Apple updates its iMac line • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#171

Post by lagerstedt » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:19 PM UTC

davnicwil wrote: post #118

_red wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometime around 2013-2014 it began to be visible that Apple stopped trying to make "the best hardware in its class" and migrated to "how does this fit in a marketing matrix". Tim Cook and Steve Balmer have curious parallels. Both genius COO-types that can squeeze enormous profits from their processes, but both strategically undermined their brands severely. I think the board at Apple is going to discover that the cos…

Hasn't Apple always been more of a 'pretty good hardware, nicely integrated and packaged, for a premium price' proposition? I personally can't remember a time when this wasn't so. Not sure outside their exhibition pieces which nobody really buys (10k fully specced mac pros etc) they've ever been going to market with a 'best hardware in class' story, have they?

You are right, but for a while this was not true. When Apple switched to x86 the MacBook was competitively priced. I remember buying one because it was cheaper than comparable PCs.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#172

Post by jandrese » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:19 PM UTC

lasagnaphil wrote: post #50

jandrese wrote: post #14

The Vega 48 GPU seems disappointing for a machine that expensive.

Agree, I would want at least a Vega 64 for that amount of money (Or even a Radeon VII!). But then Apple has to think about cooling inside the small chassis, so they might not have a choice. (They managed to fix a Vega 64X in the iMac Pro, but the Pro lineup has different thermal management than the normal one)

It seems crazy to me that Apple compromised the cooling solution of their desktop machine to save 5mm of thickness. Does anyone outside of Apple's marketing department care about the thickness of their desktop machine as long as it is below an inch or two?

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#173

Post by imtringued » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:19 PM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #55

bluedino wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With current SSD prices being at rock bottom, can a 128GB SSD cost more than a 5400RPM 2.5" drive?

128GB fills up quickly. A 1TB 5400RPM 2.5" drive is $45-50 on pricewatch.

1TB HDDS are generally the most expensive. At such a low capacity it makes more sense to just get a 500GB SSD for $50. Alternatively if you really need the capacity of an HDD: for just $90 you can get a 3TB HDD. triple the capacity, less than double the price.

Edit: Apparently 3TB HDDs cost as low as 60€ nowadays...

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#174

Post by fredsted » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:20 PM UTC

subpixel wrote: post #68

re: RAM, I bought a 2015 iMac with a 1TB drive on Craiglist last month, thinking it might be the perfect machine to edit and store/serve family photos (mac --> Google Photos and mac --> BackBlaze). It never in a million years would have occurred to me that 1) 8GB on a 2015 machine would be utterly, pathetically underpowered for even browsing the web, or 2) that an iMac would be sold in 2015 that would not let you upg…

It's probably bogged down by the harddrive, not the RAM.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#175

Post by tonyedgecombe » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:20 PM UTC

rudiv wrote: post #130

sudhirj wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And no longer possible, think the newer models have fused glass.

Replacement is still possible (I used to work in a shop that did the same) but definitely way out of the reach of users. If I recall correctly, you have to order replacement adhesive from Apple, and when I was working there third-parties hasn't come out with their own replacement adhesive yet (Apple will not sell any sort of parts to users).

You can buy self adhesive strips on eBay, I upgraded a 21.5" machine last year.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#176

Post by j-c-hewitt » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:21 PM UTC

hocuspocus wrote: post #45

dmitriid wrote: post #4

The price for upgrading remains as ridiculous as ever (especially if you're not in the US). RAM: 8 GB -> 16 GB is 2200 SEK (239 USD) 8 GB -> 32 GB is 6600 SEK (717 USD) You can get 32GB as low as 1689 SEK (183 USD) on Newegg.

I would never buy an iMac but from what I hear, storage options and their pricing are even more frustrating than RAM (which you can upgrade yourself on the iMac 5K). While a neat trick when it first came out, I don't think fusion drive makes sense in 2019, so you're left with very expensive NVMe SSDs, when a 500GB or 1TB SATA SSD would be plenty enough to most people, for a fraction of the cost.

You can get a 500 GB Samsung nVME for about $150 now, not much more than what a regular SSD was a couple years ago... but totally agreed that a regular SSD is more than fast enough for most people. If it was manufactured this decade, it should probably boot to desktop in less than 20 seconds.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#177

Post by slig » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:21 PM UTC

narimiran wrote: post #80

plufz wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried remapping esc to capslock? (Or ctrl to capslock and esc to ctrl). I would never go back to normal esc.

> Have you tried remapping esc to capslock? (Or ctrl to capslock and esc to ctrl) ¿Why not both? I have (on Linux, not on Mac, but it shouldn't matter): * "caps lock" + key = Ctrl+key * "caps lock" (release) = Esc It works like charm and I can definitely recommend it.

So simple, I wish I had thought about it before. Thanks.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#178

Post by scarface74 » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:21 PM UTC

skilled wrote: post #74

The "upgrade" to 512GB SSD is not so bad, but to upgrade to 32GB RAM it's $600? Yikes... Looks like Apple is starting to put a premium on OSX rather than going quality-first for its hardware.

RAM upgrades from Apple have been ridiculously overpriced for decades.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#179

Post by huffmsa » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

huffmsa wrote: post #83

> ...ideal for pros with graphics-intensive workloads... Did a bot write this? No one uses "pros" in writing like this to refer to professionals.

Really, this release was either written by a bot or a non-native English speaker.

> From consumers to pros alike, users will notice their iMac is faster for everyday tasks all the way up to the most demanding pro workloads.

This is not a natural sentence.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#180

Post by tonyedgecombe » Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

owenwil wrote: post #148

It seems to me this product is on life support and Apple is simply doing performance bumps to avoid big capex expenses on designing/tooling for something new? It ships with a 5,400 RPM disk, an outdated display technology, omits T2 chipset, doesn't include Face ID, nor any of their other innovations over the last year. It's actually egregious to stuff old hardware in a workable form factor and hock it, while ignoring…

Well the Mac Mini got a recent refresh with decent processors, the new Mac Pro is reputedly just around the corner and there is a rumour they are going to release a new display soon. My guess is you are right, it's on life support.