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New iMacs Still Coming Before Holidays?
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There's always a greater fool out there, isn't there?
There is no such thing as paper wealth; there never has been.
I expect the next-generation iMacs and Mac Pro desktops at the next Macworld Expo.
Because iMacs and Mac Pros aren't power-restrained like their laptop models, we may finally see Blu-ray disc support, including the latest nVidia or AMD/ATI chipsets that decode h.264 video with full HDCP support.
Why now? Two reasons: 1) Apple officially supports the Blu-ray format and 2) now that Blu-ray console players and discs are rapidly dropping in price (you can get the two-disc version of Iron Man on this new format for under US$30, that's a major enticement, and many retailers now sell players for well under US$300), the additional cost is much less of an issue.
Also, Apple has to start realizing that Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps on the amount of data; this cap could hurt sales of HD movies and TV shows through the iTunes Music Store. Besides, a video encoded for iTMS is still vastly inferior in quality to the video on a real Blu-ray disc.
Because iMacs and Mac Pros aren't power-restrained like their laptop models, we may finally see Blu-ray disc support, including the latest nVidia or AMD/ATI chipsets that decode h.264 video with full HDCP support.
Why now? Two reasons: 1) Apple officially supports the Blu-ray format and 2) now that Blu-ray console players and discs are rapidly dropping in price (you can get the two-disc version of Iron Man on this new format for under US$30, that's a major enticement, and many retailers now sell players for well under US$300), the additional cost is much less of an issue.
Also, Apple has to start realizing that Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps on the amount of data; this cap could hurt sales of HD movies and TV shows through the iTunes Music Store. Besides, a video encoded for iTMS is still vastly inferior in quality to the video on a real Blu-ray disc.
Who wants to bet
Who wants to bet Apple will drop Firewire in the 20" model at least (maybe even in the pricey 24" model that still has a decent display). Who wants to bet I won't buy one should they do that? And yes, I am in the market for a new iMac.
Who wants to bet Apple will drop Firewire in the 20" model at least (maybe even in the pricey 24" model that still has a decent display). Who wants to bet I won't buy one should they do that? And yes, I am in the market for a new iMac.
I'm not dead yet! (Ouch!)
Taking away is not innovation; it is just cost cutting. And while that may be necessary from time to time, confusing this with innovation is not terribly bright.
I blame the Apple consumer for applauding Apple for this in the past (and remember Apple rarely lowers prices significantly as a result; their profit margin just goes or stays up!) The consumer is to blame because they reinforce both good and bad behavior indiscriminately, applauding both innovation and short sightedness as if the two were two sides of the same coin. Oh yes, it is our fault.
When the floppy was dropped from the first iMac, thousands of Mac Lemmings lined up and clapped their hands, jeering at all of the thousands of poor saps who had to buy external USB floppy disks. because it wasn't *quite* dead yet. Was the floppy old technology? Sure was. Are they dead now? Yup. But were they dead when Apple dropped it? To quote Monty Python, "I'm not quite dead yet!" So, Apple clubbed anyone who said otherwise.
Depending on the model, the floppy was not quite dead for another 1 -2 years *after* Apple killed it, because they had NO *simple* way to get info off the computer until combo CD writers were added. There were no USB thumb drives yet (at least no affordable ones), and there was no Firewire (just slow as crap USB 1.1 you could hook to a slow as crap hard drive), and no CD or DVD burning except at the high end. When confronted with this obvious problem, Steve told us we should use the internet to transfer files---which was a total bitch and a half for many Mac users. When Apple actually gave us an affordable alternative to floppies---CD-Rs across the line, then the floppy could safely be declared dead. If they had made this standard while simultaneously dropping the floppy (adding something, not just taking away) THAT would have been innovative...but taking away with no acceptable alternative is just hubris that cost many consumers more than Apple saved. But hey, that's just our money, not Apple's; maybe that is "business innovation" -- new ways to screw customers -- but technological innovation it is not.
