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Apple Announces Major Consumer PC Upgrades
- protomyth 17y agoLook at the new 27" iMac, that 16GB of RAM make it a very interesting machine. I do wish the price on the new MacBook would have been $799.
- cschep 17y agoAbsolutely, I think the addition of a quad core chip in the iMac is a good move too. I know quite a few people that hovered in that area between iMac and Mac Pro, this seems like a great push in the right direction to close that gap.
- bmalicoat 17y agoThat iMac is basically a work station with the Nehalem processor and that much ram. Still ridiculous that they charge $1400 for 16GB RAM though.
- die_sekte 17y agoIt's DDR3 memory and 16GB of it. Crucial has similiar prices for that.
- bmalicoat 17y agoYea, I can understand it's expensive but the thought of spending more than what a baseline iMac costs just for RAM is a tough pill to swallow.
- jsz0 17y agoDo you need 16GB of RAM? Seems like overkill unless you have a specific reason for needing it in which case the price probably isn't a huge concern anyway. I had 16GB in my Mac Pro until recently I downgraded to 8GB. I never came anywhere close to using 16GB and FB-DIMMS on the MP are power hogs. -30W of power yanking the extra memory.
- tdavis 17y agoI don't know if the iMac is as upgradable, but when I bought my Mac Pro I just got the default amount and upgraded it with third-party RAM at a sane price.
- protomyth 17y agoupgradable with 4 slots - I generally buy my ram from crucial or ramjet
- blasdel 17y agoTheir markup over wholesale prices is only around %30 -- 4gb SO-DIMMs of DDR3 cost at least $270, where 2gb sticks cost ~$40.
- unalone 17y agoThe new iMac looks nice, the Macbook looks like less of a wussy addition to the lineup, the Mac mini still looks like a Mac mini. What I'm excited about is that mouse. Multitouch scrolling is the feature that I love most about my Macbook Pro; I feel somewhat crippled when I don't have it on the iMacs and Mac Pros at my school. This mouse looks like what I've been waiting for from Apple. Sexier and sturdier than the Mighty Mouse, and much more in line with the rest of their technology. EDIT: Yes! This was a launch that came with Jonathan Ive talking about things. Score one for Ive fanboys. http://www.apple.com/imac/the-new-imac/#large http://www.apple.com/imac/the-new-imac/#large EDIT EDIT: Two smaller announcements: New remote, new Time Capsule. http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-updates-19-remote-predictably-coats-it-in-aluminum/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-updates-19-remote-p... and http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-quietly-updates-airport-extreme-and-time-capsule/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-quietly-updates-air...
- jimbokun 17y ago"the Macbook looks like less of a wussy addition to the lineup" The specs match the low end MacBook Pro in most regards, and beat it in others (bigger default disk, for example).
- tptacek 17y agoThe Macbook has never been a wussy part of the lineup. Until the unibody MB/MBP was announced, the sanest Apple purchasing advice was always, "buy the cheapest Intel Apple laptop, whatever that might be". Even now, the difference between the MBP and the MB is largely build quality, and the build quality of the plastic Macbook is still so much better than that of the Powerbook that the MBP wins mostly on pure excellence and not utility.
- jeduan 17y agoDoes the new MacBook sport the Mini-DisplayPort? Can't tell from the images
- blasdel 17y agoI was freaked out for a second when I saw the oddball screen sizes on the iMacs and the "16:9!" blurb -- usually that means that you just get a shittier lower-res panel in a larger size. Instead, they switched back to S-IPS panels, and increased the resolutions substantially -- 21.5 is 1920:1080, the 27 is 2560:1440.
- ugh 17y agoThe Apple page only refers to “IPS technology”. Is it really S-IPS or just E-IPS (or something else entirely)? Do you know? What’s your source?
- MikeCapone 17y agoIs there a big difference between S-IPS and E-IPS?
- ugh 17y agoI really don’t know. E-IPS panels seem to be much cheaper which would suggest that they are worse. Not as bad as TN, but worse.
- wtallis 17y agoThey've said it's the best iMac display yet, and I doubt they could claim that the LED backlighting more than makes up for any deficiencies of E-IPS compared to the S-IPS they used to use.
- spazmaster 17y agoRather disappointing Apple is going along with this trend, HD-ing resolutions of screens. I mean it's great for watching movies, but most people will be word processing, e-mailing or surfing the web on iMacs, and that's when you'll miss those 120 vertical pixels. (HD, 16:9 has 1080 vertical pixels, and 16:10 has 1200 vertical pixels.)
- GHFigs 17y ago
- protomyth 17y agoI wonder how many people are thinking of ordering the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server? I have used a normal Mac mini with server as a secondary server and it seems to do ok.
- axod 17y agoDual HDD seems a handy addition.
