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iMac Update Might Be Coming Sooner Rather Than Later
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Seriously. The iMac displays are already damn sharp.
Also, I'm totally happy with my 2011, but anti-glare would make me very jealous.
A Macbook Pro with a display is a seriously cool setup... however it has some SERIOUS flaws, that an iMac solves:
1) STORAGE: The largest HD you can get on a Macbook is 1TB. For anyone that does HD video, or rips DVDs, this is filled up rather fast.
2) PRICE: The Macbook Pro w/ Display is usually going to be $1000 or $1500 more than an equivalent 27" iMac
3) REPAIRS/UPGRADES: Much easier on an iMac (important to a very small segment of the population.
It all comes down to whether or not you value storage or portability... price or portability... upgradability or portability.
Plus, iMacs can do a few things that Macbooks can't... like multiple Hard Drives setup in RAID, etc.
I was weighing all of these options recently --> https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1350677/
I just bought the top of the line imac. I need it badly. I dont care if they make a small specbump next month. If they release retina imacs with redesign im gonna go mad. But, I seriously doubt it...so Im without regret. If I read this before I ordered yesterday, I might reconsider and be back in the waiting game, which is not a fun place to be.
I'm looking at an iMac for a couple reasons...
Screen. 27" vs 15" is a pretty big difference.
Storage. Top 15 MBP is 768GB, iMac is 1TB and 256GB SSD (I'm still researching, as it says, I'm a newbie. But SSD/flash seems to be quicker, and iMac runs off the SSD for basic functions I think but has that 1TB (or 2TB for $150) for everything else. I could be wrong or off in my thinking)
Price could be a consideration also. It's ~$100 cheaper (or $50 more for the 2TB/256 SSD) than the 15" MBP
Why no Mini? It's in the $200 MORE range than a faster, larger capacity iMac (when throwing in the Thunderbolt display and trackpad/keyboard).
My ideal setup would be a dual-monitor iMac/TBD and maybe an Air for portability.
If I'm off, please correct me...
Screen. 27" vs 15" is a pretty big difference.
Storage. Top 15 MBP is 768GB, iMac is 1TB and 256GB SSD (I'm still researching, as it says, I'm a newbie. But SSD/flash seems to be quicker, and iMac runs off the SSD for basic functions I think but has that 1TB (or 2TB for $150) for everything else. I could be wrong or off in my thinking)
Price could be a consideration also. It's ~$100 cheaper (or $50 more for the 2TB/256 SSD) than the 15" MBP
Why no Mini? It's in the $200 MORE range than a faster, larger capacity iMac (when throwing in the Thunderbolt display and trackpad/keyboard).
My ideal setup would be a dual-monitor iMac/TBD and maybe an Air for portability.
If I'm off, please correct me...
iMac needs a touch screen. Otherwise it's just a spec bump along the road to something more interesting.
After the announcement of no new iMacs at WWDC, I dropped $2300 on a new 27in iMac. I am going to be SO pissed if they update it next week or something.
You can always return it, but honestly your computer is awesome.
Screen size
2GB + Graphics card
2nd HD Slot for AE6 video cache
As much as I love the new MBP R-Type, a 1GB Nvidia 650GT doesn't cut it nor not having a 2nd HD drive for video caching (at least for me).
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After the announcement of no new iMacs at WWDC, I dropped $2300 on a new 27in iMac. I am going to be SO pissed if they update it next week or something.
I would return it. Seriously. iMacs are coming before the end of the summer and school starting.
Well...don't be surprised if they do in the next two months. I'm in the same position as you are. I need something but I'm waiting. Too much of a risk to buy an end of model iMac with a possible new version coming, especially retina displays. The next little even could be..
-Mac Mini
-iMac Retina
-Stand along Retina Displays
No matter what, you should be waiting at least for Ivy Bridge chips...the bump is coming soon beyond a doubt...probably August. Even if you need it, you are basically buying a car at the end of it's cycle while the new better engine is on the horizon in a short time.
I prefer mac mini plus thunderbolt display setup. Current generation of iMac looks so ugly because of its big chin. Apple is capable of making mac mini as fast as iMac, but they simply choose not to do so.
GPUs and DisplayPort don't support anything higher than 4K, so I wouldn't expect any pixel doubled 27" displays. Instead, well probably see both the 21" and 27" have a resolution of 3840x2160.
Run it with the lid open
I'm running the same rig (while waiting patiently for a bump in the iMac-- just want a more recent graphics card so my Mac will last me a bit longer on the other end: or so I hope)If you're on Lion, you can tweak the settings to allow you to run lid up with no display on the notebook. I add a cheap USB fan stnd underneath and mine stays pretty cool. From Max OS X Hints http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110901113922148
Well it's a few things. If you are comparing a MBPro to an iMac, I'd rather have the iMac just due to the screen size and cost.
To get the same thing, it's going to run you almost $4k for the new MBPR + a stand along display (and new displays are probably coming) and your MBP will still not be as fast.
