Potential iMac Update to Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt in 4-6 Weeks?

[Sensamic]

Sooner or later the USB 2.0 ports on every Mac will be upgraded to USB 3.0, because its nature. They cant stay with USB 2.0 for the next 10 years, for example. Printers and small drives and other devices will use USB 3.0. Apple knows they will have to add them because if they dont MANY MANY people wont buy Macs, because it could be difficult to find thunderbolt devices or because most of their devices already use USB 3.0.

 

[systole]

Wait till Lion

For those mentioning the mini...
I would speculate that the release would be around the release of Lion. Lion for the first time is supposed to have the apps usually reserved for OSX server on the vanilla OSX release. The mac mini is already offered as a server variant so...

Think 'bout it.

No - ThunderPort will be too expensive. And USB 3.0 will destroy the last bits of firewire that USB 2.0 didn't kill.

My guess is that the most popular ThunderPort peripheral will be a small hub with four port-multiplier capable eSATA ports and six USB 3.0 ports.

At the high end, there will be ThunderPort RAID devices and professional A/D gear - but ThunderPort disks will be too expensive for the common folks.

Ditto on the prognosis for Thunderbolt. The real cost is it's optical roots and protocol independence. Think ethernet back in the ip/appletalk/ipx days.

 

[sasasule]

At the high end, there will be ThunderPort RAID devices and professional A/D gear - but ThunderPort disks will be too expensive for the common folks.

There is already Pegasus Storage from Promise.
Thing is Intel still not alow to almost anyone except some high tiear partners to get pcs of this technology...that is only reason why there is no more devices out there...or at list rumors.
Computex will be first exibition show that actualy will show some of units that are TB ready.

if you want to get max from TB then SSD or SAS drives will be needed to reduce botleneck in transfer speed. If we want high capacity drives atm raptors are one way to go but even with raptors you get max theoreticly:
Maximum external transfer rate: 150MB/s
Maximum internal transfer rate: 84MB/s

 

[AidenShaw]

"will be" is correct

There is already Pegasus Storage from Promise.

Pegasus has been announced, but not released.

if you want to get max from Thunderbolt then SSD or SAS drives will be needed to reduce bottleneck in transfer speed....

For most people, there won't be any need to "get the max". It's a big improvement for Apples that external drives can be as fast as internal drives - and that you can have a lot of them. Also a big improvement that laptops and all-in-ones can have flexible expansion.

 

[Freis968]

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Please bring back the 24"! 21" - too small. 27" - too big. 24" - just right!

I'm sticking with my 24" Core2Duo until a new 24" model is released.

I agree, I loved my 24" and I think that is the best size for me. I have gotten used to my 27" but would sell it in a heartbeat if they came out with a 24" with thunderbolt.

 

[frankk]

Ssd

What is the advice from owners of iMacs with SSD drives? If the 24" comes out with a SSD option (what I'm hoping for), is this the option i should go for?

 

[AidenShaw]

willy-wavers must have SSD - for the rest of us, it's more complicated

What is the advice from owners of iMacs with SSD drives? If the 24" comes out with a SSD option (what I'm hoping for), is this the option i should go for?

SSD translates to "fast disks, but small and expensive". Spinning hard drives are "not as fast, but big and cheap".

If you have little data and lots of money, go with SSD (or if you have lots of data and lots of money, go with SSD and count on buying a bunch of slow external disks, along with their cables and wall-warts).

If you have a modest amount of data, and would prefer a clean solution rather than one that's occasionally "snappier" - a big spinning HD is better.

How important is it to you if the system takes 30 seconds longer to boot every few days or weeks?

 

[Freis968]

Removed

 

[frankk]

Ssd

How important is it to you if the system takes 30 seconds longer to boot every few days or weeks?

