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New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

apple.com

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Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#11

Post by bluthru »

DCKing wrote: post #7
mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

I do all my development work (which involves a lot of heavy Scala stuff) on a 2012 MacBook Air, which is a wee bit slower than this one. The CPU really is not a problem. There's no SSD or 'Fusion Drive' in this one, which will make it bog down a lot. It's a shame that Apple won't go for a $999 model with a 64GB SSD or something. Should be enough for classrooms and anyone who wants a basic computer.

Yeah, a fusion drive would be a perfect default for this type of computer. It would feel fast while still giving a regular desktop user plenty of space for their media.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#12

Post by mscarborough »

DCKing wrote: post #7
mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

I do all my development work (which involves a lot of heavy Scala stuff) on a 2012 MacBook Air, which is a wee bit slower than this one. The CPU really is not a problem. There's no SSD or 'Fusion Drive' in this one, which will make it bog down a lot. It's a shame that Apple won't go for a $999 model with a 64GB SSD or something. Should be enough for classrooms and anyone who wants a basic computer.

It's not that necessary. Sure, I use macbooks now because they're kinda great hardware. When my parents were looking for a new all-in-one, they could get all this for about half the cost with a Windows PC that they already knew how to navigate around.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#13

Post by danford »

>1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 2.7 GHz, Intel HD 5000 graphics, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive.

Eh.. I got similar specs in laptop form for about half the price on black Friday last year.

I'd like to get something like this for a desktop but I'm afraid my Ubuntu might have some issues on the hardware. I'll wait until I find it slightly used for half the cost.

On a side note: Is absolutely everything Apple does "HN worthy"?

Can someone explain to me how this product is new or innovative or really interesting?

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#14

Post by hackety »

mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

The number of gigahertz is irrelevant these days - unless you're doing heavy computation or playing games.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#15

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

1.4GHz isn't as slow as you think due to Turbo Boost. The effective clock speed is much higher, it just runs in lower-energy mode most of the time.

Speaking as someone with a MacBook Air who does software development (compiling large projects like the Zend engine).

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#16

Post by scolson »

DCKing wrote: post #7
mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

I do all my development work (which involves a lot of heavy Scala stuff) on a 2012 MacBook Air, which is a wee bit slower than this one. The CPU really is not a problem. There's no SSD or 'Fusion Drive' in this one, which will make it bog down a lot. It's a shame that Apple won't go for a $999 model with a 64GB SSD or something. Should be enough for classrooms and anyone who wants a basic computer.

SSD and Fusion are BTO options just like on the rest of the iMac line.

My bigger complaint is that the RAM is non-upgradable even as BTO. I really couldn't imagine if I had to bring my computer back down to 8GB RAM from 16.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#17

Post by glibgil »

tmikaeld wrote: post #5

Too bad Hackintoshes are illegal, could get a lot more hardware for that kind of money.

Calling something illegal is usually reserved for things that are in the criminal code. There is no law against running Mac OS X on non-Apple computers. No one will be going to jail. Nothing will happen. You don't even have to feel bad. Apple would have to sue in civil court and would have to prove damages. They would not be able to prove damages.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#18

Post by jws »

DCKing wrote: post #7
mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

I do all my development work (which involves a lot of heavy Scala stuff) on a 2012 MacBook Air, which is a wee bit slower than this one. The CPU really is not a problem. There's no SSD or 'Fusion Drive' in this one, which will make it bog down a lot. It's a shame that Apple won't go for a $999 model with a 64GB SSD or something. Should be enough for classrooms and anyone who wants a basic computer.

+$250 for either 1TB fusion drive of 256GB SSD.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#19

Post by Touche »

freshyill wrote: post #10
tmikaeld wrote: post #5

Too bad Hackintoshes are illegal, could get a lot more hardware for that kind of money.

And the cost of significantly more complexity and a far from optimal user experience. A hackintosh is fine for a very minute slice of the population. Even building a PC, except for hard-core gamers, isn't really a thing anymore.

> And the cost of significantly more complexity and a far from optimal user experience.

I've never done a Hackintosh (very happy with other unixes), but is this true? Certainly more complexity with setting it up, but afterwards? If you follow http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php and get hardware they recommend and follow their guides isn't it pretty close to Apple's own computers?

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#20

Post by hackety »

tmikaeld wrote: post #5

Too bad Hackintoshes are illegal, could get a lot more hardware for that kind of money.

I have a hackintosh, and it's a nightmare.

Even though I copied a "gold build" from "TonyMacx86" (the "hackintosh authority"), the machine freezes randomly every hour, sometimes a week. But it will freeze and I'll have to do a hard reset.

Also, many of Apples services won't work with a hackintosh. iMessage and FaceTime, for example. To fix it, you'll need to call Apple and convince them to whitelist your fake generated system ID, risking getting your apple ID banned.

Something also happened during the installation so I have to have a Mavericks USB drive attached at all times to boot the damn thing.

Oh, and don't forget you have to reconfigure the whole thing when you apply an update.

Had I known these things I'd just have saved up a little more and bought the real thing.

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