iMac Joins Mac Pro in Running Low for In-Store Reservations

[ma2ha3]

hail to the arrival of the new king of cable - USB3.

for those who keep sticking the losing side - call firewire

your system are obselete.

I welcome apple recognisation that firewire is dead as dodo, and pushing usb. i hope they recognise that blu ray is the winner too.

 

[mlblacy]

blu-ray... who needs it

Here's hoping for blu-ray drives becoming standard, and the iMacs having HDMI input to use that monitor for other purposes.

I can't believe a computer over $1000 doesn't even have a blu-ray drive. Pathetic.

Me either, can't imagine buying a $1000 computer that doesn't have a $300 drive in it.. kidding. Do people really watch DVDs in their computer still?
Hard to get hyped up over yet another proprietary disk format, and I have seen a lot... syquest, zip, jaz, opticals, etc. etc.

At lot of us have moved away from the Pro towers to the larger, well-equipped iMacs. Blu-Ray doesn't mean too much to us in terms of productivity. Screen real estate & resolution on the other hand does wonders. I have my bets/hopes/wishes for a 30" iMac, and have money in hand if it comes out. Will get the top 27" if it doesn't happen though. Expandability is overrated anyway. My pro towers always lasted as long as my iMacs, usually around 4 years, which is when the architecture started showing signs of age.

I would much rather have a larger screen, more ram, bigger HD, at a lower cost than a blu-ray disk drive. If I was that interested I could always buy an external one (just like how I add all the other "missing" peripherals in my set up). Nice surprises would be a high res screen, ala the Retina displays, and LOTS of ports... USB, Firewire, eSata (meaning more than we have now).

cheers,
michael

 

[iZac]

Yes, and as I specified, the 27" iMac is already very close to that "magical" PPI that is dubbed "retina display". There's been threads about this and the math has been posted before.

Don't get me wrong, but people asking for 300 PPI+ 27" monitors don't really understand what was meant by the marketing term.

If the term "retina display" can be used for a 300 PPI device at 12" away, would the same apply to a machine with 150 PPI at 24" away? (and that's pretty close to be sitting in front of a 27" monitor!) My poor Googling skills brought up conflicting reports of the iMacs PPI, and its not noted on Apples site.

I can imagine Steves patronising "and it turns out ... we already had retina displays on our iMacs!" *crowd applauds*

 

[kazmac]

that sounds right

The Pro is likely to be a major update. If not a lot of people will be rightfully upset. The iMac is a much more difficult guess.

Due to the lack of hardware for a significant update i'm think a more modest update than what will be seen on the Pro. However there are big questions to be had here, both AMD and Intel have been very quiet about new product releases. I would not be surprised to see Apple team up with either company to promote exclusive availability of xyz chip on a Mac platform. If not exclusive simply being involve in a new Apple hardware introduction is a marketing windfall.


The good thing here is that we are likely talking only weeks before the big intro. So hang tight.


Dave

This makes sense (the Pro is in need of a bigger update). I will be happy to see both of these and the Macbook Air get good upgrades. My fantasy is to see that xMac (the "mini" tower Mac Pro) debut sometime in the next year or so as an additional option for those of us who want expandibility/longevity but don't quite need the warhorse workstation of a traditional Pro.

And for all of the design flaws/problems of the latest iMac to be a distant memory.

 

[KnightWRX]

If the term "retina display" can be used for a 300 PPI device at 12" away, would the same apply to a machine with 150 PPI at 24" away? (and that's pretty close to be sitting in front of a 27" monitor!) My poor Googling skills brought up conflicting reports of the iMacs PPI, and its not noted on Apples site.

I can imagine Steves patronising "and it turns out ... we already had retina displays on our iMacs!" *crowd applauds*

Best post on the subject I could find :

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10505516/

 

[Patrick23]

hi

I'm also waiting for the new imac - and read tomorrow - so "tuesday" several times already - do you guys expect apple to anounce the upgrades tomorrow?

 

[iZac]

Best post on the subject I could find :

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10505516/

oh, excellent post and a great find!

 

[iMacmatician]

However according to macosrumors.com (for what they are worth) pegged the Mac Pro to see a major design change, and a March release, so take it how you'd like.

MacOSRumors hasn't been reliable at all for a number of years.

 

[entatlrg]

August 10th should be the day for hardware along with the introduction of the new iLife?

