"Desktop era over - get a laptop and an external monitor instead " - NO! Here's why:

[ihuman:D]

Well if you had a 20" iMAC, vs a Mac Book Pro on a 32" 1080p HDTV. which has the bigger screen?

I would like to see a 27" imac connected to a secondary HDTV. where would it go?

Bigger screen victor = MBP

Processing Power. The new Mac Books come with a Quad Core i7 with turbo up to 3.5Ghz. This is much faster than my i7 gamer PC wich is only 2.6Ghz.

Graphics, the new Geforce 650M is very powerfull. If you were a tech person you would know that gamer laptops like ones made from Alien Ware and other PC companies are thick, bulky, and have very lousey battery life. Your opinon only has merit for these poorly designed laptops.

If you got a 2009 iMac. The new MBP will run circles around it. Try watching a movie on a couch with an iMac. a MBP will fit nicely on anyone's lap.

Graphics, entertainment, and flexability
Winner = MBP

Clutter is only an issue to those who don't know the technology to minimize it. The only cable the iMAC saves is the video cable. That is it. iMAC comes with a WIRED keyboard, and a WIRED mouse. MBP has no wires.

Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad, Wirless networking with wirless printing, and network attached storage (accessable via wirless network). MBPs except the retina MBP and Mac Book Airs don't got CD\DVD burners built in. but who needs to burn anything when 32GB flash disks and 1TB external buss powered HDDs are so cheap? These devices are not plugged in all the time only when need to. Cloud staorage is also makes burning obsolete.

To the technically adept the MBP will only have 3 wires when used with an external monitor. Power, video, and audio. iMac is capable of only using just One wire (for Power), when using the same technologies. But when using MBP as a laptop. Their are no wires.

Winner = MBP


It's no wonder MBP and MBA are by far the most popular MAC models.

Well if you had a 20" iMAC, vs a Mac Book Pro on a 32" 1080p HDTV. which has the bigger screen?
You're on about clutter a bit further down yet if you connect a macbook to a TV isn't there a video cable? and what happens if your battery runs out when your doing that? oh yeah,you connect up the charger!


Bigger screen victor = MBP
But couldn't you not connect an iMac up to a 40'' TV if it's close by?

Processing Power. The new Mac Books come with a Quad Core i7 with turbo up to 3.5Ghz. This is much faster than my i7 gamer PC wich is only 2.6Ghz.
You forget they are MOBILE CPU's therefore they would have a bit less stamina than a DESKTOP CPU.If you get the 21.5'' $1,499 model with the i7 processor it has turbo boost also and it comes in way cheaper than a macbook pro,it has a bigger screen,RAM's easier to ugrade,you can UPGRADE CPU and GPU too.

If you got a 2009 iMac. The new MBP will run circles around it. Try watching a movie on a couch with an iMac. a MBP will fit nicely on anyone's lap.
Comparing a 2009 iMac to a 2012 MBP is an unfair test and the iMacs 21.5'' screen is big enough to watch movies very comfortably and enjoyably from the couch.

Clutter is only an issue to those who don't know the technology to minimize it. The only cable the iMAC saves is the video cable. That is it. iMAC comes with a WIRED keyboard, and a WIRED mouse. MBP has no wires.
What year are you living in?The last time I checked the iMac had a WIRELESS keyboard and mouse,so really the only cable going in/out of the iMac is a power cord.

Graphics, the new Geforce 650M is very powerfull. If you were a tech person you would know that gamer laptops like ones made from Alien Ware and other PC companies are thick, bulky, and have very lousey battery life. Your opinon only has merit for these poorly designed laptops.
Have you forgotten the 2012 iMac is supposed to be coming out soon enough?

 

[joe-h2o]

Well if you had a 20" iMAC, vs a Mac Book Pro on a 32" 1080p HDTV. which has the bigger screen?

I would like to see a 27" imac connected to a secondary HDTV. where would it go?

Bigger screen victor = MBP

Processing Power. The new Mac Books come with a Quad Core i7 with turbo up to 3.5Ghz. This is much faster than my i7 gamer PC wich is only 2.6Ghz.

Graphics, the new Geforce 650M is very powerfull. If you were a tech person you would know that gamer laptops like ones made from Alien Ware and other PC companies are thick, bulky, and have very lousey battery life. Your opinon only has merit for these poorly designed laptops.

