iMac Last Updated 602 Days Ago, Longest Span Ever Between Updates

[ksec]

The worst thing about iMac is Apple shipping a premium computer in 2019 without an SSD.

Absoute disgrace.

 

[Pitogyro]

I hope they make the courageous decision of dropping SD card slot, headphone jack, Ethernet, USB, and only provide 4 USB-C. I also hope the base model starts at 8GB of RAM, and you are asked to pay another $600 for 16GB. GOOD TIMES

 

[ROGmaster]

Considering how hot my i7-7700K runs when all four cores and eight threads are pegged, I honestly wonder if the i7-8700K would really bench much better even with six cores and twelve threads.

Apple designed the Macs around 10nm, if not 8nm, which we should have had in 2016 and 2018, respectively, per Intel's original timelines released in 2014. Of course, we won't see 10nm really until late this year and probably not in volume until 2020. And 8nm? Who knows when.

And Apple wasn't alone, frankly. Our thin Dell and Lenovo laptops run their CPUs just as hot and their fans just as hard when pushed because they also aren't designed to cool the average TDPs Intel is pushing to get what performance gains they can from 14nm.

One point I am in complete agreement with is HDD-only needs to go. I'd love to see them dump Fusion, too, so they could re-work the cooling, but then we'd probably get the iMac Pro's cooling system which means no easily-user-replaceable RAM. But Fusion should really be 128GB across the board (1TB / 2TB / 3TB) like it was at launch.

Buy a better cooler.
The 7700K is a 91W CPU.
A decent cooler will allow overclock no problem.
The 8700K in not a problem for modern desktop computers.
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An $700 pc and an iMac... you can barely get a comparable display for $700, let alone the quality of machine that is housed inside an iMac... I have a working iMac in my house that is 10 years old: where’s your 10 year old working PC brah? Different animals. Out of one’s price range isn’t necessarily overpriced.

Sure you can. For slightly above 700$ you can get dual 4K 32inch computer monitors.
Why would you assume that Windows computers can't work for 10 years or more?

 

[nihil0]

Same here. I expect mine to last until 2022 at the very minimum.

CPUs have been getting minimal improvements in performance over the past 10 years. I doubt the CPU will get old in less than 5 years.

The RAM can be user upgraded.

The GPU can be "upgraded" via eGPU and TB3 for intensive tasks.

From 2008 to 2015 I've had custom built PC with one of the first Quad Core Intels, the only thing I changed there was graphic card and later I added SSD for system stuff. And it was working great for me while using Photoshop and Cubase. So I basically agree with you. For me, the only thing I will need replacement for would be maybe SSD later instead of 2 TB Fusion drive. I would install 512 GB SSD and buy 2 TB external hard drive. But I hope this will not bother me for couple of years.

 

[ROGmaster]

That’s a good point, but it de-standardizes the whole lineup. If there are just a few models then the software can be written to ensure greater compatibility with every upgrade to OSX. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are.

I honestly don't understand what compatibility issues are you referring to. And I'm a computer enthusiast.
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I'd be keen on a 6 core hyper threaded i7 model to replace my late quad core 2014 4.0Ghz i7.
Are there any recent 8 core chips by Intel, or are 6 core chips more likely in the next upgrade?
I hit the CPU limit of my machine running Cubase and VST instruments fairly easily.

Yes the 9000 Intel series CPU's.
The 9900K is 8 cores 16 threads
The 9700k is 8 cores 8 threads.
The 9600k is 6 cores 6 threads

These CPU's were launched last year by Intel.
They don't only have more cores but also higher Boost frequencies.

 

[MacBH928]

The Mac to Apple is What renting DVDs is to Netflix. They just don't care about it any more...

its a sad state really, we live in a world when you are either forced to use computers with neglected OSs and in the case of Windows-data hoarders-or insufficient and unsupported ones like Linux.

Some tech. billion should build the next OS for computers-solid, safe, stable, and secure... This used to be Apple Computers.

 

[Abazigal]

I think that’s pretty much the new normal moving forward. People just aren’t upgrading Macs all that often, so expect refresh cycles to lengthen accordingly.

 

[ROGmaster]

I think that’s pretty much the new normal moving forward. People just aren’t upgrading Macs all that often, so expect refresh cycles to lengthen accordingly.

Well taking in consideration the increasing refresh cycles people will also react accordingly. Maybe even jump ship.
Ryzen 3000 will be launched this summer and it will beat Intel's 9000 series CPUs at a lower prices and more importantly lower power. And Apple still sells at full price computers with 7000 series Intel CPUs. That's absolutely laughable.