Good point, if the benefits are really just booting up then it's hard to justify. But if overall performance is snappier I could be tempted. It'll be to replace a MacBook Pro currently used 95% as a desktop. My iPad pretty much gives me all the portability I need, so I'm excited to get my first Mac desktop. I don't think size is really an issue, the MacBook Pro is 120G, so a 256GB SSD would keep me in business. I just gotta work out whether to pay the extra $AU800 or so for the SSD. Probably a luxury I don't need. Then again, the iPad was a luxury I didn't need, but have zero regrets.

 

[AidenShaw]

or hybrid

Good point, if the benefits are really just booting up then it's hard to justify. But if overall performance is snappier I could be tempted. It'll be to replace a MacBook Pro currently used 95% as a desktop. My iPad pretty much gives me all the portability I need, so I'm excited to get my first Mac desktop. I don't think size is really an issue, the MacBook Pro is 120G, so a 256GB SSD would keep me in business. I just gotta work out whether to pay the extra $AU800 or so for the SSD. Probably a luxury I don't need. Then again, the iPad was a luxury I didn't need, but have zero regrets.

The SSD would definitely be snappier - but if your stuff won't fit on it "snappier" it may not be worth the hassle and clutter of external disks.

Saving small fractions of a second here and there won't change your life much.

If you're considering exchanging the factory disk, also consider a Seagate Momentus XT. That's available as a 500 GB drive that has a 4 GB very fast SSD cache. The drive learns, and moves frequently accessed system and application files to the cache. It's much "snappier" than a normal hard drive, and much cheaper and bigger than an SSD. (500 GB is $100 at Newegg)

For "super snappy", though, go for lots of RAM. An extra 4 or 8 GiB won't be "wasted" - the system will cache recently used files in memory. A cached file can be accessed at 90 Gbps or more - far faster than an SSD.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Sooner or later the USB 2.0 ports on every Mac will be upgraded to USB 3.0, because its nature. They cant stay with USB 2.0 for the next 10 years, for example.

Why not? They've stuck with Superdrives. What an oxymoron.

 

[umbilical]

and remember NO BLU RAY DRIVE ... apple wants that people buy shittty "hd" movies in apple store.

I dont know if change my macpro '08 2x2.8 for a new imac mmm

I think that buy a new mac pro 2x2.4 is really stupid waste of money

is a lot difference between my 2x2.8 and the new mac 2x2.4 mac pro?

I want how looks the new mac pro, new design?

 

[spydr]

How are you MBP owners liking your Thunderbolt port? Do you feel like someone with a DVD disk in 1975?

LOL!

Hopefully for not more than another couple months.

 

[wolfsokta]

The built-in optical drive on my iMac seems broken too, keeps spitting out disks!

Looking forward to the new models!

My 3 year old macbook was doing that too until I cleaned off the laser lens with some rubbing alcohol. Now it works like a charm again.

 

[iamgordo]

question on shipping of imacs

Does anyone know where these new IMACS are being shipped from? Where are they assembled?

my concern: if they are assembled in Japan, where in Japan and should any radiation be a concern?

 

[ogee]

In China, and no to the radiation concerns.

 

[LarryC]

The SSD would definitely be snappier - but if your stuff won't fit on it "snappier" it may not be worth the hassle and clutter of external disks.

Saving small fractions of a second here and there won't change your life much.

If you're considering exchanging the factory disk, also consider a Seagate Momentus XT. That's available as a 500 GB drive that has a 4 GB very fast SSD cache. The drive learns, and moves frequently accessed system and application files to the cache. It's much "snappier" than a normal hard drive, and much cheaper and bigger than an SSD. (500 GB is $100 at Newegg)

For "super snappy", though, go for lots of RAM. An extra 4 or 8 GiB won't be "wasted" - the system will cache recently used files in memory. A cached file can be accessed at 90 Gbps or more - far faster than an SSD.