If you got a 2009 iMac. The new MBP will run circles around it. Try watching a movie on a couch with an iMac. a MBP will fit nicely on anyone's lap.

Graphics, entertainment, and flexability
Winner = MBP

Clutter is only an issue to those who don't know the technology to minimize it. The only cable the iMAC saves is the video cable. That is it. iMAC comes with a WIRED keyboard, and a WIRED mouse. MBP has no wires.

Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad, Wirless networking with wirless printing, and network attached storage (accessable via wirless network). MBPs except the retina MBP and Mac Book Airs don't got CD\DVD burners built in. but who needs to burn anything when 32GB flash disks and 1TB external buss powered HDDs are so cheap? These devices are not plugged in all the time only when need to. Cloud staorage is also makes burning obsolete.

To the technically adept the MBP will only have 3 wires when used with an external monitor. Power, video, and audio. iMac is capable of only using just One wire (for Power), when using the same technologies. But when using MBP as a laptop. Their are no wires.

Winner = MBP


It's no wonder MBP and MBA are by far the most popular MAC models.

The 650M "running circles around" the iMac. Man, that's funny.

Oh wait, you were serious? Let me laugh even harder.

To put it succinctly:

MBP - mobile CPU, terrible mobile GPU that isn't even as good as the "outdated" 2011 iMac GPU on the 27", physically small screen, hot and noisy, expensive.

iMac - big screen, light years faster GPU even in outdated model, desktop CPUs, quieter and cooler, more internal space (two drives + optical, or 3x SATA ports in any config), much cheaper than MBP.

No contest really. When the 2012 iMac eventually drops, the GPU comparisons will be even more ludicrous (unless Apple also puts a 650M in there, but that would be such an enormous leap backwards you might as well switch to writing on stone tablets with a chisel).

The only benefit a laptop and external screen has over an iMac is that you can take the Macbook Pro with you to other places because it's a laptop. If your goal is a desktop machine from the outset, the iMac has it beat in all areas.

 

[Matador Red]

Wow, this thread is going nowhere fast. Why can't people understand, neither the MBP nor the iMac is the right solution for everyone. The only reasons I would buy a MBP and external display is if Apple kills the iMac completely or my portability needs change. Until that day, I will stick with iMac. It better suits my needs.

 

[boyd1955]

If apple is stupid enough to kill the iMac I'm dumping apple completely ... I have a iPad for playing about on the move ... I now have a Nexus 7 as well and it does a lot more than the iPad one and at a fraction of the cost ... You can't do any real work on a laptop .. That is a brainless 90s bad parentings brat outlook on life and has got us into this complete state of creative stagnation we are in today ( not personally though ) ) ... Desk tops will never go away as they are work machines
iMacs won't go away if apple have any sense ... They will need business to fall back on when people get fed up paying way over the odds for these silly iToys when other people make them just as good for a third of the price
Mac is a great operating system ... The rest is transient

 

[Zach Vega]

I despise laptops. I've had several up until 2009 and I'll never be purchasing another one. The small screen is the main reason. And I hate upgrading them.

 

[RustyMacVet]

I'll be going back to school in 2014 so I'll probably end up getting a new MBA or MBP + iPad then, but I need a new iMac now! HARDWARE REFRESH ALREADY!

 

[davidcmc]

Mac is a great operating system ... The rest is transient

The truth has been said.

 

[turtlez]

Apple will not kill off their desktop line for a few reasons.

- Extra clutter
- More expensive to get laptop + external screen
- lower performance when not everyone needs mobile solution
- they will lose $$ out big time in production companies

the only pro for what you are suggesting is
- Apple can just focus on one machine the whole year round but with reliability on 3rd party technology innovation i can't see them doing too much more than they already do with the MBP.

I don't mean to offend you but I thought these points would be quite obvious.

 

[cocky jeremy]

No thanks. I might buy a desktop AND laptop, but i would never give up my desktop for a laptop + external monitor. Too much clutter, less power, more money, etc. Never.

 

[G51989]

Not as far as Apple customers are concerned. 2003 was the last year Apple sold more desktops than notebooks. For nearly a decade desktop buyers have been shifting to notebooks. In the last quarter, nearly three quarters of all Macs sold were MacBooks.

This forum is not representative of the marketplace. You can make the best arguments in the world for the survival of the iMac, but it's preaching to the choir here. The simple fact of the matter is that desktops are a niche product at best now.

