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Apple Announces New iMac With Quad-Core Processors & Thunderbolt I/O
- mahrain 16y agoStill no matte display option, I'm sticking with a Mini + Dell display combo. To explain a bit more: I have owned a 27" iMac for about four days. The machine was great but I couldn't handle looking at it for more than five minutes until getting eye strain, this, and on darker backgrounds the screen really ís a mirror - and I'm no narcissist.
- ThomPete 16y agoMay I ask why you want matte display? I am not missing it at all but I might be missing something.
- sigzero 16y agoGlare would be the #1 reason.
- mbreese 16y agoFor some people that is like asking if they prefer vi or emacs. I personally prefer matte displays because I like to avoid the glare that I get with glossy monitors. But the colors on a glossy do seem 'brighter'.
- ThomPete 16y agoI don't think that is comparable. vi and emacs are in competition. One cannot be said to be the successor of the other. The glare is supposed to be better so that is what I don't understand.
- jdub 16y agoGlossy is better because it's uncoated. "Matte" is a coating, an extra layer of gumpf on top of your beautiful, bright and colourful screen.
- jarek 16y agoThat's a bit like saying a rust-proofed car is worse than a non-treated one.
- jdub 16y agoRust-proofing is objectively good. It does not, when applied, change the quality of the car underneath it. Matte coating puts a layer of gumpf between your eyeball and the screen, which affects the image you see.
- jws 16y agoDepending on your physical environment, you can see reflected objects in glossy displays. Some people mentally filter these out, some people don't.
- srgseg 16y agoI remember reading that about 40% of people tested suffered significantly more eye strain than others with a glossy screen. The theory was that there is a genetic trait affecting whether eyes tend to constantly refocus or not. Personally, it gives me a headache and makes it very hard for me to concentrate because I can't help constantly refocussing. The other 60% of the population think we're just being awkward.
- ThomPete 16y agoI see. Thanks.
- pk2200 16y agoThe iMac screen is highly reflective, to the point that it's almost like looking in a mirror when running an app with a dark background color. My default IDE background color is black, and I had to change it on my iMac, so I could focus on my code instead of my face... Apple offers a matte display on the MacBook Pro, and I highly recommend that option, especially if you intend to work outdoors.
- antidaily 16y agoI love the 27". Best display I've ever had. Move your desk.
- toong 16y agoThe standard models' CPU: 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache That's no Sandy Bridge for the new iMac ? The more expensive models allow you to configure Intel Core i7: "Configurable to 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, only at the Apple Online Store." That's still a little vague ?
- pieter 16y agoSounds like the i5-2400 and the i7-2600 to me, both Sandy Bridge CPU's. The bit about the "only at.." means you can't get them in the physical store, because those will be custom built to your specifications.
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- pieter 16y agoYou now have to upgrade to the second tier if you want to have more than 500GB hard drives or an SSD, so if you really want that you'll have to pay $300 more than the base model. Too bad the hard drives in these macs are so hard to replace yourself.
- JoeAltmaier 16y ago"Too bad"? Its of course no accident that memory, drives, in fact everything cheap to upgrade on an Apple is tucked away behind "warranty void" stickers. Compare the the ease of replacing your PC laptop drive or RAM - behind a snap-off cover.
- liscio 16y agoThat is false. RAM and HDDs in MacBook Pro machines are user-replaceable parts. No warranty is voided provided you install the proper stuff, and don't break your system in the process. I believe the manuals include detailed instructions for the replacements. The RAM is _very_easily_ upgraded in an iMac. Apple's even designed a nifty door to make this process incredibly easy. The only point of annoyance here is the HDD in an iMac. The design simply doesn't allow for the HDD to be accessed, and hence it's not user-installable. Personally, I'd never buy an iMac, and I very seldom recommend them.
- 2muchcoffeeman 16y agoThe HDD on an iMac is replaceable if you have heavy duty suction cups ...
- astrodust 16y agoThe good news is these are actually inexpensive compared to other essential tech tools: http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/Heavy-duty-Suction-Cups/IF145-023 http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/Heavy-duty-Suction-Cups/IF145-02... ($14.95)
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- CognitiveLens 16y agoFrom the Thunderbolt section: "The 27-inch iMac includes a second Thunderbolt port for even more expansion possibilities. Connect up to six more devices or a display or two." Sounds good.
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- jrockway 16y agoThis is what's amazing about Apple. That a grey-box PC has been able to take a $50 video card for decades to get three monitors, nobody cares. When Apple introduces a new connector to do it, though, suddenly it's so exciting that people are willing to throw away their perfectly-good computers and spend $3000 on two new ones. Wow!
- cooldeal 16y agoIt was the same thing when Apple introduced hybrid display options, switching between the integrated and discrete graphics card to conserve battery or get maximum performance. There were a lot of fans who thought Apple was the first, but Sony was doing the same thing for at least 3 or 4 years prior.
