What to expect from iMac 2012 - Discussion

[Murtagh]

Im pegging May, if not early June. Makes more sense, iMacs need a refresh, macbook pro got a bump in october thus cab buy time until core i3 processors are ready in june for the rest of the notebook.s iMac never went past or to 12 month cycles. Also digitizes has a crap record July is too far, i think they want to get their items out fast, at least two model lines for 2nd financial quarter.

again,next following monday the processors come out, then tuesday apple has a financial call. wouldn't doubt a product to come out around then.

NO MATTE, museum glass is great.

Based on the last refresh, I do agree the iMac (in theory) should come out before the next MBP. However, I don't think we can realistically expect the iMac until the 7970M is released or is near it's release date (which hasn't even been announced yet). Considering the MBP will probably use an Intel HD 4000 integrated chips and a 7750M GPU, it seems that it may indeed come out before the iMac

 

[lifeguard90]

Maybe the 7970m won't be the card used, we seem to be getting on track with with expecting apple to use it, i still don't see them waiting until july for example maybe they went to nvidia or use a different amd card.

hope the wwdc announcement comes, that give hints

 

[lifeguard90]

This is an example of why i refer to financial earnings calls as a good sign to bet some sort of product/ event announcement hovers around that time.


tracing back on iMac history here,

Oct 20, 2009, 11:39 AM #13
GeekLawyer
macrumors Demi-God



Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The post is coming from inside the house!
Credit where credit's due... Peace nailed this yesterday during the earnings call.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peace
Apple is spending more on air freight in order to get "non iPhone products" into the holiday season.
It is being called "abnormal".

New iMac's tomorrow!
https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost...&postcount=102

 

[KingJosh]

I'll tell the people out there why mac is better. {ahem} It runs faster, lasts longer, u can install windows on there too, very easy to work, comes out new versions in a while but all different. Its like a whole new world that you step into for the people's who have not swiched to macs yet. It's kind of expensive (a bit),
because its better than all the windows. Ask people here and you'll see why its better and you will find more information. But remember this here that i have typed, is not to tell you to run out the store and buy one. Its just to tell you how it is better and if you like it you should buy it. For more information ask the people on this forum and go to www.apple.com. Fyi, mountain lion is coming out this summer. I hope they will make another imac with the new mountain lion in it that will be great because i am planning to buy one. So yea. Bye

you made an account just to say that when you already knew people won't listen?

 

[namethisfile]

so i don't game much on my macs because of how little games there are for os x. and also my macs are underpowered. lol! anyway, i have a 6630m mac mini and gt330m MBP. but, i have noticed that the gt330m MBP is better at "rendering" "call of duty 4: modern warfare" (OS X version) than the 6630m-powered mac mini even though the 6630m is newer and faster according to benchmarks. by "rendering," i mean, the gt330m doesn't have this shimmering effect that makes the lighting in CoD4 look bad on the 6630m. in comparison, the gt330m looks normal or the way it should be. i apologize for hijacking this thread but i am desperate for some answers. is what i am describing also happening to imacs and mbp's with the new amd gpu's--6750m and higher? it is so bad that i prefer to play CoD4 when i do play it on my older MBP.

so, to bring it back to 2012 imacs, i hope apple chooses nvidia this go around unless the problem that i mentioned is only CoD4-related due to it being an old game, etc....

but it doesn't matter really as long as it's a decent card and the faster of the two, but more importantly, doesn't have those distracting shimmering effects.....

 

[AustrianDM]

Maybe the 7970m won't be the card used, we seem to be getting on track with with expecting apple to use it, i still don't see them waiting until july for example maybe they went to nvidia or use a different amd card.

hope the wwdc announcement comes, that give hints

They have to use the 7970m for the top of the line iMac or else the difference in power would be too small. Yesterday I read something about the 7970m being released in May with the state of the art Samsung-Laptops. Therefore a release of the iMac in May/June WITH the 7970m would be possible. I'm almost sure Apple will show the new iMacs at the WWDC together with Mountain Lion even if it's just on a presentation slide.

 

[lifeguard90]

Hope May is the time, & not June. Apple needs to send out the wwdc invite by the end of the month. 2 yrs ago they waited until april 28th to send it out. also, mountain lion will not come out until the end of summer. i don't know why people think apple will hold off hardware many more months just to fit the new OS on it when A), its easy to upgrade & cheap your self via the store , 2) have multiple spotlights on various apple products at different times

 

[lifeguard90]

6990m?

I know it would be better to use the 7 series, and I'm willing to bet that apple will. but just for the sake of rambling/ keeping us waiters busy, how bout this older thread?

