iFixit Teardown of New 21.5-Inch 4K iMac Reveals DCI-P3 Display, Empty Solder Pads

[oldmacs]

I am in EXACTLY the same boat as you. I bought my 2012 Mac Mini with 4 Gig of RAM, and when I could afford it; bumped it to 16 Gig (my only error was getting 1333 MHz instead of 1400). Then a year later, I added a 256 GB Samsung SSD to the 500 GB HDD and made a great 750 GB Fusion drive.
It's been a solid performer, one that I was able to upgrade as I could afford. Sadly, I'm seeing that the very parts of the Mac Mini that were the "Key Features" that got me into trying Apple, are being eliminated".

Every single one of my Macs, and the Macs in my family have been bought as base configuration and upgraded it - they've grown with me. My 2008 Macbook started out as 2GB with a 160 5400RPM HD and went to 6GB of ram and a 750GB 7200RPM Drive and now a 256 GB SSD. My current Macbook Pro (Mid 2012) is a bit more complex but, has gone from 4GB/500GB 5400RPM to 8GB/1TB SSD, and in the future to 16GB and maybe a bigger SSD in a couple of years.

its been great as its affordable, environmentally friendly and awesome

I bought into an Apple that had a healthy balance between upgradability & form factors etc.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

people ... we ... do you consider yourself a congressman representing other users ?

No, I'm just saying perhaps you could chill a bit and just let people give their opinions without jumping down their throats every single time. These are OPINIONS. Give your own, fine. But when one argues about every little point people say, they're going to argue back and pretty soon one finds themselves wasting an hour every morning/afternoon/evening (depending on their schedule) engaging in these pointless back and forths about nothing. Neither you nor I can change Apple's decisions beyond sending them feedback or not buying their products. Some of us just want to vent our frustrations in what we see as very bad decisions Apple is making when we read these release threads or breakdown threads or whatever.

I don't reply to people who say "I LIKE the new iMac!" Great. They like it. But if I say, "I don't like the new iMac because they made the SSD smaller in what I think is purely to make more profit" or "Why are they including ancient 5400 RPM drives by default in some of these configurations that cost nearly over even over $2k" (a LOT of a computer these days) and I get in return a diatribe complaining about every single word I wrote being "incorrect" or "inaccurate" or "how do you know a 24GB Fusion drive performs worse than a 128GB one or whatever), what do you think I'm going to do? Sit there and ignore your comment? I probably should. It would save me time. But you've attacked my premise and reasons for not liking it rather than simply disagreeing. So I defend my comments and the next thing I know I'm writing these ridiculously long diatribes right back. But I see in this particular thread I'm not alone in this. I see other people having the same arguments and getting nowhere. I see a pattern emerging. I also see I'm wasting my time.

 

[GrumpyTrucker]

I am in EXACTLY the same boat as you. I bought my 2012 Mac Mini with 4 Gig of RAM, and when I could afford it; bumped it to 16 Gig (my only error was getting 1333 MHz instead of 1400). Then a year later, I added a 256 GB Samsung SSD to the 500 GB HDD and made a great 750 GB Fusion drive.
It's been a solid performer, one that I was able to upgrade as I could afford. Sadly, I'm seeing that the very parts of the Mac Mini that were the "Key Features" that got me into trying Apple, are being eliminated".

I completely agree. It's that "when I could afford it" part that Apple seem to have either forgotten about or just decided that since money is no issue to them then we should all feel the same way and be happy to spend more money than we can justifiably afford just to get a computer up to a spec that we think might just make it 5 years.

Simple things like drives and RAM should not be an additional high ticket item at time of purchase or lose your ability to change them later. CPU/GPU maybe but not the stuff people have been changing in their computers for years.

Every single one of my Macs, and the Macs in my family have been bought as base configuration and upgraded it - they've grown with me. My 2008 Macbook started out as 2GB with a 160 5400RPM HD and went to 6GB of ram and a 750GB 7200RPM Drive and now a 256 GB SSD. My current Macbook Pro (Mid 2012) is a bit more complex but, has gone from 4GB/500GB 5400RPM to 8GB/1TB SSD, and in the future to 16GB and maybe a bigger SSD in a couple of years.

its been great as its affordable, environmentally friendly and awesome

I bought into an Apple that had a healthy balance between upgradability & form factors etc.

