I was really excited about making the switch to mac, and was gonna wait for the new iMac to be released to make the switch, everyone seemed really excited about it...but now all I hear on this site is negative talk about it...bad video chips, failing screens, it not being worth the money...A little less happy about getting it..just wondering why there was such a negative pull towards this product? Is it really all that bad? Would I just be better off going back to a PC?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
why is everyone so negative about the iMac?
- Thread starter blueicedj
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No, it's really not all bad. Mostly the new iMac is very very good. Certainly much better than reverting to PC land.
This always happens when a new Mac is released. People have been waiting for it to come out for a long time... so if it doesn't match expectations exactly, then there are a lot of complaints.
Overall the new iMac is great - personally I'm just a bit surprised that they don't offer a matte screen option. Others are concerned that the video cards used aren't good enough for their needs.
You have to decide what your needs are, and base your decision on that... not on the countless whining posts by myself and others.
This always happens when a new Mac is released. People have been waiting for it to come out for a long time... so if it doesn't match expectations exactly, then there are a lot of complaints.
Overall the new iMac is great - personally I'm just a bit surprised that they don't offer a matte screen option. Others are concerned that the video cards used aren't good enough for their needs.
You have to decide what your needs are, and base your decision on that... not on the countless whining posts by myself and others.
really the main things people are complaining about is they want to be able to run the newest games at max settings, and the glossy screen, if gaming isn't a big issue for you then go to a store and see if the glossy display bothers you or not, and decide from that
The iMac is a good machine. The Ars Technica review shows that. What you're seeing here is the result of Mac fans waiting for almost a full year for a significant update and what we got was... well, not all that impressive.
First, the basic look of the machine is still pretty much the same. All this time for some minor design tweaks is really a let down and the gripes that people had with the old design weren't addressed. The primary complaint that most people had about it was the chin and that's still there. Personally, I detest the black border around the screen. That's just flat-out awful.
Secondly, the specs on the machines were bumped, but it was nothing impressive, especially after this long a wait. It was really an incremental thing. From what I've seen, it's a good machine, but not knock-your-socks-off good.
Third, it appears that Apple is still using some components intended for laptops, presumably to keep the heat of the machine low. I know it's been argued here endlessly that the difference between mobile and desktop components nowadays is almost negligible, but still. If you're buying a desktop machine, you should get a desktop machine.
Fourth, the glossy screen should be optional. I loathe glossy screens. My vision sucks as it is and any reduction in glare, no matter how minor it may seem to others, is a positive thing for me. I do not understand why Apple couldn't have made that an option.
Fifth, I'm still up in the air as to whether or not the new design is actually better than the old. The new look is a mishmash. The keyboard and mouse don't match the brushed metal look or the black back of the machine. And the sleek, minimalist look is ruined by this duct tape band of black around the display? Huh? This new look just doesn't gel for me. Did Jonathan Ive really design this mess?
Sixth, Apple touts their machines as your multimedia hub and yet, from the complaints I'm hearing, the lack of connectivity and lack of video muscle in the iMacs place them firmly behind their PC counterparts in terms of HD and video.
Seventh, what new features does this iMac offer that the previous version didn't? I'm still trying to figure that out. Every major redesign of the iMac has come with something impressive added on. This didn't.
Eighth, still not user-serviceable beyond the RAM. C'mon... Apple, you can do better.
Ninth, the loss of the low-end, sub-$1000 iMac. I don't understand what Apple is thinking. It's a consumer machine, and Apple now lacks an offering in the price range that many consumers will budget for. That makes no sense. I know someone who has changed his mind about buying a Mac specifically because of this missing iMac. He's now shopping around for a PC.
So, that's most of it. There are more specific complaints out there, but that covers about 95% of it. I was planning to buy a new machine early next year to replace my iMac G4, but now I'm stumped. I don't know what to do. I really do not want this new iMac and I'm not interested in spending as much as it takes to get a Mac Pro (and display.) From my point of view, Apple screwed this up. It seems they are spending too much time and energy on their phone and made a halfhearted effort with the iMac.
