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Mid-level desktop?

B

BOSS10L

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 13, 2008
588
0
Upstate NY
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

Hey all,

I'm getting ready to purchase my next Mac really soon, but I wanted to hold off until after the "Back to Mac" event on Monday.
I've heard from a bunch of different sources that Apple could be releasing a new desktop model, somewhere in-between the iMac and Mac Pro. What do you all think the possibility of this happening is? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because it will cannibalize sales from both current Mac lines, but the thought of a less expensive, upgradeable alternative to both of them would be cool.

Thoughts?
 
Rumors of such an "xMac" system have been going around for years.

I doubt it'll ever happen though. I believe that Apple only cares to target 2 markets: non tech-savvy consumers and George Lucas.

Hence, iMac and Mac Pro.
 
I doubt it. Performance wise the high end iMac already cuts into the margin of the low end Mac Pro, so there is not much space in between.
The only option I see would be a slightly more powerful computer that goes between Mini and iMac, like a Mini Pro.
 
I think we all wish for the mid-level Mac desktop, but I don't see it comming along anytime soon.

That said, I would hold off on a purchase until after the 20th because chances are a new Ilife will be announced.
 
I would be pleasantly surprised if they do - but with my luck they might. I finally gave up waiting for Apple to make a machine for me and built a hackintosh. Watch them now make it unnecessary to do so.
 
I pretty much figured as much. Thanks for the replies though, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm definitely going to wait until Wednesday before I do anything, it'd be insane to go and buy anything right now with the "BtM" extravaganza a little more than 36 hours away.

Deep down I know that I really only need an iMac, but the thought of modularity (and of course added cost) with a Mac Pro is really enticing.

Thanks again. :)
 
BOSS10L said:
I pretty much figured as much. Thanks for the replies though, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm definitely going to wait until Wednesday before I do anything, it'd be insane to go and buy anything right now with the "BtM" extravaganza a little more than 36 hours away.

Deep down I know that I really only need an iMac, but the thought of modularity (and of course added cost) with a Mac Pro is really enticing.

Thanks again. :)
Click to expand...

I was in a simliar situation about a year ago. I was doing more video work that I had expected, and my 2006 Imac was taking a long time to render finished videos. I had replaced the hard drive in it once, and was not looking forward to opening the case and doing it again. So I bit the bullet and got a Mac Pro. I love the flexibility, and I hope this machine will last me at least 5 years.

You know if you are a hobbiest, (meaning you don't need to make a living with your machine), and you are a bit computer savvy, you can get what you are looking for in a hackintosh.
 
DualShock said:
Rumors of such an "xMac" system have been going around for years.

I doubt it'll ever happen though. I believe that Apple only cares to target 2 markets: non tech-savvy consumers and George Lucas.

Hence, iMac and Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Don't forget Pixar and Disney (my Mom's Alumni who work at studios are all huge Mac fans because of work)
 
This is not going to happen, especially now that apple has provided the iMac with desktop components, i.e., i5/i7 processor instead of using mobile components.

Apple is a consumer focused company at this point and while they offer Mac Pros to professionals, clearly their focus is with the consumer, and that market sector is being fulfilled by the iMac. Apple is not about to cannibalize the iMac sales by offering a headless iMac.
 
BOSS10L said:
I've heard from a bunch of different sources that Apple could be releasing a new desktop model, somewhere in-between the iMac and Mac Pro. What do you all think the possibility of this happening is?
Click to expand...

Somewhere between zero and zero.
 
it won't happen, all of the people who think that it would be such a huge hit seem to forget that in the past Apple tried keeping an older model powermac for sale as a cheaper less powerful desktop but not enough people bough them as they stopped doing that. I think they tried it when they upgraded to G5 processors, they reintroduced a g4 model, and not many people bought them, there may have been a few other times as well.
 
BOSS10L said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

Hey all,

I'm getting ready to purchase my next Mac really soon, but I wanted to hold off until after the "Back to Mac" event on Monday.
I've heard from a bunch of different sources that Apple could be releasing a new desktop model, somewhere in-between the iMac and Mac Pro. What do you all think the possibility of this happening is? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because it will cannibalize sales from both current Mac lines, but the thought of a less expensive, upgradeable alternative to both of them would be cool.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

they only need to alter the iMac's in three ways

1)flat matte screen option

2) hdd access

3) esata or usb3 hookup or better yet both.


