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What do you guys think of the new iMac
- Thread starter iwannaimac
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You don't need thin and light for that!
I'm looking to get my first iMac. Based the way Apple has operated in the past, how long will the 2011 iMac's be available on the refurb store?
I'm not ready to make a decision yet on 2012 vs 2011, but I'd hate to miss out on the option of the 2011 27" 3.4 i7 refurb and be forced into the new one if I wait a little while to make the decision.
I'm not ready to make a decision yet on 2012 vs 2011, but I'd hate to miss out on the option of the 2011 27" 3.4 i7 refurb and be forced into the new one if I wait a little while to make the decision.
Mini V iMac
I've been waiting so long and am glad it's released, but it does seem like performance wasn't a big factor this time round. With all the possibilities emerging in ssd and the new chips, an upgrade in 2-3 years time might be something to aim for. The price rise and two month wait are also making the mini seem the better choice for me right now too.
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Will this be known 'affectionately' as the Chubby Chin iMac?
I've been waiting so long and am glad it's released, but it does seem like performance wasn't a big factor this time round. With all the possibilities emerging in ssd and the new chips, an upgrade in 2-3 years time might be something to aim for. The price rise and two month wait are also making the mini seem the better choice for me right now too.
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Ain't that thin at all,lil fat-Mac!
Will this be known 'affectionately' as the Chubby Chin iMac?
The new iMac is amazing! What are your thoughts? Shame about December 27" shipping
It turns out I am glad I didn't wait and got the 27" 2011. For me, the optical drive is a big deal but perhaps I'm in the minority there. For the next few years I'll be using it to still rip CDs into iTunes and watch television series I own on DVDs. When it is time for a new one, years from now, I think I'll be okay with doing without the drive then or if not, perhaps buying an external. For now though, I am really glad my iMac has an optical drive.
The performance upgrades are minor so I don't feel like I lost out there. There isn't anything I can't do that I want to do with great performance in the coming four years or so I don't think.
I do think the current model is very nice though. If I hadn't needed one six months ago and was shopping today, I'd certainly be glad about today's announcements and I'd order a 27" i5 as soon as they are available. I don't need the i7 hyperthreading functionality as a home user. It would just be wasted money and overkill. Nothing I run would even take advantage of it.
If my current Mac was a few years old but still working pretty well for me I think I'd be inclined to skip this refresh in favor of next year's which will provide greater performance improvements but that's just me. I try to be real about what I actually need versus want and spend accordingly.
I have to confess I am surprised by this refresh, this late in the year. I really thought they might hold off until next year. Now that I think about it though, this was probably a pretty good move since any refresh next year probably wouldn't occur until late in the year, depending on what tech they want to hold out for.
Sexy looks are in. I think these will sell well despite disappointing some with minor performance increases, the loss of the optical drive, etc. I think many who post here are the enthusiasts and also professional users but are not always representative of the mass market where the real money is. There are an awful lot of consumers who don't know what a GPU is and would be quite happy with a 21" iMac, never caring they could not upgrade ram, etc. It's a wonderful machine for them.
I'm sure Apple does their homework when it comes down to the decisions they make and at the end of the day, it's all about earnings. This new lineup of iMacs should perform for Apple according to plan I'd say.
By the way, I've often seen people bringing up gaming and bemoaning the fact the Macs are not as good as cheaper, homebuilt PCs. I have to wonder though for many people, how much power do you really need and is it really worth buying another computer for gaming or worse, switching to windows? I posted these elsewhere today but I will provide the links again. Scroll down to the bottom of these pages and see how well the 2011 6970m performs and even better how well the new 680m performs on modern games. These Macs can play games with decent frame rates in high and for the newest Macs ultra settings. That isn't good enough? People really need higher FPS their eyes are incapable of detecting? I think the graphics card marketeers have done some pretty clever work on some folks. Check it out for yourselves:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6970M.43077.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-680M.72679.0.html
I have a 2011 27" iMac and although these new ones look great I see no reason to upgrade. I use a lot of copy protected music software which makes it a hassle.
It doesn't look like it will be. I guess they see this entry level iMac for the uninformed who doesn't know his SSD from his HDD. It's a shame as it would have been my choice to.
Thunderbolt to FW800
I have to say in my experience Apple's Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor works flawlessly... so all those freaking out about it really shouldn't... No idea why they left it in the mini... seems stupid
I have to say in my experience Apple's Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor works flawlessly... so all those freaking out about it really shouldn't... No idea why they left it in the mini... seems stupid
Is that an At&T customer service rep? Wow! I heard they made them use up the green screen stuff before getting new machines...
And if I were into desktops I would be drooling over my iMac order. I am still tempted to go there for the first time in a long time.
What I'll Be Getting
Selling my 2010 and getting this one... I need thunderbolt ports for video editing now that my external ecosystem and MacBook Air are already equipped with that port...