The two major complaints i've heard thus far is the black border on the bezel and the fact that Glossy screen is non changeable and these are valid.....for the most part. I dont mind the black border.
People have to understand that current macs are being made to look like the iPhone/Leopard's new UI which is Black/unified metal. Heck even apple's website uses this scheme and this isn't really a bad thing
All other complaints are as a result of people wanting a Mac Pro-like desktop for the iMac price. i.e 512MB Graphics card, Quad core processore, 8GB of RAM 2TB of HDD etc and thats just not gonna happen.
The iMac has its target audience (Simple powerful desktop for general non high-end computing audience), you're either in that audience...or not.
People have to understand that current macs are being made to look like the iPhone/Leopard's new UI which is Black/unified metal. Heck even apple's website uses this scheme and this isn't really a bad thing
All other complaints are as a result of people wanting a Mac Pro-like desktop for the iMac price. i.e 512MB Graphics card, Quad core processore, 8GB of RAM 2TB of HDD etc and thats just not gonna happen.
The iMac has its target audience (Simple powerful desktop for general non high-end computing audience), you're either in that audience...or not.
Because 90% of people who are iMac buyers are those who are happy to go and buy the damned things and have no interest in posting on forums about their Macs.
And then there are those who are seemingly happy in their misery, eternally waiting for the perfect machine, fetishing their computers beyond reason and who post incessantly about what displeases them and how Apple are making huge mistakes.
I'm a designer, the computer is a tool. Apart from a couple of spec questions and some reading, when I need a new Mac, I go out and buy the best one that I can afford. Same with the work Macs. It's simple... and if a new model is released six weeks later, I don't weep and moan because the Mac I've just bought still works exactly the same.
And because I'm a designer, using Windows isn't a realistic option... so why people get upset about things that they're not going to change is the reason why most of these complaints fall on deaf ears.
What's the betting that in twelve months time, we'll hear of record iMac sales?
Here's some good news.
I thought the new ones were damn ugly when they were launched, then I saw one in a Nextbyte shop on Friday and instantly I wanted one, especially seeing as the 20" is now cheaper than the 17" ones we got for the office twp months ago.
I'm not a big fan of the black bezel, or the circa 1980's car-roof-vinyl look of the back, but overall they're pretty amazing machines for the money, and they do indeed look miles better than any PC I've ever seen.
I'm not a big fan of the black bezel, or the circa 1980's car-roof-vinyl look of the back, but overall they're pretty amazing machines for the money, and they do indeed look miles better than any PC I've ever seen.
I really think that the main problem with the new iMacs is that many people haven't seen them in person. I was looking at the pictures, and I didn't like them at all. It all seemed so wrong, the colors, the wide black strip around the screen. The keyboard with white keys, while the iMac is black and aluminium.
BUT, you know what, when you see the new iMac in person it is just beautiful. The new iMac is a lot thinner than its predecessor. The aluminium and glass looks beautiful and really expensive. The new keyboard is incredibly thin and matches the iMac perfectly.
Basicly, what I'm trying to say is, go to a store and see it, because it's yet another great design.
BUT, you know what, when you see the new iMac in person it is just beautiful. The new iMac is a lot thinner than its predecessor. The aluminium and glass looks beautiful and really expensive. The new keyboard is incredibly thin and matches the iMac perfectly.
Basicly, what I'm trying to say is, go to a store and see it, because it's yet another great design.
Personally for me its the glossy screen, it would have been nice if we were given the option, but now the only real machine to do photo editing on is the Mac Pro, MacBook Pro or the Mac Mini.
I'm on a MacBook sadly stuck with a glossy screen doing a photography course, I'm so boned!
I'm on a MacBook sadly stuck with a glossy screen doing a photography course, I'm so boned!
