iMac 2012: screen quality and apple logo a sticker?

[iLLucionist]

Hi All,

I just went to the Apple Store the other day to have a look at the new 2012 iMac 21.5". Two things I've noticed:

1. The Apple Logo's (backside and frontside) extrude a bit, suggesting that it may be stickers put on the casing. The Apple logo on the ACD and the old iMac lie a bit beneath the surface of the casing, suggesting that it is moulded in.

2. The display looks way worse than the old iMac display IMHO. It looks like it has a lower DPI than the old iMac, the uMBP, and the rMBP. It looks more like the normal resolution classic MBP. It looks nowhere as crisp as the rMBP. The glare is indeed way less than on the old Imac.

What are your ideas? If the Apple logo's are indeed stickers, it looks a bit cheap. And the display quality is a deal breaker for me, I need a good display because I spend hours and hours in front of the display because I design and develop. I know a retina screen would not make sense, but this screen comes nowhere close to the screen of the rMBP imho.

 

[obsoletepower]

Hi All,

I just went to the Apple Store the other day to have a look at the new 2012 iMac 21.5". Two things I've noticed:

1. The Apple Logo's (backside and frontside) extrude a bit, suggesting that it may be stickers put on the casing. The Apple logo on the ACD and the old iMac lie a bit beneath the surface of the casing, suggesting that it is moulded in.

2. The display looks way worse than the old iMac display IMHO. It looks like it has a lower DPI than the old iMac, the uMBP, and the rMBP. It looks more like the normal resolution classic MBP. It looks nowhere as crisp as the rMBP. The glare is indeed way less than on the old Imac.

What are your ideas? If the Apple logo's are indeed stickers, it looks a bit cheap. And the display quality is a deal breaker for me, I need a good display because I spend hours and hours in front of the display because I design and develop. I know a retina screen would not make sense, but this screen comes nowhere close to the screen of the rMBP imho.

If you are comparing it to a rMBP then for sure it won't look as crisp. Not only is the screen quite a bit larger than on the rMBP but in the 13"/15" rMBPs the DPI is higher than the 21.5"/27" iMac so when you have larger screen with lower DPI, the comparison becomes unfair. I can guarantee you the screen is in no way worse than the previous gen. iMac. In fact, based on teardown reports, it seems to be the exact same one used previously.

 

[OllyW]

It's the same screen as the previous model.

We were fairly surprised to see that the new iMac's LCD sports the same model number as last year's—LM215WF3 from LG—even though the LCD is 5 mm thinner.
If it's the same, why is it smaller? We surmise that Apple took all the same pieces of the LCD and crammed them into a smaller housing.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Teardown/11936/1

 

[iLLucionist]

It's the same screen as the previous model.



http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Teardown/11936/1

Hmm, perhaps the lamination exposes the pixels more. Somehow I have the feeling that the text anti-aliasing makes it a bit grainy, but perhaps it's just me.

As for the Apple Logo, it really feels weird.

 

[jedolley]

Hmm, perhaps the lamination exposes the pixels more. Somehow I have the feeling that the text anti-aliasing makes it a bit grainy, but perhaps it's just me.

As for the Apple Logo, it really feels weird.

It can't be a lower DPI... It's the same size and same resolution. I actually had both the 2011 and 2012 iMac 21.5" sitting side by side and IMO the 2012 looks better due to the laminated screen. Also the reduced glare is a huge bonus IMO. As for the logo, it's not a sticker or anything, it part of the casing. Either way, both are just temp machines for me until my BTO 27" comes in.

 

[iLLucionist]

It can't be a lower DPI... It's the same size and same resolution. I actually had both the 2011 and 2012 iMac 21.5" sitting side by side and IMO the 2012 looks better due to the laminated screen. Also the reduced glare is a huge bonus IMO. As for the logo, it's not a sticker or anything, it part of the casing. Either way, both are just temp machines for me until my BTO 27" comes in.

How do you know that it is part of the casing?

 

[joe-h2o]

How do you know that it is part of the casing?

It can't be a sticker - the Apple logo on the back of all the iMacs since the switch to aluminium bodies acts as a window for the primary wifi antenna, so it's a plastic insert into a hole machined in the aluminium body.

If it was a sticker just applied to the metal then there would be no need to mount the wifi antenna behind it (as it still is, as evident in the teardown images) .