Apple's New Retina iMacs Offer Slight Performance Boost Over Non-Retina iMacs

[Patriot24]

As much as I like the progress Apple makes on their line-ups, you get the feeling that this isn't a compelling purchase.

I feel most compelled to buy from Apple after a new tech is integrated a year and they add the raw horsepower. So, that was the late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina, not the first model. For iMac, this model version would be "early adopter" friendly, but for practical purposes, wait for the next iteration in 2015 or beyond.

My major concern is that this first generation of Retina iMac ends up being like the iPad 3 - underpowered and replaced quickly. There is a good chance for that scenario to play out here given what we know about forthcoming Intel processors.

I usually do not jump on the "wait for rev 2" bandwagon, but in this case it is likely a good idea.

 

[mm201]

From the looks of things lately you'll be keeping them crossed for a long time.

Dell is making one if you're not allergic to their industrial design.

 

[DeadSeaMac]

I'm much more interested in how that 290x manages all those pixels.




Broadwell is about battery life, it's not much faster than Haswell.

If you are waiting, Skylake is where it's at. Though at the rate Intel is going....

You won't see Skylake adoption until late 2016, early 2017 at the rate Intel production is going even though they already went public last month by announcing the impending release of their new chip for late 2015.

I can wait...

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Never mind those benchmarks, what about the graphics performance? I noticed there were no benchmarks on speed in the keynote which suggests it could lag quite a bit. Four times the pixels but only 45% more graphics power?

 

[Parasprite]

Better than the Mini came out, I'll take it.

 

[pscl]

you can easily play games at 1440p like before. So what's wrong?
at 2880p you will not be able to play games at max, for the next 4-5 years

hmm are you sure?

i mean... if you play in 1080p on a 1440p screen it looks really bad and blurry.

i guess its the same with 1440p on a 2880p screen. maybe the ppi will make things better but overall i think the new imac will struggle hard.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

ridiculous.

the new imac is so useless. now its not even possible to play games with the highest specced imac. simple impossible to play native.

despite the fact that all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting.

This is a step in the right direction

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29678989

 

[iSee]

This roundup is pretty useless since it only includes the low-end 5K iMac processor.

Also, Broadwell isn't expected to do much for desktop systems.

 

[ronyedin]

Don't say, "This Mac lineup sucks, I rather wait for Broadwell". Broadwell only gives you 30% reduction in power, at the same performance level.

If you need a computer, buy it. There will always be a new graphics card or faster Intel chip down the road. Technology is advancing really fast. You will never have a top of the line computer for more than a month before they announce something faster.

 

[crsh1976]

The unanswered question about the new iMac is the GPU performance rather than the CPU; it'd be good to have numbers how the M290X and M295M perform pushing all those pixels.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Still crossing my fingers for just a 5K Cinema Display.

Won't happen for a few years. There's no standard cable right now capable of carrying that much bandwidth. Dell's 5K externals require you to plug in multiple cables simultaneously (so it's kind of like they took two external screens and put them in a single case.) I wouldn't expect Apple to be willing to make a compromise like that.

Apple could try making their own non-standard cable, but because of the low volume of them they would make, it would be an expensive cable. And the port on the Macs would be expensive because it wouldn't be used other than for Apple. And the port on the monitor would be expensive, too. So making your own non-standard cable when you're a small player isn't a good choice. Apple can do it with iOS because their iOS devices are so popular. Not so when you get into their headless computers.

 

[Kissaragi]

Its graphics benchmarks I want to see.

 

[The Samurai]

This is a step in the right direction

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29678989

Comment of the day lol

 

[wigby]

ridiculous.

the new imac is so useless. now its not even possible to play games with the highest specced imac. simple impossible to play native.

despite the fact that all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting.

As if it's possible to play native 5k games on the world's fastest PC? Seriously, who buys an iMac for games? You buy a Mac to work or create. When you're done with work for the day, you then pop in a game for some fun. You don't build or buy an expensive PC around games unless you're planning to deal with a Windows, GPU upgrades and driver updates.