 

[Bryan Bowler]

My iMac early 2008 (April) keeps dying on me. First its HD would not work at all, so i installed a new one and it worked fine for a month or two. Today, I guess last night, it died AGAIN. I am not sure what's happening... I thought it was because I had Windows installed on a partition.... but that didn't happen the second time when I had the new HD installed..... I am not sure what to do... Is it over-heating? that kills it because I noticed the top left corner the aluminium part it was extra hot and not fans were running at the time, I mean I am sure they were, but not at max speed........... soooo I should I wait a few weeks and see if the iMac comes out or not? or should I try to send it in to some repair shop? I don't have apple care for it either....

The first thing you should do is learn how to properly communicate on an Internet forum. Your post has absolutely nothing to do with the next iMac update.

Bryan

 

[burconsult]

Same iMac G5 story

My 5 year old G5 iMac is really showing it's age(it won't play HD video at all and can't run the latest version of Mac OSX!)...and I desperately need a new one, but I too am waiting until the iMacs are updated. Although my G5 iMac has served me well, I remember getting it in August of 2005 and the new Intel based iMacs came out in September of 2005 just a month later. I want to make sure this time I time my purchase for right AFTER the new ones come out.

I don't think this upgrade will be as major as the switch from the power pc to Intel was....but none the less, I'd rather wait.

Mainly I am just hoping the 21" gets a Quad core option. I do alot of video editing and animation, so this is important to me. I know I could get the 27" Quad core now...but I prefer the smaller 21".

The rumor of HDMI would be cool, as would USB 3.0....but the rumor of a touch screen iMac seems silly to me. I just don't see the point of that. But hey...whatever Apple does, will be cool.

Could tomorrow be the day? I LOVE Tuesdays!

That's exactly my story The G5's still usable for a lot of things while I use a PC as well for more demanding tasks. But I started doing video editing lately and it's painful to do it on the G5 while the PC is really annoying for taking all that space and making all that noise (not to mention the joys of Vista).
So a 27" new iMac will all the options I can get is what will replace all this as soon as releases the updates.

 

[toddybody]

Please please please...let me get what i want

Major GPU Upgrade: HD 5870 or GTX 480 (mobile version of course)
Slightly higher clocked i7, i5 for all base models!
USB 3.0...FW isnt dead, just dying

I cant imagine a res bump happening...currently at 108 dpi for 27in, it would take a massive amount of pixels at that size to boost the dpi to even 160ish (3840x2400). Would be nice though Oh...and um, there is definitely going to be a Blu Ray drive on it. Um, yeah...trust me. LMFAO

 

[-hh]

YA G5 PPC'er still in "Wait" mode...

The Pro is likely to be a major update. If not a lot of people will be rightfully upset. The iMac is a much more difficult guess.

Due to the lack of hardware for a significant update i'm think a more modest update than what will be seen on the Pro. However there are big questions to be had here, both AMD and Intel have been very quiet about new product releases. I would not be surprised to see Apple team up with either company to promote exclusive availability of xyz chip on a Mac platform. If not exclusive simply being involve in a new Apple hardware introduction is a marketing windfall.

There's more to updates than just the CPU. I could envision the Mac Pro getting a heavy hitting GPU so as to be able to showcase the potential of Grand Central.

..of course, this pretty much presumes that Adobe CS 5.1 existed to exploit it in such a showcase ...

The good thing here is that we are likely talking only weeks before the big intro. So hang tight.

Unfortunately, been waiting on "weeks" for ... let see: 510 days minus 236 equals 274 days above the average = 39 weeks after the average update delay.

No real benefit for SSD to appear on a consumer desktop AIO. Laptops and servers maybe, desktops other than heat, noise, power consumption it would add too much of a cost for the inclusion. A BTO maybe, however I do not see it as a popular option, only bragging rights for those who really care.

YMMV. Particularly from the perspective of what the enthusiasts have already been doing, I could very well see a nice performance bump to occur by simply moving OS X's boot partition off of its conventional HDD and onto a small SSD. Realistically, it wouldn't have to be all that big (just fast), which would keep costs managble...and FWIW, I'd roll it out in both the Mac Pro as well as the iMac. Combined with some GPU horsepower for Grand Central, this could really shift the game.

That's exactly my story The G5's still usable for a lot of things while I use a PC as well for more demanding tasks. But I started doing video editing lately and it's painful to do it on the G5...

I've moved up to 1080p video on my photography, which is why a Mac Pro has been on my "To Do" list to replace my venerable G5 PowerMac for several months now.

However, its hard to justify dropping that much change on a hobby machine when its still stuck with Firewire800, particularly since Symwave’s FirePHY-1600 chip samples have been available since 2008 (2+ years) and at an estimated chip cost of under $5/unit, and with probably a similar story for FW3200. I don't really feel all that enthralled to buy a home machine that is likely to be obsolete overnight ... and its not that I don't know what a Mac Pro can do (I have one at work).



