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27-inch iMac gets a major update

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Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#351

Post by rhizome »

byset wrote: post #314
avianlyric wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What kind of magic fairy dust SSDs are they using that you can't have a sensible amount of storage space at those prices? The kind where Apple can make a 300% or more margin, knowing that people will still pay. Don't think Apple have ever sold SSD upgrades at anything remotely resembling competitive $/TB prices. Clearly they don't need too because people still buy their machines.

As I see it it's basically price discrimination. Apple wants a certain profit margin for the model as a whole. Yet for customers who will never pay prices that will give Apple that full margin, they offer a model at a low price point with a compressed margin, but with a painful aspect that will encourage customers who can pay to go with a higher priced unit — here, the painful thing is the small SSD size. So the idea…

I think it's simpler than all that: any FRU gets a 5x price hike.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#352

Post by newscracker »

minerjoe wrote: post #324

Wonderful computer. How much you wanna bet that in < 5 years they drop support forcing almost everyone that purchased one to throw it out and get a new one?

Firstly, you have to consider that Apple has said the transition to ARM will take about two years. So it’s going to have to release a few more Intel Macs next year too.

For the less than five years bet, if you’re referring to macOS updates, I can personally bet my entire wealth (which is a decent figure) that you’ll lose. There’s no way the Intel Macs released this year are going to lose macOS support for another six years (into 2026), at the very least. The latest macOS (Big Sur) that’s now in beta supports models that are seven years old (or even older than that).

If you’re referring to hardware support and repairs, there are standard ages for each model that Apple uses for that purpose to define what’s obsolete, vintage, etc. I’m sure these will follow the same cycle.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#353

Post by pier25 »

Shivetya wrote: post #159
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?

Man, this will put a lot of us in a quandary. Buy this knowing the Apple Silicon is coming down the pipe or wait it out. I am disappointed no obvious changes to cooling have been made. Current i9 models can really spin up the fan as a number of owners have stated it one of the loudest Apple computers ever. Nano Glass is around $500 up charge which does not seem bad but I seem to recall it has special cleaning require…

> I am disappointed no obvious changes to cooling have been made

Same.

I own a 2017 5K model with an i5 and the terrible cooling is my only gripe with it.

It's totally fine for bursty workloads, but once you get into a light sustained workload (eg: music production) temps go to +70ºC and the fans become quite annoying.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#354

Post by Dave_Rosenthal »

jeffbee wrote: post #103
dehrmann wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm picturing some binning shenanigans on Intel's part and Apple doing enough benchmarks to pick a minimum amount of cache. Or maybe Intel offered them something with odd specs that they have too many of?

Actually is it just marketing shenanigans instead? Are they adding the L2 and L3 together to get their advertised cache size?

Yes

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#355

Post by cerberusss »

Shivetya wrote: post #159
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?

Man, this will put a lot of us in a quandary. Buy this knowing the Apple Silicon is coming down the pipe or wait it out. I am disappointed no obvious changes to cooling have been made. Current i9 models can really spin up the fan as a number of owners have stated it one of the loudest Apple computers ever. Nano Glass is around $500 up charge which does not seem bad but I seem to recall it has special cleaning require…

As for the nano glass, I ordered an anti reflective screen protector from a local Dutch supplier. It works fantastic on my 16". I do programming though, no color-sensitive photo or video work.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#356

Post by Mindwipe »

bluedino wrote: post #37
Mindwipe wrote: post #5

Honestly a fairly mediocre upgrade considering the pricing. It's good that they've finally improved the webcam, but Apple clearly went out of their way to ensure people looking to get an Intel Mac because they need to dual boot weren't going to get anything too compelling. Edit: Downvotes be damned, it is mediocre. Not bad, because it is a spec bump, but there are lots of things about the iMac's architecture that are…

>> upgrade considering the pricing. Don't forget it includes a 5K display...

> Don't forget it includes a 5K display...

It included a 5K display at a much lower price point that hasn't been adequately justified by currency changes before too, so I'm not sure that means anything.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#357

Post by pier25 »

_ph_ wrote: post #341

The one thing I keep missing on my 5k iMac is some form of video-in. Would be great if I could connect my MB Pro to it and use the iMac as a display. Perhaps even in a window and all mouse and keyboard events to the window get passed to the connected MacBook.

Yeah, and once something goes wrong with the iMac you could still use it as a monitor.

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#358

Post by bluedino »

localhost wrote: post #305
samtheprogram wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iMac competes via its 5K display and having macOS in general. Remember that Apple’s comparable offerings for this tier display were priced at $1299, in the same price range as many 5K displays. The $1800 price point isn’t hard to grasp once you consider the display. EDIT: I previously compared to / referenced possibly sub-$1000 5K monitors, but it seems the ones I was looking at in that range were actually 4K.

It’s like buying a 5k display and getting a subsidized computer. There’s ~1 5k monitor on the market today (LG)? I wonder how expandable this is? Buy the bottom end machine with the CPU you want and upgrade SSD and RAM? I would imagine SSD is upgradeable but RAM soldered onto the mobo?

27" iMacs have typically featured 4 memory slots in an easily accessible panel on the back:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191#install1

Re: 27-inch iMac gets a major update

#359

Post by adrianN »

hellofunk wrote: post #300
avianlyric wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Franky I don’t think people upgrading their own machines ever played into this. I suspect the vast majority of people who pay for the upgrades are businesses or consultants where the Apple upgrade price is fairly negligible compared to cost of their professional time. If you’re someone who didn’t want to pay the Apple premium before they took user upgrades away, it seems a little unlikely you’ll be happy to stomach t…

> I suspect the vast majority of people who pay for the upgrades are businesses or consultants where the Apple upgrade price is fairly negligible compared to cost of their professional time. Yes exactly. The premium on my time has been gradually edging out in my priorities. I'd rather pay a little extra to have something already there than spend the same amount in my own time instead. It's a fair tradeoff. "But there…

Upgrading the RAM on a Macbook used to be a five minute process: Order "macbook ram" from the online retailer of your choice, pop out the battery using a coin, slide the RAM into the slot. Done. Anybody could do it.
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