I got into the Mac with a second hand early 2009 Mac mini which was a couple of years old when I got it. Last time I used it that machine was running a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM and was a good machine. It's being left behind a bit now with a lot of new features needing modern Bluetooth but it still works because I was able to add to the RAM and change the HDD when it started making a horrid clicking noise. I'm dreading the day the HDD part of my fusion in my sealed 2012 iMac starts ticking. Desktops aren't phones, tablets or even laptops. Thinness really isn't a primary issue with them, functionality is. Or should be. The model of iMac prior to the 2012 refresh was not exactly obese. I'm sure they could have just taken the SuperDrive out of it and maybe left the SD reader on that edge.

 

[LovingTeddy]

I won't buy a 21.5" iMac too.
That wasn't my point.
If you are looking for a Mac you can upgrade, your only choice is Mac Pro or 27" iMac (and you'll be limited also with those computers).
If you are looking for an affordable computer you can customize like the PC "you built few years ago", well, you are not the customer Apple want.

You'd think Mac Pro is more upgradable, but no. No one need trash can size Mac Pro. The only thing you can swap easily is RAM module (I think CPU is upgradable too, but I might be wrong). Why do people like old Mac Pro design? Because you can easily upgrade almost everything .

Oh, by the way, old Mac Mini is upgradable from CPU to RAM to hard disk and it is cheap.

 

[McGiord]

You'd think Mac Pro is more upgradable, but no. No one need trash can size Mac Pro. The only thing you can swap easily is RAM module (I think CPU is upgradable too, but I might be wrong). Why do people like old Mac Pro design? Because you can easily upgrade almost everything .

Oh, by the way, old Mac Mini is upgradable from CPU to RAM to hard disk and it is cheap.

Based on the "anecdotal" evidence that can be watched in the videos I posted to this thread, and we consider the different flavored and definitions of quality, as well as the concepts behind Steve Jobs understanding of it, as he was influenced by Dr Juran, it becomes pretty clear that none of those elements are continue to be fully present in the Mac product line as they used to be a few years or models ago.
Apple Quality is deteriorating. And sadly it seems that the key leader influence is no longer there.

 

[till213]

Except for when things fail (e.g. SSDs fail) you've now got to replace the whole logic board. When anything fails you've pretty much got to replace the whole thing. ..
And yes, I will be flamed for saying this...

Au contraire! This a 1000 times! Couldn't be said better!

 

[SaxnFlutman]

It's not an abomination, and I'm so glad you don't work for Apple.
It's been so long since I've had to read or write a CD/DVD, but that's why I have the external Superdrive. It makes a lot of sense to make it a user-connectable option for those who need one instead of a standard part of a Mac.

It's not sad at all. Soldered components make them more reliable, reducing the need for maintenance. They're also much more recyclable these days. Buy the RAM you want up front. There are plenty of companies who buy used Macs, the money for which can go towards a new one. This penchant for upgradeability is so '80s/'90s. Come on up to this century.

So, because it's been so long since you've read or written a CD/DVD, and since you obviously feel everyone can afford to buy a fully loaded iMac up front, let's just do away with the drive & the ability to upgrade... Well, I just burned a CD two days ago, and enjoy the ability to load the many video performances I have on DVD, into my iMac, as well as previous applications, other recordings, pictures, etc. Why should everybody have to go out and buy an external drive, when it's not like having one built in would make it too thick, or too heavy, or too anything, other than useful? And why be forced to pay Apple prices to upgrade RAM, forcing us to both pay a lot more, and have to do it at the time of purchasing the machine? I've got 6x the RAM on mine, from when I first bought it, and saved hundreds of dollars from doing so when new. Does Apple really have to squeeze every bit of profit they can from their customers?

Same with me. I do exactly the same thing for many people. A lot of people have a computer support person who does similar things for them.

Also, there are plenty of people who may be advised to add more RAM, since they didn't realize they needed more to do what they use their Mac to do. And they will now be stuck where they are, unable to upgrade. And I've been installing my own RAM for 20 years, am definitely no geek or power user, but did so, because it just isn't that difficult. If I were stuck with the 2 or 4 Gigs of RAM that came with my 21.5-inch iMac in 2010, I'd be in a mess of woe right now, like walking in quicksand. As new software & OS require more & more RAM, for Apple to make it impossible to upgrade is them following the automakers strategy of "planned obsolescence", and for a "forward-thinking", high-tech company, that's abominable & reeks of greed...

 

[Max(IT)]

No, I'm just saying perhaps you could chill a bit and just let people give their opinions without jumping down their throats every single time. These are OPINIONS. Give your own, fine. But when one argues about every little point people say, they're going to argue back and pretty soon one finds themselves wasting an hour every morning/afternoon/evening (depending on their schedule) engaging in these pointless back and forths about nothing. Neither you nor I can change Apple's decisions beyond sending them feedback or not buying their products. Some of us just want to vent our frustrations in what we see as very bad decisions Apple is making when we read these release threads or breakdown threads or whatever.

