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27-inch iMac gets a major update

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Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#81

Post by naravara »

mgolawala wrote: post #69
jdhawk wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but you can buy 32GB of RAM for $150 and install it yourself. what? Since when did they offer a DIY upgrade path?

RAM on iMac's has been user upgrade-able since at least 2014. I have a 2014 27" iMac and a 2017 27" iMac, and I upgraded the RAM on both of them. It's not a crazy "disassemble half the machine" type job either, it is really easily done via a panel in the back.

Only the 27" model has the access panel, the 21" model doesn't. I'm not actually sure if the RAM in the smaller one is soldered on or if it even has additional slots. But even if it does replacing it isn't something you can do easily.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#82

Post by easton »

jdhawk wrote: post #51
bluedino wrote: post #36

Just when you think they've forgotten the iMac. Can't wait for Barefeats to post the benchmarks, and compare the top level 27" to the Pro. The 27" is interesting now because you can get 10Gbe. One gripe is the 27" iMac comes standard with only 8GB, while the 15" MacBook Pro has came with 16GB standard since 2014... I'm guessing most people are going to the aftermarket to throw 32-64GB in there anyway. Apple offers th…

> but you can buy 32GB of RAM for $150 and install it yourself. what? Since when did they offer a DIY upgrade path?

Since always on the iMac, at least the 27 inch.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#83

Post by jquery »

varjag wrote: post #28
dijit wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will almost certainly be a low end macbook. In fact, there's a non-pro 'macbook'[0] that already exists which would be perfect, it was discontinued a year ago, but used ultra-low power CPUs. In fact when they were talking about them (prior to release) they thought they would have ARM CPU's back then. They are fanless and have a 5W thermal envelope, which fits in with the current A12X too. The major criticisms of t…

I have a later 2017 revision of that one, never really had an issue with CPU speed. Mine has RAM maxed to 16Gb though, perhaps that helps. It's a great machine: a real computer but with iPad pro dimensions.

I’ve been force-feeding myself the new iPad Pro with magic keyboard as my primary laptop for the past few months (why? So I can experience what kids are largely experiencing these days, and empathize). It’s definitely a “real computer”, just optimized in a different way than I’m used to. Doesn’t feel like a budget computer either, it’s incredibly powerful for something that uses less than 18 watts and has no fan. IPadOS has some rough edges but they’ve been getting quickly smoothed out.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#84

Post by dijit »

tzs wrote: post #76
dijit wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will almost certainly be a low end macbook. In fact, there's a non-pro 'macbook'[0] that already exists which would be perfect, it was discontinued a year ago, but used ultra-low power CPUs. In fact when they were talking about them (prior to release) they thought they would have ARM CPU's back then. They are fanless and have a 5W thermal envelope, which fits in with the current A12X too. The major criticisms of t…

> Single USB-C port Are their hubs yet that can turn one USB C port into several? Or do they still only turn one USB C port into several USB A ports? A couple years ago what I read was that the hold up was that this required more complicated chipsets that would not be available for a few months and would be expensive. More recently, I've read that this won't happen until USB4.

Yes, my girlfriend works with a 2 TB port macbook pro and has a dock like this: https://www.webhallen.com/se/product/313438-ALOGIC-USB-C-Doc...

She uses it with a USB keyboard/mouse and PS4 controller and an external 1440p screen.. works without issue.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#85

Post by Veedrac »

burlesona wrote: post #3

Solid spec bump. Interesting how much emphasis they put on the camera, speakers, and mic; makes total sense in the age of Zoom. I’d also speculate this means iMac won’t be the first computer getting Apple Silicon. I wonder if it will be the last? What’s the consensus guess now? Perhaps a new MacBook Air with good performance but the real “breakthrough” is > 12 hours battery life?

The performance of their chips is good enough that it wouldn't make much sense not to update everything once silicon availability is assured. It would be ridiculous to keep their iMac slower than their Macbook Pro.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#86

Post by filleduchaos »

bluedino wrote: post #25
frou_dh wrote: post #8

When we read "10th generation Intel Core" then we have to go and research whether than means real 10th generation (like i5/i7 MBA, some MBPs) or just another rebadged Skylake (6th gen) derivative.

Still using the 7th gen in the base 21" model! (which also comes with a 1080p screen instead of Retina)

The linked article states plainly that the updates to the 21.5" model have not yet been posted online.

There's also a very handy "New" indicator on the 27" model that's not yet present on the 21.5".

Personally I'd reserve my judgment.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#87

Post by naravara »

speedgoose wrote: post #40

The iMac would be so much more interesting with a touchscreen and a pencil, like the overpriced Microsoft Surface Studio.

I'm not really sure about that. It would probably be useful for artists and draftsmen, but I keep my iMac pretty far from my face while I would want to keep a drawing table pretty close. The Studio was really cool as a design concept, but I'm not sure how well it translated from showroom to daily use for anyone who isn't a professional artist.

And even for professional artists, I have to imaging the portability of an iPad Pro probably blows it out of the water for those use cases. Some people think it's more natural to move their canvas around the pen than vice-versa, so just being able to move the device/screen around is huge.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#88

Post by jshier »

jeffbee wrote: post #72
apocalyptic0n3 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't the iMac and Mac Mini always offered (relatively) easy memory upgrades? I've upgraded probably 10-15 of them at work. They just use the samller laptop modules instead of a desktop module, and (usually?) only support 2 modules. Mac Pro offers it too, though that's a different style of computer entirely.

The post-lamp iMac has always offered user-replaceable SODIMM slots in a number sufficient to occupy all of the CPU's memory channels. The late 2009 model had 4 on the bottom, the 2015 has 2 one the back, these new ones have 2 and the Pro model has 4 (because the Pro CPU has 4 channels).

27" iMac has always had 4 RAM slots.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#89

Post by ogre_codes »

saos wrote: post #60
ogre_codes wrote: post #11

Finally they ditch spinning media on the base models. Also notable, the rumored iPad-like style changes are conspicuously absent, these look pretty much identical to the older iMacs. Otherwise this looks like a decent bump all around. Notably, the iMac Pro also got some love (though not too much it seems?)

I reckon the redesign will come when they push new lines with ARM

Yup.

The rumor that they would redesign for Intel didn't make a ton of sense.

The MacBook Pro design had a major pain point so they needed to push an update for their "final" Intel MBP. The iMac design is a touch dated, but has no significant flaws (at least none which Apple intends to fix).

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#90

Post by prepend »

goalieca wrote: post #6

I'm sitting here on a 2012 imac with a fusion drive. This drive never seemed to give much performance but it absolutely tanked once it converted to APFS. The computer became unusable to the point that I had to buy an external SSD and use that as my main disk. Now i'm very disappointed that it doesn't support Big Sur despite being only 8 years old. I will wait for the apple silicon because i don't anticipate that inte…

You could just replace the drive in the iMac. It’s fairly easy to buy a new drive, clone your current onto it, and install it.

I had a tech come to the house and do it for under $100.

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