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what would you do now
- Thread starter IamMarcoPolo
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Yeah, now that I've sat down and thought rationally about this, I will wait another month. By the way, I am still rocking a PowerMac G4 Mirror door computer. 9 1/2 years so far, what's another month right?
USB3 externals are plenty fast enough for most use, and not expensive.
You do have other issues though.
That's a good point. So perhaps for 2600 I can put together a system that would work well for me (retina MBP and some external hard drives). That's about the same cost as an iMac and an iPad. Then maybe add a large (non-apple) monitor later on.
But an iPad seems like the perfect portable device though, even more portable than the new MBP, and I'd be less freaked out to carry it around with me. Maybe I'll just buy an iPad and play with that while forcing my old macbook pro to limp along until we get new iMacs.
I'm in the same exact boat. I'm a musician, so I want to record at home with the bet hardware possible. I'm not gonna take my studio with me, so a laptop is somewhat pointless, cause any recording i woul do on the go I got the apogee jam and iPad to do it with. This is seriously a bummer. My 2008 iMac I bought used two years ago is on its way out. PLUS I WANT TO PLAY DIABLO 3 ON A DESKTOP! Being comfortable in a nice desk area is awesome!
What I would do? Just thinking aloud.
How about buy a 24" external monitor for your MBP. They're dirt cheap. I can't imagine doing serious work on a little laptop screen. Then wait a while for the new iMac.
I'm almost positive there will be a new iMac. The benchmarks have already been seen. Theories as to why there isn't one announced today:
A. They were working on Retina display and have not been able to fully test it or complete the work.
B. They're waiting to announce them with the new Apple TV service that's been rumored, and the new iMac has some kind of TV component they want to keep secret.
C. The update is incremental but not finished yet, and they're OK waiting a month or two while they focus on the other stuff that's making them way more money.
How about buy a 24" external monitor for your MBP. They're dirt cheap. I can't imagine doing serious work on a little laptop screen. Then wait a while for the new iMac.
I'm almost positive there will be a new iMac. The benchmarks have already been seen. Theories as to why there isn't one announced today:
A. They were working on Retina display and have not been able to fully test it or complete the work.
B. They're waiting to announce them with the new Apple TV service that's been rumored, and the new iMac has some kind of TV component they want to keep secret.
C. The update is incremental but not finished yet, and they're OK waiting a month or two while they focus on the other stuff that's making them way more money.
You boys and girls have two options .......
#1 Buy What You Need, WHEN You Need It
#2 Keep On Waiting
#1 Buy What You Need, WHEN You Need It
#2 Keep On Waiting
I'm stuck, I don't know what to do. I waited so long for this non-existent refresh and now there's nothing yet. Should I buy, or should I wait? I really wanted a Mac since it's summer and I don't have to worry about school and studying and I can just be on my new Mac all day.
Now if I wait it'll have to be late summer-early fall around the time the new semester starts and I have to start concentrating on school most of the time...
I've already wasted a lot of money I was saving for the refreshed iMac.
It's not like I need it right now, but I'm just getting sick of my almost 6 year old build that I'm on. I need change in my life... I don't know if I can wait much longer for a small refresh.
Now if I wait it'll have to be late summer-early fall around the time the new semester starts and I have to start concentrating on school most of the time...
I've already wasted a lot of money I was saving for the refreshed iMac.
It's not like I need it right now, but I'm just getting sick of my almost 6 year old build that I'm on. I need change in my life... I don't know if I can wait much longer for a small refresh.
My Mac Mini works fine and I have an ok 24" monitor. I've already put PC components for my build on a Newegg wish list, for a gaming PC. I will share my existing monitor between the two.
If you disregard the on-die GPU, Ivy Bridge is roughly 10% faster clock for clock, while minimizing power consumption and thermals. NO way is the CPU itself 30% faster clock for clock than Sandy Bridge.
Yeah, this. Which is very annoying to me because I'm sure Apple is banking on the fact that lots of us will do just that before it announces the new iMac.
Yeah, it's annoying on the face of it, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might actually be a more sensible solution (at least for me)... Sort of the best of both worlds...
Just to interject with my 2 cents, if you really want an iMac, stay strong and wait. They will be coming, they are in need of an update and Apple know this as much as we do.
I can't wait much longer!
Thanks, I needed to hear that! I've been waiting for the new iMac and am so tired and out grown of my 2008 MBP. With everything on the cloud I want to use a nice large iMac at home and have my iPad and a new Mac Air for on the go. I'll at least keep waiting until ML is released.
Thanks, I needed to hear that! I've been waiting for the new iMac and am so tired and out grown of my 2008 MBP. With everything on the cloud I want to use a nice large iMac at home and have my iPad and a new Mac Air for on the go. I'll at least keep waiting until ML is released.
I have a 3 part plan. Which I am actually following myself, except I already bought my refurb imac in Feb.
