3 ms·

IMacs, Mac Pros, and laptops

• deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
• natesm 15y ago
  The one thing he didn't mention is Thunderbolt, and I think that it completely changes the iMac. Without it, you basically had the choice between SSDs, which were fast, and hard drives, which actually had enough space to store your stuff. If you are a photographer or do video, an SSD isn't going to cut it. Now, you can have the internal SSD while using an external Thunderbolt drive (once they show up) for actual storage. However, I'd still probably want to open it up and install the SSD myself. Apple's SSD is too expensive, all that's needed for OS + apps is 64 GB. $500 is way too much.
  • pieter 15y ago
    I hope external Thunderbolt SSD's will keep much of the same performance characteristics as the internal SATA ones, but there's no way to know that until there actually are some thunderbolt devices :). Having a good performing external SSD would be pretty sweet, as it could be a painless and relatively cheap way of upgrading your iMac. It comes down to how much overhead you get if you go over Thunderbolt, and how good the Thunderbolt -> SATA chips will be.
• jeremymims 15y ago
  I think this analysis is probably correct for many people. However, the 27" iMac can now be used as a pretty terrific monitor when it's outlived its current lifespan. Considering the equivalent Apple display costs about $1000 new, that makes the iMac a great bargain when I upgrade to a new laptop in a few years.