What to expect from iMac 2012 - Discussion

[bawbac]

Just keep in perspective that CPU performance improvements will be modest at best for 2012. About a 10% average.

Video performance improvements are moot since iMac uses external video interfaces.

I'm just holding out for USB 3.0 for the +4gb transfer rate.
USB 3.0 External HD are a lot cheaper than Thunderbolt.

May be they will add an eSata port too.

http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Intel-s-Official-Ivy-Bridge-Benchmark-Slides-Leaked-4.jpg/

 

[forty2j]

Thanks.
I will wait until May then.

Edit: These are the details buyer's guide give

Recent Releases
*??? 304 days
*05/2011. 280 days
*07/2010. 280 days
*10/2009. 231 days
*03/2009. 309 days
*04/2008. 265 days

The buyer's guide has as much predictive power as a magic 8-ball.

Its advice is good (don't buy.. unless you have fewer working computers than you need and can't wait), but it's not an indicator of the precise date the next one comes out. That will be driven by component availability.

 

[MacOG728893]

I'm just holding out for USB 3.0 for the +4gb transfer rate. USB 3.0 External HD are a lot cheaper than Thunderbolt.

Exact reason I am also holding out. Just bought a CalDigit FW800/USB 3.0 AV External and am stoked for the iMac.

 

[cocky jeremy]

10% isn't that bad, really. Is it noticeable? Probably not most of the time, but it'll help with the longevity of your Mac by a year or so.

 

[NextGenApple]

Ivy Bridge will bring about higher clock speeds thanks to its 22nm process, however the gains will likely be minimal at best. Intel hasn't been too keen on pursuing clock speed for quite some time now. Clock for clock performance will go up by a small amount over Sandy Bridge (4 – 6%), combine that with slightly higher clock speeds and we may see CPU performance gains of around 10% at the same price point with Ivy Bridge. The bigger news will be around power consumption and graphics performance.

 

[NextGenApple]

Power consumption which doesn't apply to iMac, GPU might interest some

----------

Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture exposed:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4830/intels-ivy-bridge-architecture-exposed

Includes:
"Sandy Bridge brought about a significant increase in CPU performance, but Ivy seems almost entirely dedicated to addressing Intel's aspirations in graphics. With two architectures in a row focused on improving GPU performance, I do wonder if we might see this trend continue with Haswell. Intel implied that upward scalability was a key goal of the Ivy Bridge GPU design, perhaps we will see that happen in 2013."

"Ivy Bridge can do very well in notebooks. A more efficient chip built using lower power transistors should positively impact battery life and thermal output. Desktop users who already upgraded to Sandy Bridge may not feel the pressure to upgrade, but having better graphics shipping on all new systems can only be good for the industry."

Appears mainly an upgrade for laptops and graphics, rather than desktop CPU performance, Right HellHammer?

 

[henrydoown]

What to expect from iMac 2012

iMac is a best system but it's so not easy to use.I need user friendly.

 

[bawbac]

iMac is a best system but it's so not easy to use.I need user friendly.

You you referring to a specifc Apple OS being not user friendly or iMac in general(please elaborate) ?

 

[Ukeman]

Ivy Bridge will bring about higher clock speeds thanks to its 22nm process, however the gains will likely be minimal at best. Intel hasn't been too keen on pursuing clock speed for quite some time now. Clock for clock performance will go up by a small amount over Sandy Bridge (4 – 6%), combine that with slightly higher clock speeds and we may see CPU performance gains of around 10% at the same price point with Ivy Bridge. The bigger news will be around power consumption and graphics performance.

I wonder what the performance improvement is, in percentage, over the 2008 intel pre SandyBridge iMacs?

 

[AppleDApp]

I wonder what the performance improvement is, in percentage, over the 2008 intel pre SandyBridge iMacs?

the improvements from core 2 duo to ivy bridge will be significant in ressource intensive work

 

[beosound3200]

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/26170-today-is-amd-radeon-hd-7800-series-day

pitcairn is out. now the waiting for mobile version begins, slated for late march, early april.

