Two things I don't get with last update of Non-retina iMac's

[Dreadnought]

Hi All,

We've been waiting for the updates for over half a year to get rid of my girlfriend's old pc and get her a new 27" iMac. Anyhow, with last weeks update of the non-retina iMac's, if you can call it an update, I don't understand why Apple made a bit more effort. I think the non-retina 27" iMac will sell more than the retina one, therefore justifying a solid update instead what they have done now.

I don't expect updates anymore for the non-retina iMac's, this will probably be next year's update with the new generation Intel processors. Also too bad they haven't updated the GPU's, but understandable with the new, top of the line, 5K iMac, because it's a bit of differentiation between models.

Let me explain the two things I find strange:

1. TB2: why haven't they updated the iMac to TB2. Then the whole line-up is TB2, even the new Mac Mini has now TB2. And I've read somewhere here in the forums that TB2 controllers are about USD10 cheaper a piece then TB1. In my opinion, this would be a very small update where they wouldn't have to change a lot on the motherboard.

• Even though the Mac Mini only have 2 cores (why not a 4-core version, but that's a different topic), they do have hyper threading, even the i5's. Why doesn't the iMac's with i5's have this, or at least the high end i5 @ 3,4 GHZ? I did a bit of digging, the CPU (I believe it's the 4670K) is incapable of doing hyper threading. So why don't they use an other CPU (are these out there??). To sum it up, why can a 2-core i5 have hyper threading and a 4-core i5 can't?

If any of you have any insight, please share!

 

[yjchua95]

Hi All,

We've been waiting for the updates for over half a year to get rid of my girlfriend's old pc and get her a new 27" iMac. Anyhow, with last weeks update of the non-retina iMac's, if you can call it an update, I don't understand why Apple made a bit more effort. I think the non-retina 27" iMac will sell more than the retina one, therefore justifying a solid update instead what they have done now.

I don't expect updates anymore for the non-retina iMac's, this will probably be next year's update with the new generation Intel processors. Also too bad they haven't updated the GPU's, but understandable with the new, top of the line, 5K iMac, because it's a bit of differentiation between models.

Let me explain the two things I find strange:

1. TB2: why haven't they updated the iMac to TB2. Then the whole line-up is TB2, even the new Mac Mini has now TB2. And I've read somewhere here in the forums that TB2 controllers are about USD10 cheaper a piece then TB1. In my opinion, this would be a very small update where they wouldn't have to change a lot on the motherboard.

• Even though the Mac Mini only have 2 cores (why not a 4-core version, but that's a different topic), they do have hyper threading, even the i5's. Why doesn't the iMac's with i5's have this, or at least the high end i5 @ 3,4 GHZ? I did a bit of digging, the CPU (I believe it's the 4670K) is incapable of doing hyper threading. So why don't they use an other CPU (are these out there??). To sum it up, why can a 2-core i5 have hyper threading and a 4-core i5 can't?

If any of you have any insight, please share!

To your first question:
In my opinion, Apple isn't going to give the non-retina iMac any more upgrades. This will be the last of the non-retina iMacs. The future lies with the retina variant. So they're going to keep everything on the non-retina variant as-is. Look at what they did with the retina MBP line.

To your second question:
The Mac Minis use laptop i5 processors, which are capable of hyper threading. Desktop i5s simply aren't capable of it. Intel made i5s to only have a maximum of 4 cores (physical or virtual/thread).

Hyper threading is when a physical core is addressed as two virtual core (a virtual core is a thread).

If you want 4 cores and 8 threads, you've to go for an i7. This is what differentiates a desktop quad core i7 from a desktop quad core i5 - hyper threading.

 

[maflynn]

I don't expect updates anymore for the non-retina iMac's, this will probably be next year's update with the new generation Intel processors.

I think Apple will still be updating the non 5k iMacs in my opinion. I think apple needs to have lower priced macs and a 2,500 priced iMac is not that. For most people 5k display is over kill and they still need to cater to the majority. Perhaps when the cost of such a display starts coming down, then maybe we'll see non 5k iMacs getting dropped but not until then.

I mean 4k displays are wildly expensive and here Apple rolled out something that has even more pixels, its not a budget friendly computer for families, and the average consumer certainly doesn't need the display. I think we'll be seeing more refreshes (I hope) for the other iMac models.

 

[Dreadnought]

I think Apple will still be updating the non 5k iMacs in my opinion. I think apple needs to have lower priced macs and a 2,500 priced iMac is not that. For most people 5k display is over kill and they still need to cater to the majority. Perhaps when the cost of such a display starts coming down, then maybe we'll see non 5k iMacs getting dropped but not until then.

I mean 4k displays are wildly expensive and here Apple rolled out something that has even more pixels, its not a budget friendly computer for families, and the average consumer certainly doesn't need the display. I think we'll be seeing more refreshes (I hope) for the other iMac models.

I totally agree with you. However we have waited to get a 27" this long and we want to order now. Not wait again another 6 months, therefore I'm pretty much disappointed in the non update of the non retina iMacs.

Thanks guys for the input!

 

[aman74]

I'm a bit lost. There was an update last week of the Non-Retinas? Even the guide here says the last time was end of 2013? I'm probably missing something, but just checked because with the disappointing mini update I'll probably go iMac, but don't want to buy if they're about to be upgraded.

I popped in here and this thread says they were just updated?

 

[T5BRICK]

Hi All,

We've been waiting for the updates for over half a year to get rid of my girlfriend's old pc and get her a new 27" iMac. Anyhow, with last weeks update of the non-retina iMac's, if you can call it an update, I don't understand why Apple made a bit more effort. I think the non-retina 27" iMac will sell more than the retina one, therefore justifying a solid update instead what they have done now.

From what I can tell, the non retina models weren't updated at all. They're still the same as the units that were introduced in September of 2013.

TB2: why haven't they updated the iMac to TB2. Then the whole line-up is TB2, even the new Mac Mini has now TB2. And I've read somewhere here in the forums that TB2 controllers are about USD10 cheaper a piece then TB1. In my opinion, this would be a very small update where they wouldn't have to change a lot on the motherboard.

Because, as pointed out above, they haven't updated the non retina model at all

Even though the Mac Mini only have 2 cores (why not a 4-core version, but that's a different topic), they do have hyper threading, even the i5's. Why doesn't the iMac's with i5's have this, or at least the high end i5 @ 3,4 GHZ? I did a bit of digging, the CPU (I believe it's the 4670K) is incapable of doing hyper threading. So why don't they use an other CPU (are these out there??). To sum it up, why can a 2-core i5 have hyper threading and a 4-core i5 can't?

As someone else already pointed out, desktop i5 processors that are used in the iMac don't have HT. Laptop i5 processors that are used in the Mac mini do have HT. You're basically comparing apples to oranges, the processors are for two different purposes. This is all on Intel, not Apple.

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I'm a bit lost. There was an update last week of the Non-Retinas? Even the guide here says the last time was end of 2013? I'm probably missing something, but just checked because with the disappointing mini update I'll probably go iMac, but don't want to buy if they're about to be upgraded.

I popped in here and this thread says they were just updated?

No, the non retina models didn't get any kind of a hardware update. They'll probably start shipping with the new version of OSX, so they may get a new P/N.

 

[FredT2]

Why would Apple update the rest of the lineup before there are are new processors to but in them? As soon as Broadwell is ready they'll update the whole non-retina lineup (my opinion).

 

[ElectronGuru]

Yeah, cost of the screen is a big deal. The low res should see at least one more upgrade to future intel along with a 4k 21. Then one more cycle for the retina pricing to come down, then EOL of the low res. At the earliest.