Macworld Quad iMac Review

[smacman]

Interesting review and even more interesting benchmarks. At first glance it looks like the iMacs outperform the Mac Pros in most tests. Digging a bit deeper though, both Mac Pros tested are in base config with no extra ram, and the stock video card.

http://www.macworld.com/article/143970/2009/11/core15_imac.html

 

[gugucom]

And there was no test which uses multi threading.

 

[Angelo95210]

Apple has not only blurred the line between consumer and professional systems, it's darn near erased it.

So what is Apple preparing now for the Mac Pros... ?? Yummy !!

 

[Gonk42]

So what is Apple preparing now for the Mac Pros... ?? Yummy !!

It will be interesting to see. It may be, of course, that Apple wants to blur the line between iMac and Mac Pro so as to move people over. It could go either way - Apple might do a significant update to the Pro to bring back the differential or Apple might just do a minor update (basically update the chips and not much else) and continue to concentrate on the consumer end of things.

 

[smacman]

Am I the only one that thinks the line between the iMac and the Mac Pro is very clear?

- Mac Pro can accommodate up to 4 Hard Drives and 2 Optical Drives out of the box.
- Mac Pro can be easily fitted with an SSD or even multiple SSDs.
- Mac Pro uses a Desktop Video Card and this is user upgradeable.
- Mac Pro can be configured with dual CPUs for multithreaded apps.
- Mac Pro can be fitted with multiple video cards to drive multiple monitors.
- Mac Pro is most definitely more reliable and robust. Any internal component failure in the iMac requires complex disassembly.

The line is clear. The Mac Pro may not be for everyone, especially given the cost, but the advantages are numerous.

 

[freeman727]

The mac pro and imac serve different people.

iMac - for general users who like a svelte look and do not need expansion

Mac Pro - for specialized users who need expansion.

I could probably be an iMac user but I like the option for more drives and faster video cards.

B/c Apple will sell a ton more iMac's than Mac Pro's, the iMac will always be a better value. Simply an economy of scale.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

I bought the Mac Pro too because of the expandability of it. I like the PCI slots for additional video cards in case I want another monitor or upgrade my current 4870, use the PCI slots for more USB and FW plugs, the ability to put five disks (including 2nd optical bay) in the machine and raid them.

I can do this quickly and easily by taking the side cover off, saving a ton of space and keeping things tidy by not having too many external hard disks with its power adapters, USB hubs with power adapter, etcs. Everything is neatly centralized and built into one powerful, beautiful (inside and out) machine.

 

[justit]

So what is Apple preparing now for the Mac Pros... ?? Yummy !!

I think incremental improvements going into it's 5th generation to make things stable, the new iMacs are still unsettled http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2212682&tstart=0 ... 21 pages of screen flicker issues. You just can't run a stable 27" display from a laptop video card chip.

 

[VirtualRain]

Am I the only one that thinks the line between the iMac and the Mac Pro is very clear?

- Mac Pro can accommodate up to 4 Hard Drives and 2 Optical Drives out of the box.
- Mac Pro can be easily fitted with an SSD or even multiple SSDs.
- Mac Pro uses a Desktop Video Card and this is user upgradeable.
- Mac Pro can be configured with dual CPUs for multithreaded apps.
- Mac Pro can be fitted with multiple video cards to drive multiple monitors.
- Mac Pro is most definitely more reliable and robust. Any internal component failure in the iMac requires complex disassembly.

The line is clear. The Mac Pro may not be for everyone, especially given the cost, but the advantages are numerous.

You can't argue with that... but I wonder how many people buy a base Mac Pro based on these advantages but never actually exploit any of them? (present company excluded, of course). Admitting you don't need these advantages is the challenge for most buyers, and I guess a good reason why Apple will continue to make massive margin on the Mac Pro from buyers who think they need more than they do.

I've even been guilty of this before... I remember shopping for motherboards once and thinking... this one supports SLI but costs more... but I better buy it in case I want to add another graphics card... but did I ever do that? No.

Having said that, I'm running 3 drives in my Mac Pro and therefore taking advantage of its expansion capabilities (and even thankful for it) but the cost of the iMac has me wondering if I wouldn't just buy 2 iMac's and a FW800 enclosure instead of a Mac Pro if I had to do it all over again.