 

[seclusion]

2017imac running strong here.
No gripes here, Internal HD upgrade screaming fast.
USB-C HD's aren’t far behind.
32 gigs of ram.
Does Logic Pro with no lag.
Only flaw is iTunes requires the computer to be rebooted daily or songs glitch fast forward on their own

 

[inkswamp]

It's becoming easier and easier to believe that Apple is in the long process of disengaging from the desktop PC market completely. Their efforts in that area have been bordering on non-existent. It's sad because I think most people know a single Mac (i.e., get rid of the Power/Mini/iMac designations and offer one model that can be upgraded) would be a simple move that would reinvigorate the lineup. They're such a forward-thinking company but their desktop offerings are mired in an early-2000 mindset. Do we really need a simplified "i" computer to help people get on the Internet in 2018? How about the keyboard-less PC-switcher model? Nope. Consumers have gotten way more sophisticated and understand these things now. The hand-holding/platform switch models do not need to exist.

 

[curmudgeonette]

Sure you can. For slightly above 700$ you can get dual 4K 32inch computer monitors.

The key word is comparable. One reason I'm (very happily) typing this on a 2017 4K iMac is because it is almost impossible to find a nice 4K or 5K display that has between 190 ppi and 220 ppi, even ignoring the price. Otherwise I might be on a Mini or Trash Can. Your 32 inch 4K is 138 ppi - too low for retina doubling, too high for a classic non-doubled UI.

 

[Moof1904]

If Apple's CEO is all about profits, then here's a thing: in 2010 I bought a near top-of-the-range 12-core Mac Pro and a Cinema Display. I dropped a shedload of cash on it, and it's been brilliant ever since. But about three to four years in I figured it was about time for an upgrade. I would have given Apple more cash, but there was no new Mac Pro worth buying. That cost Apple several thousand dollars. Then another three or four years after that I may well have upgraded again – and maybe updated my display. Nope, no new kit. So there's another couple of thousand dollars gone begging. My Mac Pro is now nine years old and Apple STILL doesn't have a machine I want to upgrade to. I've changed phones only twice in that time, to the tune of a maybe a thousand dollars.

2019 marks the limit of my patience. Either the new Mac Pro is worth buying or I'll give my money to Strongbox – a small UK company that makes killer, multi-GPU PCs. And that will be MANY thousands of dollars Apple doesn't get. Again.

Similar to your story, I'm still driving a 2008 Mac Pro with a 30" Cinema display. I've had an itch numerous times to upgrade to a newer, better MacPro and while there have been newer ones, there haven't been better ones. As frustrated as I've been with Apple's phone-centric mentality for the past decade, I shamefully admit that I'm anxious for the promised 2019 MacPro. If Apple screws it up, though, and it's another mediocre, non-upgradeable, overpriced, piece of crap, I'll build my first Hackintosh and never look back.

 

[craigrusse11]

The worst thing about iMac is Apple shipping a premium computer in 2019 without an SSD.

Absoute disgrace.

Absolutely! They think they can get away with it because of the 5K display which is of a very high quality. But it just give the base model the impression of being an excellent monitor with a moderate computer tacked on.

 

[TallManNY]

My 2017 iMac still looks and runs like it was brand new. I am glad I paid to get the 1TB SSD. Otherwise, I might not be was happy.

2017? God I would hope it was still running great. My 2011 died last year. But I got about 7 years out of it with one GPU replacement that Apple did for me for just the cost of labor.

 

[craigrusse11]

Similar to your story, I'm still driving a 2008 Mac Pro with a 30" Cinema display. I've had an itch numerous times to upgrade to a newer, better MacPro and while there have been newer ones, there haven't been better ones. As frustrated as I've been with Apple's phone-centric mentality for the past decade, I shamefully admit that I'm anxious for the promised 2019 MacPro. If Apple screws it up, though, and it's another mediocre, non-upgradeable, overpriced, piece of crap, I'll build my first Hackintosh and never look back.

You can guarantee it’ll have a base price of six grand and be spec up to £20k

 

[Moof1904]

The lack of updates to the iMac pale in comparison to the Mac Pro. We’re approaching 6 years on that one! And regardless of how much lip-service Apple paid to the MacPro by saying they were designing a new one...well, that was almost two years ago and we still don’t have anything!

Cut Apple some slack, will ya? They're a relatively young company with very limited resources. They can't just redesign a computer any time they want!

 

[Defthand]

Personally, I'm ambivalent about Mac hardware changes. In the past, a change usually meant a CPU or GPU performance improvement, or faster i/o improvements. These days, it means something that supports a peripheral device or workflow is going to be eliminated.

Apple is also redefining ownership; repairs and mods are being thwarted by Apple's so-called security enhancements. Eventually the Mac may no longer boot without online authorization from Apple.

There's also the real possibility that the OS and UX is going to be dumbed down to iOS's level.

Even if Macs aren't improving in meaningful or considerate ways, at least they are a mature, proven tool. I'd rather they not change than be ****ed with.

 

[Nunyabinez]

Apple sales in China are down, along with:

NVIDIA
Caterpillar
Samsung
Tiffany
Intel
FedEx
Goodyear

Without China, Apple would have set revenue records again and did so in the US, Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Korea, Poland, Spain, and Malaysia.

It wasn't great news, but it's certainly not limited to Apple and it IS certainly mostly a China story.
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This isn't about what I would do, but people buy cars that are end of model years all the time. A lot of cars also are the exact same for several years, but just called 2016, 2017, and 2018. I don't like buying cars that have sit around, because they have fluids in them and tons of plastic. Electronics that are still being made as we go along, no problem. It's not like every iMac was made 602 days ago. They just have the same spec, likely like your car you overpaid for.

