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What to expect from iMac 2012 - Discussion

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I too was curious about the price points of the 2012 iMac models as compared to the current refurbished ones. From what I've gathered, the new Intel chips will only offer a modest boost in performance speed (10-15%). If the assumption is that the 2012 iMacs are rolling out close to the same price points as the current lineup, then does that mean they will essentially be a similar "bang for the buck" as the top of the line refurbished iMacs? (Assuming the refurbished isn't a lemon of course). I understand that there will be a more significant boost in GPU, but for my purposes (music production) I guess I don't care much for it.

Another question I haven't really seen answered anywhere yet, but if the chips are the ultimate determining factor for the release of a new computer, then it seems like it would make a lot of sense to compare how, historically, the iMac's release date compares to the release of the chips-- how long after the newest chips are released does it take Apple to drop the corresponding generation of computers?
 
skykid said:
Another question I haven't really seen answered anywhere yet, but if the chips are the ultimate determining factor for the release of a new computer, then it seems like it would make a lot of sense to compare how, historically, the iMac's release date compares to the release of the chips-- how long after the newest chips are released does it take Apple to drop the corresponding generation of computers?
Click to expand...

Sandy Bridge desktop chips came out in January 2011 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_i5_2) then the iMacs were refreshed in May 2011.

I think it's a combination of when the chips are released and where that particular mac is in its development cycle, as I don't think there would be any reason to push the next iMacs to 5 months after Ivy Bridge.
 
gigawatt said:
Sandy Bridge desktop chips came out in January 2011 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_i5_2) then the iMacs were refreshed in May 2011.

I think it's a combination of when the chips are released and where that particular mac is in its development cycle, as I don't think there would be any reason to push the next iMacs to 5 months after Ivy Bridge.
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exactly, a lot of people find hard to grasp that concept
 
I guess the question is, would anyone be interested in a completely re-designed iMac without Ivy Bridge?
While I would prefer to have Ivy, if a new iMac design came out tomorrow I would buy it immediately even though it did not have Ivy Bridge.
 
boy-better-know said:
I guess the question is, would anyone be interested in a completely re-designed iMac without Ivy Bridge?
While I would prefer to have Ivy, if a new iMac design came out tomorrow I would buy it immediately even though it did not have Ivy Bridge.
Click to expand...

The probable graphic card boost is more appealing to me, as that is likely to enable me to get another year or two out of it.
 
boy-better-know said:
I guess the question is, would anyone be interested in a completely re-designed iMac without Ivy Bridge?
While I would prefer to have Ivy, if a new iMac design came out tomorrow I would buy it immediately even though it did not have Ivy Bridge.
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thats highly unlikely because intel ivy bridge and next gen gpu (nvidia or amd, though im pretty convinced that we'll see nvidia in next imacs) will lower power usage (hence heat) by >28 Watts which is a lot, so if you ask me, it pretty much sounds like a redesign

those predictions i posted earlier in the thread were the absolute minimum apple will do, i still do think that this time a redesign i quite likely because of the serious drop (like never before, cpu 32nm -> 22nm, gpu 40nm -> 28nm, once in a lifetime) in power consumption (heat) dont you think?

to put it into perspective:

2011 iMac (high end) = cpu 95 W + gpu 75 W = 170 W + other components (not relevant)

2012 iMac (high end) = cpu 77 W + gpu 65 W = 142 W + other components (not relevant)
 
beosound3200 said:
thats highly unlikely because intel ivy bridge and next gen gpu (nvidia or amd, though im pretty convinced that we'll see nvidia in next imacs) will lower power usage (hence heat) by >28 Watts which is a lot, so if you ask me, it pretty much sounds like a redesign

those predictions i posted earlier in the thread were the absolute minimum apple will do, i still do think that this time a redesign i quite likely because of the serious drop (like never before, cpu 32nm -> 22nm, gpu 40nm -> 28nm, once in a lifetime) in power consumption (heat) dont you think?

to put it into perspective:

2011 iMac (high end) = cpu 95 W + gpu 75 W = 170 W + other components (not relevant)

2012 iMac (high end) = cpu 77 W + gpu 65 W = 142 W + other components (not relevant)
Click to expand...


Woah, sounds amazing!
 
skykid said:
I too was curious about the price points of the 2012 iMac models as compared to the current refurbished ones. From what I've gathered, the new Intel chips will only offer a modest boost in performance speed (10-15%). If the assumption is that the 2012 iMacs are rolling out close to the same price points as the current lineup, then does that mean they will essentially be a similar "bang for the buck" as the top of the line refurbished iMacs? (Assuming the refurbished isn't a lemon of course). I understand that there will be a more significant boost in GPU, but for my purposes (music production) I guess I don't care much for it.
Click to expand...

At this point, switching from hard drive to a solid state drive is going to be a bigger deal for most users than any given marginal performance increase a new chip will bring.
 
jackoatmon said:
At this point, switching from hard drive to a solid state drive is going to be a bigger deal for most users than any given marginal performance increase a new chip will bring.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm still waiting for the mainstream price and bigger size to come. It feels like when we used to pay $500 for a 17inch LCD. Better than $1000,but could be better. I'm thinking in a couple more years.
 
