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Is the rumored refresh actually worth while for most users?

C

cypress822

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
120
0
So, we have all speculated what the new iMac will have...faster processor, usb3, faster graphics card, etc.

My question is if you use your computer for iPhoto, iMovie, powerpoint, internet, mail, and iTunes......does all this really make that much of a difference?

I use my current USB's for two peripheral hard drive backups---it backs up everyday in the background--do i really need usb3? It would be nice on the initial back up---but other than that, not really i think. It backs up everyday at 300am and does not take that long to do it.

What are people hoping to do with their new usb 3.0?

If you do not play games...do you need anything better than what the 2011 iMac has to offer for a graphics card?? Will it make much of a difference for the above applied uses??

For those who need a faster graphics card--what do you need it for?? (not being sarcastic, just trying to better educate myself on whether i need anything better than what the 2011 has to offer).

So, bottom line question...for those who are waiting for new 2012--what improvements over the 2011 are you hoping to see a real difference in your everyday computer use??

Looking forward to many replies...all chime in here!!!

Thanks

Perry
 
But what i am trying to learn is specifically how will the 2012 iMac help you more than the 2011 would??
 
In what capacity? As a kid at college? As an illustrator? A photographer? A website designer? A family computer?

I don't mean to be rude but if you use your iMac for professional purposes you already know what you are hoping to see in the refresh/redesign. If you use your iMac for more casual purposes, ..............
 
For however it applies to you personally---work...school...recreational, family, etc--whatever applies to you. How will the 2012 iMac improvements make a noticeable difference in however you use your computer?

Looking forward to hearing from many about this!!
 
For my general "home user tasks" of word processing, presentations, emails, Fle/Print, Internet Surfing, U-Tube videos, iTunes music and Facebook tasks with NO Games, my current 2010 i3 iMac works great. Yes, i5 would be faster. But for my computing load, the i3 for home user and NO games tasks still works great. And, I've yet to see its CPU load consistantly above 20% load.

In the future (future iMac design), I can see USB3 (for direct connect into USB3 external drives) would be great. Having a 24" screen (instead of "super size" 27" size) would be great. And, anti-glare screen would be great as well. Faster video and faster CPU would be over-kill (for my typical home user needs).

For now, I'll keep my current 2010 i3 iMac. It still fits my typical home user load (with NO games) great.
 
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Well, here's the deal. What if next year the retina arrives? Will the 2012 iMac be worth it then? No..Just buy when you need it and don't look back. People seem obsessive about this. The refurbished is cheap and a good deal. Apple will force you to upgrade in 5 years or so and soon you'll be strutting the newest stuff.
 
i think most people are just trying to avoid buyers remorse in the long run...as am I.....and thats when i started thinking that if i held out for a 2012, am i really gaining any benefit (being a non game player) over a 2011?? So far, from what I'm hearing from users--not really.

Lets hear from everyone!!!

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Dornblaser said:
In what capacity? As a kid at college? As an illustrator? A photographer? A website designer? A family computer?

I don't mean to be rude but if you use your iMac for professional purposes you already know what you are hoping to see in the refresh/redesign. If you use your iMac for more casual purposes, ..............
Click to expand...

I don't see you being rude at all...you bring up a good point too---being a mac user for professional purposes there is benefit in an upgrade!
 
I will be selling my for a 2013 iMac since it should have a retina display and possibility a bigger SSD, I don't think it should be a 2012 model, since it will be released in 2013 the next yr to me is a 2013 model.
 
For the most part the machines on the showroom floor are now are very capable. Maybe that's why they were not refreshed just yet.

Try it this way though. Say you go to buy a new car and there's a 2012 and 2011 model right next to each other. The 2012 has some improvements, but the 2011 is still a good car.

Which do you buy? How about if they cost exactly the same?
 
InlawBiker said:
For the most part the machines on the showroom floor are now are very capable. Maybe that's why they were not refreshed just yet.

Try it this way though. Say you go to buy a new car and there's a 2012 and 2011 model right next to each other. The 2012 has some improvements, but the 2011 is still a good car.

Which do you buy? How about if they cost exactly the same?
Click to expand...

Ummm... but that would never happen. Why would they put an old model next to a new model for the same price??? And of course you would buy the new one if it's the same price, but the argument is pointless.

I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
 
smoking monkey said:
Ummm... but that would never happen. Why would they put an old model next to a new model for the same price??? And of course you would buy the new one if it's the same price, but the argument is pointless.

I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
Click to expand...

Every other vendor has an Ivy Bridge Intel chip in their products now, with USB 3.0 and 2012 graphics cards. Every vendor except for Apple.
 
InlawBiker said:
Every other vendor has an Ivy Bridge Intel chip in their products now, with USB 3.0 and 2012 graphics cards. Every vendor except for Apple.
Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with what you wrote. Or what I wrote!

But yeah, you're right. And I'm sure Apple with have these things soon enough. Surely they will update within a few months???
 
I have a macmini - very old, underpowered, nearly useless. I VNC to the mac.

I have a desktop machine, but mostly use my high spec laptop (DELL refurb). Am happy with that. When I use my desktop (24" 1920x1200) I love the screen (compared to 17" 1920x1080). I want an imac.

