)

Basically we're not talking about gamers choosing the iMac, but rather families who may want to play the occasional game. I think imo they may very well be disappointed.

 

[Max(IT)]

The problem is the 4k iMac is not a base model and that GPU is being tasked with pushing a lot more pixels then the actual base iMac.

Well, it is the base RETINA iMac ...
The base non retina iMac use a worse iGPU (Iris HD 6000, one step below the Iris Pro 6200).
As I said, it would have been better to have an option nonetheless ...

No of course not, given the anemic iGPU being used which is sad because what will happen is people will walk into the Apple store for a new computer, see the 4k and be really impressed with display quality (as they should be). They'll buy the computer for the family as is a natural occurrence, only to be disappointed when they or their kids look to play a game on it (which is also a natural occurrence)

Basically we're not talking about gamers choosing the iMac, but rather families who may want to play the occasional game. I think imo they may very well be disappointed.

It's not really anemic unless you are not going to play at 4K ...
Mate, to play at 4K you really need something different from an iMac, even for occasional games.
If you downscale resolution .... well .... it's a mess ....

Not saying Im happy about that, but if I buy an iMac, as we discussed earlier I would use a consolle for gaming and the iMac for everything else.

 

[oldmacs]

The average consumer surely can get frustrated by the 5400RPM HDD performance.

I definitely read that as can't - my mistake completely. Thats what I get for being sleep deprived and not reading properly, so apologies for that.

I actually criticized a lot of things about the iMacs (and not only these , since the iMac lineup in my opinion is underwhelming since a while...).
I just don't like exaggerating people like you.
iGPU like the Iris Pro 6200 are just fine on base model. It's a pity they dont give an option for a better one, for sure, but that's not the biggest problem because I don't consider an iMac, especially a 4K, a good gaming machine.

I'm not exaggerating - but I am glad we agree. I think that the integrated graphics are probably fine on the baseline model, but a discrete GPU should be standard on the middle tier, and standard on the Retina 4K model as it is a high end machine.

 

[oldmacs]

It's not really anemic unless you are not going to play at 4K ...
Mate, to play at 4K you really need something different from an iMac, even for occasional games.
If you downscale resolution .... well .... it's a mess .

Merely pushing the resolution that the 4K iMac has will make the integrated graphics a problem. A 21.5 inch 4K Retina Display is pushing a lot of pixels. The people who will be buying the 4K iMacs probably won't be your average consumer, it will be creative people (video editors etc) who really need graphics performance that an integrated GPU is just not going to deliver while pushing a really high resolution.

The integrated graphics as I said are probably fine on the base model as it is a base model, but for the high end model that has to push a very high resolution, thats literally aimed at least prosumers, a discrete GPU should be standard

 

[NMBob]

And yet none of these people thought that backlighting in the new keyboard was important!!?

They were probably worried that the light wouldn't be the right color.

 

[Max(IT)]

Merely pushing the resolution that the 4K iMac has will make the integrated graphics a problem. A 21.5 inch 4K Retina Display is pushing a lot of pixels. The people who will be buying the 4K iMacs probably won't be your average consumer, it will be creative people (video editors etc) who really need graphics performance that an integrated GPU is just not going to deliver while pushing a really high resolution.

The integrated graphics as I said are probably fine on the base model as it is a base model, but for the high end model that has to push a very high resolution, thats literally aimed at least prosumers, a discrete GPU should be standard

In every review Ive read so far, the Iris Pro 6200 wasn't really struggling if not playing high resolution games.
Video editing and photo editing are fine (well, it's not intended as an alternative to the Mac Pro for professional use).

 

[asiga]

The file system for the iPad is iCloud.

I didn't think of it, but you're right. Apple has achieved far beyond of what Microsoft never even dared to wish: to have total control to the filesystem and all files of their users. And then they even say App Store won't accept "creepy" apps. What can be creepy when your computer vendor has access to all your files?