 

[drawnacrol]

I can't wait any longer so I'm going to order an iMac next week and install a SSD myself. I could play the waiting game and have the satisfaction of having a better/cheaper machine but its hard to tell when the new ones will come out. Probably the week after I get mine!!

 

[beosound3200]

I can't wait any longer so I'm going to order an iMac next week and install a SSD myself. I could play the waiting game and have the satisfaction of having a better/cheaper machine but its hard to tell when the new ones will come out. Probably the week after I get mine!!

dont be so pessimistic, but i certainly hope so anyway, happy iMacing

 

[I8P'CS]

I wonder what the performance improvement is, in percentage, over the 2008 intel pre SandyBridge iMacs?

Think you're looking at 70% + in CPU performance boast over core 2 duo with sandy Bridge around 75%-80% with Ivy Bridge, you will differently see improvements if upgrading from a 2008 machine to 2011 iMac or not yet released 2012.

hope this helps

 

[Drag'nGT]

I wonder what the performance improvement is, in percentage, over the 2008 intel pre SandyBridge iMacs?

I'm in the same boat as you. My 2008 iMac is finally justifiably slow to me. I try and hold off for 3 years before I upgrade just so I feel like I made a worthwhile jump. But the exclusion of USB 3, the bottleneck on the internal hdd and Steve's death have me on hold. I'd like to see what changes are made to the whole product line now that Steve is gone. Rumors started after his passing about changes to the Mac Pro and iMac. I wanna know just what changed... Call me paranoid.

 

[NextGenApple]

I'm in the same boat as you. My 2008 iMac is finally justifiably slow to me. I try and hold off for 3 years before I upgrade just so I feel like I made a worthwhile jump. But the exclusion of USB 3, the bottleneck on the internal hdd and Steve's death have me on hold. I'd like to see what changes are made to the whole product line now that Steve is gone. Rumors started after his passing about changes to the Mac Pro and iMac. I wanna know just what changed... Call me paranoid.

Don't expect a redesign just yet, iMacs changed late 2009 to current design. Thats lees than 3 years considering iPad is keeping same design for 3rd generation i highly doubt you will see redesigned iMacs, MacBooks pro & iPhone yes.
Then maybe in a year or 2 iMacs, Apple cant afford to change every line up in one year, cos what will the following years bring? Just a speed bump is coming.
IMO

 

[indecisiveKid]

Don't expect a redesign just yet, iMacs changed late 2009 to current design. Thats lees than 3 years considering iPad is keeping same design for 3rd generation i highly doubt you will see redesigned iMacs, MacBooks pro & iPhone yes.
Then maybe in a year or 2 iMacs, Apple cant afford to change every line up in one year, cos what will the following years bring? Just a speed bump is coming.
IMO

Agree, surly with iMacs due very soon if there was to be a redesign wouldn't we have heard/seen some form of parts or intelligence of new design iMacs. Don't think will see them on next refresh. A lot of people must be waiting to do YouTube unboxings. Lol.

 

[Icaras]

Don't expect a redesign just yet, iMacs changed late 2009 to current design. Thats lees than 3 years considering iPad is keeping same design for 3rd generation i highly doubt you will see redesigned iMacs, MacBooks pro & iPhone yes.
Then maybe in a year or 2 iMacs, Apple cant afford to change every line up in one year, cos what will the following years bring? Just a speed bump is coming.
IMO

Conversely, it only took Apple 1 and a half years to update the design from the previous iteration, as the aluminum and glass iMac was first introduced early/mid 2008, so I certainly don't think a redesign, even if it means just thinning out the design even more, is out of the question at all. It's been over 2 years since the last design refinement, so it's a possibility.

 

[AppleDApp]

Conversely, it only took Apple 1 and a half years to update the design from the previous iteration, as the aluminum and glass iMac was first introduced early/mid 2008, so I certainly don't think a redesign, even if it means just thinning out the design even more, is out of the question at all. It's been over 2 years since the last design refinement, so it's a possibility.