Apple Could Adopt AMD's New Radeon HD 6990M GPU for Next iMac
Tuesday July 12, 2011 12:15 pm PDT by Eric Slivka





https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/12/apple-could-adopt-amds-new-radeon-hd-6990m-gpu-for-next-imac/

 

[forty2j]

I know it would be better to use the 7 series, and I'm willing to bet that apple will. but just for the sake of rambling/ keeping us waiters busy, how bout this older thread?

Apple Could Adopt AMD's New Radeon HD 6990M GPU for Next iMac
Tuesday July 12, 2011 12:15 pm PDT by Eric Slivka





https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/12/apple-could-adopt-amds-new-radeon-hd-6990m-gpu-for-next-imac/

This article was speculating on the possibility of a mini refresh in advance of Ivy Bridge, or an iMac release on Ivy Bridge's original target (January-ish). Neither of those happened. No reason to use a 6990m in the top end 27" now.

 

[lifeguard90]

I totally agree, that makes more sense now that you said that

 

[spedanden]

Just got back from Best Buy. Tried to buy a 27" iMac with the i5 3.1ghz. They don't sell them in the store so the customer service guy tried to order it.

He said "Even if you wanted to give me 1 million dollars for one I couldn't get it to you, It was deleted in our system on 4/4/2012, so about 10 days ago. It was Apple that deleted it, and they usually do this right before new ones come in."

So, good news? I know I'm excited.

 

[lifeguard90]

OOOOO that is awesome


yes, I know that A) macbook pros could come out instead first, B) the customer service dude is just being dumb or messing around or C) this is legit good sign. Knowing Apple, they want to keep things simple with product launches. The i3 processors won't be out until June, IMO, to release notebooks in a staggered way seems un-Apple. (* hopeful thinking, yes, but I think with valid educated assumption), Plus the laptops were briefly bumped in october to stave off the wait, perhaps intel gave a hint of we screwed up, delay. Regardless of this best buy comment, I still think the iMacs will come first in late April or early to mid May. Really don't see June for that product. As for the and 7970m or whatever, I don't know, i still hold to my guess.

 

[spedanden]

He definitely wasn't messing around seeing as how I wanted to spend 2000+ dollars. He said Apple stopped supplying the warehouse on the 4th. So likely well see on the website soon that you can no longer order them.

 

[lifeguard90]

Hey there, yeah I was not doubting your experience , but wanted to be a little cautious before jumping around like a kid on Christmas. I immediately went to their website and the items still show in stock, everywhere. odd, more macbook pro rumors if indeed the iMac will come first. ivy bridge moved up a week+ financial call the following day + near year for no iMac speed bump + now WWDC invite yet= something cooking

 

[cocky jeremy]

Just got back from Best Buy. Tried to buy a 27" iMac with the i5 3.1ghz. They don't sell them in the store so the customer service guy tried to order it.

He said "Even if you wanted to give me 1 million dollars for one I couldn't get it to you, It was deleted in our system on 4/4/2012, so about 10 days ago. It was Apple that deleted it, and they usually do this right before new ones come in."

So, good news? I know I'm excited.

Hope you're right. Really, really hope you're right.

 

[vpr]

He definitely wasn't messing around seeing as how I wanted to spend 2000+ dollars. He said Apple stopped supplying the warehouse on the 4th. So likely well see on the website soon that you can no longer order them.

Assuming there are more than 1 best buy in your area, did they even attempt to contact other stores to see if they had stock in another store, or did the computer system show that other stores had no stock either?

 

[spedanden]

Assuming there are more than 1 best buy in your area, did they even attempt to contact other stores to see if they had stock in another store, or did the computer system show that other stores had no stock either?

I'm in Dallas, TX so there's literally 20 Best Buys within 30 minutes of me. The computer system showed that no stores within 100 miles had them. Also said that he cannot order it due to it being deleted in the internal ordering system on the 4th of this month. And he said specifically that "it wasn't Best Buy that stopped the supply, as he would love to sell me one, it was Apple. and they generally do that before the new models come out."

 

[iMcLovin]

they are all in stock on every apple online store, so even if an obvious refresh will occur sometime before/mid summer - they apparently still have a stock of imacs to get rid of before a new one comes out.

Though I do too wish your Best Buy incident would be a hint of something imminent.

 

[mcman77]

they are all in stock on every apple online store, so even is an obvious refresh will occur sometime before/mid summer - they apparently still have a stock of imacs to get rid of before a new one comes out.

Though I do too wish your Best Buy incident would be a hint of something imminent.

Hey, i see you have a 13" and a imac. Was wondering if i could ask you if the 13" display is actually big enough to do some work on. Do you think it can be served as a main computer?

 

[6ftunder]

Hey, i see you have a 13" and a imac. Was wondering if i could ask you if the 13" display is actually big enough to do some work on. Do you think it can be served as a main computer?

