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27-inch iMac gets a major update

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121–130 of 611 posts

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#121
post #15

It just feels wrong to buy anything new from Apple with "Intel Inside" - when they're clearly going to dump it soon, in favor of ARM (excuse me for not using the cringey term Apple Silicon).

>It just feels wrong to buy anything new from Apple with "Intel Inside" - when they're clearly going to dump it soon, I'd be very surprised if Apple Silicon is going to be competitive against the Xeons in their highest end machines any time soon, so they'll be bound to supporting Intel at the OS level for the foreseeable future. They've basically said as much. I suspect you should be able to get about 5 years, at lea…

I don't think it'll be close to that long. Rumours are that they'll release an 8+4 core this year, which is enough for everything bar the top-end iMac Pro and Mac Pros, and I'm sure they can get out a 16+N core by 2021 or early 2022. That would be as fast as any Intel CPU on those models. And heck, the margins on those models are so large (they sell a $3000 Xeon W for $7000) that they could comfortably push past yield issues to throw out a larger die than that.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#122
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing they will go right to the meat of things and upgrade one of their MacBook Pro models. That is right up the "Performance per watt" avenue which Apple claims their new silicon is best for. They are going to want to squash any rumors that these don't perform well right off the bat so I don't think they are going to be conservative here. For similar reasons, I don't think the iMac was ever slated to be the f…

Yes, they need at least one Apple Silicon machine, which demonstrates that it is competitive for absolute CPU power and of course as a machine for all the developers. They do need not only a testing machine, but should be doing the development itself on an Apple Silicon machine. That is, why I would consider the rumor about a 13 or 14 inch MB Pro with Apple Silicon for highly plausible. The 16 inch would then follow…

I wouldn't be surprised to see the 13/14 and the 16 inch both released this year.

That would mean 2 significantly different 16" MBPs in the same year. My thinking here is that it would be quite odd if they released a 14" MacBook Pro which is faster than the more expensive current 16" model.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#123

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?)

Where do you see the updates for the iMac Pro?

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#126
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it matter? There will be a period where the Intel Macs are still supported and probably more stable, and it could be ~2y before your upgrade is available if it's ARM based. If you have a retina macbook pro from 2014~ it definitely makes sense to upgrade to a macbook pro 16" today. The thing will see you through another 5-6y easy.

My fear isn’t around Apple and OS-level support. My fear is around smaller or indie developers who are already being asked to support macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android and now have to support another target. It’s not uncommon to see these devs not supporting Android or Windows because they can’t keep up. So how long before those devs drop support for Intel Macs (or don’t support ARM Macs for several years)? For…

The market size for intel mac users is far larger than arm on mac, and will be for the next several years.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This (and the 16" MacBook) are well timed upgrades. Apple is giving their more conservative/ cautious users a good upgrade choice right before they launch their new line. So if you want to stick with Intel, you can buy a system now and put off making the riskier move to ARM for a few years.

I'm sitting around waiting on the 2020 CPU revision of the 16" MBP. Will be getting that top GPU too. Just don't want to buy right now if we might get that CPU upgrade in the next 1-3 months.

Same. Expecting 1 more iteration of the intel 16"

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#128
post #48
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…

the 12" macbook is my favorite laptop of all time. Mine is the 2016 version and it's starting to feel dated and I'm hoping that they rerelease this on the new silicon first. I'll be smashing the buy button the day it's out.

Yes I love the form factor, no fans, it’s beautiful, light and still very usable. (2016 model)

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#129

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?

Interesting how much emphasis they put on the camera, speakers, and mic People realized how crappy the camera (an well mic) was on Macs compared to other computers now that we are all video conferencing. Its sad that every PC user with a Logitech looked much better.

The original Apple FireWire webcam was very good, with a large, motorized lens. Despite boasting higher resolution, I doubt many modern webcams are as good, especially integrated ones.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#130
post #46

> The 27-inch iMac now comes standard with SSDs across the line Well. Wow. > Apple today also announced that its 21.5-inch iMac will come standard with SSDs across the line for the first time. Double wow I'll be holding out for complete iMac redesign with ARM. I'm hoping something will be announced at their event?

As someone who never purchased an iMac, but enjoys Apple's MacBook line of products - it blows my mind that people are praising them for this. Considering the price point, this should have been the case like 4 years ago.
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