Live data from Hacker News

Apple updates its iMac line

apple.com

371–380 of 480 posts

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#371
post #201

It's just frustrating, I switched the household over to Apple devices when OSX came out, and now there really aren't any systems from Apple that look interesting to me. I've been programming since before the (Unix) dawn of time, and Apple devices have been good development machines for me since OSX was released 18 years ago. I'm comfortable on Linux, but the Apple iOS devices and computers are all over my home and in…

Aren't the only people buying Macs those who have no choice because of the monopoly they have for iOS development? I mean really - crappy hardware (form over function), expensive, dated UI.

No; pretty much everybody I know in tech uses one and almost nobody I know in tech develops for iOS.

They're standard issue at most companies in the valley, at least, with "open" x86 laptops being a distant second (maybe 10% of the population) split between Windows and Linux.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

How do you map it to do that?

I guess there are other ways and tools, I use this:

1. to put Ctrl on CapsLock:

    setxkbmap -option caps:ctrl_modifier
2. to have "dual" CL as described above:

    xcape -e 'Caps_Lock=Escape'

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#373
post #352
post #201

It's just frustrating, I switched the household over to Apple devices when OSX came out, and now there really aren't any systems from Apple that look interesting to me. I've been programming since before the (Unix) dawn of time, and Apple devices have been good development machines for me since OSX was released 18 years ago. I'm comfortable on Linux, but the Apple iOS devices and computers are all over my home and in…

> Even if Apple can't make the machines more upgradeable because of customer support issues, As I understand it, it isn't a customer support issue but a physical limitation issue for what processing power these machines get. They are built with soldered components which means no upgradeability with the flip side being that the performance is 5 years ahead of the direct competition. In other words...you can't upgrade…

>They are built with soldered components which means no upgradeability with the flip side being that the performance is 5 years ahead of the direct competition

Who are they five years ahead of exactly? And who told them to make the enclosure out of a garbage can?

Their base model comes in at 3k. They are well behind anything I would build for 3k, sans the garbage can case.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#374
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an iMac Pro (base model) last year. I see it as investing up front in an already upgraded machine, that I can now use for the next 10 years.

But Apple does not support macOS for most Macs that long. E.g. last year's Mojave does not support iMacs from before 2012. You may be lucky and they might support the iMac Pro a bit longer, but it is unlikely that you'll get an up-to-date secure OS for ten years. If they transition to ARM at some point, the lifetimes of Intel Macs may even be shorter.

Yeah, my "main" personal machine is a 2011 Air that no longer can run the latest OS. My 2006 Mac Pro got replaced on its 10th birthday with a new iMac as it was an OS or two behind. I'd say 8 years is sorta the outer limit.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#375

The iMac is a great machine. I have a late 2014 iMac 5K 27" and it's still going strong with 32 gigs of RAM and 512G SSD. It had the max CPU for the time (4.0 ghz i7.) Apple Care expired end of 2017, so unless the thing dies or OS upgrades become unsupported, I don't have a reason to upgrade it.

Yup, I have a Retina 5k iMac and love it. I avoided going the all-in-one route for ages, but when I replaced my 10 year old Mac Pro and was still using the same 24" Dell display it came with, I decided that display and computer lifespans are relatively in sync these days.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#376
post #368
post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone could figure out a legal way to offer recommended-hardware Hackintosh builds as a service†, that'd be pretty ideal for what you're talking about, in the sense of "you could buy one for your mom", and it would "just work" (and hopefully continue to "just work" through updates, if they do it right.) † I guess, if you were to operate a "Hackintosh OEM", you could sell the hardware build itself without actuall…

Having used Hackintosh builds for several years, it's not something I want to do anymore. The whole point of using Mac hardware is to get Mac software along with it and be able to concentrate on actual work instead of endless fiddling with the system to get it to work. The Hackintosh experience is cool, but not for people whose goal is to get work done.

Well, sure. My point was that an OEM could do the "endless fiddling" for you, and then a Hackintosh would be just like an Apple-purchased computer (except with some OS update latency—a lot like the latency of Android-device OEM OS updates.)

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#377
post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse, the upgrades are insultingly overpriced. $100 for 32GB of flash to get a Fusion drive, and $700 (again, extra) to get a 1TB when you can get a nice Samsung for $350 in that size. Ridiculous.

Wow, $700? 1TB NVMe goes for like $150 on sale sometimes.

Those are probably QLC drives at those prices, while I would think apple would be selling TLC or even MLC drives given their speeds. To properly compare against apple' storage, you have to look at the prices of things like the samsung pro series, which is about $350/TB

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#378
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something sounds wrong. I have an older 21.5 with the first generation 1 TB fusion and it is not at all slow.

First generation 1TB fusion drives had 128GB of SSD storage. 2017 and 2019 1TB fusion drives have 32GB of SSD storage [1], which is basically just enough for the OS and a couple of apps if you are lucky. People are not exaggerating when they say Apple hardware are regressing, not progressing. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_Drive

[deleted]

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#379
post #307
post #201

It's just frustrating, I switched the household over to Apple devices when OSX came out, and now there really aren't any systems from Apple that look interesting to me. I've been programming since before the (Unix) dawn of time, and Apple devices have been good development machines for me since OSX was released 18 years ago. I'm comfortable on Linux, but the Apple iOS devices and computers are all over my home and in…

I'm in your boat. My history with Apple goes back even longer, to the Apple II and Mac SE. I've lost track of how much Apple gear I've purchased in the last three+ decades. The only non-upgradeable part that cheeses me is the storage. And the battery should be user swappable. Aside from reliability issues like the keyboard/display which Apple obviously has to fix, those are the only two parts which I almost always ne…

I do understand most of their trade-offs. But these little m2 nvme sticks should be just as easy to expose as ram is. That'd make a huge difference for me. Being locked in to a purchase-time decision doesn't sit well with how quickly SSD capacities and prices evolve.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#380
post #368
post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone could figure out a legal way to offer recommended-hardware Hackintosh builds as a service†, that'd be pretty ideal for what you're talking about, in the sense of "you could buy one for your mom", and it would "just work" (and hopefully continue to "just work" through updates, if they do it right.) † I guess, if you were to operate a "Hackintosh OEM", you could sell the hardware build itself without actuall…

Having used Hackintosh builds for several years, it's not something I want to do anymore. The whole point of using Mac hardware is to get Mac software along with it and be able to concentrate on actual work instead of endless fiddling with the system to get it to work. The Hackintosh experience is cool, but not for people whose goal is to get work done.

> The whole point of using Mac hardware is to get Mac software along with it and be able to concentrate on actual work instead of endless fiddling with the system to get it to work.

To some, the point of using a Mac is to be able to develop and test software for Mac hardware using Apple's frameworks, and having to spend 3x the price tag just to get the hardware is something that makes little to no sense.

I mean, where on earth does it make sense to spend over 2k€ for a desktop computer just because you want to have more than 8GB of RAM?

Post reply on HN