27 Late-2012 iMac
Processor: 3.4GHz Intel Quad-Core i7
Memory: 32GB at 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4x8GB)[Probably OWC These]
Storage: 768GB Flash Storage [Fusion does not tantalize me]
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX with 2GB of GDDR5 Memory
Display: 27 LED Widescreen Display (2560 x 1440)
I/O: (4) USB 3.0 Ports Audio Line Out (2) Thunderbolt Ports
SDXC Slot Ethernet Port
Expected Price: $3,300
Selling my 2010 and getting this one... I need thunderbolt ports for video editing now that my external ecosystem and MacBook Air are already equipped with that port...
27 Late-2012 iMac
Processor: 3.4GHz Intel Quad-Core i7
Memory: 32GB at 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4x8GB)[Probably OWC These]
Storage: 768GB Flash Storage [Fusion does not tantalize me]
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX with 2GB of GDDR5 Memory
Display: 27 LED Widescreen Display (2560 x 1440)
I/O: (4) USB 3.0 Ports Audio Line Out (2) Thunderbolt Ports
SDXC Slot Ethernet Port
Expected Price: $3,300
THUNDERBOLT TO FIREWIRE DOES NOT POWER MANY HARD DRIVES!!!!
9 out of 10 editors use Firewire as well as Musicians.... I edit and work in the Industry.
Now yes we have moved some systems to thunderbolt we still work off of many firewirde drives. Furthermore even with the thunderbolt to firewire adapter it still will not power a hard drive how an actual fire wire bus did.
Apple introduced a technology and is now abandoning so many......
Really disappointed here
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... that dude looks like he's really getting into a sesh of cyber sex
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Well I really like it ...
But then again, my 2008 24" 3.06 C2D is relatively ancient now (currently in for repair - needs a video card replacement).
What is not to like about it?
One thing that I would have wanted was a 512gb SSD option as the 768 offering will be expensive ... just look at the price of the 768 BTO on the rMBP.
I'm more pissed off about them updating the iPad already!
I have been waiting for a new iMac for a while. It will be my first Mac. I just want the base model for financial reasons, but will it be an issue with only 8gb of ram and no way to upgrade?
I don't do anything to intensive on a computer, just wondering how future proof it will be with 8gigs.
I don't do anything to intensive on a computer, just wondering how future proof it will be with 8gigs.
So if the high end 27" has a 1tb hdd, with the option of changing it to 768gb of flash, should I assume that'll cost an extra $500 or more? I was hoping ssd would be standard.
If you dont do anything intensive, then 2GB should be sufficient. At 8GB, it's overkill and futureproof. RAM shouldn't factor into your decision here.
Lmao
OMG that is too funny!! Great pic! Thanks for that!
OMG that is too funny!! Great pic! Thanks for that!
Seems a lot is the same to me
I dunno the new iMac is very thin and sexy. Yet it seems like they gave up some features that were really handy for me. For one the DVD Drive, yes I know DVD is kinda old school. Yet I love using the DVD with my buddy we both do a lot of HD video filming and we find burning to a DVD the easiest way to trade video around. Im not a fan of thumb drive always seem to lose them. And trading a external hard drive can be a pain to exchange back and forth. Easy to just burn the clips I wanna give him and hand it to him with no worries of getting back with him to get my thumb drive or external HD back.
But the new iMac has USB 3.0 which would be super handy for importing video. As it is right now if I have to import a bunch of new video from camcorder to iMac I have to start it and might as well go have a snack or do something to kill some time. It isnt that big of a deal, usually I import the day after filming so Im not really in the editing mood that day anyways. But even still were talking 5 to 10 mins tops most the time. So no biggie even if I wanna edit that day. Wish thunderport had some more easy on the wallet options hard to swallow the prices now. OUCH!
Video card wise ehhh not a big deal for me Iam pretty happy with what came in my 2011 BTO iMac does everything I do great. No stutters while editing HD video and just plugs right along. It is the 1 gb video not the 2 gb. Not a gamer I have a PS3 and X-Box for that.
The funny thing with the new iMac is the upgrade to 32 gb of ram. I know a lot of people claimed it worked some claimed it caused problems. I think this put those questions of if the iMac can handle 32 gb of ram to bed. I was even on the fence myself if it would work. I bought two 8 gb sticks and left the two 2 gb sticks that came stock in my iMac. Giving me 20 gb total. Well I havent had one issue and it makes it so nice to multitask to my hearts content without having to think to close that and dont run this with that cause it will freeze that. I just click and go. Whatever I want from Final Cut X to whatever I can open all and plug along no problem. Now I want another two 8 gb ram sticks to go full 32 gb of ram. Will I ever need that much, at the moment probably not. Down the road who knows. Look at back in the day 2 gb was huge! Now you can barely get by on 2 gb of ram, so who knows. Just kinda a future proof thing.
The new iMac does have SSD or flash storage whatever they want to call it. This would be pretty sweet!! Would be nice to just click and boom it is loaded. Or booting on quickly. Yet I find my i7 3.4 ghz isnt that big of a slug. In fact I think it is pretty quick with the HDD at 7200 rpm. Ive thought of going ssd with HDD down the road but will be awhile since I still have 3 years of applecare that I dont want to void. So I figure at that point when it is out of warranty I will probably go SSD, and by that time 1 gb SSD should be pretty cheap. Maybe even bigger who knows. So yes having SSD now would be nice but would also be nice to have a huge SSD and ditch the HDD altogether down the road. If I need HDD by then thunderport should be cheap also and can go external thunderport.
