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Apple Updates iMac

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Re: Apple Updates iMac

#91

Post by nknighthb »

Qerub wrote: post #83
gr2020 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What obvious downsides are you referring to? In the past it was performance, but that's not an issue with thunderbolt...

I have the same setup with an external Thunderbolt SSD (from LaCie). I'm aware of the following downsides: * The only Thunderbolt port on my 2011 iMac is occupied. * I can accidentally remove my system disk if I'm clumsy (and crash my system). * I can't hide the disk and can see it if I stand beside the desk. No biggies in other words. Very happy with the setup.

> The only Thunderbolt port on my 2011 iMac is occupied.

An unfortunate design flaw specifically on LaCie's part. As with FireWire before it, and SCSI before that, Thunderbolt is a daisy-chain interface. Single-port devices in such ecosystems are best considered defective.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#92

Post by tekacs »

Touche wrote: post #57
threeseed wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all pretty simple really. The number of people who want more hard disk space and aren't willing to use an external drive is small. So small in fact that it isn't worth Apple's time to design a computer specifically catered to them.

True, but the number of people who want an all-in-one desktop is also very small, and probably intersects with the people who want to replace stuff more than the general population of computer users does.

The number of people who:

1) Want a Mac

2) Want a desktop, not a laptop (surprisingly many)

3) Can't afford a Mac Pro and a Mac Mini is both scary (no screen? :O) and too small

is fairly large, methinks.

Also, an all-in-one desktop (a box you can plug into the wall that requires no other wires to act as a full machine - cf. laptops) is, from the experience I've had (anecdotal myself too, amongst friends and extended interaction) pretty commonly desirable. :/

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#93

Post by mej10 »

Qerub wrote: post #83
gr2020 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What obvious downsides are you referring to? In the past it was performance, but that's not an issue with thunderbolt...

I have the same setup with an external Thunderbolt SSD (from LaCie). I'm aware of the following downsides: * The only Thunderbolt port on my 2011 iMac is occupied. * I can accidentally remove my system disk if I'm clumsy (and crash my system). * I can't hide the disk and can see it if I stand beside the desk. No biggies in other words. Very happy with the setup.

Yep, these are the ones I was referring to. Nothing major, and I do like my setup.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#94

Post by dntrkv »

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #80
rickdale wrote: post #14

I own and love my 27inch iMac. It exemplifies the quote from Apple's senior vice president: “iMac continues to be the example that proves how beautiful, fast and fun a desktop computer can be,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. " But as someone that doesn't like to mess with hardware too often, I am very disappointed at how difficult it is to change a simple hard drive on thi…

Who still upgrades their own machine? I like to tinker with hardware a little, which is why every 3 years or so I put my own home server together even though I could probably buy a cheaper ready-made solution. In the days of my old Apple Powerbook I've pretty much replaced everything from memory, harddisk to optical drive, even though the latter definitely wasn't made to be upgraded by end-uses. But in the last 10 ye…

My 2011 iMac came with a 500gb hdd. I decided to upgrade it to a 256gb ssd. Coming from a Windows PC background, I figured it would be a 15 minute at most installation. I even ordered the $40 hdd replacement kit from OWC, and it took me a good 2-3 hours to carefully disassemble and reassemble. The worst part was sliding the motherboard back down below the bezel. Holy shit I was gonna throw the thing against the wall.

But yes, for the most part I agree with you but we still aren't quite there yet. I think it wouldn't be too much to ask to have the ssd located in an easy to access spot like the ram is.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#95

Post by potatolicious »

numbsafari wrote: post #54
acomjean wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood why they would make a bulky machine hard to upgarde. I have a 1.1 mac pro tower. So easy to open/add memory and hard drives. Even my polycarb (white) macbook was easy to update the hard drive. Harddrives will fail... It shouldn't be hard to replace them.

This will sound pedantic, but... It isn't hard to replace them. You pull out your iPhone, use the Apple Store App to schedule an appointment, drop off your iMac at the store, go have lunch at Sbarro and then pick it up and go home. If you are buying an iMac, you are buying a sealed solution. If you are the kind of user who wants to replace HDD or upgrade components, the iMac is not the computer you should buy. Bad bu…

> "It isn't hard to replace them. You pull out your iPhone, use the Apple Store App to schedule an appointment, drop off your iMac at the store, go have lunch at Sbarro and then pick it up and go home."

This sounds pretty annoying. Around here that means lugging your giant 27" iMac down the stairs of your walkup, down the stairs of the subway, up the stairs of the subway, and over to the Apple Store. Then doing it all in reverse.

Or calling an Uber - either way, inconvenience, cost, and annoyance that seem hardly necessary.

What I really want is to be able to sit on my ass, wait for a hard drive to show up at my doorstep (via Amazon, or Apple themselves, I really don't care), and pull a lever/panel and slip the new one in. If you want to play up the "this needs to be fixed NOW" angle, it'd still be cheaper and more pleasant for Apple to send a bike messenger over with a new hard drive from the Apple Store and let me do it without disentangling the iMac from my workstation setup and hauling it.

For a company that espouses "it just works", one of these sounds way less annoying than the other.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#97

Post by rayiner »

kunai wrote: post #68
Pxtl wrote: post #30

I'm mostly disappointed in how poor the Win32-based hardware vendors are at following Apple's lead. Apple is narrowing the cost gap in their hardware, and their quality is still leaps and bounds ahead of the competitors. If I want to buy a solid all-in-one device with a minimally usable on-board videocard so I could fire up the occasional game (not a hardcore gaming rig but keeping lighter fare an option) then the co…

This is false and misleading. ThinkPads, while the new ones aren't too much to my taste, are better-constructed, more fully-featured, and more understated than MacBooks. On the AIO side, there are plenty of desktops from Dell and Lenovo that compete quite well. I'm really sick of how every tiniest bit of Apple news is upvoted to the front page. When did a thousand fanboys join HN? I thought this forum was supposed to…

I'll grant you understated, but Thinkpads are not better-constructed. The Macbooks are solid pieces of aluminum. I bought an X220 for my dad and it's a solid machine too, but it doesn't have the same rigidity and has more moving parts to go wrong.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#98

Post by Samuel_Michon »

Touche wrote: post #87
cloverich wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint - what are the chances Apple hasn't run the numbers on that, and made the (business wise) correct decision?

You're right, we should never question a business's decisions because they have more data than us and cannot possibly be wrong

Given that the iMac is the best selling consumer desktop computer ever, I think it’s safe to assume Apple has put some thought into the matter.

Re: Apple Updates iMac

#100

Post by falcolas »

numbsafari wrote: post #54
acomjean wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood why they would make a bulky machine hard to upgarde. I have a 1.1 mac pro tower. So easy to open/add memory and hard drives. Even my polycarb (white) macbook was easy to update the hard drive. Harddrives will fail... It shouldn't be hard to replace them.

This will sound pedantic, but... It isn't hard to replace them. You pull out your iPhone, use the Apple Store App to schedule an appointment, drop off your iMac at the store, go have lunch at Sbarro and then pick it up and go home. If you are buying an iMac, you are buying a sealed solution. If you are the kind of user who wants to replace HDD or upgrade components, the iMac is not the computer you should buy. Bad bu…

I'm in Bozeman, MT. Where do I stop by to drop it off again?

Not everyone lives in a major city.

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