Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Will you wait longer than the July release of Mountain Lion to purchase a new iMac.

  • No. If the new iMac is not out by then, i will buy the 2011 iMac.

    Votes: 67 30.7%
  • Yes...I will wait till after July if needed to buy a new 2012 iMac

    Votes: 151 69.3%

  • Total voters
    218
I voted yes, but it's a soft yes.

I'll probably wait till July or August, unless I start seeing solid rumors about an upcoming release.

If there are no rumors, or it sounds like it's going to be a November-ish release... then I'll just get the 2011.
 
I was about to pull the trigger on the 2011 iMac until i read the rumors of a newer model coming soon. The plan is to wait it out for at least through August. Till then I'll continue to use my current iMac and my 2011 MBP.
 
I think I can keep my 2007 model going until the end of the year. I need a bigger disk drive and some more memory, but regular archiving and care in what I leave open should see me ok for a while.
 
I am not buying a new computer with no USB3 ports on it, period.

Unless it's 2017 and Thunderbolt devices are finally reasonably priced. But other than that, no.
 
Might wait

I have a 9 1/2 yr old PowerMac G4 Mirror Door Drive computer. I have been making due so far just really excited to finally being able to purchase a new computer. Part of me wants to wait as long as it takes, and the other part of me says, if not with ML, then get a MBP Retina. Either way, my needs would be met. It's the internal battle I keep having with myself!
 
My original plan was to buy a 27" iMac after the spec bump along with two Thunderbolt Displays, but now I think I will get the MacBook Pro with Retina display and hold off on everything else until next year.

I’ve had a hard enough time thinking I might be buying year old technology right now, I can only imagine what I would be like knowing I missed out on a radical redesign.
 
I already decided I'm not waiting. After the no annoucement I started looking at alternatives. I noticed how big the hackintosh community is and how a lot of people have stable builds for way cheaper than a iMac. Ya I might not have that fancy screen but I would rather have a fast computer than a pretty one.
 
I already decided I'm not waiting. After the no annoucement I started looking at alternatives. I noticed how big the hackintosh community is and how a lot of people have stable builds for way cheaper than a iMac. Ya I might not have that fancy screen but I would rather have a fast computer than a pretty one.
Will your benchmark be the same as an iMac score?

I thought a hackintosh was illegal.
 
Will your benchmark be the same as an iMac score?

I thought a hackintosh was illegal.

So is speeding.

The build I'm thinking of is better than a basic Mac pro plus if something dies I can replace it, unlike a iMac.
 
Been waiting since January. If its not out by end of July then enoughs enough and I will begrudgingly pull the trigger.

----------

I am not buying a new computer with no USB3 ports on it, period.

Unless it's 2017 and Thunderbolt devices are finally reasonably priced. But other than that, no.

Forgive my ignorance but is USB3 all that? - I mean what benefits does it actually give?
 
If it's not out in July then I'll either get a Retina MBP w/ Thunderbolt Display, the current iMac (most likely) or make due with my stupid PC laptop for a while until it does.
 
I'll buy the new design iMac in late 2013 when it comes out. The 2012 model will just be a speed bump (plus USB3) of the current design.
 
Forgive my ignorance but is USB3 all that? - I mean what benefits does it actually give?

It's around 10x faster. In practice it's more like 5x faster.

The point is that the difference is night and day. Have you ever offloaded 16gb from your camera that's full of photos and HD video? It's takes a long time with USB 2.0. 3.0 is getting us near eSATA speeds - very fast.

Everything new will be 3.0. Cameras, backup drives, etc. Thunderbolt is superior. But USB 3.0 devices are cheap and fast, and soon to be ubiquitous.

If you have a USB 2.0 iMac you're stuck with USB 2.0 forever. That would irritate the hell out of me.
 
It's around 10x faster. In practice it's more like 5x faster.

The point is that the difference is night and day. Have you ever offloaded 16gb from your camera that's full of photos and HD video? It's takes a long time with USB 2.0. 3.0 is getting us near eSATA speeds - very fast.

