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First Hands-On Impressions of 27-Inch Retina iMac: Sharp Image Quality, Great Viewing Angles
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Not dirt cheap. Seeing Apple updates last few years has taught me to expect enhanced HW/features at the same price as last year's models. Wouldn't have complained a bit if it was $2000.
Isn't the RAM (and all the other options) on the iMacs soldered in now? You can't open them anymore, so you're basically stuck with what you bought it with, right?
It would be nice, but it's probably too much to expect, and Apple doesn't always stick to the same price for upgrades. Apple did increase the price of the rMBP relative to the non-retina model. After a couple years, they reduced the price to something close to where the pre-retina models were.
Even if I never buy it, I'd rather Apple offer it at a higher price now than delay it until it can come down.
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The 21" models don't have an access panel, but I think they still have a socket inside. You'd need to pull the display out to upgrade the RAM, and that's kind of a big deal. The 27" iMacs have a memory access panel.
The article complains about price, but conveniently ignores the fact that 4k monitors of this caliber, without a computer inside them cost upward of 2 grand by themselves. I don't even know of a monitor that you can buy at this resolution, and if I didn't I'm sure that it would be almost the cost of the iMac.
Ah, yes, I see under specs:
8GB (two 4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 memory (four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible) Configurable to 16GB or 32GB.
But at least those 4k monitors has more options to begin with. They are usable by many computers and laptops with adequate power to drive it, even for gaming, CAD, etc. It is what it is, a display with the anonymity about which computer connected to it.
The 5k display in the iMac will only be as good as the computer inside. When the computer breaks, it also render the "gorgeous display" unusable. And also you cannot connect it to any Mac at the moment and use it in all its glory, because TB2 and Target Display mode simply doesn't have enough bandwidth to drive it. Maybe you can drag down the resolution but then you lose a benefit you already paid for, the 5K.
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Depends. If you have an old Mac Pro, you can upgrade the GPU and use the 5K Dell montior. If it's the new Mac Pro, sorry, you'll have to junk it and buy the next revision MP to drive a 5K monitor!
It has nothing to do with the GPU, it's the display port model. Also, you can more than likely use two ports on the current mac pro to run 5k
27" iMacs still have a 4 user-accessible RAM slots. Anyone know if more than 32GB is recognized by the OS?
Exactly my intentions. I'm going to turn my Retina MacBook Pro into a desktop of sorts by getting myself either the Samsung or Asus 4K monitor and the Apple wireless peripherals. I was waiting to see if Apple were gonna offer a 4K TB display but it now seems they're only gonna offer 5K and it'll be massively expensive.
You've obviously never looked at a retina MacBook Pro. Even reading text is a lot better on the eyes with the increased resolution. I had to stop using my 27" iMac after I got a retina MBP because there was such a striking difference to my eyes.
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I'm not sure how you can run a 5K external monitor on any currently available Mac. I don't believe even thunderbolt 2 is fast enough to push those many pixels fast enough.
I am ok with the all in one concept. Also consider many people buy laptops anymore... which in essence are an all in one.
Years ago I used to build pcs for myself. Now as an aged veteran, I would much rather avoid the hassle as my time is worth more than the money saved (if I actually saved). Most things aren't that 'upgradable' anymore and it leads to replacing all sorts of components such as motherboards to match slot sizes, etc etc... and keep an older case and a monitor. Might as well just go all new.
That being said, I do wish they would allow for user upgradable memory. It always comes in handy to extend the life of a machine.
Years ago I used to build pcs for myself. Now as an aged veteran, I would much rather avoid the hassle as my time is worth more than the money saved (if I actually saved). Most things aren't that 'upgradable' anymore and it leads to replacing all sorts of components such as motherboards to match slot sizes, etc etc... and keep an older case and a monitor. Might as well just go all new.
That being said, I do wish they would allow for user upgradable memory. It always comes in handy to extend the life of a machine.
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I think that this is a stellar product; and the price is very reasonable. Did anyone catch the refresh rate for the screen?
Can't believe mine hasn't shipped yet!
Getting antsy already.
Me too. Won't go into a store to look at it either. Want to see it when I open that box....
That is correct. Apple had to invent a new chip that is located in the panel in order for all those 5K pixels to sync up with one another.
Agreed, "upgradeability" is nothing more than empty word nowadays. Custom built PC is getting more and more limited and OEMs would just sell you an all-in-one and be done with it. Like you said, when the time comes to upgrade you would want to replace many things in your computer. Might as well get a brand new one.
Problem is the peak performance of an all-in-one, in this case, an iMac is not up there yet. The top notch graphic is a Radeon M295X (wondering why Apple doesn't stick with nVidia) a mobile chip which is designed for a laptop and typically only handle 1080p display.
For an all-in-one, iMac is one of the best thing money can buy, no other OEMs truly able to compete with iMac, but in the desktop world, that's downright criminal. The mobile chip is nothing more than a mid-tier chip being forced to drive a top-tier resolution. I wouldn't say it will be great.
waiting to see how it does after some consumer testing then I'll get one
Same here. I got my late 2013 paid off back in April. Going to wait off on this until I pay off my 1DX to give it time to see if there's any major bugs. If so, I'll wait until the next update. Otherwise, I'll be buying sometime this winter.
That display is incredible
Good choice to go with the AMD R9 M290X and R9 M295X GPUs, now Apple's entire new line is moving to AMD GPUs.
Apple never bets on a dark horse, which means AMD's roadmap in GPUs looks rosy indeed.
Apple is moving to an exclusive AMD/Intel combo for it's desktops and probably laptops as well.
AMD GPU's and CPU's use a ridiculous amount of powerc compared to its intel and nvidia counter parts, which is fine for desktops, but impractical for laptops. I personally think it was a mistake to go with AMD as R9 290x for desktops has trouble with 4k displays, so I'm guessing the mobile variant wont be any better. The better alternative would've been the 970 and 980 as they use less power and perform better then both of those AMD gpu's respectively.