Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I'm surprised at how short sighted some macrumors readers are. In 20-30 years every computer will in essence be a smart display. That is the direction of innovation. Like it or not. So Apple starts moving towards that and some people can't grasp it. Form is function. If you can't comprehend that, that's not Apple's fault. Get over yourselves.

----------



Thank you! I don't think some readers think past tomorrow.

Thinner is one thing, but it's only thin at the edges. IMH, they should have worked on the full area for thickness... This way, we are one step closer to a "real" thin iMac. Now, it just feels like cheating and I don't think it would help in the long run for paper thin smart displays.
 
These revised estimates appear to be only for the base models. if you requested a custom configuration like a processor upgrade, as I did, your estimate still says 2 to 3 weeks.

Just to be sure, I configured another one on the order page, and it checks out. 2-3 weeks.

Last time I custom-ordered a Mac, they turned it around in four days.
 
I think their in-store lack of availability is a major downfall for Apple. I would have bought an iPhone 5, an ipad mini, and a 27: imac over the last few months if they had been in stock when I walked into the store. We go to the mall a lot, and I am ready to impulse buy.

But time and time again they are out on display, but sold out. The staff always says to go home and order online as "its the best way". I agree with them that is is the best way...

But, Apple is about to be an online store only... and leave their walk-in stores as merely locations to "see" new stuff, and "buy" old stuff...

The newness wears off, and I am in no hurry to but any of the 3 items above that I would absolutely have had they been in stock when I went to buy each of them many times in the first few weeks of their "in store" availability...

Bummer for Apple, bummer for me. However, I think this is their long-term plan. They know what they are doing... I just wish they would not do it.

Nah, just temporary supply constraints. They want you to buy stuff in their stores, that is why the store is there. But they can't keep up with demand while also pushing the leading edge on technology. Have they stumbled? Probably a bit. And they have missed out on some sales. But they will get it together. As long as they keep making stuff that makes you want to buy, they will do great.
 
What sort of components did you spec for it? Anything interesting?

Liquid-cooled i7 3770K, 8GB of Kingston, GTX 660 Ti, 120GB SSD from Cyberpower PC. Was messing w/ the configurator to get it under $1k. I think it was good because the components itself in Newegg was a tad over $1.1k.
 
Then, without wishing to be rude, you haven't been paying attention. The vast majority of customers don't care about upgrading their PC's and haven't done for some time. The PC has become a device and that's the way it should be for the vast majority of users. If an iMac breaks you take it to the Apple store and either get it fixes under warranty, pay for a repair or buy a new one. It's time for people like us to realise that the... oh, call it 15 year spell from around 1995 to 2010 where the PC became essential but still relied on technical knowledge to work and maintain it was a blip. Computers should, dare I say, just work and require no more specialist knowledge to own than a car. Very very basic maintenance tasks are done by the owner but for anything more that dedicated service centres are used. How things work isn't really important, what it lets you do is.

Sure there will always be a small number of users who want to open their PC's up and either change or repair them on their own terms. But that's a tiny percentage of the total user base, heck even a lot of 'pro' (i.e. business) users don't do that any more with 3 or 5 year warranties being taken up instead. When it breaks outside of that it's on a replacement schedule with funds set aside in the budget for that very purpose.

On a related note I've never been able to figure out the dismissive attitude to attractive looking desktops. Sure, when I'm sitting in front of my iMac (2011 model with a new 27" on order) I can't see the sides, fair enough. But every time I stand up, every time I walk past the home office or do anything in that room that doesn't involve sitting in front of the screen the design is clearly visible. Am I buying an iMac to show off to my friends? Nope, not at all. But I am buying it (at least in part) because I like having things in my home that are well designed and in a very small way are enjoyable to look at. I've had self-built tower PC's since, yikes, 1998 and while they may give the most bang for the buck my priorities have shifted. Nowadays I'd much rather pay a little more for a great looking near-silent computer that doesn't clutter up the room. Of course I understand that others have different priorities and that's fine but I do wish that sentiment was shared a bit more than it is.

