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Sandy Bridge iMacs Due Next Week

Dr. Echsel said:
I've been waiting to buy my first Mac desktop for some time now... and an i7 SB iMac should last me through college :D
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desktop is good for power, it will lose its resale value. if you are not moving around much or no plan upgrading for 3 years then it is good

otherwise MacBook/Pro + Monitor is win!
 
e-coli said:
Curious that everyone is clamoring for a thunderbolt-enabled machine, but there isn't a single thunderbolt drive available on the market.

I guess some people just need to feel like they have new stuff even if it's totally pointless.
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Pointless? If you are about to upgrade soon anyway ... and we all know TB peripherals are coming soon ... why on earth would you want an iMac without TB? Even if you had to wait a few months for an external drive with TB surely that's far better than buying an iMac a few weeks too early without it and not having the ability till your next update which may be 3 years away. Plus remember, a lot of people use these machines for their digital business and TB will be an awesome, must have for HD Video etc. over the next few years.
 
e-coli said:
Curious that everyone is clamoring for a thunderbolt-enabled machine, but there isn't a single thunderbolt drive available on the market.

I guess some people just need to feel like they have new stuff even if it's totally pointless.
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Everybody said that to Nikola Tesla when he introduced the AC... It's new, and we have to redesign everything now, and Edison is gonna lose all his investments oh my god! We can't do that!

A century later...
 
Primejimbo said:
Weren't they just updated in October? Yes it may be closer, but not for a while yet considering the last update was over a year. :rolleyes:
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the sandy bridget turbo boost will give good CPU performance upgrade from current MBA

but with lower GPU performance

mostly more battery life also, so it is due for refresh as well, MBA is currently selling well, so will receive a nice upgrade cycle compared to the old MBAs cycles (one year minimum)
 
mdntcallr said:
yes, new imac's will come, but sadly the will probably come without:
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1- Matte screen option (Isn't there an aftermarket for this?)
2- USB 3 (Nah)
3- Blu-Ray (Not a chance: BluRay is in a body bag waiting to be zipped in about 3 or 4 years)
 
e-coli said:
Curious that everyone is clamoring for a thunderbolt-enabled machine, but there isn't a single thunderbolt drive available on the market.

I guess some people just need to feel like they have new stuff even if it's totally pointless.
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You bring a good point... I thought there were thunderbolt drives...
 
For the Thunderbolt external drive discussion. What's the point of a fast connection on a rotational HDD and especially if the connection from the primary source (internal HDD) is slower than the external interface?
 
Lesser Evets said:
3- Blu-Ray (Not a chance: BluRay is in a body bag waiting to be zipped in about 3 or 4 years)
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:eek: How in the world can you make that statement? My 50gb Blu-Ray discs would disagree with you.

I have well over 200 Blu-Ray discs. Let's assume that each disc is a single layer (25GB) disc and that they only have one disc in each case, no bonus discs no behind the sceens.... I'd need 5TB of storage to keep the quality as good as it is sitting on the disc.

You'd be on something hard to think internet infrastructure could handle the digital distribution of all these movies on top of current expanding internet traffic.
 
can't wait till people start geekbenching these things, and we get the comments of... 'WOW, THIS THING BEATS MY 2010 MAC PRO'.
gonna be very exciting indeed!
 
Drag'nGT said:
:eek: How in the world can you make that statement? My 50gb Blu-Ray discs would disagree with you.
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I understand where you are coming from. With your feet planted in 2011, set in concrete, unable to fathom future developments based on the experimental or high-end tech of the day, the Blu-Ray seems endlessly of value. Much like the tape reels of the 60s.

The BluRay is going away for one very specific reason: mechanical. By 2016 the flash memory chips for 50gb will probably be so everyday and cheap that bulky, mechanical BluRay will seem awkward. By 2019 I'd bet you can store several times more than a BluRay on medium-priced thumb-drive.

Proof? Look back 6 years when a 1gb thumb-drive was a huge chunk of cash. Look back 10 years when a 512MB thumb-drive was almost prohibitive to buy. The future is non-mechanical.
 