Everything new will be 3.0. Cameras, backup drives, etc. Thunderbolt is superior. But USB 3.0 devices are cheap and fast, and soon to be ubiquitous.

If you have a USB 2.0 iMac you're stuck with USB 2.0 forever. That would irritate the hell out of me.

Probably a dumb question but I have 2 external hard drives that are USB 2.0 compatible, if I plug them into a USB 3.0 port will I get improved performance and transfer speeds, or will it forever be at USB 2.0 level?
 
It's around 10x faster. In practice it's more like 5x faster.

The point is that the difference is night and day. Have you ever offloaded 16gb from your camera that's full of photos and HD video? It's takes a long time with USB 2.0. 3.0 is getting us near eSATA speeds - very fast.

Everything new will be 3.0. Cameras, backup drives, etc. Thunderbolt is superior. But USB 3.0 devices are cheap and fast, and soon to be ubiquitous.

If you have a USB 2.0 iMac you're stuck with USB 2.0 forever. That would irritate the hell out of me.

Thanks InlawBiker, didn't realise it was that much difference, but it sure sounds worth having. I guess the problem is buying the iMac with USB2 will be the same price as one with USB3 when it comes out - that's where the problem lies with me.
 
Probably a dumb question but I have 2 external hard drives that are USB 2.0 compatible, if I plug them into a USB 3.0 port will I get improved performance and transfer speeds, or will it forever be at USB 2.0 level?

Yes, you're stuck with 2.0 speeds with your existing enclosure, but you can find cheap USB 3.0 enclosures and swap the drives into those.
 
I'll buy the new design iMac in late 2013 when it comes out. The 2012 model will just be a speed bump (plus USB3) of the current design.

I'm fine with the design now. Really, all I want is a minor speed bump and a new GPU.

If they're not updating the GPU, then I MIIIIGHT wait. But I'll have to decide later.
 
Any USB 2.0 device will always be 2.0, no getting around it. It will plug into a USB 3.0 port though, since they're backwards compatible.

All hope is not lost for 2011 iMac owners. Thunderbolt really is better, and eventually the prices will become reasonable. The market has definitely flocked to USB 3 first though.

There's another benefit to Thunderbolt that I love. You can daisy-chain the devices. So you have only one cable dangling out the back of your iMac, to your external drive for example. Your external drive will have another input plug. From that you can attach your camera or whatever, and so on, up to six devices.

This is a boon to MBP owners. If you want to connect to an external monitor you just plug in the Thunderbolt display to the laptop. From your TB display you already have your external hard drive and other TB peripherals attached. That means only one plug to fiddle with on your laptop and everything is automatically attached.
 
I have a sealed copy of cs 5.5 just waiting to get on an able mac but besides that its really more of a want than a need.

<< waiting camp
 
Yes, you're stuck with 2.0 speeds with your existing enclosure, but you can find cheap USB 3.0 enclosures and swap the drives into those.

Thank you. Cheap usb 3.0 enclosures, that would involve me taking apart my external hard drive essentially, sounds a bit fraught with problems.
 
Not having a Mac makes waiting difficult.

If there is no update till 2013 then I will seriously consider a 2011 model,maybe even a refurb.

Problem for me is that the longer I wait,the closer it gets to 2013.

I can understand the need for secrecy if Apple need to shift as many 2011 as they can,but they can't be doing themselves any favours.

Alan
 
I was hoping to upgrade from my Mac Pro 1,1 to the 2012 Mac Pro, but the iMac line is looking very attractive and the Mac Pro line is just too out of date. So, I'm going to wait as long as it takes (hopefully not much longer) until the 2012 iMacs are released. I actually think we might be in for a major update. Based upon the past major updates that involved a design change, the iMac is due this year. Plus, they didn't upgrade the Thunderbolt Display to USB 3.0 (they upgraded the entire laptop line to USB 3.0, so the display is in need), so I think that a retina display in the iMac and TBD might just be in the cards for us this year. Wishful thinking...
 
After a year waiting for new iMacs I've given up. Ordered a new retina MBP. Damn you, Schiller!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.