I don't think that this a glossy display. It is a matte display with a sheet of glass in front of it which gives the impression of glossy. Offering matte is not as simple an option as it would be MacBook Pros as it would require a different front design for the two models.
The glossy display is not even an issue anyway. People just here the word glossy and start to jump on the bandwagon. Has anyone here even considered how it would integrate where they intend to use it? I mean, who would want light to be shining off their monitor anyway. I've always tried to position my desktops away from the window and harsh lights as they tend to ash out the colours anyway.
No you are not. Even most professionals don't find glossy screens *that* intrusive, so I highly doubt someone doing a course is going to be 'boned'.
This is why I've made a thread about it to actually find out if this is true. The thing is, any editing I do with this screen is going to be different when I transfer it to the iMac with the printer.
I also meant "boned" in a comedic fashion, I'm not being 100% serious.
Apple seems to think so: http://www.apple.com/imac/technology/display.html
Oh, and BTW, I love the glossy screen on my MacBook. I can use it in almost every lighting condition there is (the only exception is strong light from behind me, which would render most screens useless anyway).
Yeah, I understand how Apple are marketing it but I just can't see it being a glossy display and then a glass front as well. As for what you said about the MacBook, I couldn't agree more. I think people make glossy out to be more than a problem that it actually is.
Exactly. And if most people realised the gaps between keys on the new keyboard are merely an aesthetic change rather than an operational change, then they'd quit moaning about that too. Unfortunately, most people are thicks as two short planks when it comes to points like this.
1. People like to complain.
2. People who dislike something about the new iMacs are hundred times more likely to post here than people who like them.
3. Whenever people complain, consider that they have very very high expectations. The same people wouldn't complain about a Dell, because the Dell is so bad, it isn't even worth complaining about!
4. Very occasionally I have written to companies how they could improve their products. I've only ever done this when I really liked the product, but felt it could be made even better. I wouldn't ever do that with a product that I didn't like. To all manufacturers: If you get complaints, that is sign that you are doing a good job! No complaints means nobody cares.
5. One important thing: You can only buy Macs from Apple. If you want to buy a PC, and you don't like what Dell does, you don't complain, you go to HP, or Toshiba, or Acer, and see what they have. If you don't like something that Apple does, you can't do that, so you complain.
All that said, I think even the biggest complainers here would never, ever consider getting a PC instead of a new iMac.
Good Post but I did just that a year ago, bought a Dell E521 and put in a 7600GS & TV Tuner.
Its been solid as can be plus I got a free Vista upgrade which is I dont plan on using for awhile.Your 100% right about the complaints. Its Mac vs Mac and you cant go anywhere else. Its take what they give you with the crippling or PC land. Its clear Apple uses its GPU's as a form of crippling. iMac should also have a TV tuner option if its really a "media hub". The thinking at Apple smells of Profits & Politics wth the configurations they dream up. A desktop thats really a laptop?
It´s not people complaining or expectiong to much; it was Apple puttng the bar really high!
1 - They keep us waiting 1 year. Everyone was expecting better.
2 - They gave us the "all in one world" design, for pros and consumers. And stuck a glossy screen that doesn´t work for pros.
3 - They talked so much about games in WWDC. They stuck a low GPU that doesn´t please gamers.
4 - Acessories don´t match the new design. That´s lamme! And with a redesign of the keyboard, there´s no excuse for that!
5 - Remote doesn´t stick on the iMac anymore. How can they skip a lovely detail? Finished the iMacs in a rush? :x
6 - You can´t please Greeks and Troyans. Consumer and Professional demands/needs/tastes are diferent. Bring us 2 iMac lines: One for pros (make it all aluminium with matte display), other for consumers (make it all black, with glossy and option for a gamers GPU)
my 2 cents
1 - They keep us waiting 1 year. Everyone was expecting better.
2 - They gave us the "all in one world" design, for pros and consumers. And stuck a glossy screen that doesn´t work for pros.