- bensummers 17y agoOnly thing missing in the iMac is an option for an SSD boot drive. I wonder how much of a bad idea it would be to boot off an external firewire SSD?
- wizard_2 17y agoIt would be slower and need more power - you need esataII
- bensummers 17y agoIt doesn't have that port, though. Nor do I really feel like opening up an iMac to replace the HD. That said, it's more the seek time which is appealing about the SSD rather than the raw data transfer speed, which is why using the Firewire interface may not be too much of an issue. Obviously I wouldn't want to use USB.
- mikebo 17y agoI wish the 2 drive mac mini had an option for SSD boot drive as well. That'd make a great desktop replacement.
- catch23 17y agowhy not make the SSD internal? the bus speeds would still be faster internally...
- bensummers 17y agoYou don't really have that option with Apple hardware. You take what they give you. Unless you like opening the cases of computers which are designed to discourage you from doing so. But again, the seek times are the important thing, not transfer bandwidth.
- ryanpetrich 17y agoSwapping the drive on my aluminium MacBook requires removing one screw. I wonder why Apple's new designs don't include this?
- protomyth 17y agoInteresting that the nicer iMacs have the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and 4850 instead of a NVidia chip.
- MikeCapone 17y agoI would guess that Apple is getting ATI and NVIDIA to outbid each other for inclusion. Best way to get good prices.
- protomyth 17y agoI was wondering if it was more an issue with NVIDIA's problems of late.
- protomyth 17y agoThey are also still selling the $899 20" to educational institutions.
- GHFigs 17y agoA few interesting details: the iMac displays are now 16:9 (formerly 16:10) and both models are specifically stated to use IPS displays (formerly only the 24" did, but it was not advertised), which are higher resolution than the previous models. Both now have SD card slots. Both now come with wireless keyboard and new "Magic Mouse" standard. The 27" model's Mini-DisplayPort connector functions as both an input and an output.
- harpastum 17y ago"27-inch models also support input from external DisplayPort sources (adapters sold separately)."(apple) Does that mean that the incoming signal can be displayed on the monitor, or does it actually treat the port as an incoming data stream (i.e. recordable with iMovie/Quicktime)?
- GHFigs 17y agoThe features page only specifies that it can be used as a monitor.
- slyn 17y agoI would love to see some of these IPS panels in the Macbook Pro's. Currently the only things differentiating between the stock Macbook and the 13" MBP is build quality (unibody polycarbonate vs unibody aluminum), Memory Cap (4gb max vs 8gb max), default HDD size (the MBP is actually smaller), and the Pro has Firewire and a SD slot. Granted the price difference between the MB and the 13" MBP is only $200, but I think the perfect way to distinguish between the two is IPS. Seeing this manifest itself in the iMacs is really unexpected to me given the industry trend as a whole to keep displays as cheap as possible (I was previously just hoping for a simple bump to 1680x1050 on the 15" MBP, which is what I own and will likely buy again in the future), but this gives me hope that better panel technology in the laptops is actually a potential option.
- volodia 17y agoI'd bet that the quality of the display is already much worse on the MB.
- trin_ 17y agowow i still think $599 for the mac mini with a core duo and 160gb hdd is way too much.
- rythie 17y agoand it costs 25% more than it did a couple of years ago, at least in the U.K.
- jimbokun 17y agoBut Mac mini with Snow Leopard server is kind of intriguing. (Maybe not worth $999. But it does come with 2 500GB drives.)
- cpr 17y agoRight, and 10.6 Server is basically coming for free. (Normal $500 value.) Pretty good marketing move if you want to get more people to use the Server version of Mac OS X for their small businesses, education back room machines, etc.
- orangecat 17y agoFor that form factor, it's quite good. Compare to the Dell Studio Hybrid.
- aarongough 17y agoPersonally I'm very glad I got my Aluminum MacBook when I did. I don't want a polycarbonate case... My guess is that machining the aluminum cases was just too expensive, it would clearly be much cheaper to simply mold a polycarbonate case. But personally I don't think they will match up from a durability perspective...
- nixme 17y agoHuh? When did Apple ever sell an aluminum MacBook? Only the MacBook Pros are aluminum AFAIK. EDIT: I was wrong. Apple did have an aluminum 13" MacBook before the MBP version. See replies below.
- jonknee 17y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook#Aluminium_unibody_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook#Aluminium_unibody_model
- ynniv 17y agoThere was briefly an aluminum MacBook before they introduced the 13" MacBook Pro.
- nolanbrown23 17y agoThere was an aluminum MacBook before there was a 13" MacBook Pro. Essentially the aluminum MacBook became the 13" MacBook Pro when they upgraded the specs.
- unalone 17y agoHm? The aluminum Macbook still exists. It's just classified under the Macbook Pro line. 13", right? Think of the polycarbonate case as Apple's attempt to make a product that's affordable as possible. I was expecting them to phase out the plastics entirely; the fact that they're keeping it and improving on it suggests that they'll be gradually lowering the price on it too.
