Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

First Hands-On Impressions of 27-Inch Retina iMac: Sharp Image Quality, Great Viewing Angles

zbarvian said:
Text and the OS will obviously be optimized. Look how sharp Safari's nav bar is! While most assets on screen look like crap if you fill more than half the screen with the browser window. And third party apps will take forever to update as usual. Have you forgotten that there's hardly any 4K, viewable media, period? Seems silly to want UI chrome look pin sharp, but have no concern for the content that UI is there to present.
Click to expand...

Chicken and egg problem. Would you rather NOTHING be sharp, than there being technology to both display MOST thing sharp and ENCOURAGING content to be produced for higher resolutions?

This is how we progress, not in complete jumps, but in fits and starts. Technology driving content and so on and so forth.

----------
teslo said:
skip upgrading RAM through apple, buy cheap RAM, save up to $600. good deal
Click to expand...

If you don't upgrade to 16GB, you'll be stuck with useless 4GB chips you need to sell or get rid of, instead of 8GB chips you can augment with more 8GB chips.
 
iSayuSay said:
Not anymore with current 21.5" iMac.

And I wouldn't be surprised if couple years from now the 27" iMac RAM will also be locked. For thinness sake of course LOL
Click to expand...

Ah, I didn't realise that, thanks. I doubt they would lock in the 27" flagship model, it's their most powerful model in the range, it should allow user upgrades as it is a longer term investment over the cheaper models. But, you never know with Apple. I',m guessing the Macbook air is ram locked? whereas the Macbook Pro is not, following my line of thinking?
 
teslo said:
skip upgrading RAM through apple, buy cheap RAM, save up to $600. good deal
Click to expand...

and void the warranty? not a good idea, considering every new product will have a certain risk of having issues. If I'm paying over $2500 for a new computer then I want that warranty, no matter how limited it might be.

Not sure what applies in the U.S. but in Sweden you always get 1 year production warranty, and I would say that it's not worth voiding the warranty.

My suggestion is that if you need the RAM upgrade **today** then get it via Apple, otherwise buy them 3rd party and upgrade the day after limited warranty runs out. But that's of course just me.. :)
 
derek4484 said:
How many fanboys dropped $2500 and up yesterday buying one of these? Insanely high priced. The display does seem nice, but its not worth $1700. Because you can buy or build a PC with same hardware for $800 or less.

I could then go out and buy a 32" 4K display for $500 and only have $1300 in it for what amounts to the exact same computer (I realize it'd be 4K display vs 5K). But fully upgradeable and future proofed.
Click to expand...

I speced mine out to i7, 3TB Fusion, 4 GB GPU with base RAM for $2885 (gov't discount, yay!) and considering I keep my Macs for 6–8 years, I'm not too worried about future-proofing as a necessity.

Call us fanboys, but the reason a lot of us buy a Mac in the first place is because, opposed to building a PC/Windows/Linux box, we want something that works right out of the box and get on with the rest of our lives....

1992 Macintosh LC II
2000 PowerBook G3 "Pismo"
2006 MacBook Core Duo (black)
2014 iMac with Retina 5k—soon!
 
ibitedeadskunks said:
and void the warranty? not a good idea, considering every new product will have a certain risk of having issues. If I'm paying over $2500 for a new computer then I want that warranty, no matter how limited it might be.

Not sure what applies in the U.S. but in Sweden you always get 1 year production warranty, and I would say that it's not worth voiding the warranty.

My suggestion is that if you need the RAM upgrade **today** then get it via Apple, otherwise buy them 3rd party and upgrade the day after limited warranty runs out. But that's of course just me.. :)
Click to expand...

Is this RAM user replaceable in the iMac? If so, your warranty certainly should not be void because the customer choice to add more memory. I think this has already been tested in court in some countries.
 
ibitedeadskunks said:
and void the warranty? not a good idea, considering every new product will have a certain risk of having issues. If I'm paying over $2500 for a new computer then I want that warranty, no matter how limited it might be.
Click to expand...

WTF are you talking about? RAM is a user serviceable part, has always been on the 27" iMacs. Upgrading RAM is 100% not a grounds for voiding the warranty. :rolleyes:

"8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible
Configurable to 16GB or 32GB." - Apple
 
If only iMacs allow you to use it as a PC display. I'd love to get this iMac for my professional work, and at the same time use it as my gaming monitor for my PC. My 30" acd is dying, and I'm currently using a KVM switch between my macbook pro and gaming pc and it's been flawless. It's a shame you can't do that with an iMac :(
 
really been waiting for a similarly spec'ed 27" cinema display. actually 2 of them to pair with my 2013 rMBP somehow, anyhow.
 