I don't reply to people who say "I LIKE the new iMac!" Great. They like it. But if I say, "I don't like the new iMac because they made the SSD smaller in what I think is purely to make more profit" or "Why are they including ancient 5400 RPM drives by default in some of these configurations that cost nearly over even over $2k" (a LOT of a computer these days) and I get in return a diatribe complaining about every single word I wrote being "incorrect" or "inaccurate" or "how do you know a 24GB Fusion drive performs worse than a 128GB one or whatever), what do you think I'm going to do? Sit there and ignore your comment? I probably should. It would save me time. But you've attacked my premise and reasons for not liking it rather than simply disagreeing. So I defend my comments and the next thing I know I'm writing these ridiculously long diatribes right back. But I see in this particular thread I'm not alone in this. I see other people having the same arguments and getting nowhere. I see a pattern emerging. I also see I'm wasting my time.

Actually this post is the main reason of my intervention here.
Every one is entitled to have an opinion, and it is interesting to debate and see things under different point of view.
But lately in every thread haters storm in with the usual adagio "Apple is evil... Tim Cook is greedy... Apple is doomed" and so on...

I'd like discussion like "how a 24 Gb SSD Fusion perform comparing with the previous 128 Gb ? Did Apple make a bad moves or was it correctly evaluated ?".
But I rarely see this kind of post here...
Screaming and crying at Apple seem to be the only thing to do to collect likes, otherwise you are dismissed as a blind fanboy.
This thread and all the others about iMac are a good example: I basically said I don't like the new 21.5" 4K iMac, but the simple fact I did that in a "polite" manner, without bashing Apple, classified me as a defender of Apple's choices about the iMac, even if I said I'm not approving several !

You'd think Mac Pro is more upgradable, but no. No one need trash can size Mac Pro. The only thing you can swap easily is RAM module (I think CPU is upgradable too, but I might be wrong). Why do people like old Mac Pro design? Because you can easily upgrade almost everything .

Oh, by the way, old Mac Mini is upgradable from CPU to RAM to hard disk and it is cheap.

I perfectly know what a Mac Pro is and how much upgradable it is.
Old Mac Pro and Mini are discontinued products. Apple choose to make things differently now.
Like it or not.

 

[McGiord]

does anyone know what are the specs of the Fusion Drive HDD side?

 

[Razeus]

Apple is getting greedy. Plain and simply. There was no reason to put a 24GB SSD as a "fusion drive". None.

They are forcing upgrades. Plain and simply. The base model iMac is completely inferior.

 

[McGiord]

Apple is getting greedy. Plain and simply. There was no reason to put a 24GB SSD as a "fusion drive". None.

They are forcing upgrades. Plain and simply. The base model iMac is completely inferior.

it's a teasing model, just to surf the web, check pictures watch some YouTube, and when needed to do serious demanding tasks the user will feel the pain to come back to the store and be convinced by the genius to make an upgrade, it will be very interesting how future OS X releases will handle these low end models. Maybe then they will have enough of the new naive customers already hooked therefore they release the leasing model for the Macs and everyone that loves to pay every month for their smartphones/ computers will be happy then.

 

[Lolito]

my next apple machine will be a hackintosh, or a second hand mac and I will never buy from apple retail again in 3, 2, 1... KABOOOMMM!!!!

 

[oldmacs]

But lately in every thread haters storm in with the usual adagio "Apple is evil... Tim Cook is greedy... Apple is doomed" and so on...

Oh get over it. We are not 'Haters'. Almost every single one of us has said that we love Apple but we are not a fan of their decisions, and we gave fairly good justification of it. You've given literally no real arguments against it besides saying that its what Apple has done so get over it, and the joke of an argument that we're all haters. Apple haters don't have a collection of 60 vintage Macs like I do, and they don't use Apple products. Its like with politics, you can like a political party but be angry about some of their policy choice.

This thread and all the others about iMac are a good example: I basically said I don't like the new 21.5" 4K iMac, but the simple fact I did that in a "polite" manner, without bashing Apple, classified me as a defender of Apple's choices about the iMac, even if I said I'm not approving several !

No, you got classed as a defender of Apple's choices because you justified choices that have little to no tangible benefits to anyone, besides Apple without any sort of justification.