Depends on what you're working on. I usually work on 20 MB photos in Photoshop and then my 13" is definitely not enough, I can barely fit the whole photo on the screen without getting some overlapping with the menus in PS. So, if you plan on working on photos, go for a larger screen.

I mean, for small things it's okay, but I can't wait to get the new iMac.

 

[iMcLovin]

Hey, i see you have a 13" and a imac. Was wondering if i could ask you if the 13" display is actually big enough to do some work on. Do you think it can be served as a main computer?

Depends on what you are doing. I work with graphic heavy stuff and enjoy a big monitor. So, the 13" mba main purpose is to avoid the rest of my family occupying my imac....and when I need to bring stuff to meetings and whatnot.

 

[TheWalrus]

Hey, i see you have a 13" and a imac. Was wondering if i could ask you if the 13" display is actually big enough to do some work on. Do you think it can be served as a main computer?

My wife and I have 13 inch MacBooks that we use for tooling around, a bit like iPad use i guess. I use mine for my donkey work, iTunes, mail etc but we both have iMacs for actual work (her photoshop me FCP etc).

I've tried editing on the MacBook and its not easy at all, so I'd say yes it depends on what you are doing but the lack of screen real estate will mean any tasks that require the room will be tough!

 

[Murtagh]

AMD 7970M Rumor

http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-to-survive-and-thrive-still-/15564.html

Last sentence:
"The GPUs will continue to be the crown jewel of the company till then, though... expect new high end mobile HD7900 series later this month, and Sea Islands by yearend."


If this is indeed true, maybe a May lauanch date is coming. One can only dream...

----------

Not my thoughts but thought I would share:

Allright, I had the energy today to compare GPUs. Hopefully you guys can understand my reasoning and my train of thoughts and lets get bottom to the 7970M rumors that been floating around. Skip all the way to the bottom if you don`t want to see boring math and see the conclusion I came to

6970M is based on 6850.

6850:
3DMark11 GPU score: 3511
3DMark Vantage GPU score: 14198

6970M:
3DMark11 GPU score: 2821 (80% of 6850)
3DMark Vantage GPU score: 11384 (80% of 6850)

6970M gives roughly 80% of 6850 performance.

TDP/power consumption difference?
6850: 127W
6970M: 75-100W
Difference: 59-79% of 6850

7970M will most likely be based on 7850.

7850:
3DMark11 GPU Score: 5042
3DMark Vantage GPU score: 19863
TDP/Power consumption: 101W

If mobile GPUs see the same performance increase as desktop did, 7970M should score:

7970M
3DMark11 GPU score: 5042 * 0.8 = 4033
3DMark Vantage GPU score: 19863 * 0.8 = 15890

According to some sources 7970M should either be equal to 580M or 35% better in benchmarks than 6990M.

Lets find out.

6990M:
3DMark11 GPU score: 3238
3DMark Vantage GPU score: 13341

Difference compared to my calculated 7970M:
3DMark11 GPU score: 3238 vs 4033
Difference: 7970M score 25% better

3DMark Vantage GPU score: 13341 vs 15890
Difference: 7970M score 19% better

Average benchmark performance increase with 7970M: 22%

What about TDP/Power consumption claims of 65W? Do it fit with what we have seen thus far from desktops?

6970M saw 59-79% power draw of 6850.
7850 TDP/power consumption: 101W
59% of 101W = 60W
79% of 101W = 80W

Conclusion:

If 7970M follow the same performance increase as 7850 saw compared to 6850, we can expect 22% better performance with 7970M compared to 6990M and a power consumption of 60W-80W.

It is not entirely right on the nail with the rumors we have heard, but it is very close and 22% better performance than the 100W 6990M and 60-80% of the power consumption. That is pretty darn impressive if you ask me!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...at-happened-amd-radeon-hd7000m-series-24.html

 

[iBreatheApple]

Um actually I'm by no means a newbie ... I've worked solely on Macs for over a decade now ... And macs sure have become more popular ... But they are not so ahead of other pcs any more ... They are still,so far, much less prone to virus's as we know ... But that is about it now really ... Now it is really due to it being a pretty fashion item
I will probably buy a new iMac when they get round to releasing them ... But after that it's going to be self builds and through to TV for me ... Can go the hackintosh route obviously ... We'll see

Judging by your "attitude", grammar, and typing style, it's hard to imagine that you were even able to drive a decade ago. How old are you? It really isn't relevant and sorry, but I just have a hard time respecting posts like this.

 

[cocky jeremy]

they are all in stock on every apple online store, so even if an obvious refresh will occur sometime before/mid summer - they apparently still have a stock of imacs to get rid of before a new one comes out.

Though I do too wish your Best Buy incident would be a hint of something imminent.

Apple's online store will probably be the last to run out, so the refresh will be REALLY close when they're out.