There are bad times to buy an iMac. I didn't get the 2015 iteration of the iMac because it was missing (in my opinion) key video decode and DRM support.
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iMac 27 2017 or Wait ?
- Thread starter xzebra
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Do you think it's a spec updated or redesign as well? At some point Apple is going to release a more modern version. Who knows when....
Everything's up in the air with the next iMac model to be honest, it could be many different things. Since there are no interesting rumours yet, I think either the next model is another small upgrade, or that the upgrade is still a while away (2018 Autumn at the earliest).
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I'm personally guessing the innards are going to be very similar, cuz overall, not that much has changed. The form factor of the chip is basically the same, and the TDPs are in the same ballpark. Really, the main thing that's changed is just the chipset, which needed an update, but the motherboard could probably almost be the same too otherwise. But then again, from a marketing perspective 6-core is a good time to adjust the form factor, so maybe they will. Unfortunately, my crystal ball didn't comment on that.
BTW, I'm probably biased because I just did an in-place upgrade for my ancient 2010 PC from 3-core (Athlon II) to 6-core (Phenom II), more than doubling the performance (Cinebench R15 went from 193 to 427) without changing ANYTHING else in the machine. I chose a chip with the same TDP, and just re-used the same lowish end cooling that came with the Athlon. Works perfectly.
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I know this wasn’t aimed at me, but I find it extremely unlikely the next one will be a redesign.
Considering the iMac Pro just came out and used the same chassis as the 5K iMac (though it did changed color), Apple might be set on the design for a while longer. It’s still a beautiful machine. About all that is left is maybe a bezel shrink, but that’s not so critical for an AIO. Just my opinion, of course.
I'm no expert, but looking quickly at the release dates of the iMac models over the past few years it seems that they follow fairly closely the intel CPU releases, 3-6 months behind usually and rarely skipping a generation. Longer delays like the one between the late 2015 and the mid 2017 models correspond to a longer delay between the 6th (Skylake) and 7th (Kabby Lake) generations. Is this correct?
If so, why shouldn't we expect to see refreshed iMac in Q2-3 2018?
If so, why shouldn't we expect to see refreshed iMac in Q2-3 2018?
Mostly LR and PS, with a little video. I am guessing iMovie would be enough on the video side. Maybe something else, but mostly photo work.
Well, I just purchased a 2017 5K iMac with 256GB SSD. I'm quite happy with it so far. The nice thing in LR is that I don't need to zoom hardly at all anymore while editing 20MP RAW files. There are still a few "Loading..." screens going between RAW files, but I'm still on 8GB of RAM at this time. How seriously do you use LR? If you make a living using it, I'd wait either spec the i7 iMac, consider the iMac Pro, or wait for what Apple may bring in 2018.
[doublepost=1519433536][/doublepost]Does anyone know how the speed of the top end '17 iMac with i5s compare with a iMac 15,1 with an i7?
Well, as mentioned, I'm predicting Q3 2018, partially for the reason you cite.
Yes I bought the current iteration as soon as it was released. However, I desperately wanted to wait for the 2018 6-core models, because I thought for budget year reasons I wouldn't be able to buy in 2018. It turns out that was wrong, and I could have bought in 2018 no problem. The good news is that in reality for me (and probably the OP), the performance of the 2017 models is fine. However, with the OP, if he can wait 6 months, he'll be essentially getting a 30% performance boost at the same price, most likely... if my crystal ball is right.
I actually originally bought the 2017 i7-7700K, but ended up disliking it because of the fan noise under load. So I returned it and bought the 7600 (non-K).
For the OP, I'd probably recommend getting the 7600K or something like that if buying now, or else just wait and get the 8400. I wouldn't even consider the i7-8700K unless he did some hardcore video editing or something or perhaps was a pro photo editor where every last ounce of performance counts.
BTW, the only issue with waiting... besides the wait... is the fact that Lightroom and Photoshop aren't actually well optimized for multi-core. OTOH, for video encoding, those 6-core machines are beasts performance-wise.
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Cinebench of i7-4790K is 900. <-- 2014 iMac Core i7
Cinebench of i5-7600K is 660. <-- 2017 iMac Core i5
In other words the 2014 i7 is over 1/3rd faster than the 2017 top end i5.
OTOH:
Cinebench of i7-8700K is 1425.
Cinebench of i5-8600K is 1040.
Cinebench of i5-8400 is 870.
If I were to buy in 2018, I'd probably get the i5-8400. That's roughly the same speed as a 2014 i7, but with a much lower power chip. Or maybe something like an i5-8600 (non-K), if they release one.
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I've actually seen good use of cores in LR 6.14, so I imagine CC versions do as well. It doesn't load all cores to 100%, but I can see that they all get used in Develop mode. I've heard similar things with the iMPs, especially on import.