I know that there are supposedly advantages to these SSD drives, but I just can't see paying that much money for that little bit of storage space. Especially when 2TB hard drives are so reasonably priced these days. Maybe in a few years when the size goes up a lot and the price comes down a lot. I am using an old G4 running at 1.42GHz and I don't really do much on my computer that causes me to sit and wait now. I just don't understand so many people acting as though they want apple to totally ditch the traditional HD's now.

 

[twoodcc]

sounds good. sandy bridge should be a nice power increase. and thunderbolt should be good also. looking forward to it!

 

[mysmin]

I wanted to get a 15" MBP, but more and more they look like bags of hurt

Maybe imac is the way to go

My thoughts exactly. Big bag of hurt.
I just returned my second 2011 17"MBP within two weeks.
Both suffered from hard drive freeze that needed to be powered off to reboot, sleep disorders and overheating when nothing is even running. This all happened straight out of the box on the very first day of use.
Read that a teardown discovered thermal paste was sloppily applied.
So disappointed. Got a refund
and decided to do the iMac...just waiting for the next release.
Hope the same sloppy workmanship doesn't show up in the new iMacs.

Was considering MacPro, but it's overkill and much too expensive with that $999 monitor.

 

[Kristenn]

Why not? They've stuck with Superdrives. What an oxymoron.

No, it isn't. The SuperDrive has nothing to do with the motherboard in the sense that Intel will want to stop supplying USB 2.0. They will have to move to USB 3.0 just like they are having to move away from Core2Duo.

Someone can feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong. It wont be expected by all customers but those MOBO manufacturers are going to be selling USB 3.0 boards, period. The SuperDrive just plugs in and can be taken out and replaced with a Blu-Ray.

 

[wolfsokta]

Bah! I've been waiting to get a 27" imac for months and I'm getting tired of waiting. I even built out a Dell with all the comparable components *gasp*, but I just couldn't make myself push that order button...

I've also been over the the apple store several times to drool on the current model but don't want to buy something that's going to be replaced in a month... Apple needs an obsoletion warranty, I would pay an extra 200 bucks to be able to go buy the current iMac, and then return it within 3-6 months for the newer model. Does anybody have experience buying an apple computer and then returning it for the new model that came out a few weeks later? How amiable are the stores to allowing that?

 

[Headshots01]

I feel what your saying on the waiting game.

I've been saving and waiting and just using my Dell xps m1730 but it died on the weekend and I'm now without a computer. I don't know what to do now so any advice you all could give me would be appreciated. Should I wait for the iMac refresh and suffer without a computer for the next month or so or should I go out and buy either the current 27 inch iMac or get a 17 inch Mac book pro.

I'll be using it for a multitude of tasks including your typical web browsing, email etc but I'll also will be doing some video editing and I'd like to be able to play some games via bootcamp/windows 7. Games such a Rift and the new Star Wars mmo coming out.

 

[MoziFox]

Bah! I've been waiting to get a 27" imac for months and I'm getting tired of waiting. I even built out a Dell with all the comparable components *gasp*, but I just couldn't make myself push that order button...

I've also been over the the apple store several times to drool on the current model but don't want to buy something that's going to be replaced in a month... Apple needs an obsoletion warranty, I would pay an extra 200 bucks to be able to go buy the current iMac, and then return it within 3-6 months for the newer model. Does anybody have experience buying an apple computer and then returning it for the new model that came out a few weeks later? How amiable are the stores to allowing that?

The Mac stores used to offer to replace your machine if a new model came out within 14 days. However, I do not know how widespread or even if this practice is still occurring.

 

[MoziFox]

Please hurry!

Dear Apple:

Please hurry with the new imac update! I will not buy one till they come out!

 

[derbothaus]

and remember NO BLU RAY DRIVE ... apple wants that people buy shittty "hd" movies in apple store.

Apple doesn't want to pay the royalty fees and take protective implementations required. You can always buy a BR drive and boot to Win. Also most Blue-Ray titles are still wanky hollywood crap for high schoolers.