One thing you do need to remember, is that Apple does not sell very many computers to Business, enterprise, and those make up tons of sales. Macs are meaningless in the Market.

As far as PC OEM running windows/nix Last year, they sold 144 MILLION desktops, and 209 Million Laptops.

The Desktop is FAR from dead.

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23371512

Yes, the laptop is beating it for most people, and it will eventually double desktop sales.

But the desktop is not a niche product, just in the same way that Apple isn't a major computer maker.

When a Laptop/Tablet can have the same longevity, performance, upgradiabilty, and reliably of a desktop. Then it'll be in trouble.

As far as Desktop/Laptops goes. Apple products are mostly garbage compared to high end PCs. ( Which is why you rarely see them in a enterprise situation ). For enterprise.

FOr consumers? Apple makes great Laptops, I'm just not silly enough to buy something so underpowered.

For someone who just works from a desk and doesn't go out for work very much? Nothing compares to a dedicated desktop computer.

I personally use a very high powered desktop workstation ( Glue 3 Mac Pros together, it's still slower ). A ****** Laptop/Tablet could NEVER replace it.

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A laptop?! An iPad easily suits everyones needs these days...

For people who do real work....they won't get a toypad.

SLow? No Applications? No keyboard? Small Screen? No eco system? I'll pass.

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The truth has been said.

And windows/linux are great OS's as well.

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Nail on the head, debate stone dead.

Expect the Mac Pro is useless for Pros because....its expensive.....and outdated...massively...

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Funny that you should say this when Apple is suing Samsung all over the world for copying that "grid of icons." Personally I do not think the iPad will replace laptops unless Apple devises a way for users to directly access the file structure the way Android does. I have an iMac and an iPad2 but there are times that I wished I had a notebook.

The iPad is a huguly limited device, both hardware and software wise.

Its super awesome for light work and media, but thats it. It doesn't have any real hardware.

Which is why Microsoft is comming in with the Surface pro.

People have been saying " OMFG DESKTOP IS DEAD " as long as I can remember, even back in the 90s. The fact is, the desktop is not a niche market, and its not dead, and won't be dead for a very very long time.

Going off Mac sales is the worst way to look at it, Because Mac sales are so small compared to the rest of the market, they dont mean anything

 

[iSayuSay]

If you got a 2009 iMac. The new MBP will run circles around it. Try watching a movie on a couch with an iMac. a MBP will fit nicely on anyone's lap.

Flash news: My current laptop is faster than a 3 years old desktop. Wow! Ain't that something?

Hey, you know what? My current iPhone is faster than any Pentium III boxes out there too.

 

[G51989]

Little boys tools ? I'm guessing you are not English.

Might not be, but the Mac Minis are very underpowered machines.

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Flash news: My current laptop is faster than a 3 years old desktop. Wow! Ain't that something?

Hey, you know what? My current iPhone is faster than any Pentium III boxes out there too.

My Iconia tablet is much faster than my Pentium II MMX system.

Therefore, the desktop must be dead

 

[iSayuSay]

My Iconia tablet is much faster than my Pentium II MMX system.

Therefore, the desktop must be dead

LOL, interesting point of view. But no .. My point was mobile devices will always left behind a few steps. It takes years to create a product that fit in your pocket to match something desktop already has for some time.

Can't go wrong for always being bigger.

 

[G51989]

LOL, interesting point of view. But no .. My point was mobile devices will always left behind a few steps. It takes years to create a product that fit in your pocket to match something desktop already has for some time.

Can't go wrong for always being bigger.

Kinda making the same point lol.

Bigger is always better, in cars, computers, phones, and teh other stuff

 

[iSayuSay]

Kinda making the same point lol.

Bigger is always better, in cars, computers, phones, and teh other stuff

touché

 

[Abazigal]

Apple will not kill off their desktop line for a few reasons.

- Extra clutter
- More expensive to get laptop + external screen
- lower performance when not everyone needs mobile solution
- they will lose $$ out big time in production companies

the only pro for what you are suggesting is
- Apple can just focus on one machine the whole year round but with reliability on 3rd party technology innovation i can't see them doing too much more than they already do with the MBP.

I don't mean to offend you but I thought these points would be quite obvious.