I actually dont want the highest spec machine - once you have a high spec machine, you have nothing to lust for, for a few years.

But I really care about heat and longevity. I may buy an imac 2011 - but looking at the 300W of power used and reports of heat issues and screen issues, it might be better to buy a low end 2012 model which is cheaper or same price, for a 10-15% performance gain.

Today, I cannot make that decision. When 2012 models are released I can decide - get more for the same money, or pay more for more oomph. I have little interest in games. I do lots of Linux (and Mac + Windows) development, but the 27" screen is sooo nice.

And I am rather tired of VNC across a poor wifi to use a mac.
 
For the basic home user who does not game - there wont be a difference. Maybe in a few years the new one will support things the old one won't, but for the OP at this time, I'd say you wouldn't even know which one you're using.
 
Longevity -- a new iMac will be able to run the most recent versions of things like CS6 and final cut faster and better for longer.

SSD -- I want SSD and hopefully it will be cheaper or standard with the update. The cost of SSD will also impact the size I get, along with other storage (2 TB of HHD likely)

USB 3 -- more flexibility with hard drive space and I could use external drives for more than backup.

I do lots of photo editing, and high res files add up quickly. Even moreso if I upgrade my 16 mp camera to one with 24 mp in the next year or two.
 
USB 3.0 is the one certain significant change. Cheaper and easer to find than thunderbolt or a specialist willing to open the iMac's case, and fast enough to run HDDs as fast as internal drives.

Everything else will depend on what Apple does. Faster processors, memory bus and graphics are certain. Power Nap compatibility with Mountain Lion is also a safe bet.

It's the video that could make the iMac worth the wait to gamers and designers. Even if Apple doesn't go with Retina, the switch to nVidia graphic cards could make the new iMac worth the wait to users of blender or Adobe Photoshop/Premiere, which gain more benefit from CUDA than OpenGL.

If Apple ends up using the 7970m or 680m in the top end, it's going to be a gaming and design monster.
 
Since we don't know exactly what the 2012 iMac will look like (aside fro Ivy Bridge), I would recommend the following.

If you plan on using your iMac for three years, go back and look at the 2008 and 2009 iMac specifications. If you were to have purchased late in the 2008 cycle, would you rather have the 2008 or 2009 model on your desk now?

F
 
kitsunestudios said:
USB 3.0 is the one certain significant change. Cheaper and easer to find than thunderbolt or a specialist willing to open the iMac's case, and fast enough to run HDDs as fast as internal drives.

Everything else will depend on what Apple does. Faster processors, memory bus and graphics are certain. Power Nap compatibility with Mountain Lion is also a safe bet.

It's the video that could make the iMac worth the wait to gamers and designers. Even if Apple doesn't go with Retina, the switch to nVidia graphic cards could make the new iMac worth the wait to users of blender or Adobe Photoshop/Premiere, which gain more benefit from CUDA than OpenGL.

If Apple ends up using the 7970m or 680m in the top end, it's going to be a gaming and design monster.
Click to expand...

Not even close to the same speed. USB 3 is only about two to three times fater than USB 2 in real world use. It is not even close to sata or esata speed.
 
Slow Programmer said:
Not even close to the same speed. USB 3 is only about two to three times fater than USB 2 in real world use. It is not even close to sata or esata speed.
Click to expand...

I didn't say USB 3.0 had the bandwidth of SATA. I meant it was fast enough to allow a hard disk drive to function without a bandwidth restriction. (I should have clarified that I meant "single hdd"). A striped RAID or SSD would benefit from ESATA or Thunderbolt, but for a single HDD, they're overkill.

If all you need is to add some extra storage capacity in the future, or find a cheap Time Capsule alternative for backups, USB 3.0 is an improvement over the current 2011 iMacs. Compared to Thunderbolt, it's cheaper, easier to find and fast enough for that single platter-based external drive. Compared to FW800, it's cheaper, faster, and easier to find. Compared to Thunderbolt to OWC ESATA hacks, it's fast enough, and still cheaper and easier to find. Compared to installing/replacing an internal platter-based HDD, it's much more convenient, and only marginally more expensive than the internal drive; and probably much cheaper than having a professional install it for you.
 
highlights said:
Longevity -- a new iMac will be able to run the most recent versions of things like CS6 and final cut faster and better for longer.
Click to expand...

Whoa, hold on there Tonto.... Last I checked Ivy Bridge is only marginally faster than Sandy Bridge. I'm pretty sure if Sandy Bridge is no longer viable, then Ivy Bridge won't be far behind it. Using the Longevity argument is silly.
highlights said:
SSD -- I want SSD and hopefully it will be cheaper or standard with the update. The cost of SSD will also impact the size I get, along with other storage (2 TB of HHD likely)
Click to expand...
I'll give you this one. It does seem like Apple has been dropping the cost of SSD's in their machines (at least MBP) in the most recent upgrade.
highlights said:
USB 3 -- more flexibility with hard drive space and I could use external drives for more than backup.
Click to expand...
Agreed, but for generally backups and what not, it probably won't matter if Time Machine completes in 10 minutes for 30 minutes. Especially if doing it overnight or while you are at work/school
 
Since we are stuck with whatever graphics chips are in the iMac, I'm holding out mainly for better graphics. I don't game a lot but once in a while is nice.
 
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