 

[HenryDJP]

Dell is making one if you're not allergic to their industrial design.

Haha, not at all. In fact in the iMac forums I had been mentioning to people to get a 3rd party 4K monitor for the Mac Pro. There's no shame in doing so.

 

[maclove4life]

It seems like many just cannot resist the temptation to complain.

This refresh was not a performance upgrade. It was a display and/or graphics performance upgrade.

When there's new processors that do better, Apple will update the MacBooks as well.

what's the point of you saying this? They have every right to rant...
When the company releases a new product...of course we would expect the products to be lot better than previous models...not just "little upgrade."
iMac needs to have performance AND graphic improvement...otherwise it's for suckers...

like iPad mini 3...it's an upgrade...maybe you should buy it because it has TOUCH ID...and A7 chip...it's touch feature...so maybe you should buy that.

or maybe you should get the new macbook pro 2015 only 5k...with 2011 processor..

so it's like that..it's disgraceful and disrespectful to consumers.

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

ridiculous.

the new imac is so useless. now its not even possible to play games with the highest specced imac. simple impossible to play native.

despite the fact that all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting.

could you BE any more hyperbolically blathering?

If you are buying a mac, let alone a sealed imac to "play games" you are making an unwise decision, end of story.

As a professional photographer/designer/developer I will be buying one of these "useless" imacs, and I have a feeling it will prove pretty useful.

Also, I owned the 1st gen slimmed down imac and it's screen was perfect. Swapped it for a rMBP 15", which also had a perfect screen.

I get that SOME displays might have some issues, but to say it is a "fact" that "all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting." is a lie.

You joker, you.

 

[wigby]

My major concern is that this first generation of Retina iMac ends up being like the iPad 3 - underpowered and replaced quickly. There is a good chance for that scenario to play out here given what we know about forthcoming Intel processors.

I usually do not jump on the "wait for rev 2" bandwagon, but in this case it is likely a good idea.

There's a reason Apple spent so much time detailing their custom timing chips for the 5k display. There should be no issues in this rev.

 

[lotzosushi]

I'm much more interested in how that 290x manages all those pixels.




Broadwell is about battery life, it's not much faster than Haswell.

If you are waiting, Skylake is where it's at. Though at the rate Intel is going....

Yeah that's true. Though I really don't need an iMac, I already have a MBP and my own custom PC. A 5k display for me is more of a want than need :roll eyes: hehe I'll probably have bought another display from another manufacturer by the time Apple releases a capable 5K CD.

 

[Brian Buttplug]

the iphone 6 watch ipad air 2 and 5k imac are in that "best product pipeline" remark but the mac mini and ipad mini 3 are not.

and i hoped for a new apple tv

Sorry, but I have no idea what this means?

-Brian

 

[jetjaguar]

so high end 2013 is faster than low end 2014 .. got it

 

[gnasher729]

Cue the "Only 12421?"

That's why there is a faster model with i7 processors. Note that all the faster iMacs have an i7 processor (but not at 4.0 GHz like the faster Retina iMac).

 

[Milese3]

Most backward lineup ever.

Not really- after all, the resolution affects performance. If anything, it's the most forward thinking lineup. Ever.

 

[vagos]

ridiculous.

the new imac is so useless. now its not even possible to play games with the highest specced imac. simple impossible to play native.

despite the fact that all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting.

Why don't you buy an Xbox and leave computers to grown ups ?

 

[Babbles]

ridiculous.

the new imac is so useless. now its not even possible to play games with the highest specced imac. simple impossible to play native.

despite the fact that all slimmed down imac displays are yellowish and have very serious ghosting.

Even at the top tiers, Macs are terrible gaming computers. CPU/GPU's are just terrible compared with windows based models that you can build. I tried gaming on my macs for a few years and finally got fed up with it . . .

Even so. The Retina is worthless with those specs. Why make a screen that demands so much power when you put bare minimums on it? Seems ridiculous to buy it, IMO. Only an idiot with $2,500 sitting around would purchase this for minor usage--it doesn't even have to capability to act as a second monitor etc.