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Apple updates its iMac line

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Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#381

Post by [deleted] »

bertil wrote: post #247
tosh wrote: post #63

I find it curious that Apple is starting to communicate major product updates decoupled from an event. Just good old press releases. Maybe they already have too many announcements to fit into the narrative of the handful of events per year.

This is not the first time that they have significant updates days before a major announcement. I suspect that Apply keeps a lot of options for things to talk about until the last days. They wait for every key aspect of the announcement to be confirmed (which can be days earlier). That allows them to focus on the expected change if they are ready, or, if there is a last-minute issue, they can talk about spec upgrades…

[deleted]

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#384

Post by kbutler »

scarface74 wrote: post #370
kbutler wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple never claimed any iMac was for Pros except the iMac Pro. Apple explicitly claims the iMac is for "pros" in the article this page is discussing: "iMac is ideal for pros" "iMac is loved by consumers and pros alike." "the most demanding pro workloads." "even a pro studio." and more. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/imac-gets-a-2x-perfor...

Not the same iMac. If all iMacs should be for consumers and Pros should they also sell them all with the highest performing graphics card and 64GB of RAM?

So, yes, Apple describes some iMacs that are not iMac-Pros as "for Pros".

> should they also sell them all with the highest performing graphics card and 64GB of RAM?

Nope, those are each about $400 retail (well, the delta from 32GB->64GB is only about $200 retail), and won't benefit everyone.

But at this point, every iMac they sell with the HDD or fusion drive will meet your description of "the margins were both ridiculously high and the Mac’s were slow."

They should deliver the OS installed on a 128GB SSD ($25 retail) just to preserve the reputation of the platform.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#385

Post by geezerjay »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #318
michaelmrose wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it were doing a good job of supporting the needs of most people one would question why 90% of people are using something else. Upgradable/fixable everything is a feature of the $299 desktop machine you find at walmart or the $40 machine from goodwill. It doesn't start at $5000 that only 0.05% of planet earth can afford. Edit: Holy shit it is much worse than I thought. The actual desktop option is basically a $700-…

The primary feature of a $299 desktop is the $299 price. That it is fixable and upgradeable is largely incidental. You are right though, I should have said Apple is supporting the needs of most people who value what Apple offers in a computer (OSX, physical form, etc). They aren’t going to boost their market share by adding swappanle graphics cards to the iMac or a j-mouse nub to the MacBook.

> You are right though, I should have said Apple is supporting the needs of most people who value what Apple offers in a computer (OSX, physical form, etc).

Veblen goods is more like it.

> They aren’t going to boost their market share by adding swappanle graphics cards to the iMac or a j-mouse nub to the MacBook.

Wanting to add/replace DIMMs or SSD HDs isn't asking much.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#386

Post by SZJX »

runjake wrote: post #276
turtlebits wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you're using a desktop, what's wrong with the 2018 Mac Mini? Upgradable RAM, storage and GPU can be added externally. Dual 4k support out of the box or a single 5k should be enough for your single monitor?

Because the cost of all that external junk adds up and you create what is essentially a dongle town on your desktop. It defeats the whole purpose of a Mini. I know because I tried to do this with a 2018 Mac Mini. Aside from the very lackluster GPU performance, it's a pretty speedy machine. I had a fairly generous budget for a new computer. 32GB of RAM was about $200 from Crucial. The external SSD storage options were…

I'm tempted but after fiddling with Linux laptops for about 3 years I'm a kind of tired of having to deal with all sorts of minor annoyances, especially bugs/freezes/usability issues (e.g. HiDPI) introduced by hardware incompatibilities (the Linux system itself, especially Arch, is actually surprisingly stable). They do add up, especially past the initial excitement. With a Hackintosh you do get the OS but you don't really have guarantee that things will keep working in the future, nor easy warranty when things fail.

I don't really get the resistance about adding some external cables/cases to your desk. The desk has always been full of cables anyways (monitors, speakers, consoles, even my mechanical keyboard etc.) and I don't see any harm in adding a couple more for an external SSD and an eGPU. As mentioned by some other commentators, I'm pretty much past the days of having to constantly fight my main setup and just want to have everything working flawlessly most of the time.

I plan to get a Mac Mini soon and try it out. I think the performance should suffice for most of my use cases. If it seriously stutters I'll consider building a Hackintosh, or simply do those demanding tasks on another dedicated box.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#387

Post by novok »

iooi wrote: post #211
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a fusion drive so most “normal people” likely won’t notice unless they have a huge photo library. My guess is they want 1TB so they can upsell you to 3 or 4TB, which would be prohibitively expensive with SSDs right now. Edit: I was wrong, the lowest tier iMacs actually have a 1TB regular drive. That’s crazy considering the lowest tier Mac is almost always the most popular.

You can buy 2TB M.2 SSD drives for $220 retail now. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682016...

QLC drives are not equivalent to TLC or MLC drives in performance or durability, which is what apple is using.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#388

Post by slantyyz »

ojhughes wrote: post #369
slantyyz wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a high spec Windows machine, that's just a high spec Windows laptop.

High spec is subjective.. it’s high spec compared to a 2012 iMac

Well, it depends. Which particular 2018 XPS are you referring to?

Some Passmark CPU comparisons:

2012 iMac with the i7 3770 - 9282

XPS 13 i7-8550U - 8305

XPS 15 i7-8750H -12477 (Note that XPS 15s tend to be thermally throttled also)

Desktop i7 9700K - 17257

Desktop i9 9900X - 22883

Desktop Ryzen 2920X - 21920

A high spec laptop doesn't compare with a high spec desktop CPU, especially if it's a U class CPU like the ones used by the XPS 13 (which seems to be way more popular than the XPS 15).

If you have an i7 2012 iMac, it still holds its own to any top end ultrabook (U) class CPU.

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#389

Post by Someone1234 »

novok wrote: post #377
cma wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB is MLC and $150 on Amazon right now (2.5" formfactor).

Re: Apple updates its iMac line

#390

Post by geezerjay »

xvector wrote: post #344
artursapek wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I paid more that $3.5k for my current gen Mac Book Pro laptop. I wish it had a good keyboard As time goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd

> As times goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd What purposes does your comment serve? It's not that hard to understand that he found the rest of the laptop valuable enough to spend 3.5k on it (despite the keyboard, which isn't that bad anyways). His viewpoint isn't that uncommon either, plenty of businesses buy fully loaded MacBook Pros in bulk because it increases productivity. If you're using the lapt…

The only case I ever saw of a company buying Apple hardware in bulk, the decision had zero to do with specs or productivity, and all to do with wanting to project an image of success.
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