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New iMac with M4

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Re: New iMac with M4

#271

Post by crossroadsguy »

bhouston wrote: post #261

I guess it is just me, but I cannot stand working on small screens on the desktop. I will accept a small screen on a laptop because it is inconvenient carrying around something larger, but on a desktop, there is no reason to compromise. I use a 48" OLED with my MacBook Air M3 and for me that is a near ultimate web development experience both on desktop and when travelling: https://bsky.app/profile/benhouston3d.bsky.s…

I tried couple of monitor sizes and anything above 27-28 inches came across as downright inconvenient for work at least for me. Also, 4K was not great at all. 2K was.

It was opposite of how I want my TV.

Re: New iMac with M4

#272

Post by captnObvious »

stouset wrote: post #206
taeric wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be interested in numbers on some of this. From my view, the upgradability is a bit of a red herring for most users. Computers are fast enough for most uses that it just doesn't matter.

And frankly, the “upgradeability” of most desktops is a myth in my experience. By the time I’ve ever wanted to upgrade a Windows or Linux PC, a new CPU probably isn’t going to fit into the same socket as the one I had so now I need a new motherboard too. I probably want a new GPU if it was a gaming PC and if it wasn’t I would be using an integrated GPU anyway. I think the only thing I’ve ever kept from an “upgrade” w…

I agree with you entirely except for if we skip the year over year part.5-

Time of purchase upgrade ability, if we’re talking about getting to 128 or 256 GB of RAM. Time of purchase to upgrade to multiple high res screens that match. Dedicated GPUs… I bet there is a top of the line home hobbiest LLM oriented GPU from Nvidia or AMD in the next 3 years that will cleanly connect to recent chip architectures. I doubt it will run optimally tied to a Mac. It’ll be something that you could also rack in a server.

Re: New iMac with M4

#273

Post by internetter »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #219
simonw wrote: post #144

As someone who mucks around with running LLMs and other large models on my computer the 32GB maximum RAM is a show-stopper for me. I'm on a M2 with 64GB at the moment and I'm already regretting not going for 96 or even 128. I want to be able to run a large model AND other apps at the same time.

I really wish that "elite" LLM folks like yourself or many others in the field would just abandon apple/mac. Yes, they make better laptops from a hardware perspective. No, M series chips are not actually competitive with Nvidia hardware on anything except cheap (and relatively slow) inference of big models. The fact that windows laptops are considered DOA despite the insane amount of inertia behind Nvidia GPUs is jus…

> The XPS should be a better laptop than the macbook pro.

Except its.. not. I'm a longtime windows/linux user who recently switched to mac, and my mac somehow manages to get better performance out of the same specs while lasting 2x longer on battery. In my price range, there is no competition on price:performance:battery.

Re: New iMac with M4

#274

Post by VeejayRampay »

dijit wrote: post #128
epolanski wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just reminded me of how stupid the plug beneath the MM was...You never needed to charge it, till you needed it and couldn't use the mouse.

There are so many legitimate reasons to hate the magic mouse. Ergonimics, the polling rate, the way the glass gets greasy, the scratchy hard plastic on the bottom. Truly, inferior to the Logitech MX Master in all ways except looks. (which is subjective). But it takes literally a few seconds to get a days worth of charge out of the mouse, Apple clearly don't want you to leave it plugged in to use as a wired mouse: why…

let's stop justifying this choice from Apple

it annoys everyone, it's a dumb design, you get a message from your Mac telling you that the mouse has no charge and suddenly you can't work anymore for a few minutes, it's idiotic, plain and simple

Re: New iMac with M4

#275

Post by js2 »

piinbinary wrote: post #11

It's frustrating how disposable these are designed to be edit: e.g. screen replacements cost nearly as much as the entire computer

I commented elsewhere, but my uncle is on his third iMac in 30 years. He keeps them a decade at a time. My father is still using an Intel iMac. Normal people do not upgrade their computers after purchase. Displays are generally not something that fail. These machines are capable of providing a decade or more of service to normal people.

Re: New iMac with M4

#276

Post by rwmj »

jfoster wrote: post #76

I could never justify getting an iMac. All the downsides of a laptop & desktop in one; not upgradeable and not portable. Leaves me wondering how many of these Apple actually sell. A Mac Mini with a separate screen feels like it makes far more sense.

Meet my relatives who recently retired an x86 iMac, upgraded to an Arm-based one, and will probably upgrade to something like this, but only after another 7-10 years, when the current iMac is far out of support and getting so slow that it becomes unbearable. They use it as a shared family computer, almost exclusively for downloading photos from a (also very old) digital camera and watching Youtube videos.

Judging by the sibling comments I'm not the only one with relatives like this!

Re: New iMac with M4

#277

Post by lisper »

buccal wrote: post #259
lisper wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An HDMI input would be great. There is a reason that is difficult to do: the licensing terms for HDMI require manufacturers to put DRM in place to make it impossible (or at least not straightforward) to record from an HDMI source. It's nearly impossible to meet that requirement on a computer.

HP does HDMI-in in somo of its AIOs: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-eliteone-840-g9-all-in-...

It's not impossible, but it has to be a completely separate signal chain that bypasses the PC. (Well, OK, it's theoretically possible to do it other ways, but it would be really hard.)

Re: New iMac with M4

#278

Post by askafriend »

haswell wrote: post #39
bearjaws wrote: post #6

> the new iMac is up to 1.7x faster than iMac with M1 Now 4 generations in, they are still comparing performance to M1. I get that 15-20% improvements aren't too exciting but it feels old.

I actually think it makes sense to advertise this way. Most people I know who bought an M1 (myself included) are still rocking the M1. People who’ve purchased M2/M3 machines are less likely to be jumping on an M4. Comparing to an M1 tells the most likely customer exactly what they need to know.

Exactly this. It cuts through the noise and frames the benefit for the people who are most likely to upgrade.

The nerds will find the relevant information anyway so no need to cater the high level marketing to them.

Re: New iMac with M4

#279

Post by madeofpalk »

rgbrgb wrote: post #146
jfoster wrote: post #76

I could never justify getting an iMac. All the downsides of a laptop & desktop in one; not upgradeable and not portable. Leaves me wondering how many of these Apple actually sell. A Mac Mini with a separate screen feels like it makes far more sense.

> Leaves me wondering how many of these Apple actually sell I think we can check since they're public. Looks like 5-8 million per quarter [0]. Approx 10% of their computer sales [1]. [0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263444/sales-of-apple-ma... [1]: https://www.cultofmac.com/news/macbooks-make-up-a-whopping-7...

Note the data isn't actually public - Apple does not break Mac revenue or sales figures down to per device. These are all just 'market intelligence' estimates.

Re: New iMac with M4

#280

Post by ahmeneeroe-v2 »

piinbinary wrote: post #11

It's frustrating how disposable these are designed to be edit: e.g. screen replacements cost nearly as much as the entire computer

My last iMac lasted 10-years. I replaced it with the M3 iMac for my daughter. I will be happy if it takes her through High School graduation in 2030. If the M3 iMac is still running, I expect to use it for some intro to computer stuff for one of the younger kids.

Yes I cannot mine the iMac for parts at EOL, but realistically, I haven't really done that on any tower-based PC either.

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