um. there is no gap. the iMac sits between the mini and the macpro. for the MAJORITY of people the imac is a great machine to surf, email, make home movies, blogs yada yada yada. they come with displays up to 23".
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Report: Mac Pro To See Redesign
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um. there is no gap. the iMac sits between the mini and the macpro. for the MAJORITY of people the imac is a great machine to surf, email, make home movies, blogs yada yada yada. they come with displays up to 23".
iMac: Dual core, low power (35W), Merom compatible chipset. This means it's comparatively slow; 667MHz bus, max of 2.33 GHz, expensive parts despite lack of speed.
Mac Pro: Soon to be 8-core. Huge power requirements (250ish Watts). Woodcrest/Clovertown compatible chipset. This means very fast bus, lots of fast cores, either 4x 3Ghz or 8x 2.67Ghz. Very expensive parts, cannot use normal RAM, only super expensive ECC.
Mid range tower: Dual or quad core, mid to high power requirements (65-130ish Watts) Conroe/Kentsfield compatible chipset. This means very fast bus speeds, and a few extremely fast cores 2x 3.2Ghz or 4x 2.67Ghz. Very cheap parts. If I remember, a 2.4Ghz Conroe is roughly half the cost of a 2.33Ghz Merom. Cheaper CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc than either Merom or Woodie compatible chipsets.
So... Mid range mac would be cheap. Very cheap. Much cheaper than an iMac, which should enable Apple to put in a better CPU, and would also enable the use of a really decent graphics card. If the rumours are true, and Apple will use their custom cooled X2800XTX GPUs, there would be every likelyhood one (or two, as the rumour also states) would find its way into a mini tower. Personally, I still think we will have to wait at least until Penryn to see the mini tower, if not Nehalem.
You are wrong, there is a gap that iMac cant fill and thats a Pc user base with billions of monitors. Millions & Millions of just fine and large screens. Imac kills off that segment by the millions. A huge hole in Apples line up and its created by iMac,not fixed with iMac.
I fully agree there. While still nice looking, the design is starting to get old and is no-longer "amazing" or "impressive" and is less and less appealing to me. Hopefully a nice redesign is coming.
I've seen enough polycarbonate plastic to last a lifetime. I'm tired of that delicate finish. Everything I've owned with that finish looks abused the first time you touch it.
Even the iMac G5 had tons of scratches all over it's face within days. Just setting it down left a permanent thumb print in the plastic glossy finish.
Personally, I'd rather see more beige boxes like the old systems than a single new polycarbonate plastic system.
Lets get back to durable products. Shiny is less important than durable. Let's make it durable first, then pretty.
I like my big honkin aluminum box, but a redesign would be interesting. Top ventilation though? With my habit of stacking stuff atop the machine (surely others do this?!), I don't think that would work out too well.
Not to mention a direct path for dust to enter the system. Sure, the fans already pull it in. But, dust that falls onto the case is not automatically granted access into the system. With top vents, the dust would just fall in instead of just setting on the surface.
Sounds like it would need more regular cleaning to me.
Carbon Fiber.
There you go. That way when the machine is no-longer useful, I can use chunks of the case as a cutter for my dremel tool.
The ultimate in recycling. First it's a computer case. Then, you break it up, and use it as a cutting material to hack nails, screws, and other metallic objects.
All good points. Especially about crippling one machine to keep sales of another model up. The neglected and over-priced mini comes to mind there. It's much less of a bargain now than it was with it's first revision when compared to machines available at the same time and the prices being asked.
That would of course require a big keynote event
Considering how long it took to say nothing about a phone, I could only imagine he'd need a 10 day event to introduce a colored Mac Pro.
That's giving them a bit too much credit.
I suffered through 2 revisions of the iMac G5. It took more than 3 generations of that design to get the issues solved. I wouldn't assume that they'd solve heat issues with another machine before production began. With the iMac G5, they just refused to acknowledge the problem, and hoped people would quit complaining and that the warranty would run out soon.
Why does it create a hole? the imac can run one of those billions of screens.
fifty different models doesn't make it easier for people to switch, it makes it harder. as it is, you choose. if you are a basic user wanting to swich and keep your monitor, pick a mini. if you are a basic user and want a new machine, pick an imac. if you want high performance, with either a new monitor or an existing one, pick a mac pro. they all have various configuration options. remember that apple isnt trying to be everything to everyone, like microsoft and dell do. remember, a jack of all trades is usually master of none.
ill just say this
Like some others here.. I DONT CARE what it looks like, I just need them to release something. I am still using a g4. I have a huge photo job coming up real soon. Murphy's law is totally going to screw me here. I will end up HAVING to buy the current model/ ACD at full price. CS2 still will not work well with it, but i will have to use it anyway.
About 2 weeks after I have to buy it, apple will release the new goods, sending me into a rage against the machine,..,. GRRRR !
Please Mr. Jobs, Lite a fire under your ass an get moving !!!
Like some others here.. I DONT CARE what it looks like, I just need them to release something. I am still using a g4. I have a huge photo job coming up real soon. Murphy's law is totally going to screw me here. I will end up HAVING to buy the current model/ ACD at full price. CS2 still will not work well with it, but i will have to use it anyway.