- aarongough 17y ago
- protomyth 17y agoIs that a new remote? It looks round.
- alex_c 17y agoYou mean the mouse?
- jws 17y agoThe remote is aluminum. That is newer than any of the plastic ones I have, but I don't know if it is new for this product.
- harpastum 17y agoLooks like it: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC377LL/A http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC377LL/A The scroll wheel is moved up to the front of the remote, and the play/pause button is now separate. Engadget's short write-up on the new remote (from unalone's comment): http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-updates-19-remote-predictably-coats-it-in-aluminum/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/apple-updates-19-remote-p...
- awolf 17y agoI'm rabidly anticipating some reviews of the Magic Mouse. The Mighty Mouse has been pretty disappointing but this new one has real potential.
- protomyth 17y agoOne of the biggest failings of the Mighty Mouse is gone, the stupid scrollball on top that was unclean-able. I was actually hoping from a external trackpad, but I will have to look at this. I use a trackball now and find a mouse hard on the wrist. Now if logitech would combine their trackball with a trackpad, I would be overjoyed.
- gamble 17y agoYou might want to try out the Wacom Bamboo multitouch trackpad. Seems to do everything the Apple notebook trackpads do, plus you have the option of using a pen.
- pxlpshr 17y agoI'm curious if the shape of the Magic Mouse is better at preventing RSI/carpel tunnel. The old Mighty Mouse didn't do it for me in that regard, the shape and feel in my hand was awful.
- iloveyouocean 17y agoDoesn't seem to be able to do a middle-click. Sad.
- unalone 17y agoWhat do you need a middle-click for? I used to only use it for scrollballs, but multitouch killed my need for that.
- spydez 17y agoI use it for closing tabs in Firefox when I don't have two hands on the keyboard (W is on the right hand's side of the keyboard for us Dvorak folks). A middle click anywhere on the entire tab is easier that hitting the lil' x button. Plus, you can turn off the 'close tab' button it the options and make your Firefox look a little bit cleaner.
- elai 17y agoIt's fairly disappointing that they decided to not include the core i7 in anything as a default processor. Considering they're the "high performance" brand. They only have it on their top model mac pro. And as an upgrade. Core i7s really up the snappiness of a system.
- rythie 17y agoThey have an i5 system which is the similar to the i7 but without hyper-threading support and less cache.
- DougBTX 17y agoSince when are they the "high performance" brand? High build quality, very much yes.
- elai 17y agoI guess, but considering their high price, well built os, high build quality, you'd think they would add an extra $100 a put a proper processor to fit the image.
- cpr 17y agohttp://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html -- Core i7 is an upgrade option for the 27" iMac. (Or am I misunderstanding you?)
- elai 17y agoIts only available as an upgrade for their top of the line imac.
- elblanco 17y agoApple has never been the high performance brand. They've traditionally either been a generation behind in processors and memory configuration or at least not at the bleeding edge. That being said, they tend to run more consistently across a wider breadth of configurations. People were using their classic macs (the 680x0 series) for nearly a decade after they were turned off as a product line.
- jws 17y agoNew twist: In the imac 27", the Mini DisplayPort is both an input and an output. You can plug your laptop into an iMac and use it as a display. This probably adds $0 to the assembly cost, same connector, and depending on how the bits get to the LCD, it could be near $0 in silicon costs. This feature that will provide more life for the display after the poor computer inside becomes obsolete.
- jsz0 17y agoThat's a pretty fantastic feature. I wonder if it does HDCP?
- marknutter 17y agoIt does: http://gizmodo.com/5385841/apple-imac-hands-on?skyline=true&s=i http://gizmodo.com/5385841/apple-imac-hands-on?skyline=true&...
- riobard 17y agoI really love the screen. And consider that it is 2560x1440 at 16:9 and only 160 pixel "shorter" than the 30" Cinema HD (2560x1600 at 16:10), and the $100 CHEAPER with LED backlight --- guess what a pleasure it would be to code on it! :)
- jseliger 17y agoDitto. I just wish the hard drive were user replaceable: from what I can gather, the HD is the big bottleneck on most of my day-to-day activities and would very much benefit from an SSD.
- riobard 17y agoI'd like the option to use SSD too. Aside from the performance improvement, it would make the machine completely quite (fan not running and no CD spinning, though) at night :)
- krishna2 17y agoStill no HMDI, that sucks...
- raquo 17y ago27" Screen would so much more useful if only OS X had system-wide font size settings^. Parsing 10px fonts from a distance of even a couple feet is far from accessible. ^ Resolution independence anyone?
- bjelkeman-again 17y agoYeah, I still run the first Apple flat 22" display which is decidedly low-res these days, but works great for my old eyes!
- wesley 17y agoNo matte screen is disappointing.