 

[LovingTeddy]

Based on the "anecdotal" evidence that can be watched in the videos I posted to this thread, and we consider the different flavored and definitions of quality, as well as the concepts behind Steve Jobs understanding of it, as he was influenced by Dr Juran, it becomes pretty clear that none of those elements are continue to be fully present in the Mac product line as they used to be a few years or models ago.
Apple Quality is deteriorating. And sadly it seems that the key leader influence is no longer there.

Speaking about quality. I brought the iPad mini 4, it came with dead back camera and I brought iPod Touch today, it came with bad home bottom. I understand that there always will some defects, but two devices in a row with quality issue is unacceptable.

 

[trifid]

This is a good watch, confirms Apple's latest practices are aimed at planned obsolescense and not any specific end-user benefit:

 

[Max(IT)]

Apple is getting greedy. Plain and simply. There was no reason to put a 24GB SSD as a "fusion drive". None.

They are forcing upgrades. Plain and simply. The base model iMac is completely inferior.

Inferior to what ?
The only benchmark I read showed an increase in performance comparing the old and the new base model iMac, even if now it sports a 4K display.
Do you have any link to share, showing a performance impact of the new 24 Gb fusion drive compared to the old model ?

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Actually this post is the main reason of my intervention here.
Every one is entitled to have an opinion, and it is interesting to debate and see things under different point of view.
But lately in every thread haters storm in with the usual adagio "Apple is evil... Tim Cook is greedy... Apple is doomed" and so on...

There is the problem, exactly. It's called a reality distortion field and it's caused by people having an extreme point of view difference. You see so-called haters "storming in" to ruin your thread while I see people with legitimate complaints expressing their disappointment with Apple's latest products for very logical reasons. Just using the word "haters" springs forth 'skater boi' talk and irrational thinking. The world is supposed to be all sunshine and 1960s love fests not people upset that a greedy corporation is raking their consumer base over the coals. "Why worry about details? Just spend the extra money they want and enjoy!" shouts the flower children while the "haters" are thinking, "These people are nuts!" Yeah, I think that about sums up the inability for communication here, but I still maintain it's not flower children, but Apple fanatics and not haters but ordinary people that are disappointed with yet another sub-standard Apple product release.

I'd like discussion like "how a 24 Gb SSD Fusion perform comparing with the previous 128 Gb ? Did Apple make a bad moves or was it correctly evaluated ?".

I gave a nice tractor/gas analogy elsewhere. Or you can go with you my new story that uses the Smurfs to aid in understanding why the 24GB Fusion Drive is inferior to the 128GB version or a real SSD:

It takes 42 typical grocery store sized "Apples" (ha, see what I did there?) to make a gallon of Apple cider. So along comes Brainy Smurf and he claims he's invented a way to make a gallon of Apple cider using only 8 Apples (less than 1/5!) the number of Apple by using his new Hybrid Fusion Barrel. At first, all the smurfs were amazed! They saw a gallon of cider come out of the barrel! But when they tasted the cider, they realized something was wrong! It tasted very very weak! Papa Smurf soon discovered the Hybrid Fusion was "fusing" water to the mixture to make up for the loss of 54 Apples. Thus, the Apple Cider was now far closer to being Apple Kool-Aid than Cider. The smurfs then threw Brainy Smurf out of town and he landed on his head and broke his glasses!

The End

 

[maflynn]

Every one is entitled to have an opinion
...
but lately in every thread haters storm in with the usual adagio "Apple is evil... Tim Cook is greedy... Apple is doomed" and so on...

So only opinions that fit within your defined parameters are allowed? I mean if we think Apple is greedy by cutting the corners, we're haters, whining or drama queens (your words not mine) How can you have a debate when you belittle the other person's position?

While you may not agree, I am not an apple hater, I have iPhones, Macs, iPads, iPods, and an Apple watch. I consider myself an apple fan but I do not blindly follow them. When I see a move that I think negatively detracts from their product I'll give my opinion. There's a lot I like about the iMac, but its hard to justify purchasing a 4k iMac for what amounts to almost 2k when Apple cut the corners so much on the components being used.

 

[MacOG728893]

I am not running boot camp right now but may go back to it. I did run windows 10 for a while and it was eye opening. I had to move yosemite to an ssd to get it to even run properly, runs MUCH better. I ran windows 10 on the stock spinner and it was faster on it than yosemite on an ssd in all ways. I do like osx, but I do not see me staying here in a couple of years when it's time for something new unless something changes. But by then mac's will probably be completely disposable and prices will have doubled.

