Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Low-Cost iMac Nearly 50% Slower in Multi-Core, 10% Slower in Single-Core Benchmarks
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There is plenty need for a multi-core processor. There are a number of processes happening in the background. Multi-core really is kind of a big deal.
Wise? Really?
"Wise to their tactics" as in PC marketshare dropping year over year while Apple's marketshare increases, not accounting for iPad sales?
"Wise to their tactics" as in PC marketshare dropping year over year while Apple's marketshare increases, not accounting for iPad sales?
We (a school) are about to buy 64 iMacs this week, we might now go for the entry model instead but upgrade it to the 256GB SSD, so its still cheaper than the previous entry iMac and we get the SSD performance, any modern intel CPU should be good enough for our tasks, and we have Macbook Airs 2013 models and the CPU is not an issue in those, the SSD makes them very snappy and responsive.
As for iPads , schools are buying them, not so much chromebooks, at least in the schools i work in and speak to.
Watching this, as stupid as it sounds, made me sad for a number of reasons. Firstly that Steve jobs is gone of coarse. But second that Tim cook seems to be undoing some of what made apple what it was. It may be too soon to say that Tim cook is going to bring apple to the same low margin mass market share as Microsoft. But there are always those first steps to a company going in the wrong direction, and if years from now we are looking at a different company than what we grew up with that has fallen from what it once was and that cares more about being cheap than quality, then stuff like this will be seen as the first steps towards that direction.
I know. Tell me I'm being dramatic! We can reconvene in 6 years and either talk about how great apple is or how they are the company that lost its values and became like everyone else
Absolutely pointless machine. I feel like Apple is targeting the retards who buy computers. This should not be $1,099. This should be $899.
Or use the old iMac base 21.5 inch model and change the body to a cheaper plastic like they did with the iPhone 5C.
Apple really dropped the ball on this new "low-cost" iMac. I hope it fails and they remove it.
Or use the old iMac base 21.5 inch model and change the body to a cheaper plastic like they did with the iPhone 5C.
Apple really dropped the ball on this new "low-cost" iMac. I hope it fails and they remove it.
9x! Apple advertises its PCIe SSD as 9 times faster than a 5400rpm HDD. The MacBook Air runs circles around this iMac. Not only price-wise also performance-wise, this isn't a 2014 entry-level desktop. If only it had a Fusion Drive.
You are overlooking the obvious. I'm sure with this new chip the iMac has fantastic battery life
.Perfect video response. I remember this video from years ago. It was what Apple stood for. High quality computers from the inside-out. Tim Cook just did this AND he was right next to Jobs during this!
I have a couple IT friends working at different districts. They all say google is making a big push to rule education. They have windows machines to run some programs for 3d printers etc but for most of the time chromebooks work and are taking over the classroom.
This iMac will do everything that a vast majority of people need it to do. Yes, even with an HDD. The majority of people that buy this machine will be coming from an older and slower computer, so it's going to be a noticeable step up in terms of speed for them. They're not going to be coming from a faster iMac, which is what most people are comparing it to. It's a great entry-level first Mac for people. If the 2014 MBA is good enough for as many hardcore Mac owners as it is, then certainly similar hardware with an HDD will be fine for most people that just want a nice computer.
The amount of outrage over this machine is absolutely ridiculous. I don't recall the part of this press release where they said that Apple employees will go door-to-door to current Mac owners and threaten our lives if we don't buy the new iMac. If you don't think this machine is a good deal... don't buy it. This is entry level hardware, and entry level hardware is not designed to appeal to people like us that frequent forums dedicated to Apple products.
For those of you that don't think this is very "Apple-like", I'm not sure what company you're thinking of.
The amount of outrage over this machine is absolutely ridiculous. I don't recall the part of this press release where they said that Apple employees will go door-to-door to current Mac owners and threaten our lives if we don't buy the new iMac. If you don't think this machine is a good deal... don't buy it. This is entry level hardware, and entry level hardware is not designed to appeal to people like us that frequent forums dedicated to Apple products.
For those of you that don't think this is very "Apple-like", I'm not sure what company you're thinking of.
I'm not going to defend this computer or its price, but OTOH I've never liked comparisons such as yours. Comparing a sales or refurb price to an MSRP price is inherently unfair except for people who need a computer immediately, because eventually this model will also have sales and refurb prices.
It reminds me of the people who say that Dell is way better than Apple for a comparable computer and then describe how they got their Dell during some annual back-to-school sale and combined it with an online coupon code from slickdeals that wasn't supposed to combine but it worked online anyway, and they happened to buy it for that two hour window when there was a web site price mistake for this one exact model that one time on August 23rd around 3:42 AM, and oh yeah, Discover card was running a 5% cashback promotion for computer purchases made in August. Then they compare that to Apple's MSRP + tax.
Wow that turned into a big rant! Sorry.
I agree that this would be a fine machine if it had an SSD.
The problem is that it's difficult to change the HDD in an iMac, because it's glued (not screwed) together. Needs specialised tools and takes hours, even if you're quite experienced with this sort of thing.
Keep in mind that Apple just raised the price $100 a few years ago. The entry level iMac used to cost $1,199 and was priced that way for many years. The new $1,299 pricing structure is actually more expensive than it used to be.
I realize this doesn't take into account upgrades to different internal components; I'm just saying, if they're trying to appeal strictly by price, they have a really odd strategy.
I agree with many others that it should be $999, if not $899. Apple's pricing for iPhone and iPad seem to be more manageable, but their strategy for desktops has always been a bit odd.
I realize this doesn't take into account upgrades to different internal components; I'm just saying, if they're trying to appeal strictly by price, they have a really odd strategy.
I agree with many others that it should be $999, if not $899. Apple's pricing for iPhone and iPad seem to be more manageable, but their strategy for desktops has always been a bit odd.
That's typical
Apple doesn't want you to cheap out and buy the cheapest iMac and expect no compromise. Apple strategically sets the features and performance of absolutely every model so that you are always encouraged to "want more" and then pay for more. Not happy with 40% slower, buy the "new" faster (used to be entry level) iMac for $200 more, and if you are going to spend $200, why not spend $400 and get an iMac with dedicated GPU. Then why not spend a few hundred more and get a 27" screen?
You are never going to get value from Apple, but the remorse of not spending just a few hundred more for something slightly better.
Apple doesn't want you to cheap out and buy the cheapest iMac and expect no compromise. Apple strategically sets the features and performance of absolutely every model so that you are always encouraged to "want more" and then pay for more. Not happy with 40% slower, buy the "new" faster (used to be entry level) iMac for $200 more, and if you are going to spend $200, why not spend $400 and get an iMac with dedicated GPU. Then why not spend a few hundred more and get a 27" screen?
You are never going to get value from Apple, but the remorse of not spending just a few hundred more for something slightly better.
I'm thinking that these are going to end up in computer clusters in schools where they will be used by the philosophy majors to write papers. Speed will be pointless. Also it will end up in shops, like a boutique, where the shop owner wants something nice looking, but isn't doing much more than using it as a cash register and a place to record sales. I'd put it on the desk of a receptionist as well to class up the waiting room.
I would not buy this for a home personal computer though. Well, maybe for a grandma who is just surfing the web and checking email. But I'd still hesitate on that.
"We don't ship junk" - Steve Jobs
What you said is mostly true, but this is the wrong way to go around it. This is borderline criminal (yes, I'm being sarcastic)! But this machine at THIS PRICE is a horrible, horrible deal. And quite frankly, is JUNK.
They could of released a better computer or at least had this computer start at $899-$999. This is the same processor as the current MBA "11 inch... terrible.