They won't, but they can indirectly influence more people to opt for laptops over desktops. Note how in his 2010 ipad keynote, Steve claimed Apple was a mobile devices company? Apple is also refreshing their laptop lineup more frequently than imacs now, and implementing upgrades that seem to benefit laptops more (eg: power nap that work only on airs, airplay that is all but a wasted feature on immobile desktops). It's clear that their mobile device division is where most of the revenue is coming from, and so that is where more of the attention will be focused on.

They already did away with the 17" MBP to make way for the Rmbp, and seem to have all but forgotten their mac pro offering. All in all, there seems to be increasingly less incentive to opt for an Apple desktop.

 

[driftless]

Little boys tools ? I'm guessing you are not English.

I am most certainly not English.

However, I did mean to suggest that Pros and serious Prosumers, for the most part, do not use mac minis but use Mac Pros and iMacs. My original comment suggested that Mac Minis are used by students and those concerned about economics. How you interpret my original post is up to you.

 

[G51989]

I am most certainly not English.

However, I did mean to suggest that Pros and serious Prosumers, for the most part, do not use mac minis but use Mac Pros and iMacs. My original comment suggested that Mac Minis are used by students and those concerned about economics. How you interpret my original post is up to you.

Well lets be honest, anyone who needs real hardware, and real performance well...isn't on a Mac at all...

 

[driftless]

Well lets be honest, anyone who needs real hardware, and real performance well...isn't on a Mac at all...

I still think Mac is the focus for creative professionals. I am hoping that Apple will WOW us with the next Mac Pro & iMac.

 

[McGiord]

The only reasons to get an iMac are price and the big screen.
You can use it a s second monitor also and maybe it is a better investment than the Thunderlbolt display, if they come with a BluRay drive it would be a killer Mac, however having to get an external one is kind of making not so great.

The cables clutter is becoming pointless as the trend is to have more wireless stuff, AirPlay is just the beginning.

The MacBook Pro is great Mac but tends to be overpriced.

I think the portability of the MacBooks is a great feature that beats anything else.

I think a MacBook Pro with any external display will always be a better option than the iMac:
If the iMac gets damaged after warranty or without Apple Care, you are going to pay a lot of money to recover it. On the other hand with the Mac portables you can get it serviced for a flat fee around $300 Depot Repair. And there is a tendency to obtain more spare parts for the portables than for the iMacs. Also the resale value of a portable is higher than the desktops.

 

[driftless]

if they come with a BluRay drive it would be a killer Mac, however having to get an external one is kind of making not so great.

I think that you hit on the great divide - the consumers who use their iMacs to consume content and play games and the pros who run businesses and the creative folks who create content on the iMac. I think that adding a really high end iMac to the existing line up would satisfy most.

 

[RustyMacVet]

Who needs a blue ray drive when you can just download 1080p movies?

 

[McGiord]

Who needs a blue ray drive when you can just download 1080p movies?

Me and many more users.
Not all what I want or watch is available for downloading or streaming, and I don't want to clog my Internet connection for such big video files, or need a large hard drive to store movies.
Certain videos are cheaper when you buy them in BluRay discs.

 

[profets]

The only reasons to get an iMac are price and the big screen.
You can use it a s second monitor also and maybe it is a better investment than the Thunderlbolt display, if they come with a BluRay drive it would be a killer Mac, however having to get an external one is kind of making not so great.

The cables clutter is becoming pointless as the trend is to have more wireless stuff, AirPlay is just the beginning.

The MacBook Pro is great Mac but tends to be overpriced.

I think the portability of the MacBooks is a great feature that beats anything else.

I think a MacBook Pro with any external display will always be a better option than the iMac:
If the iMac gets damaged after warranty or without Apple Care, you are going to pay a lot of money to recover it. On the other hand with the Mac portables you can get it serviced for a flat fee around $300 Depot Repair. And there is a tendency to obtain more spare parts for the portables than for the iMacs. Also the resale value of a portable is higher than the desktops.

What about in office use? I've setup a handful of office that have iMacs everywhere. For stationary use a laptop and a display is a waste. It's beautiful being able to treat the iMac as an appliance of sorts.

 

[G51989]

I still think Mac is the focus for creative professionals. I am hoping that Apple will WOW us with the next Mac Pro & iMac.

It was, for a LONG time, and it was for serious power users to, ( that ended with the G5 and 1st mac Pro ), but now, they are so far behind performance wise, they aren't useful for anyone remotely needing performance.