Dropping Firewire is even more egregious because it is a SUPERIOR technology to USB 2.0...and despite what "Steve" wrote, Firewire is the dominant and best way to hook up a video camera (HD or SD) to a computer. I even bought a firewire card for my company-owned Thinkpad. If USB 3.0 were here already and on Macs and actually LIVED up to the hype (something USB 2.0 never did), then MAYBE this move would have made sense. If eSATA was added for hard drive support, dropping FW starts to make sense at least for hard drives. But dropping this important feature, costs consumers MORE money, for something which has no acceptable alternative (except if you live in the reality distortion field - "just e-mail the files"..snort!) is just greed and wishful thinking. It is definitely not "innovative". This dilutes the meaning of the word such that innovation is no more than the sound you make when your lips form the words.
Reward Apple when they do good; don't reward them when they do poorly. Never reward them with your paycheck without considering what behavior you are reinforcing, You'll see more good works in the future when you do this consistently. Be indiscriminate, it is your fault if Apple takes away something you really need, forcing you to spend hundreds or thousands more than the $5 to $20 Apple saved.
Taking away is not innovation; it is just cost cutting. And while that may be necessary from time to time, confusing this with innovation is not terribly bright.
I blame the Apple consumer for applauding Apple for this in the past (and remember Apple rarely lowers prices significantly as a result; their profit margin just goes or stays up!) The consumer is to blame because they reinforce both good and bad behavior indiscriminately, applauding both innovation and short sightedness as if the two were two sides of the same coin. Oh yes, it is our fault.
When the floppy was dropped from the first iMac, thousands of Mac Lemmings lined up and clapped their hands, jeering at all of the thousands of poor saps who had to buy external USB floppy disks. because it wasn't *quite* dead yet. Was the floppy old technology? Sure was. Are they dead now? Yup. But were they dead when Apple dropped it? To quote Monty Python, "I'm not quite dead yet!" So, Apple clubbed anyone who said otherwise.
Depending on the model, the floppy was not quite dead for another 1 -2 years *after* Apple killed it, because they had NO *simple* way to get info off the computer until combo CD writers were added. There were no USB thumb drives yet (at least no affordable ones), and there was no Firewire (just slow as crap USB 1.1 you could hook to a slow as crap hard drive), and no CD or DVD burning except at the high end. When confronted with this obvious problem, Steve told us we should use the internet to transfer files---which was a total bitch and a half for many Mac users. When Apple actually gave us an affordable alternative to floppies---CD-Rs across the line, then the floppy could safely be declared dead. If they had made this standard while simultaneously dropping the floppy (adding something, not just taking away) THAT would have been innovative...but taking away with no acceptable alternative is just hubris that cost many consumers more than Apple saved. But hey, that's just our money, not Apple's; maybe that is "business innovation" -- new ways to screw customers -- but technological innovation it is not.
Dropping Firewire is even more egregious because it is a SUPERIOR technology to USB 2.0...and despite what "Steve" wrote, Firewire is the dominant and best way to hook up a video camera (HD or SD) to a computer. I even bought a firewire card for my company-owned Thinkpad. If USB 3.0 were here already and on Macs and actually LIVED up to the hype (something USB 2.0 never did), then MAYBE this move would have made sense. If eSATA was added for hard drive support, dropping FW starts to make sense at least for hard drives. But dropping this important feature, costs consumers MORE money, for something which has no acceptable alternative (except if you live in the reality distortion field - "just e-mail the files"..snort!) is just greed and wishful thinking. It is definitely not "innovative". This dilutes the meaning of the word such that innovation is no more than the sound you make when your lips form the words.
Reward Apple when they do good; don't reward them when they do poorly. Never reward them with your paycheck without considering what behavior you are reinforcing, You'll see more good works in the future when you do this consistently. Be indiscriminate, it is your fault if Apple takes away something you really need, forcing you to spend hundreds or thousands more than the $5 to $20 Apple saved.