- riobard 16y agoWhere does the $3000 price tag come from? The high-end configuration of 27" iMac costs $2000. Considering the 2560x1600 screen and a bunch of other goodies, I'll be happily paying for it.
- jrockway 16y agoHe deleted his comment, but said that he was going to buy an iMac and a new MacBook Air as a result of the iMac having two Thunderbolt ports.
- mcritz 16y agoIt's been many years since we've had a new Mac chassis. I'd love to see Apple apply some of their touch screen technology to the Mac line.
- adolph 16y agoYep, it seems like they haven't figured out the solution to gorilla arm yet. On the positive side they have a free trackpad option to start educating desktop users about multi-touch input. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#Gorilla_arm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#Gorilla_arm
- colinprince 16y agoFinally! Apple Canada prices on a par with US prices, $1199 really means $1199. Except for GST :(
- jarek 16y agoExcept for that 1.05 exchange rate...
- adolph 16y agoHmm, even the low end one's default is to ship with Apple's wireless mouse and keyboard (with an option for a free swap from mouse to trackpad and and to a wired keyboard with numeric keypad. Thats going to make a lot of desks look pretty by default.
- gaius 16y agoDo people actually use the Apple keyboards? Sure, they're a triumph of visual design, but absolutely horrible to actually type on. I throw them away and replace them with Cherrys at the first opportunity.
- montagg 16y agoI've fallen in love with my keyboard. I'm very used to the Macbook Pro's keyboard size and style, and the Apple Wireless keyboard perfectly replicates that experience. I use it with the trackpad, and it's a joy, especially doing video editing. And being able to hand a client your keyboard to type in their password on a website just feels badass.
- astrodust 16y agoI'm particular about keyboards and I've got to say that while I was initially appalled by the new Apple keyboard, and was no fan of the precursor, the newest kind is actually one of the best keyboards I've ever used. The short travel of the keys makes them surprisingly good. If you like clanky, clacky keyboards, they're not for you, but that's why Matias makes keyboards.
- zdw 16y agoNo word on if the Thunderbolt ports support video in like the 27" before them did - you used to be able to plug another computer into the 27" iMac and use it as a display.
- kayoone 16y agoWith 2x Thunderbolt you will be able to hook up multiple external Displays, thats great news for me ;) Could possibly undermine Mac Pros in the future.
- montagg 16y agoI think it's clear from Jobs' philosophy as the PC as the truck that he wants to make the iMac the new Mac Pro. Thunderbolt's the first step in making it possible to add the customization options of the Mac Pro to the iMac as a peripheral. Pure speculation, of course, but I think the trend is starting to show.
- axxl 16y agoI would agree with this, and have seen it as a trend. Of course, the purpose of the Mac Pro was always a specialized machine, but the iMac is definitely starting to compete in power and options, and probably the better choice for most people who want an Apple desktop.
- phren0logy 16y agoCan't wait to see these options in a Mac Mini. I would buy one of those in a heartbeat. Here's to hoping.
- nu2ycombinator 16y agoOld news
- daimyoyo 16y agoWhile it's great that the new iMac has Thunderbolt, it's really not that important right now. The reason is that there are not any devices in the market that support it. Will Thunderbolt be the next USB? Maybe. But until people actually make stuff for it, I'd advise against purchasing a new iMac based solely on that feature.(Disclaimer: I have a Thunderbolt MBP, but I bought it because my 6 year old laptop couldn't go more than a few hours without crashing.)
- throwaway10020 16y agoApple doesn't publish the models (just the GHz)... Are these the Intel Sandy Bridge series of processors (the second generation ones)? If so, which ones?
- pmjordan 16y agoAccording to Heise (German) they do use Sandy Bridge chips[1]. Apple sometimes receive chips from Intel that aren't available outside of Macs, but other than that, the exact model should be possible to work out - you've got clock speed, i5 or i7, and they all have 6MB L3 cache. [1] http://www.heise.de/mac-and-i/meldung/Neue-iMacs-mit-Quad-Core-Chips-und-Thunderbolt-1236671.html http://www.heise.de/mac-and-i/meldung/Neue-iMacs-mit-Quad-Co...
- lamnk 16y agoNow if they update the Macbook Air with Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt, that would be a perfect machine.
- kayoone 16y agoCan anyone tell me how the iMac does in terms of noise under heavy load ? I have a QuadCore Macbook Pro 15" and while its immensly powerful it also gets annoyingly noisy as soon as you try to use all that power.
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- pk2200 16y agoMy Fall 2009 iMac is virtually silent, even with all 4 cores fully loaded. Sometimes, late at night, when the house is very quiet, I'll notice some fan noise, but it's very soft - nothing at all like the MacBook Pro (which I also own)
- kayoone 16y agothanks for the info! Ever played games on it or any GPU intensive applications ? I work alot with games, thats where my MBP gets noisy very quickly.
- pk2200 16y agoOnly WoW and Minecraft, and I never noticed any additional fan noise (although I doubt the GPU was maxed-out). In any case, I'd expect a game's sound effects and background music to be MUCH louder than any fan noise...