All in all I say if you need the latest fancy Apple computer go ahead and wait. But if looks arent your biggest thing then go for a refurb 2011 and put that extra money towards some toys for your iMac. Maybe to camera, or a apple router, maybe a printer who knows. I know I saved right around $590 going with a 2011 refurb. Got a government discount and Apple knocked down my apple care to around $120. Even today I called Apple due to the refurb price drop and they refunded the difference from what I paid 2 weeks ago, was $80 no questions asked. So got a 2011 iMac 27 inch with the 3.4 ghz processor, 1 tb HDD, 1 gb video, and upgraded the ram myself to 20 gb ( $69 on Amazon ) plus 3 years of apple care for $1789!! So is it worth the cost difference of at least over $500?? Hmmm not really thats a lot of toys I could buy to utilize my iMac. Heck even a new shiny iPad mini. Dang near even a Mac Mini. So do the math if you can live with the 2011 go for it and save the cash. Buy some toys, or go for broke with the 2012 either way you should be happy.
I dunno the new iMac is very thin and sexy. Yet it seems like they gave up some features that were really handy for me. For one the DVD Drive, yes I know DVD is kinda old school. Yet I love using the DVD with my buddy we both do a lot of HD video filming and we find burning to a DVD the easiest way to trade video around. Im not a fan of thumb drive always seem to lose them. And trading a external hard drive can be a pain to exchange back and forth. Easy to just burn the clips I wanna give him and hand it to him with no worries of getting back with him to get my thumb drive or external HD back.
But the new iMac has USB 3.0 which would be super handy for importing video. As it is right now if I have to import a bunch of new video from camcorder to iMac I have to start it and might as well go have a snack or do something to kill some time. It isnt that big of a deal, usually I import the day after filming so Im not really in the editing mood that day anyways. But even still were talking 5 to 10 mins tops most the time. So no biggie even if I wanna edit that day. Wish thunderport had some more easy on the wallet options hard to swallow the prices now. OUCH!
Video card wise ehhh not a big deal for me Iam pretty happy with what came in my 2011 BTO iMac does everything I do great. No stutters while editing HD video and just plugs right along. It is the 1 gb video not the 2 gb. Not a gamer I have a PS3 and X-Box for that.
The funny thing with the new iMac is the upgrade to 32 gb of ram. I know a lot of people claimed it worked some claimed it caused problems. I think this put those questions of if the iMac can handle 32 gb of ram to bed. I was even on the fence myself if it would work. I bought two 8 gb sticks and left the two 2 gb sticks that came stock in my iMac. Giving me 20 gb total. Well I havent had one issue and it makes it so nice to multitask to my hearts content without having to think to close that and dont run this with that cause it will freeze that. I just click and go. Whatever I want from Final Cut X to whatever I can open all and plug along no problem. Now I want another two 8 gb ram sticks to go full 32 gb of ram. Will I ever need that much, at the moment probably not. Down the road who knows. Look at back in the day 2 gb was huge! Now you can barely get by on 2 gb of ram, so who knows. Just kinda a future proof thing.
The new iMac does have SSD or flash storage whatever they want to call it. This would be pretty sweet!! Would be nice to just click and boom it is loaded. Or booting on quickly. Yet I find my i7 3.4 ghz isnt that big of a slug. In fact I think it is pretty quick with the HDD at 7200 rpm. Ive thought of going ssd with HDD down the road but will be awhile since I still have 3 years of applecare that I dont want to void. So I figure at that point when it is out of warranty I will probably go SSD, and by that time 1 gb SSD should be pretty cheap. Maybe even bigger who knows. So yes having SSD now would be nice but would also be nice to have a huge SSD and ditch the HDD altogether down the road. If I need HDD by then thunderport should be cheap also and can go external thunderport.
All in all I say if you need the latest fancy Apple computer go ahead and wait. But if looks arent your biggest thing then go for a refurb 2011 and put that extra money towards some toys for your iMac. Maybe to camera, or a apple router, maybe a printer who knows. I know I saved right around $590 going with a 2011 refurb. Got a government discount and Apple knocked down my apple care to around $120. Even today I called Apple due to the refurb price drop and they refunded the difference from what I paid 2 weeks ago, was $80 no questions asked. So got a 2011 iMac 27 inch with the 3.4 ghz processor, 1 tb HDD, 1 gb video, and upgraded the ram myself to 20 gb ( $69 on Amazon ) plus 3 years of apple care for $1789!! So is it worth the cost difference of at least over $500?? Hmmm not really thats a lot of toys I could buy to utilize my iMac. Heck even a new shiny iPad mini. Dang near even a Mac Mini. So do the math if you can live with the 2011 go for it and save the cash. Buy some toys, or go for broke with the 2012 either way you should be happy.
I currently have 20 gigs in my iMac ($60 for 2x8 gig, plus the 2x2 included), and am using about 6.5. Keep in mind, this is counting active, wired, and inactive memory. 8 gigs is pretty optimal. 4 is pretty low and 2 is out of the question these days.