Thank you for saying. It's not that we want this to happen specifically. It's an observation. Society's relationship with traditional computer technology is changing. It always has been. And people want simplicity/minimalism and to forget about what they can. Like you said, people used to upgrade their car. Now a days, people aren't interested in that. With computers, Apple is fulfilling that need. I say time and time again: in 50 years all computers will be, in essence, a smart display. The iMac (or all in one genre) is a move in that direction. And all I hear is people complain.
 
Liquid-cooled i7 3770K, 8GB of Kingston, GTX 660 Ti, 120GB SSD from Cyberpower PC. Was messing w/ the configurator to get it under $1k. I think it was good because the components itself in Newegg was a tad over $1.1k.

That should be great.

Apple makes nothing like it, even at twice the price.
 
Then, without wishing to be rude, you haven't been paying attention. The vast majority of customers don't care about upgrading their PC's and haven't done for some time. The PC has become a device and that's the way it should be for the vast majority of users. If an iMac breaks you take it to the Apple store and either get it fixes under warranty, pay for a repair or buy a new one. It's time for people like us to realise that the... oh, call it 15 year spell from around 1995 to 2010 where the PC became essential but still relied on technical knowledge to work and maintain it was a blip. Computers should, dare I say, just work and require no more specialist knowledge to own than a car. Very very basic maintenance tasks are done by the owner but for anything more that dedicated service centres are used. How things work isn't really important, what it lets you do is.

Sure there will always be a small number of users who want to open their PC's up and either change or repair them on their own terms. But that's a tiny percentage of the total user base, heck even a lot of 'pro' (i.e. business) users don't do that any more with 3 or 5 year warranties being taken up instead. When it breaks outside of that it's on a replacement schedule with funds set aside in the budget for that very purpose.

On a related note I've never been able to figure out the dismissive attitude to attractive looking desktops. Sure, when I'm sitting in front of my iMac (2011 model with a new 27" on order) I can't see the sides, fair enough. But every time I stand up, every time I walk past the home office or do anything in that room that doesn't involve sitting in front of the screen the design is clearly visible. Am I buying an iMac to show off to my friends? Nope, not at all. But I am buying it (at least in part) because I like having things in my home that are well designed and in a very small way are enjoyable to look at. I've had self-built tower PC's since, yikes, 1998 and while they may give the most bang for the buck my priorities have shifted. Nowadays I'd much rather pay a little more for a great looking near-silent computer that doesn't clutter up the room. Of course I understand that others have different priorities and that's fine but I do wish that sentiment was shared a bit more than it is.

Very well said!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN32E...&qid=1362306292&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+HD+TV

A really beatiful and amazing display, I use it with my rmbp and i plan to use it with my mac mini (base model) :apple:

----------

Also I do not understand what is the use of a retina display or a TBD when there is almost no content for such a display, I would rather just save 500$ and get a full HD 1080p Samsung TV. :apple:

Well, the point of the Retina(when set to a high resolution) and the TBD is to be able to get work done more productively. I leave my rMBP set to 1900x1200, and end up with more room on my 15" screen than you'd get on any 1080p screen of any size. This means less scrolling, and being able to fit two windows side by side(barely). The TBD at 2560x1440 is even better in that regard, you can multitask very easily. If all you're doing is watching video and browsing the web, I suppose a 1080p screen is enough.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Then, without wishing to be rude, you haven't been paying attention. The vast majority of customers don't care about upgrading their PC's and haven't done for some time. The PC has become a device and that's the way it should be for the vast majority of users. If an iMac breaks you take it to the Apple store and either get it fixes under warranty, pay for a repair or buy a new one. It's time for people like us to realise that the... oh, call it 15 year spell from around 1995 to 2010 where the PC became essential but still relied on technical knowledge to work and maintain it was a blip. Computers should, dare I say, just work and require no more specialist knowledge to own than a car. Very very basic maintenance tasks are done by the owner but for anything more that dedicated service centres are used. How things work isn't really important, what it lets you do is.