Apple offered the Montevina processors before any other vendor in the iMac refresh in 2008 (the same also happened the previous year; see here). So is it possible they might launch more within their 'usual' time frame, rather than waiting for Intel to make it available to all OEMs? Of course, this relies on Intel being able to produce enough processors for Apple and build up enough inventory for the actual launch.
 
Mystic Eddy said:
Apple offered the Montevina processors before any other vendor in the iMac refresh in 2008 (the same also happened the previous year; see here). So is it possible they might launch more within their 'usual' time frame, rather than waiting for Intel to make it available to all OEMs? Of course, this relies on Intel being able to produce enough processors for Apple and build up enough inventory for the actual launch.
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This is what I'm hoping for, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't actually happen. What's another month eh?
 
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So by April they should be released, early to mid April?
 
bobright said:
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So by April they should be released, early to mid April?
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I'd like that then get a refurb in may
 
Who knows? It's contingent on a) when Apple got Ivy Bridge to prototype with and design the latest iMac and b) when Apple have access to it in volume. They may have it early, but we have to wait and see.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

It's probably safe to say though within the next month or so well finally get more and more leaks and rumors. I'm all for that at least toss me a bone to let me know suppers on its way. LOL
 
I wrote this in another thread although I've tweaked it a little:

  • 21.5 inch $1199
  • Intel Core i5 3450S 2.8GHz w/ 3.5GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7730M 1GB

  • 21.5 inch $1499
  • Intel Core i5 3470 2.9GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo > i7 3770S 3.1GHz w/ 3.9GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750M 1GB

  • 27 inch $1699
  • Intel Core i5 3470 2.9GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750M 1GB > 7950M 2GB

  • 27 inch $1999
  • Intel Core i5 3470 3.2GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo > i7 3770 3.4GHz w/ 3.9GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB

(Each with a 1TB HDD except for the $1199 iMac which will have a 500GB HDD, and each with 4GB 1600MHz RAM.)

I hope somehow they've managed to implement a "retina" display on each of these, that'd be amazing.
 
MythicFrost said:
I wrote this in another thread although I've tweaked it a little:

  • 21.5 inch $1199
  • Intel Core i5 3450S 2.8GHz w/ 3.5GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7730M 1GB

  • 21.5 inch $1499
  • Intel Core i5 3470 2.9GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo > i7 3770S 3.1GHz w/ 3.9GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750M 1GB

  • 27 inch $1699
  • Intel Core i5 3470 2.9GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7750M 1GB > 7950M 2GB

  • 27 inch $1999
  • Intel Core i5 3470 3.2GHz w/ 3.6GHz Turbo > i7 3770 3.4GHz w/ 3.9GHz Turbo
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB

(Each with a 1TB HDD except for the $1199 iMac which will have a 500GB HDD, and each with 4GB 1600MHz RAM.)

I hope somehow they've managed to implement a "retina" display on each of these, that'd be amazing.
Click to expand...

In terms of CPU, I think you're right on the middle too but I reckon the first one will just be 2.7GHz and that they'll stick with current GDDR5 levels. I think they're more likely to bring a 1TB hard drive to the baseline than to bring 1GB graphics.
 
I am just wondering if the next lot of products are going to be different now that Jobs has gone. At least we know it will look beautiful because Ive is designing it. But we may see them putting more emphasis in areas that didn't concern Apple before.
 
boy-better-know said:
I am just wondering if the next lot of products are going to be different now that Jobs has gone. At least we know it will look beautiful because Ive is designing it. But we may see them putting more emphasis in areas that didn't concern Apple before.
Click to expand...

I heard somewhere that well before SJ died, he had arranged a roadmap for new iPhones, Macs, etc. Maybe it was just a rumor though. If not, i don't see apple changing much now that Steve is gone.
 
Ddyracer said:
I heard somewhere that well before SJ died, he had arranged a roadmap for new iPhones, Macs, etc. Maybe it was just a rumor though. If not, i don't see apple changing much now that Steve is gone.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember that. Reading his book just makes me feel like his vision had been cut short. I hope Apple follow through with his ideas, like I imagine they did with the textbooks (iBooks 2).
 
ConnorTurnbull said:
In terms of CPU, I think you're right on the middle too but I reckon the first one will just be 2.7GHz and that they'll stick with current GDDR5 levels. I think they're more likely to bring a 1TB hard drive to the baseline than to bring 1GB graphics.
Click to expand...
I hope they don't because the only 2.7GHz processor only has a 3.2GHz Turbo Boost. The i5 2400S used right now is 2.5GHz and Turbo Boosts to 3.3GHz, and the 2.7GHz i5 2500S used right now goes from 2.7GHz to 3.7GHz.

What do you mean by "they'll stick with current GDDR5 levels"?

I don't think we'll see a 1TB HDD, but you're right they may get a 7730 512MB. (I really hope they don't use rebranded 6000 series cards.)
 
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