I think of iMacs as the equal of having a porsche but you can't take it out of your garage. fw800 is a joke for that piece of equipment. No hdd access is an even bigger joke.
 
philipma1957 said:
1)flat matte screen option
Click to expand...
Probably won't happen, apple seems content to offer glossy only. Yeah they did finally come around and provide a matte screen for the "pro" laptops but clearly they're not wanting to provide that level of choice to the other lines.

2) hdd access
3) esata or usb3 hookup or better yet both.
Click to expand...
I think many people are aching for these changes but again this seems to fly in the face of apple's philosophy where they want to sell a product that consumers don't need to (read cannot) update, configure or monitor. I'd love to see esata ports but since their MacPro doesn't even have usb3 or esata the odds of seeing these ports in their consumer machines are between slim and none - and slim just left town.
 
If Apple builds that perfect computer positioned between the mini and the Pro I'll be scrambling to buy it with money in hand. The iMac is NOT that computer. Too many restrictions built into the design. First you are stuck with a glossy screen. Then processor speed is tied to screen size. And some of us just don't like all in ones.
The mini wouldn't be bad if it was larger and had better components.
The Mac Pro is plain and simple out of the price range of many of us.

I doubt that Apple will ever build what so many of us want which is really sad. As it is now, I'm sitting on my money. And that means all of my money. Buying other Apple devices without the computer I want would be like buying a car without an engine.

I find it odd that so many Mac users berate those of us that want what Apple used to make. An affordable desktop computer that had some internal expandability.
 
Place your order! In this event they will not talk about the Mac Pro, iMac and even less of a new product!
 
C. Alan said:
I was in a simliar situation about a year ago. I was doing more video work that I had expected, and my 2006 Imac was taking a long time to render finished videos. I had replaced the hard drive in it once, and was not looking forward to opening the case and doing it again. So I bit the bullet and got a Mac Pro. I love the flexibility, and I hope this machine will last me at least 5 years.

You know if you are a hobbiest, (meaning you don't need to make a living with your machine), and you are a bit computer savvy, you can get what you are looking for in a hackintosh.
Click to expand...

I'm still undecided. I may just buy a 27" iMac and use that.

I'm very computer savvy, but I'm worried about compatibility issues when considering building a hackintosh. If there were some sure-fire hardware specs out there that have been tested to work, then I'd consider it.
 
BOSS10L said:
I'm very computer savvy, but I'm worried about compatibility issues when considering building a hackintosh. If there were some sure-fire hardware specs out there that have been tested to work, then I'd consider it.
Click to expand...
Even a configuration that is tested to work today is at risk of not working the next time a point release comes down the pipe. To me, at least, it's just not worth it. The savings aren't nearly enough to offset living in fear of every OS release and security update that shows up in Software Update.
 
G4er? said:
snip...............
I find it odd that so many Mac users berate those of us that want what Apple used to make. An affordable desktop computer that had some internal expandability.
Click to expand...

Depends on your definition of affordable but the 27" imac does offer some degree (2 HDs) of internal expandability.

I highly doubt Apple will intro a new mid-class desktop. What they will likely do is slowly expand the IO capabilities of the imac. The next gen will likely have faster IO (USB3, LP) which will alleviate most of these expandability issues.

JohnG
 
johnnymg said:
...
I highly doubt Apple will intro a new mid-class desktop. What they will likely do is slowly expand the IO capabilities of the imac. The next gen will likely have faster IO (USB3, LP) which will alleviate most of these expandability issues.

JohnG
Click to expand...

1) PROPER connectivity to the iMac
2) a flat matte screen option
3) access to the internal hdd.

Thats all I ask. I would give up number 3 for 1 and 2.
 
OWC can add an eSATA port, as well as other SSD/HDD options to both the iMac and Pro.
The rub for me with the iMac is still the glossy screen and the lack of height adjustment.
Otherwise I'd have placed my order. I still can't decide what to do...

:confused:
 
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