That's a steep price for an i5 powered machine but that monitor might make it worth it. I've never worked on or researched an iMac so have no idea how easy or difficult it is to replace components. If I wanted an OS X desktop I'd be all over this if switching out components myself isn't too much of a hassle.

I wonder how the monitor compares with Dell's 5k monitor. I've heard incredible things about it
 
Stella said:
Is this RAM user replaceable in the iMac? If so, your warranty certainly should not be void because the customer choice to add more memory. I think this has already been tested in court in some countries.
Click to expand...

Apple's site explicitly says it's user accessible. That poster just doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.
 
ibitedeadskunks said:
and void the warranty? not a good idea, considering every new product will have a certain risk of having issues. If I'm paying over $2500 for a new computer then I want that warranty, no matter how limited it might be.

Not sure what applies in the U.S. but in Sweden you always get 1 year production warranty, and I would say that it's not worth voiding the warranty.

My suggestion is that if you need the RAM upgrade **today** then get it via Apple, otherwise buy them 3rd party and upgrade the day after limited warranty runs out. But that's of course just me.. :)
Click to expand...

Upgrading RAM yourself doesn't void anything. Hell, Apple even tells you how to do it.
 
I think the reason why there isn't a 27" 5K ATD is because thunderbolt 2 doesn't have enough bandwidth for 5K. Seems kinda crazy to me, but we'll have to wait for Thunderbolt 3. A shame really.

I believe the Dell 5K (not released yet?) has 2x DP 1.2 connections. It's mind boggling how much bandwidth these 5K monitors need.
 
NY Guitarist said:
Yeah, seriously. Apple has to be joking that there isn't a 5K Apple Display that matches the power of the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Tell me, how do you power that display, and what computer that exists in Apple's lineup would be able to drive it? :rolleyes:
 
Display is hopefully amazing, still expensive for an i5 based PC with a mid-range 2012 GPU. Apple still up to their old tricks.
 
iChrist said:
Mac Pro cannot power 5k display with weak Display Port 1.2.

No mac can power 5k so ZERO chance of 5k Thunderbolt display coming.

:apple:
Click to expand...

wrong wrong wrong

thunderbolt 2 is already in a few of the mac's lineup.

a 5k thunderbolt display is what high-end professionals need in conjunction with their mac pro or mbp. not a silly imac.
 
NY Guitarist said:
Apple offers a 5K iMac , but NOT a 5K capable Mac Pro? That's up to Apple to deliver, not me.
Click to expand...

Apple said the Mac Pro was built for 4k. So you'll have to use the 4k monitors available on the market. If you want 5K, you'll have to wait for TB3 on the next gen Mac Pro.

js09 said:
wrong wrong wrong

thunderbolt 2 is already in a few of the mac's lineup.

a 5k thunderbolt display is what high-end professionals need in conjunction with their mac pro or mbp. not a silly imac.
Click to expand...

Thunderbolt 2 has a bandwidth of 20Gb/s. Apple's 5K @60fps needs 28Gb/s.
 
MrX8503 said:
Apple said the Mac Pro was built for 4k. So you'll have to use the 4k monitors available on the market. If you want 5K, you'll have to wait for TB3 on the next gen Mac Pro.



Thunderbolt 2 has a bandwidth of 20Gb/s. Apple's 5K @60fps needs 28Gb/s.
Click to expand...

So use 2 channels. The Dell UP2715K uses dual DisplayPort 1.2 connectors - no obvious reason it won't work on the 2013 Mac Pro.
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
So use 2 channels. The Dell UP2715K uses dual DisplayPort 1.2 connectors - no obvious reason it won't work on the 2013 Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Apple is using a single stream i think, and not the Dell method. No existing Mac supports a single stream method...besides the iMac.
 
Last edited:
As expected, I sort of knew I'd be disappointed with the mobile graphics card.

This is basically what will keep me probably from ever buying an iMac and probably stick with my 2009 to 2010 Mac Pros.

The sad part is Apple could have easily made a separate high end iMac with better graphics in a slightly thicker case, but oh well. Like I said, I expected to be disappointed with the graphics so I'm not surprised.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back