3 - They talked so much about games in WWDC. They stuck a low GPU that doesn´t please gamers.
4 - Acessories don´t match the new design. That´s lamme! And with a redesign of the keyboard, there´s no excuse for that!
5 - Remote doesn´t stick on the iMac anymore. How can they skip a lovely detail? Finished the iMacs in a rush? :x
6 - You can´t please Greeks and Troyans. Consumer and Professional demands/needs/tastes are diferent. Bring us 2 iMac lines: One for pros (make it all aluminium with matte display), other for consumers (make it all black, with glossy and option for a gamers GPU)
my 2 cents
T
Tonerl
Guest
New iMac
From what I've seen on various sites, the (non-)glossy screen could trouble anyone who has a window or light behind them when seated at their iMac. I can live with that but I worry about heat. Some reviews have mentioned that the machine gets hot or 'toasty'. Hot components have a short life-span. My conclusion? I shall wait for 6 months or more to see how reliable this kit is.
From what I've seen on various sites, the (non-)glossy screen could trouble anyone who has a window or light behind them when seated at their iMac. I can live with that but I worry about heat. Some reviews have mentioned that the machine gets hot or 'toasty'. Hot components have a short life-span. My conclusion? I shall wait for 6 months or more to see how reliable this kit is.
Two things.
1. A lot of Mac people, me included, were hoping for something truly different. This really seems like more of the same. It pretty much looks like the same iMac, made out of aluminum. We've seen some drastic changes with the iMac in the past. This was predictable.
2. It's not white. Specifically, the Apple logo isn't white. It's small, but in the Mac community, it's important. The black Apple is really rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.
1. A lot of Mac people, me included, were hoping for something truly different. This really seems like more of the same. It pretty much looks like the same iMac, made out of aluminum. We've seen some drastic changes with the iMac in the past. This was predictable.
2. It's not white. Specifically, the Apple logo isn't white. It's small, but in the Mac community, it's important. The black Apple is really rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.
I converted to a Mac about 1.5 years ago after over 20 years with windows and a small amount of time with an Amiga (which I miss a lot ).
I got a 20 in iMac first intel out core duo and I gotta tell ya IM very happy with it.
What dissapointed me is all the hype by apple and their innovation which I see everytime I use my iMac. However, this itteration of iMacs, to me really was an evolution rather then innovation.
I guess I expected a lot more in the design area.
I think the new iMacs look ok, BUT they are the same shape and format as the exsisting iMac.
Then there's Jonathan Ives that designs for apple.
When I see a white power cord, white mouse and basically there appears to be little thought to color coordination which dissapointed me. I felt this was going to be a real mind blowing completely new model.
As for the Glossy screen, I have never used one, but seeing PC's in local stores (we have no apple store here) with glossy screen, they appear to look very nice. IM sure one could always place a glossy screen at an angle or in an environment where it would show reflections, but on the other hand IM sure the opposite would be true--)))
In the Graphics arena, there's a lot of dissapointment that I must say apple tends to bring on themselves. They hype things so much that when a release comes it doesn't live up to the hype. Such as when earlier this year at the WWDC they have ID and EA speak about and demo games that will be coming to the Mac which get's all gamers thinking Yeah Baby! But what happens, Apple release new hyped iMacs with GPU's that many feel are of a low quality. So that gets people complaining!
Also there's a lot of passion here as many Mac owners LOVE their Macs, because of the OS and their design. Personnaly I have no plans on ever going back to windows pc's and I built plenty of them.
Finally, if I was in the market for another or a new Mac I would not hesitate to buy the current iMac!
I completely agree with all the people hating the fact that all the complaints come here and make all the good things about the imac's get covered in false mass opinions.