Lesser Evets said:
I understand where you are coming from. With your feet planted in 2011, set in concrete, unable to fathom future developments based on the experimental or high-end tech of the day, the Blu-Ray seems endlessly of value. Much like the tape reels of the 60s.

The BluRay is going away for one very specific reason: mechanical. By 2016 the flash memory chips for 50gb will probably be so everyday and cheap that bulky, mechanical BluRay will seem awkward. By 2019 I'd bet you can store several times more than a BluRay on medium-priced thumb-drive.

Proof? Look back 6 years when a 1gb thumb-drive was a huge chunk of cash. Look back 10 years when a 512MB thumb-drive was almost prohibitive to buy. The future is non-mechanical.
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perhaps, don't take it the wrong way but when people buy machines today, they also intend to use it for all the days leading up to the point where you can get 1 TB flashdrives for a few bucks.
 
mdntcallr said:
yes, new imac's will come, but sadly the will probably come without:

1- Matte screen option
2- USB 3
3- Blu-Ray

apple will just give consumers part of the options they want.
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"You'll get NOTHING and like it" ............ Rodney Dangerfield
 
wywern209 said:
perhaps, don't take it the wrong way but when people buy machines today, they also intend to use it for all the days leading up to the point where you can get 1 TB flashdrives for a few bucks.
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True, but the BluRay market isn't a runaway success. If I didn't have it in my PS3 I'd never have one. Nice, not necessary. With all the programming and money toward the Sony owned rights, etc., the tech isn't worth it in a computer except to a small percentage. Apple sat on their hands long enough that 2005 super-tech looks a little plain. If they waited this long, why put energy and profits down the tubes for a soon-fading tech?

BluRay in Apple--hold your breath at your own risk.
 
TC400 said:
Still loving my 21.5 inch i3 iMac.
I am hoping it gets a chassis redesign though.
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I'm still loving mine too :) I did, however, just put it up for sale on CL though. Just to see if I get any bites. I'm not going to worry if I do or don't sell it though. It's still an amazing machine
 
Lesser Evets said:
I understand where you are coming from. With your feet planted in 2011, set in concrete, unable to fathom future developments based on the experimental or high-end tech of the day, the Blu-Ray seems endlessly of value. Much like the tape reels of the 60s.

The BluRay is going away for one very specific reason: mechanical. By 2016 the flash memory chips for 50gb will probably be so everyday and cheap that bulky, mechanical BluRay will seem awkward. By 2019 I'd bet you can store several times more than a BluRay on medium-priced thumb-drive.

Proof? Look back 6 years when a 1gb thumb-drive was a huge chunk of cash. Look back 10 years when a 512MB thumb-drive was almost prohibitive to buy. The future is non-mechanical.
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You are also stuck in current times. Physical media will be dead by then, everything is going to be cloud based, there will be no such thing as a physical copy of movies any more :)
 
If I could, I would get rid of my mbp+acd for an iMac. Don't know why. Maybe I'm just restless.
 
e-coli said:
Curious that everyone is clamoring for a thunderbolt-enabled machine, but there isn't a single thunderbolt drive available on the market.

I guess some people just need to feel like they have new stuff even if it's totally pointless.
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Chicken or the egg e-coli. Something has to come first. When considering the purchase of a machine you'll have around for 3-4 years why wouldn't you be eager to have the forward-looking port instead of not having it?

I taught a 5-day class to Microsoft employees when Windows 98 was close to release, for people who'd be supporting it. It was the first time many people had heard of USB, and there were almost no devices to show people. In fact the only one I remember was the Cherry keyboard.

Anyway, I can see why people who've been able to delay their purchase time-frame long enough are "excited" - because by waiting a few weeks or months they'll be more current and better equipped for years.
 
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TC400 said:
I seen it as more of a mid model refresh.
TECHNICALLY been the same since 2008.
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The fall 2009 refresh was a big redesign. The displays were all different sizes, 21.5 and 27" and went edge to edge. This was the first time since moving to Intel that the iMacs had desktop processors instead of the previous mobile chips. It was not a trivial redesign which is why it's unlikely there will be much different about this year's updates other than ports, processors, and storage upgrades.
 
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