Exactly my thoughts. That's why things are shaking right now. I haven't had a custom PC since high school, but they way things are going, it becomes more and more of a possibility.

 

[Toltepeceno]

Exactly my thoughts. That's why things are shaking right now. I haven't had a custom PC since high school, but they way things are going, it becomes more and more of a possibility.

I have built a lot and all of my windows desktops have been my builds. It will be a couple of years probably, but I just told the wife this morning my next one would be a build. As much as I like the osx ui I am not going down the disposable computer rabbit hole.

 

[Toltepeceno]

So only opinions that fit within your defined parameters are allowed? I mean if we think Apple is greedy by cutting the corners, we're haters, whining or drama queens (your words not mine) How can you have a debate when you belittle the other person's position?

While you may not agree, I am not an apple hater, I have iPhones, Macs, iPads, iPods, and an Apple watch. I consider myself an apple fan but I do not blindly follow them. When I see a move that I think negatively detracts from their product I'll give my opinion. There's a lot I like about the iMac, but its hard to justify purchasing a 4k iMac for what amounts to almost 2k when Apple cut the corners so much on the components being used.

It's like that on most threads. You have people that think apple has adopted them and get upset about anything disparaging apple. I do not remember seeing any rules that state only praise of everything apple says is accepted. I really do not get this mindset, anyone that just blindly accepts anything must have a really boring life.

Speaking about quality. I brought the iPad mini 4, it came with dead back camera and I brought iPod Touch today, it came with bad home bottom. I understand that there always will some defects, but two devices in a row with quality issue is unacceptable.

I had an iphone that died after 10 months and they replaced it under warranty. The one I got now is biting the dust with reception, goes out constantly. It's mechanical as i have done fresh installs, changed sims to another carrier. The iphones, mini and my wifes, have always been weaker than the kids androids but mine is unusable. Two in a row. Apple is not what they used to be on quality control a.t all.

No more warranty, I have an android coming. We had 3 sgs2's that lasted 4 years (I believe since they came out) and were given away after the kids got moto g's. People love to say to get apple care but adding another 100.00 to the price would take a 64gb plus to over 900 dollars in the us and probably another couple hundred here. The quality is not there, I don't plan on giving up my ipad or mac right now but with the direction they are going mac has a dim future with me.

I do like apple, but tim cook is taking them down the road to disposable computers designed to make his bonuses even bigger. Will see what happens in the future.

"DanielSw said: ↑
It's not sad at all. Soldered components make them more reliable, reducing the need for maintenance. They're also much more recyclable these days. Buy the RAM you want up front. There are plenty of companies who buy used Macs, the money for which can go towards a new one."

This has to be the most ridiculous post on the thread. I started building computers with dos and I have NEVER seen memory connections unreliable, never. How about coming up with proof and not just a blind comment based on....nothing?

 

[MH01]

Some good debates on this thread. I don't see any haters, most of the people with concerns are old school apple fans, as can be seen by thier profiles and long posting history.

Of the people with 68000 + profiles on MR, in my opinion it's the apple defenders that cause the most arguments. Any negative post is like a moth to a flame. It's nice to share opinions and issues without being attacked as a hater. Really feel sorry for the people who just sign up. I don't see people who post "I love my new iMac" getting attacked personally.

I'm going to upgrade all the components in my 2009 iMac. It's just a better machine in my opinion. The loss of target mode is a major issue for me, and I'm going to see how it runs with a fast SSD update, might also replace the SuperDrive with another SSD. It's great how the 2009 iMac can run with 2X 1TB SSD drives and also act as an external monitor for macs/PCs. That is what I loved about the older machines. And it's easy to open up and work on.

 

[maflynn]

I'm going to upgrade all the components in my 2009 iMac. It's just a better machine in my opinion.

Given that my monitor is getting old and my laptop needs replacement, I can't extend the life of my equipment. I'll need to decide what to do in 2016

 

[MH01]

Given that my monitor is getting old and my laptop needs replacement, I can't extend the life of my equipment. I'll need to decide what to do in 2016

Given with what is happening, I've been looking into hackintosh more and more.

My next PC replacement might be based on parts that are hackintosh friendly.

Edit : Mike, looks like it's an option for laptops too , something maybe worth researching next year if things don't change.

http://blazinglist.com/top-10-best-laptops-hackintosh-2015/

 

[maflynn]

Edit : Mike, looks like it's an option for laptops too , something maybe worth researching next year if things don't change.

http://blazinglist.com/top-10-best-laptops-hackintosh-2015/

Nice link, thanks. I'm checking it out now