I ask this out of pure ignorance....why do people care how much power a computer consumes, especially with today's computers? It seems like it can't be more than few dollars a month difference, at MOST, to keep each running 24/7, something most people don't do anyway. Or am I mistaken about the power cost?
Here is a decent review.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...ormance-Core-i7-8700K-i5-8600K-i3-8350K-1056/
Fan noise. The 7700K ramps up to full power and high temp very, very quickly, and in the iMacs revs up the fan way too quickly for my liking.
As mentioned, I actually bought the 7700K iMac, but then returned it after a week because of fan noise. I replaced it with the much lower power 7600 (non-K), and it basically is almost always silent in my usage.
Put it this way, when encoding a test video in Handbrake, the 7700K will encode it 10 minutes, but with the fan at maximum for 9.5 minutes. In contrast, the 7600 will take 25% longer and encode it in 12.5 minutes, but with the fan near silent for about 10 minutes, and then at moderate speed for the last 2.5 minutes. In this test it never even hit maximum.
How does apply in the real world for my usage? If I'm exporting a video that usually takes a few minutes, the 7600 will be (near) silent, but the 7700K will be at max fan for a couple of minutes. It's annoying.
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No you're right, the difference is negligible. OTOH, a computer that consumes more power generates more heat which can result in throttling and can make the fans run faster more often which makes the computer noisier. Some people need a silent computer for the work they do, others find it simply annoying when they hear loud fans.
I'd be surprised if they to touchscreen on MacOS. I could see them allowing for some iOS apps eventually, but touch is overrated on the desktop.
I don't think Surface Studio has been all that successful either. It's been over a year (October 2016) without a refresh. The screen is amazing, but MS poorly spec'd the base by going with laptop CPUs, mobile GPUs from 2014, and no full SSD option. Even today you can't get SSD-only storage! Due to the lack of any positive news about sales, I'm guessing SS is not doing well, and it will be yet another half-baked MS product that withers and disappears. MS has a track record on these things, though maybe they'll surprise us all and announce SS2 and put some real guts in it, but it will have a hard time matching the iMP on power-to-value. The display on SS is just too expensive for MS to compete.
It sounds like you can wait, I was in a similar position when I bought my very first iMac, I waited 12 months and I was glad I did if you can manage with your existing machine it's best to wait imo.
I wouldn't be surprised if the 2018 iMacs utilize the improved cooling design of the iMac Pro, combined with whatever Intel CPUs are available by late spring. Probably the same rear panel design, as well.
But aside from that, probably not much in the way of "change".
Nothing wrong with that, as the current design is sleek and stylish.
OP:
IF you can "hold out" with what you've got now until, say, late July or August, the new iMacs may prove worth the wait.
If you "need now" -- BUY now.
But aside from that, probably not much in the way of "change".
Nothing wrong with that, as the current design is sleek and stylish.
OP:
IF you can "hold out" with what you've got now until, say, late July or August, the new iMacs may prove worth the wait.
If you "need now" -- BUY now.
Eh, I've been buying Macs for a decade and with Apple you can never be sure.
The only thing we know for sure is that the current 5K iMacs are awesome.
Of course, if Apple does decide to go with the same cooling system that’s in the iMac Pro in the next iMac then they will probably be forced to do away with the RAM “door” which means if you want more than the standard amount of RAM upgrading it later yourself would be difficult and most people would have tp pay Apple’s ridiculous prices for RAM.
I've never understood those types of insane markup prices. Sure Apple wants to make a ton of money but I think they are often going overboard nowadays and losing that cutting edge technology spirit that Steve Jobs did put forward and you get that sense of "well you can ONLY have that for this much". A company that size should take some pride in selling powerful equipment for a certain amount of money. The whole APP store relies on shifting these machines to developers. Reviewers such as unbox theory rightfully point out that a phone like the iPhone SE is ... "boring" in this day.
If I were in control of Apple all the iMacs would be SSD by now and starting at 16GB RAM. and keep the RAM price upgrades minimal. The rest could stay as is with the iMac lineup.
I feel the option saturation is making the Apple landscape seem very fragmented and unclear for consumers where to go. Too many iPhones for sale at the same time.
Why not just iPhones with 128GB storage instead of this markup money making malarky. Why lose the headphone connector? Why iPhones not simply with USB-C now? Still lightning and no normal USB connector on the macbook pros. Mac Pros from 2013 with dodgy unreliable graphic cards still for sale after 5 years. Ugh. Madness. And still no update for Mac Mini.
Bizarre decisions.
Sorry for the rant...
RAM prices are ridiculous right now anyway. I’m looking at $85-95 for 2x4GB of DDR4. Reminds me of the days when we were buying 1-2MB sticks for highway robbery prices.