I don't think so. Unlike laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros aren't constrained by power and size issues, so they can retain the IEEE-1394 ports. Besides, many external hard drives sport IEEE-1394 connections, vastly more than the External Serial ATA (eSATA) connections you're starting to see on a few computers.
Yes, but Steve Jobs says you don't need FW anymore because all of the new cameras have USB 2. The man has spoken. From now on, there will only be FW on pro desktops and notebooks.
But define "new camera." If you're talking digital still camera, you don't need more than USB 2.0 anyway unless you're talking seriously high-end, multi-thousand dollar digital SLR's from Canon and Nikon. Besides, with many new computers, they have built-in memory card readers, which makes this whole point superfluous.
But many external hard drives still sport IEEE-1394 ports, and since a lot of new computers already have the IEEE-1394 port installed, there's still a valid use for IEEE-1394 ports for fast backup of data from computer hard drive to external hard drive.
They better announce it soon enough before Christmas so that I have time to ask Santa for one!
Lol Santa is going to have to splash out a lot of money to get one of those...oh wait he makes them in his workshop lol. Apple should sue him for using their designs lol.
I am really stuck on this. Not that I am looking at an iMac (I'm waiting for the Mini to be updated
) but it is really a difficult one to predict. Notebooks are smaller, have different constraints compared to a desktop. My initial thoughts were that they would drop it off the lower end 20" models (as someone else has pointed out) and keep it on the 24". But the problem I have with that is that it complicates things. Wouldn't this create problems with the manufacturing? Unless they were to somehow just use a USB port in place of the Firewire???Any thoughts on this?
I'm just quoting what his reasoning is regarding his decision to remove FW from the MB. I, in no way agree with him. If this is his logic, then why should any consumer Mac have FW. Besides, there are a lot of cheap PC's with FW. Surely the talented designers/engineers at Apple could have fit in one FW port if they really wanted to.
I think the gap between the 20" iMac and the 24" iMac will only increase.
20" 24"
No Firewire Firewire
Dual-core Quad-core (2009/2010)
9400 GPU 9600 GPU (9800 BTO)
I think the 20" iMac will be the desktop version of the MacBook while the 24" iMac will be the desktop version of the MacBook Pro.
I think the 20" iMac will be the desktop version of the MacBook while the 24" iMac will be the desktop version of the MacBook Pro.[/QUOTE]
Good idea.
Good idea.
My iMac G5 is getting painfully slow, and makes a lot of noise when it is running now, I think something is going to fail before it turns 5.
I am ready to get a new iMac any time now, unfortunately, I know that there is a next gen processor coming from Intel that is supposed to be substantially faster. It would be really hard to overlook the major update coming and buy a new iMac with only a minor update before christmas. Besides, if I wait until Snow Leopard is released, I won't have to pay for that update either.
The new iMacs are exponentially better than the old G5 though, I hope my patience holds out, everytime I play around with the new iMacs I'm amazed at how fast and smooth they are when operating.
I am ready to get a new iMac any time now, unfortunately, I know that there is a next gen processor coming from Intel that is supposed to be substantially faster. It would be really hard to overlook the major update coming and buy a new iMac with only a minor update before christmas. Besides, if I wait until Snow Leopard is released, I won't have to pay for that update either.
The new iMacs are exponentially better than the old G5 though, I hope my patience holds out, everytime I play around with the new iMacs I'm amazed at how fast and smooth they are when operating.
Who needs it, right?
Interesting...so you think all of the many MacBooks and iBooks that have had Firewire had problems with power and this was due to the existence of the FW port, and that there was no space for them on those motherboards? I don't recall haven't heard anything about this "problem" on past models. Even Jobs himself fails to mention this as a reason: He just falsely claims that all video cameras are USB 2.0 now. (Well, after this little trick, and the upcoming withdraw of FW on the iMac, this may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Get used to dropped frames and ridiculously slow editing of HD video---USB 2.0 isn't even all that great for SD on a MiniDV cam, much less for HD. Apple should be pushing for FW3200 or FW1600 not dropping FW where they think they get a chance).