Looking at what the thunderbolt display looks like Apple might present an iMac that matches the display in height.

 

[Icaras]

Looking at what the thunderbolt display looks like Apple might present an iMac that matches the display in height.

I would hope they would finally do this. I know plenty of users are pretty disgruntled about this imperfection

 

[henrikrox]

Seeing how well the 7850/7870 did in revivews (close to the 7950 and gtx 580)

Is getting me really excited for the 7970M, which is probably based on 7850/7870. Now this is a BIG leap from the current 6970M. BIG

I just got a hella more excited about the new iMac. If the 7970M is based on the 7870, we could be seeing close to gtx 580 performance on the next iMac (at least with OCing). DROOL

The interesting part though, is the OC headroom. That card will OC probably 10-20%.

One last thing;
The dekstop 7870 draws 104W from the wall on avg, and peaking on 114W.
The current 6970M (in the current imacs) draws up to 100W.

Seeing where I'm going with this?

 

[Ddyracer]

Seeing how well the 7850/7870 did in revivews (close to the 7950 and gtx 580)

Is getting me really excited for the 7970M, which is probably based on 7850/7870. Now this is a BIG leap from the current 6970M. BIG

I just got a hella more excited about the new iMac. If the 7970M is based on the 7870, we could be seeing close to gtx 580 performance on the next iMac (at least with OCing). DROOL

The interesting part though, is the OC headroom. That card will OC probably 10-20%.

One last thing;
The dekstop 7870 draws 104W from the wall on avg, and peaking on 114W.
The current 6970M (in the current imacs) draws up to 100W.

Seeing where I'm going with this?

desktop graphics?????

 

[Melbourne Park]

Why not bigger?

Shouldn't Apple bring out a 28 or 30" iMac? It's time isn't it??

I have an old one - 24" white iMac duo - that's now died. I thought the hard disk was failing, but it must have been the power supply. Or the mother board. So I am running on a notebook. I guess I should get the iMac repaired, but I suspect it will cost a fortune to fix.

I have lots of videos to edit, so I reckon I need an i7.

I am tempted by the current specials, but then for video, USB 3 would be great too.

Its a bit painfull waiting to find what they'll do ... the prices for the i5s look really good too (the refurb ones), but being in australia, I reckon the new models will have lower prices, as they will be based on our current high dollar. So I am still waiting ... but I am getting really impatient ...

 

[beosound3200]

Seeing how well the 7850/7870 did in revivews (close to the 7950 and gtx 580)

Is getting me really excited for the 7970M, which is probably based on 7850/7870. Now this is a BIG leap from the current 6970M. BIG

I just got a hella more excited about the new iMac. If the 7970M is based on the 7870, we could be seeing close to gtx 580 performance on the next iMac (at least with OCing). DROOL

The interesting part though, is the OC headroom. That card will OC probably 10-20%.

One last thing;
The dekstop 7870 draws 104W from the wall on avg, and peaking on 114W.
The current 6970M (in the current imacs) draws up to 100W.

Seeing where I'm going with this?

7970m is based on tweaked 7870 50 percent boost was expected from the start

but there is also kepler to consider:
http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/26179-kepler-256-bit-faster-in-dx11-games-than-7970

in any way, 2012 imacs will be much faster in gpu terms and in the same time noticeably cooler

 

[NextGenApple]

Conversely, it only took Apple 1 and a half years to update the design from the previous iteration, as the aluminum and glass iMac was first introduced early/mid 2008, so I certainly don't think a redesign, even if it means just thinning out the design even more, is out of the question at all. It's been over 2 years since the last design refinement, so it's a possibility.

Plz show me how it will be made thiner, look at the iMac internals, if super drive is taken out maybe, but the iMac is thin as it is. Any thinner and dispite Ivy Bridge being cooler than some Sandy bridges , there would likely be more heat issues.