The iMac when it comes out that has the Ivy Bridge Chip and possible retina display will be probably around 3K Im guess..so you'll get a faster desktop chipset, better graphics card and a 27" monitor all in one.
In terms of the mini...it just isn't powerful enough to do my graphics/editing/after effects needs...so that's out for me + a monitor.
Personally, I'd rather have a Mac Pro Tower small form factor (hoping 2013 brings it) with a stand alone monitor which I have at work. 30" Apple Display and 2008 Mac Pro Tower 8 core.
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Well, for one, I don't need portability. I use my iPad when I travel. I don't want to buy another screen, is another reason. The Thunderbolt screen in around another $900. Add that to the cost of your laptop and it adds up a lot more expensive than the $1195 - 1595 range for an iMac. Your needs are not the same for everyone!
As awesome as that Retina MBP looks I was still disappointed that they didn't announce new iMacs. My MBP is on its death bed and I really want to replace it with an iMac but there is no way I'm buying one now. Hopefully we'll see an update this summer, preferably July.
How do you do this? In looking at the MacBook pro, I thought its only port for connecting a display to the laptop is the thunderbolt port. Thunderbolt displays are too expensive in my opinion, and its cheaper to just get a 27" Imac than both a Thunderbolt display and a Macbook pro.
If there is any easy (and not overly expensive) way to set up a Macbook pro so that it is connected to a bigger screen and wireless keyboard/mouse, I'd do that instead.
If someone (only) needs a machine that stands on a desk and isn't moved around, an iMac is a lot better value for money. The cheapest 21.5" iMac and the cheapest 13" MBP cost the same, but the iMac has a high quality monitor, quad core processor, and more practical keyboard and mouse.
That could be the smaller sized screen. I would expect the larger to have more.
I'm still hoping for a Retina iMac. A Mac without retina now seems old tech. If there is, I expect the current style iMacs to operate alongside it, just as the older style MBP has survived.
But with HiDPI mode on, you're get a quarter of the pixels in terms of real estate. So if Apple don't quadruple the number of pixels then you'll lose real estate. Unless they use some weird scaling, but as we've seen on the new MBP that reduces performance. I don't think they'll call anything retina without quadrupling the number of pixels.
But then again that would be an insane number of pixels that would probably be too much to support. Maybe with the iMacs the decrease in performance using scaling wouldn't be apparent because there isn't the need to use the IGP as much.
The Thunderbolt connector is also Mini Displayport connector, so you can use any monitor with that.
I certainly would not (and was not) suggesting that a MBA with display would be competitive with an iMac. And, from my original post on the subject, repairs and upgrades were/are easier on the MBP than the iMac.
I have no good idea where you get $1000 to $1500 more for the laptop + display. For reference, I just ordered a 13" MBP for $1200 and a 27" display can be had for less than $200. Do you have a source where iMacs are free?
Run it with the lid open
If you're on Lion, you can tweak the settings to allow you to run lid up with no display on the notebook. I add a cheap USB fan stnd underneath and mine stays pretty cool. From Max OS X Hints http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110901113922148
If I run it with the lid open, it can't output the full resolution of the cinema display. Also, it kind of blocks the monitor (I could put it to one side but I have limited desk space). Still on Snow Leopard as well... like you waiting (impatiently) for the next iMac.
2880x1800
Personally, I'd settle with a slight resolution bump of 2880x1800 for the 27" model.
That would make a lot of sense: Same resolution as the new MBP (software wouldn't have to account for a new screen resolution), the display wouldn't be much more difficult to manufacture (=similar cost) than the current 2560x1440 display, and anyway the current resolution for the 27" model is quite awesome. I've had one for a couple of years and while not retina, it's quite high. I really don't see a 27-30" 4k display is a possibility at all.
Apart from that (and even I think it's very unlikely), I'm not hoping for much more than a speed bump in CPU and graphics, default 8GB RAM in the higher-end models, USB 3.0 (probably the most significant upgrade), a slight price decrease and maybe some surprise like a wireless full keyboard or a wireless keyboard+trackpad combo.
Not much for such a long wait, though :-(
Personally, I'd settle with a slight resolution bump of 2880x1800 for the 27" model.
That would make a lot of sense: Same resolution as the new MBP (software wouldn't have to account for a new screen resolution), the display wouldn't be much more difficult to manufacture (=similar cost) than the current 2560x1440 display, and anyway the current resolution for the 27" model is quite awesome. I've had one for a couple of years and while not retina, it's quite high. I really don't see a 27-30" 4k display is a possibility at all.
Apart from that (and even I think it's very unlikely), I'm not hoping for much more than a speed bump in CPU and graphics, default 8GB RAM in the higher-end models, USB 3.0 (probably the most significant upgrade), a slight price decrease and maybe some surprise like a wireless full keyboard or a wireless keyboard+trackpad combo.
Not much for such a long wait, though :-(