I think Apple knows this but has decided that the consumer interest in editing movies has passed. Witness what a piece of poo iMove 08 is compared to its far more capable prior release. Slightly "simpler" at the expense of making it almost useless for all but the most trivial purposes. I think Apple has decided the "pro" video editor types will pay for a more expensive computer with FW and will pay for better software like Final Cut. Dropping the low end solutions pushes those doggies towards the new target demographics. Apple has also said DVD is dead. For everyone else, well, USB 2.0 is "good enough", because when you are streaming your YouTube video, it will look so bad compared to your old iMove 06 edited DVD that a few dropped frames is going to be the least of your worries. Oh yeah, Blu ray isn't just dead, it was still born. So saith Jobs, all hail his wisdom.
Interesting...so you think all of the many MacBooks and iBooks that have had Firewire had problems with power and this was due to the existence of the FW port, and that there was no space for them on those motherboards? I don't recall haven't heard anything about this "problem" on past models. Even Jobs himself fails to mention this as a reason: He just falsely claims that all video cameras are USB 2.0 now. (Well, after this little trick, and the upcoming withdraw of FW on the iMac, this may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Get used to dropped frames and ridiculously slow editing of HD video---USB 2.0 isn't even all that great for SD on a MiniDV cam, much less for HD. Apple should be pushing for FW3200 or FW1600 not dropping FW where they think they get a chance).
I think Apple knows this but has decided that the consumer interest in editing movies has passed. Witness what a piece of poo iMove 08 is compared to its far more capable prior release. Slightly "simpler" at the expense of making it almost useless for all but the most trivial purposes. I think Apple has decided the "pro" video editor types will pay for a more expensive computer with FW and will pay for better software like Final Cut. Dropping the low end solutions pushes those doggies towards the new target demographics. Apple has also said DVD is dead. For everyone else, well, USB 2.0 is "good enough", because when you are streaming your YouTube video, it will look so bad compared to your old iMove 06 edited DVD that a few dropped frames is going to be the least of your worries. Oh yeah, Blu ray isn't just dead, it was still born. So saith Jobs, all hail his wisdom.
I've never heard of any problems with FireWire on Mac laptops. Care to enlighten me?
i still don't understand the appeal of an imac....
mac pro yes...but imac...
how is it a better choice over a notebook?
it basically has the same hardware as the notebooks...
im assuming its for people who want less mobility
less $$$, bigger screen
While I do have some hopes of using GPUs for more general purpose computing lets not get to ahead of ourselves.
A nVidia iMac would more then likely have the 9400M G as the chipset and then another discrete solution alongside that. I doubt you'd have the 9400M G as video option though.
Steve Jobs mention the using the GPU as a general processor and people suddenly think it's new.
ATI, Intel, and nVidia have all jumped on bandwagon pushing GPGPUs for quite some time now. I've been folding@home on my GPU since last year.
On the contrary. Apple has included integrated graphics in the iMac before. I think it'd be a great idea for them to bring back the affordable iMac since Apple's recent choice of integrated graphics was a pretty good one.
I was tossing around the idea of a sub-$1,000 ($999.00) 9400M G iMac. It's possible but I have my own doubts.
If they took FireWire off iMacs, how would people use Time Machine? I believe that you have to use FW for the external drive that you use for Time Machine. If I had to buy a time capsule with my new iMac, I would probably just stop using TM and back up using something I already have through USB.
what is the chance of 17" iMac white reappearing with the specs of MacBook white?
may be priced @ $799 or $899?
may be priced @ $799 or $899?
I know...........
I hear you mate, mine arrives today! I ordered it over a week ago...
I hear you mate, mine arrives today! I ordered it over a week ago...