1. I would suggest you do the smart thing and buy a current model 3.4GHz i7 imac from the refurbished store now. Then in a short while the new imacs will be released with ivy bridge. This won't matter because the speed bump will not be a big deal and the 1600 third party ram will be dearer to buy.
2. So you get a terrific imac that you can ram to the max and use it for a year or maybe a bit longer. Then you purchase cheap applecare for it ($100 on ebay) before the warrantee runs out (you get new warrantee from the refurb store) and put it on ebay (just before next years release) where you will probably get almost what you paid for it.
3. After selling it you get the next iMac which will certainly be a more worthwhile upgrade and this will be the one you keep for 3-5 years
I think
The best plan is simply wait few more weeks to ml and hope for silent update to iMacs.
While the processor isn't that important to me, the ivy are not that fast when compared to the i7we have today.
The lack of USB 3 is annoying, knowing that usb3 will be standard in 2 years, and knowing I have no intentions to replace desktop every 2 years I am not going to invest in computer that pricy withno USB 3.
The best plan is simply wait few more weeks to ml and hope for silent update to iMacs.
While the processor isn't that important to me, the ivy are not that fast when compared to the i7we have today.
The lack of USB 3 is annoying, knowing that usb3 will be standard in 2 years, and knowing I have no intentions to replace desktop every 2 years I am not going to invest in computer that pricy withno USB 3.
I really do hope Apple updates iMacs in July.
There really is no excuse.
1) Buying an iMac right now is a terrible idea; it is not just speed that matters. Graphics become outdated, firewire becomes obsolete, you can't buy peripherals that use USB 3.0, nothing can be upgraded. It will last one year at most. And 1 year from now the only people who will buy them on ebay are either morons, or very smart people who will end up paying 1/8 the retail price. And for all of that:
2) The price *sucks* on iMacs right now. In order to get that "top speed" iMac on the current lineup it's going to be easily $2.7k which doesn't include third party ram. And screw the refurbished ones, that's just a whole set of new factors that can go wrong when you need your comp every day for work. The positive of a new iMac line coming out is that you can buy a lower end one which doesn't cost $2.7k, replace that 5 year old Mac you're using, and get some speed and components that will last 3-5 years.
It's HILARIOUS that they used a Final Cut Pro example in the keynote regarding the new Macbook Pros. Hardly anyone edits on a laptop, never mind one with a 15" screen, never mind on a trackpad. Imagine going through keyframes on Adobe After Effects clicking each one on a tiny 2 inch panel with a trackpad. Imagine editing without a number pad and function keys which you have to constantly switch from providing laptop functions. Completely absurd. You'd have to buy a second monitor, which makes the retina display totally pointless, which is why editors at least need iMacs if not Mac Pros.
If Apple doesn't release new iMacs within 1-2 months I think it's a clear indication they are giving up on design professionals. That's when it's time to switch the workflow to Adobe "everything" and buy a PC.
There really is no excuse.
1) Buying an iMac right now is a terrible idea; it is not just speed that matters. Graphics become outdated, firewire becomes obsolete, you can't buy peripherals that use USB 3.0, nothing can be upgraded. It will last one year at most. And 1 year from now the only people who will buy them on ebay are either morons, or very smart people who will end up paying 1/8 the retail price. And for all of that:
2) The price *sucks* on iMacs right now. In order to get that "top speed" iMac on the current lineup it's going to be easily $2.7k which doesn't include third party ram. And screw the refurbished ones, that's just a whole set of new factors that can go wrong when you need your comp every day for work. The positive of a new iMac line coming out is that you can buy a lower end one which doesn't cost $2.7k, replace that 5 year old Mac you're using, and get some speed and components that will last 3-5 years.
It's HILARIOUS that they used a Final Cut Pro example in the keynote regarding the new Macbook Pros. Hardly anyone edits on a laptop, never mind one with a 15" screen, never mind on a trackpad. Imagine going through keyframes on Adobe After Effects clicking each one on a tiny 2 inch panel with a trackpad. Imagine editing without a number pad and function keys which you have to constantly switch from providing laptop functions. Completely absurd. You'd have to buy a second monitor, which makes the retina display totally pointless, which is why editors at least need iMacs if not Mac Pros.
If Apple doesn't release new iMacs within 1-2 months I think it's a clear indication they are giving up on design professionals. That's when it's time to switch the workflow to Adobe "everything" and buy a PC.
THIS DOESN'T MATTER. It's not that the 2011 iMac isn't a capable machine -- it is. It's just a TERRIBLE VALUE right now for its price. Either a price drop on the existing iMac or a spec bump that maintains prices would have been PLENTY. We didn't need a redesign, though that would be nice. We just needed it to be possible to buy a current iMac again without grossly overspending.
I'll gladly buy the 2011 iMac. For 70% of what they're currently asking for it.