Sure there will always be a small number of users who want to open their PC's up and either change or repair them on their own terms. But that's a tiny percentage of the total user base, heck even a lot of 'pro' (i.e. business) users don't do that any more with 3 or 5 year warranties being taken up instead. When it breaks outside of that it's on a replacement schedule with funds set aside in the budget for that very purpose.

On a related note I've never been able to figure out the dismissive attitude to attractive looking desktops. Sure, when I'm sitting in front of my iMac (2011 model with a new 27" on order) I can't see the sides, fair enough. But every time I stand up, every time I walk past the home office or do anything in that room that doesn't involve sitting in front of the screen the design is clearly visible. Am I buying an iMac to show off to my friends? Nope, not at all. But I am buying it (at least in part) because I like having things in my home that are well designed and in a very small way are enjoyable to look at. I've had self-built tower PC's since, yikes, 1998 and while they may give the most bang for the buck my priorities have shifted. Nowadays I'd much rather pay a little more for a great looking near-silent computer that doesn't clutter up the room. Of course I understand that others have different priorities and that's fine but I do wish that sentiment was shared a bit more than it is.

You can't be serious making statements like this in this forum.

If we accept your premise there is nothing to complain about and you didn't post anything that makes EVERYBODY happy.

Good try though:)
 
It took me 3 weeks for my 21" to be delivered. I totally love it. I also ordered a mac mini! 1 week left!! I got a new 32" samsung display, it is way better than a TBD in terms of value for money and even the display is very beautiful!

I don't think Samsung makes a computer monitor over 27".

It sounds like you bought a Samsung HDTV monitor.
 
Those are the single-socket, small cache, small number of core Xeons. These are the ones you need to be looking at for a Pro machine:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7383270&CatId=1969

$3k a pop. And you'll want two of them.

You can get lower clock rate ones for less, but these puppies are expensive. Damn capable, for the right workloads, but expensive.

But the current Mac Pro doesn't use those. Anyway, why are they so expensive? Are they really that much better? Clock speed isn't very high, so does it have some other really important merits? The 12-core model (4-core also available) comes with two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117256 Or is this the wrong one?
 
Last edited:
I'm already waiting for the next generation to come out. Because the iMacs are still too fat and I believe my life will be vastly improved when the iMac is paper thin. The iMac should float too, I'm sick of the stand.

Perhaps a brain implant is Your solution :confused:
 
It took me 3 weeks for my 21" to be delivered. I totally love it. I also ordered a mac mini! 1 week left!! I got a new 32" samsung display, it is way better than a TBD in terms of value for money and even the display is very beautiful!

Why did you also buy a Mac mini, if you don't mind me asking?
 
Aussie store still says 2-3 weeks!
And we have the privilege buying the iMac overpriced compared to our friends in North America!

Don't sweat it. We here in southeast Europe have 30 percent higher prices than you have. Not to mention our standard is more than 30 percent lower than yours... And waiting time for imac here is around 70 days!
So, i wouldn't mind having your apple store.
 
Then, without wishing to be rude, you haven't been paying attention. The vast majority of customers don't care about upgrading their PC's and haven't done for some time. The PC has become a device and that's the way it should be for the vast majority of users. If an iMac breaks you take it to the Apple store and either get it fixes under warranty, pay for a repair or buy a new one. It's time for people like us to realise that the... oh, call it 15 year spell from around 1995 to 2010 where the PC became essential but still relied on technical knowledge to work and maintain it was a blip. Computers should, dare I say, just work and require no more specialist knowledge to own than a car. Very very basic maintenance tasks are done by the owner but for anything more that dedicated service centres are used. How things work isn't really important, what it lets you do is.

Sure there will always be a small number of users who want to open their PC's up and either change or repair them on their own terms. But that's a tiny percentage of the total user base, heck even a lot of 'pro' (i.e. business) users don't do that any more with 3 or 5 year warranties being taken up instead. When it breaks outside of that it's on a replacement schedule with funds set aside in the budget for that very purpose.