You are right. People do stupid things all the time. It's not an issue of whether the car is that much different, or the state of its fluids, it's that by the very virtue of being a previous year's model, it has already depreciated before you drive it off the lot. And end of year discounts are never as much as the depreciation in the car's value, so like I said, those people are stupid.

People also sit with money in a savings or checking account to get interest while they have balances on credit cards charging much, much higher interest. So, the fact that lots of people do foolish things doesn't make them less foolish.

 

[Baymowe335]

You are right. People do stupid things all the time. It's not an issue of whether the car is that much different, or the state of its fluids, it's that by the very virtue of being a previous year's model, it has already depreciated before you drive it off the lot. And end of year discounts are never as much as the depreciation in the car's value, so like I said, those people are stupid.

People also sit with money in a savings or checking account to get interest while they have balances on credit cards charging much, much higher interest. So, the fact that lots of people do foolish things doesn't make them less foolish.

What should they do? Release an iMac every year? I mean, people complain that they "Just bought" one and there is a newer one out. Or maybe the PC world doesn't need computers every year...which is what Apple has decided.

It doesn't necessarily make the offer less valuable. AirPods are still a great product today, despite being released over 2 years ago.

They could release an iMac every year and change nothing and just call it 2019, like they do for cars. Again, the Macs are still being made today, not sitting a warehouse for 2 years and shipping. The specs are strong enough to last a few years.

 

[iSayuSay]

2017? God I would hope it was still running great. My 2011 died last year. But I got about 7 years out of it with one GPU replacement that Apple did for me for just the cost of labor.

Still better than mine. I've had late 2012 iMac, the first gen with tapered edges with GeForce 680MX, died almost 4 months ago and switch to PC just because it was too expensive to repair. Not to mention I would have the same old hardware that's too weak by 2018 standard.

Sorry to say but I wouldn't touch all-in-one (Mac or Windows) for my future computers. Seriously leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

I'm running it through my windows machine.

Non-Quadro Nvidia in Windows only supports 10bit or higher for DX and Vulkan, not OpenGL or OpenCL. You can set the control panel setting to 10b or even 12b and assuming you have a real 10b display, think everything is ok. Load up the 10b test image in to Photoshop or Premiere to verify. If you see “banding” its still 8bit.

 

[9081094]

I think that’s pretty much the new normal moving forward. People just aren’t upgrading Macs all that often, so expect refresh cycles to lengthen accordingly.

Well, if a fashion brand doesn’t have new seasonable fashion to show, consumers will shop elsewhere.
Most creative professionals have already shopped elsewhere. It won’t take long that mouth to mouth news will brand Apple computers as über expensive old tech.

This fact will snowball to every other category they’re in and will hurt the brand in the long term.

My advice to Apple is to get in our out of a category and act like that. If Apple was fully committed to their products, we won’t have the misery state most of their products/services are in.

 

[Analog Kid]

Not true. Back in the G3/4/5 days, everyone knew about processor generations, even processor architecture (short pipelines, MHz myth : ) and about how much faster everything was than Pentiums.

Certainly not everyone. Not even most. Some geeks around here, sure, but that's a small minority and certainly not Apple's target demographic.

The only effort I remember Apple making to advertise the processor type, was the tank ad for the PowerMac G4. Most of the ads around that time were the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" personification ads. Apple has always pitched what their computers can do and the experience of using one, not what's inside.

I'm pretty sure Apple wasn't highlighting the MHz myth, because PPC was way behind on that metric.

(I blocked out the Spindler/Amelio days, so maybe things were different then...)

 

[TallManNY]

Still better than mine. I've had late 2012 iMac, the first gen with tapered edges with GeForce 680MX, died almost 4 months ago and switch to PC just because it was too expensive to repair. Not to mention I would have the same old hardware that's too weak by 2018 standard.

Sorry to say but I wouldn't touch all-in-one (Mac or Windows) for my future computers. Seriously leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

I bought a Mac mini when they came out this year instead of an iMac. While I believe my 2011 iMac could be repaired, it would be too expensive and not worth it. So now there is this perfectly good screen, perfectly good graphics card, perfectly good hard drive all sitting in a computer that doesn't work.

 

[Nunyabinez]

What should they do? Release an iMac every year? I mean, people complain that they "Just bought" one and there is a newer one out. Or maybe the PC world doesn't need computers every year...which is what Apple has decided.

It doesn't necessarily make the offer less valuable. AirPods are still a great product today, despite being released over 2 years ago.

They could release an iMac every year and change nothing and just call it 2019, like they do for cars. Again, the Macs are still being made today, not sitting a warehouse for 2 years and shipping. The specs are strong enough to last a few years.

That is an easy answer. Simply update with the latest processor each year, or reduce the price to reflect that it's year old tech.

AirPods don't have alternatives that use better technology for a lower price like Macs do.