If you look at it all objectively its completely understandable why they have these 'slow' graphics cards in them, heat. imac's are all in one units as people said that nice 8 series chip they they have in the mac /bookpro's kick out quite alot of heat and thankfully they have good enough air circulation in the pro's to get those things cool enough. in the design of the imac's that everyone loves so much (and im talking old design here) even that wouldn't have worked with the 8 series cards. There is a reason they chose ATI and that as i said is because of heat.
I really dont think the issue with laptop components over desktop components should be included any more because the price of these components are pretty much similar and also the power.
I use a glossy macbook pro screen for my photo editing, and I am in design and photography and to be honest I have compared the two side by side on macbook pro's and actually they both have their benefits over color matching when printing. glossy doesn't matter any more.
Now this point I dont totally understand myself but as a PC based gamer I know that apple's work under openGL, which means that with the need of gaming at a much lower state on a imac why should they think about puting the best card on the machine, thats why macbook pro's are so expensive, you have all the high end choices. imac's start at nearly the same kind of prices as a macbook, doesnt that say something?
and yes I love the new imac's but cant afford one currently but I have used a friends and been drooling all over them in my local mac store.
Its a shame that threads like this come about because this is one of the reasons I find it hard to currently read macrumors, its either I hate blah blah or a post about people waiting for the new mac of their choice a week after the new one has been released.
If you look at it all objectively its completely understandable why they have these 'slow' graphics cards in them, heat. imac's are all in one units as people said that nice 8 series chip they they have in the mac /bookpro's kick out quite alot of heat and thankfully they have good enough air circulation in the pro's to get those things cool enough. in the design of the imac's that everyone loves so much (and im talking old design here) even that wouldn't have worked with the 8 series cards. There is a reason they chose ATI and that as i said is because of heat.
I really dont think the issue with laptop components over desktop components should be included any more because the price of these components are pretty much similar and also the power.
I use a glossy macbook pro screen for my photo editing, and I am in design and photography and to be honest I have compared the two side by side on macbook pro's and actually they both have their benefits over color matching when printing. glossy doesn't matter any more.
Now this point I dont totally understand myself but as a PC based gamer I know that apple's work under openGL, which means that with the need of gaming at a much lower state on a imac why should they think about puting the best card on the machine, thats why macbook pro's are so expensive, you have all the high end choices. imac's start at nearly the same kind of prices as a macbook, doesnt that say something?
and yes I love the new imac's but cant afford one currently but I have used a friends and been drooling all over them in my local mac store.
Its a shame that threads like this come about because this is one of the reasons I find it hard to currently read macrumors, its either I hate blah blah or a post about people waiting for the new mac of their choice a week after the new one has been released.
Well, I watched the keynote now... It was bit different. I remember the Mac Mini INTEL town hall introduction which was cool but the new iMac introduction? SJ is talking around 12 minutes about it but then headed directly to applications, no close ups from the new iMac, no demoing the keyboard. Almost ten minutes later he showed the new iMac. Till that time it looks like "yeah, we got new iMac, shall we show it to you in real? Oh well, it isn´t that big deal somehow." to me. It feels as it isn´t really that important only nice to know that they are out now.
OpenGL isn´t that bad for games. Why? It´s open! It gives developer more abilities to programm new routines. It´s OS independent, so you can get games and apps running on windows, unix and linux. It gives you the SAME effects as DirectX 10 with a OGL Shader 4.0 pipe in the graphics driver. Apple introduced multi threaded OGL for OSX, which is a really nice concept.
However, the iMac is built for the casual consumer and it´s ok there but I like the older ones more, they have a more straight design IMO.
OpenGL isn´t that bad for games. Why? It´s open! It gives developer more abilities to programm new routines. It´s OS independent, so you can get games and apps running on windows, unix and linux. It gives you the SAME effects as DirectX 10 with a OGL Shader 4.0 pipe in the graphics driver. Apple introduced multi threaded OGL for OSX, which is a really nice concept.
However, the iMac is built for the casual consumer and it´s ok there but I like the older ones more, they have a more straight design IMO.