On a related note I've never been able to figure out the dismissive attitude to attractive looking desktops. Sure, when I'm sitting in front of my iMac (2011 model with a new 27" on order) I can't see the sides, fair enough. But every time I stand up, every time I walk past the home office or do anything in that room that doesn't involve sitting in front of the screen the design is clearly visible. Am I buying an iMac to show off to my friends? Nope, not at all. But I am buying it (at least in part) because I like having things in my home that are well designed and in a very small way are enjoyable to look at. I've had self-built tower PC's since, yikes, 1998 and while they may give the most bang for the buck my priorities have shifted. Nowadays I'd much rather pay a little more for a great looking near-silent computer that doesn't clutter up the room. Of course I understand that others have different priorities and that's fine but I do wish that sentiment was shared a bit more than it is.

Great post. I think all the usual and common complaints I always read on all the iMac articles are just the traditional PC lurker guys on this forum who want to jump to Mac but just can't shake off that decade plus long habit of tinkering inside their machines. Apple has for the last several years have been marching towards all-in-one machines that are closed systems. Based on Apple's strong Mac sales, there is no reason to believe that Apple will ever change their minds on this.

Since October of 2011, Apple has stated that the iMac is the best selling desktop in the U.S. (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/apple-...k-in-u-s/59717). And of course, we read last month that Mac sales jumped up 31% YOY. I think it's a good assumption to believe that the iMac is still the #1 selling desktop in the U.S. Obviously the growth in all-in-one desktop market that require little to no upgradeability is something that is resonating with consumers.

Hardcore PC purists may never understand the Mac experience for what it is, but as you mention, this is only a tiny fractional percentage of computer users.
 
What's up with the lack of bigger hard drive storage?

My 2009 iMac 27" had a max 2TB, 3+ year later the biggest internal hard drive is a 3TB......

I've got just 200GB left, and with me going to a bigger DSLR soon that will get eaten up, plus video sucks HD space.

Sure, I realize the asia flood caused supply chain issues, but that's in the past.
 
But the current Mac Pro doesn't use those.

No, it doesn't, that's why I say Apple already doesn't really have a "Mac Pro", they are WAY behind leading edge performance.

Anyway, why are they so expensive? Are they really that much better?

Depends entirely on workload. There are many "pro" applications that would do about as well with a high end i7 system. If you aren't running a lot of threads or have heavy I/O (eg, 10gig networking) it may well not be the best platform. But Apple doesn't make an i7 with slots...

The 12-core model (4-core also available) comes with two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117256 Or is this the wrong one?

That's a generation old. Westmere is die-shrunk Nehalem. Nehalem was first released in 2008. That's, like, 300 years ago, in CPU years. :)
 
What's up with the lack of bigger hard drive storage?

I have 10Tb of external HDDs hanging off the back of my new iMac. There is no internal storage in the near future that can handle that short of a RAID system, even maxing out a MacPro with 3x 4Tb HDDs (plus a separate OS X drive) will barely cover that for room to grow in the future.
 
Don't sweat it. We here in southeast Europe have 30 percent higher prices than you have. Not to mention our standard is more than 30 percent lower than yours... And waiting time for imac here is around 70 days!
So, i wouldn't mind having your apple store.

In india you have a wait time of 1 week now and the price starts at 1399 usd.

----------

I don't think Samsung makes a computer monitor over 27".

It sounds like you bought a Samsung HDTV monitor.

Yup! I use hdmi to connect macs.

----------

Well, the point of the Retina(when set to a high resolution) and the TBD is to be able to get work done more productively. I leave my rMBP set to 1900x1200, and end up with more room on my 15" screen than you'd get on any 1080p screen of any size. This means less scrolling, and being able to fit two windows side by side(barely). The TBD at 2560x1440 is even better in that regard, you can multitask very easily. If all you're doing is watching video and browsing the web, I suppose a 1080p screen is enough.

And it saves me space and money so now I have a TV and a mac in one box

----------

Why did you also buy a Mac mini, if you don't mind me asking?

No reason, just a place to put together all my media and view it on my tv.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.