About 2 weeks after I have to buy it, apple will release the new goods, sending me into a rage against the machine,..,. GRRRR !
Please Mr. Jobs, Lite a fire under your ass an get moving !!!
Wow, now that IS nice!
Im not in the market for a mac pro - but damn that would look great! I like the acrylic outershell. Much like the imac, leaving it glossy!
Also. Maybe they will exhaust the heat at the rear/top? Taking it out like an F1 Car, which uses exhuast layouts built in to the design? lol !
Im not in the market for a mac pro - but damn that would look great! I like the acrylic outershell. Much like the imac, leaving it glossy!
Also. Maybe they will exhaust the heat at the rear/top? Taking it out like an F1 Car, which uses exhuast layouts built in to the design? lol !
I am waiting with baited breath for an 8 core mac Pro - don't want to wait much longer!
my list of desires
- works horizontal & vertical - like the ps3 does
- rackmountable - but several spaces, enough that PCI cards mount vertically
(it would be fine if the rackmounting is optional - ears that screw on the ends)
- handles needed - esp if not rackmountable (rackmountable + handles)
- MORE than 3 pci express slots - I know this won't happen but I want it
- HDMI output - actually input too
- blu-ray writing drive - (combo blu-ray AND HD-dvd reader ? )
- black would be cool
my list of desires
- works horizontal & vertical - like the ps3 does
- rackmountable - but several spaces, enough that PCI cards mount vertically
(it would be fine if the rackmounting is optional - ears that screw on the ends)
- handles needed - esp if not rackmountable (rackmountable + handles)
- MORE than 3 pci express slots - I know this won't happen but I want it
- HDMI output - actually input too
- blu-ray writing drive - (combo blu-ray AND HD-dvd reader ? )
- black would be cool
I have a monitor. I don't want to buy a new one. Maybe I don't have space for two monitors on my desk, or just don't want two.
I paid 1000 for my monitor, i don't want to replace it with an inferior model with no extra inputs. I also don't want to pay a 500 premium for something i don't want nor need.
However i do want to buy a system for around the price of the iMac that is more powerful than the mini and not as powerful as the Mac Pro.
Wait i can't buy something like that from apple... there seems to be a hole in the line up for me.
I don't need 50 more models (50??) i just need 1 more model.
the imac does that but it's not really something that makes sense. just have a look at that BIG thread on "post yer setup!" and you'll see that dual screen setups with iMacs look messy and unnatural. There's not a single monitor you can buy that will look right on a desk side by side with an iMac. not even Apple Cinema Display.
Seriously, please elaborate what you need more than 3 slots for?
The Mac pci express market seems pretty dismal - unless it's extra video cards or SATA RAID you need, what would you need more expansion for?
I could also do with more than 3 slots.
I run Pro tools HD, I am doing more and more high sample rate sessions and surround mixing which uses masses of DSP. If I am running a sesion at 192kHz I promise you those surround reverbs use up most of 1 entire DSP card! I currently have 5 cards with some in an expansion chassis, but it would be great to have them all internal.
I remember the days when I had a 6 slot rack-mounted 9600...
This is due to the tiny marketshare and nothing to attract 3rd partys to the platform,,,,,but over on the Pc side of things there are all kinds of PCI cards,Video cards,Tv tuners,sound cards even physics cards and more. On the Apple side? Again this problem was of Apples doing sort of like having only 1 machine that uses a special video card(PowerMac G5) then wondering why no one makes video cards for Mac? Apple needs to start over with hardware. Dont cripple machines, instead sell to the consumer that way you dont miss sales or run off buyers like me. I really wanted a Mac this last time but I have a nice NEC display that I wasnt parting with. Apple lost a sale because Mini was kind of a joke for me and a workstation way to much.
Exactly the points they should be considering. I need a mid-range, and have no interest in the iMac with it's built-in display. Especially when you consider that I cannot even open it up and blow the dust out without risking the warranty.
The biggest problem with the iMac that I see, is that any service (no matter how minor) just about guarantees a $900 bill once the warranty runs out.
At least with the other systems, you can replace the defective component without buying a $900 all-in-one replacement part.
If there is no gap in the lineup, then explain why there exists no mac model right now that fully suits my needs?
What's wrong with apple offering more choices? What's wrong with giving people with different needs more different machines to choose from? If you don't feel the need a midrange mac tower, don't buy one if there ever exists one, but don't expect everyone to have the same computing needs like you.
I'd like to have an intel mac, and once CS3 is out I'm sure I'd greatly benefit from one, but as long as there is no attractive model for me I'm staying with my pb G4 and 21" Eizo widescreen for as long as possible.
But I'm sure there will be more crappy products like iphone and coloured shuffles and touchscreen iPods and 12" subnotebooks (my opinion) before they release some kind of useful, sub 2000 machine for graphic designers. Adobe CS doesn't need 4 cores, 2 would be enough and I'd rather pay for a faster processor and better graphics card than for the iMacs crappy monitor.
Wow, now that IS nice!
Im not in the market for a mac pro - but damn that would look great! I like the acrylic outershell. Much like the imac, leaving it glossy!
This is very cool...but must have dual optical drives and FW/USB on the front.
Why not a heat sensitive outer skin that color adapts based on the temperature.