-hh

 

[jrcsh6]

I for one really hope it's a redesign. I always looked forward to Apple's amazing iMac designs for the first generations, first the colourful bubble then the "lamp" then the sleek G5...but that's where it stopped. Since the G5 all we've gotten is different case material, slightly thinner, and the screen border extending all the way to the edge. What happened!? I want another creative design

i want the "lamp" back. it's still one of the coolest computer designs EVER. that and a blu ray drive....i'd settle for just a blu ray drive though!

 

[JakeRev]

Reserve and Local Store Pickup

Hi. Everyone.

I really want to ask that is it possible to reserve Macbook Pro with custom configured and Pick it up at Local apple store? and can I purchase with education discount?

The article shows I can do it, but I can't find the way in apple website.

Please help.

 

[mr.steevo]

hail to the arrival of the new king of cable - USB3.

for those who keep sticking the losing side - call firewire

your system are obselete.

I welcome apple recognisation that firewire is dead as dodo, and pushing usb. i hope they recognise that blu ray is the winner too.

Hi,

I believe that Light Peak has both USB and FireWire beat in terms of speed. Should be out next year.

s.

 

[Vidd]

I'm starting to think I should wait for USB 3.0 or lightpeak before I update. I'm being suckered into the waiting game again.

 

[jmpage2]

The iMac got a complete redesign just nine months ago so it's kind of difficult believe Apple is going to give us too much this go round.

Better CPUs and GPUs being standard is the most likely thing along with a bump in some things like possible USB 3.

Matte screen option? Maybe, but I doubt it. It took near war to get it on the MBP.

BD? Ha ha ha ha ha! Steve hates Blu-ray even though his buddies over at Disney are selling millions of them. It's a 'niche' format like SACD.. at least if you listen to Steve.

"we want to make our customers happy, unless our customers want something that interferes with our plans for media delivery dominance, then our customers can go to hell".

 

[twoodcc]

i would like to see updates to all, but especially the mac pro

 

[Bubba Satori]

I wonder how many other MacPro customers Apple lost because they took too long.

Probably the same amount of customers who wouldn't buy three year old ACDs
at three year old prices and switched to NEC, Dell and HP for their monitors.
I would imagine it's at least several hundred thousand.

 

[ma2ha3]

Hi,

I believe that Light Peak has both USB and FireWire beat in terms of speed. Should be out next year.

s.

actually firewire is faster than usb2. in theory usb2 is faster, but in real time testing it is slower. but when i go out to the store and try to look for something with firewire vs usb2. usb2 just out number firewire many times over. light peak will be faster than usb3, but will it be as sucessful as usb3? i think not.

 

[tflournoy95]

umm what good does that do you? i thought you have to pay by credit card at the Apple Store... or did they lift that policy after the whole paying with cash to buy an iPad debacle?

if you cant pay in cash at the apple store well thats just dumb. but there is that tiny little franchise called bestbuy

 

[Crunch]

Yes, and as I specified, the 27" iMac is already very close to that "magical" PPI that is dubbed "retina display". There's been threads about this and the math has been posted before.

Don't get me wrong, but people asking for 300 PPI+ 27" monitors don't really understand what was meant by the marketing term.

Alright, that's true. lol...Well, the iPad has a beautiful IPS screen as well, but it pales in comparison to the iPhone 4 with its XGA display at a "meager" 132ppi?

How much higher is the dpi of the 27" iMac with its 2560x1440 display compared to the 21.5" 1920x1080? I bought the smaller size one because I thought that 27" would be way too big on my desk. Well, I don't think that anymore.

How far do you guys sit away from the screen? At what distance is the 27" considered too big? I realize that these are subjective views but isn't there some rule of thumb?

 

[MartiNZ]

i want the "lamp" back. it's still one of the coolest computer designs EVER. that and a blu ray drive....i'd settle for just a blu ray drive though!

Agreed with the lamp design, just gorgeous. Even to the extent that when they brought out the 20" one, the base had to be made heavier so as to support the weight of the display - pretty amusing, but well worth it IMO .

 

[Crunch]

Agreed with the lamp design, just gorgeous. Even to the extent that when they brought out the 20" one, the base had to be made heavier so as to support the weight of the display - pretty amusing, but well worth it IMO .

The lamp...? You mean the roundish bottom with a post holding the display?

I'd prefer being able to not get an optical drive at all and adding a 2nd hard drive or SSD and possibly RAID two drives. I know it won't happen so I'll have to take it to an Apple dealer to fix it up for me again.