I'll also gladly buy a 2012 Ivy Bridge iMac with specs up. For 100% of what they're currently asking for the 2011 iMac.
I won't, and none of us want to, pay June 2012 moneys for the May 2011 iMac, because that's stupid and you should never do that unless you're an idiot.
NOW does it make sense to you why everyone is upset even though we all know Ivy Bridge is a "tock" and not a substantial power boost over Sandy Bridge? It's a question of what you get for the money you pay. Right now the iMac is all out of ratio on that. EVERY Mac was out of ratio on that until this morning; now the portables, at least, are back where they should be.
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I wish you were wrong, but you're not.
The issue is though, that the product strategists at Apple now see the iMac as a sideshow. As they also do the MacPro.
Really, they should re-think their whole desktop strategy.
They should sell a revised MacPro case, that is designed for top end third party motherboards, from for instance, intel or even Gigabyte. And allow for screen cards to work on them. And have some hand shaking from Apple for a fee, to allow Apple's OS to download, via the Windoze OS, and do an install and configuration onto the machine. Sell an Apple monitor that is not overpriced too, that is colour calibrated.
That way, people can get the easiest to upgrade desktop in the world (the case is brilliant), and allow people to up the performance as they choose, and collect revenue for the software downloads. Their low cost Apple OS would also impinge upon M$ upgrades ... you'd only get one cheap OEM Windoze, as it comes with the new MacPro.
That way, Apple can concentrate on what they want to - easy to use consumer devices, that encourage Apple to collect sales commissions on software App downloads. So ... treat the hardware for the Pro desktop the same - get a commission, and have people upgrade - cheaply - themselves. And such people will thereby always have a very fast machine.
As to the iMac - Apple simply are no longer interested. And its no longer unique - there are loads of copies. Some even better designed (an HP comes to mind). And the iMac is slow now. Apple doesn't even lead in screen size anymore - its easy to get a top IPS monitor from Dell, which is 30".
Apple's iMac division seems to be the bottom of the barrel at Apple. The people who work there, must feel like those people who were developing the Lisa at Apple, when the Mac came out. Totally un-inspired, and not creating anything ground breaking, and being trounced by the people developing the money making, good value, leading technology products at Apple.
Hang down your heads iMac personnel. You are all a disgrace.
The ridiculous thing is, that many people think that Apple products are a rip off. In fact, the profit making products are not. The iPhones, iPads, even some of the notebooks - are well worth it.
But typical people use the MacPro and the iMac as their examples of Apple being a rip off. And today's iMac is a prime example. Its old tech, its lost its innovation, and its expensive. So - don't buy that iPad, don't buy that iPhone - buy a Samsung X with Android, because its much better value. And Androids must be better value - just look at what you get for an iMac's price.
Apple - Wake Up.....
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well. my take is this:
with competing products from PC line (e.g. Dell's XPS One), if they are going for a slight refresh, the specs will most probably end up the same as what is available with the rest of the market now. Which in Apple's way is a no go. They are leading the market not follow it.
WWDC product refresh will be rubbish if there were no retina MBP..
chances are, they are not ready.
I say i am going to suck it up and wait a bit longer. 400+ days, a few more days wont kill..
and chances are.. a redesign might be in the fix too.. since they dun wanna confuse consumers by introducing 2 redesigns in 1 conference.. (i consider retina MBP to be redesign)
with competing products from PC line (e.g. Dell's XPS One), if they are going for a slight refresh, the specs will most probably end up the same as what is available with the rest of the market now. Which in Apple's way is a no go. They are leading the market not follow it.
WWDC product refresh will be rubbish if there were no retina MBP..
chances are, they are not ready.
I say i am going to suck it up and wait a bit longer. 400+ days, a few more days wont kill..
and chances are.. a redesign might be in the fix too.. since they dun wanna confuse consumers by introducing 2 redesigns in 1 conference.. (i consider retina MBP to be redesign)
Yep - no pixels viewable means its a Retina.
They'd only have to put the LG 30" IPS monitor which Dell uses, into an iMac style case, and with the same pixel density, because you would have the monitor further away, it would more more retina than today's 27". Even with the same pixel density ...
Personally, I'm waiting until they pack those macbook pro components into a mac mini and saving $1400. I was already on the fence between the two (I already have a good monitor) but I was expecting an imac update several months ago. Now that the updates are likely to be close I'm happy to take a mini.
i certainly do hope they dun have retina for the iMac.. it might jus cost a bomb
maybe they might do a MBP and have 2 running product lines.. who knows..
on the bright side. we can throw in 20USD for ML next month.. and re-organize ourselves a little on the thoughts of iMac..
maybe they might do a MBP and have 2 running product lines.. who knows..
on the bright side. we can throw in 20USD for ML next month.. and re-organize ourselves a little on the thoughts of iMac..