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New iMac - observations

M

Markovich

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 22, 2008
48
24
Central Ohio
So, after my 2011 27" iMac died suddenly, purchased a new 2017 5K, 27" iMac directly from Apple.
I chose the middle model, 3.5GHZ with a 500 GB SSD option and waited about 10 days for it. It took Apple 4 days to ship it, and UPS 6 days to get it to me in central Ohio.

The 2011 iMac had a 1TB Samsung SSD in it, so it was plenty speedy for me. The 2017 iMac is fast, not wickedly faster than my 2011, but it is noticeable. The display is very nice, again, not WOW , but nice.

The one glaring flaw is the SD reader on the back of the Mac..WTF Johnny Ive???? It is the most inconvenient place for it!! Never understood Apple's obsession with making the iMac thin at the expense of functionality ( and adequate cooling from what I understand). I wonder how many Apple hardware designers ( and Johnny) actually use an iMac for daily use, including the SD reader and how they find that acceptable.

So, now Ive bought a OWC USB C hub with SD card reader to reduce the weekly rage at using the iMac SD slot. If Apple had designed it correctly in the first place, I wouldn't have needed to. Of course, the same applies to the missing headphone jack on the iPhone and the need for a dongle to use wired headphones :)

FYI- my first Mac was a Mac LC with a 13" Apple RGB monitor , 4MB ram and a 20MB HD- I was rocking!
 
To avoid image retention (a crazy common problem with retina iMacs) I suggest setting an aggressive screen saver and aggressive sleep mode setting, as well as a desktop wallpaper on a 5 second change timer.
 
thefriendshipmachine said:
To avoid image retention (a crazy common problem with retina iMacs) I suggest setting an aggressive screen saver and aggressive sleep mode setting, as well as a desktop wallpaper on a 5 second change timer.
Click to expand...

no more image retention with the 2017 models! these iMacs are equipped with newer retina LCDisplays (according to the ColorSync Utility the new model is 0000AE13 whereas the older ones were 0000AE07 IIRC).
 
Markovich said:
The one glaring flaw is the SD reader on the back of the Mac..WTF Johnny Ive???? It is the most inconvenient place for it!! !
Click to expand...

Don't worry Apple will soon have an SD-adaptor for sale $99 which extends the port to the front.
 
I got this one for my New 27" iMac 5K mid-2017 and it works really well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWYCA1U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

IMG_0187.jpeg
 
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Claudio --

That looks like a nice solution for the iMac (post above this one).
Is it "sufficiently stable"?
Does it hold up against minor "pushes and tugs"...?
 
I really don't understand all those people all those years complaining about the ports on the back,
it actually bothers me reading those complaints,
I have late 2012 iMac since release and it wasn't big deal for me for a second,
I have no problem at all using all those ports, and I never turned the iMac around, I plug everything at the first try,
some people have to try 3 times with usb even if the port is on the front...
Do all those people that complain are also unable so scratch theirs own back because they can't look directly at it?
Can't you also touch your nose with eyes closed?
Those ports at the front look disgusting.
I'm sorry if that sound harsh, but it frustrates me how people live if plugging stuff is so hard for them. Sorry for my poor English.
 
Last edited:
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Actually it's physically impossible for an LCD to get screen burn - that refers to the phosphorous coating on old CRTs where the electron beam actually burnt away the coating... (which is technically reversible, however I doubt it would be economically feasible and requires specialist equipment)
LCDs suffer from a something similar - which is called image persistence, a static image causes a parasitic capacitance to build up which prevents the liquid crystal molecules from returning to their normal relaxed state. The good news is that it's reversible and can be performed by an end user.
It can usually be recovered by displaying a full white screen and depending on the severity of the persistent image it can be recovered in as little as an hour...

Also due to the nature of IPS panels they tend to suffer the image persistence problems sooner than other LCD panels. Modern laptops shouldn't suffer from image ghosting (not at a hardware level anyway) - on older panels is was caused by slow refresh rates and panel response times (The old cursor submarining on Apple PowerBook 140s spring to mind). Extremes in temperatures can cause ghosting or panel lethargy in older panels - most modern panels have impressive temperature ranges...
 
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Fishrrman said:
Claudio --

That looks like a nice solution for the iMac (post above this one).
Is it "sufficiently stable"?
Does it hold up against minor "pushes and tugs"...?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's stable. It holds up pretty well against pushes and tugs. In fact, it holds so well that you have to retain the bottom of the iMac with your other hand to prevent the iMac to tilt. I regularly transfer big files from my Samsung T5 without any issue so far.

Regarding the air blocking issue. It does block one vent and it was my primary concern but my iMac keeps running very cool even during intense mastering and mixing sessions with Pro Tools and Logic Pro X and even when using Photoshop CC 2018. I have iStats Menus installed in my iMac and the temperature during normal use is always at 32 degrees celsius and zero fan noise. This is a 27" iMac mid-2017 i5 3.5GHz, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD and Radeon 575.
 
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