A look inside Apple's new 27-inch iMac (teardown photos) - Page 2

Just clean the surface with steel wool once, you be fine. Works everytime.

For me, it was never about watch BR movies on the computer. It was and is about HD content delivery.


There's nothing new about FCP working in higher resolutions. The support for BR in FCS that I'm referring to is the specific capability Apple just added for FC7 and C3.5 to burn directly to Blu-ray. As for 3rd party externals (or internals), that's obviously what I'm going to have to do. It just would have been nice to have an Apple option.

It's good that the GPU is on a Module
- Apple should be able to provide more higher spec'd GPUs when they're available on the module format

- difficult for a user to upgrade though!

Nokia isn't going to get anywhere. But they can try.

I don't think that's a correct way of looking at the situation. Remember, when you matte a display, you're subtracting some brightness and color reproduction as a tradeoff. Some people are willing to make that trade, some aren't.

Great to see the teardown! What I am actually wondering is up to what point one can go with opening up the iMac before you start to lose your warrenty? Obviously upgrading memory can be done without any penalty, but will lifting the display or exchanging the 2.8GHz i7 for a faster one or upgrading the HDD or GPU indeed void your warrenty? Any ideas how far one can go ´safely´?

One MORE teardown

From step 8 of the tear down:


Which is very interesting, and not what I expected. It does mean that it's possible that HDMI to DP "transcoding" (or whatever you call port spec adapting) could happen in software, leaving only a cheap physical adapter necessary for using HDMI or DVI out devices with the screen.

Yes the phrasing is verY confused. The way I take it they are implying room for a SSD some place. That could be a 2.5" bay, a 1.8" bay or a PCI-Express slot. I do hope this gets cleared up soon.

oh man that is what flew through my mind when I read the article. Basically the OS and apps sitting on a 128GB SSD for speed and the user file system on the magnetic drive. That would really make a huge difference in performance. Further if the frequently written system files are put on the magnetic drive the SSD should last a very long time due to few writes being done.

Hopefully details will follow. I'm wondering if iFixit made a mistake here as this is almost to good to be true.


Dave

If you click on their "this" link, it takes you to this page.
http://www.ifixit.com/Apple-Parts/12...sure/IF107-081

If you take out the optical drive, you can add a 2.5" drive, but their comment about solid state drives was not referring to that option (maybe it wouldn't be bootable). They were referring to the fact that in theory you could replace the 3.5" drive with a 2.5" solid state drive (adapters exist and OCZ even has a 3.5" SSD) hence the comment on reduced capacity.

You don't need those. Running programs is so over rating and the speakings are being replaced by iImagine technology.


MXM has been out for years. Great for companies to offer some choice in mobile based products, but you'll never see replacement modules on the open market.

I totally disagree on this one, 250 GB is way to puny for todays bloated software. Just a very basic install for me takes up about 100GB. That is just apps. Don't believe me well install the XCode SDK, Eclipse, Open Office, iWork, Tex, and a few other apps and see how far that HD space goes.

Now start adding documents and Media to your storage. If you use iTunes and purchase even a limited number of movies, songs and such you will quickly need an external drive. Frankly it is why I'd like to see Apple nix the CD Drive in the portables and add provisions for 3 or so storage modules in the notebooks. CD drives work fine on external low speed ports, secondary storage needs to be internal to the case.

Dave

Maybe another company reading your post will come up with one. And, no, I'm not on drugs.

A 27" media monster with 256 Gb of storage? I think Apple would face a lot criticism for building such a contradictory machine. I realize that with a firewire 800 connection external storage is fast and easy but then that kind of defeats the wireless look Apple is going for. Imho.

Damn! I want a new iMac so bad since this beauty came out.

[QUOTE MXM has been out for years. Great for companies to offer some choice in mobile based products, but you'll never see replacement modules on the open market.[/QUOTE]

On the first 24" imac the upgrade gpu was in such a slot. Some folks did tests to see if other gpus would work but none would. Apple may be using the slot but made it to their specification, and I just don't see Apple letting you upgrade it. It's just not The Steves way.

I know!

I don't follow completely the above, but I have to agree adding Blue Ray adds unacceptable costs. The last thing I want to do is to pay for the cost of Blue Ray when I go out and buy a Mac. Especially considering there are only a few whinning pinks asking for it.

I have so why shouldn't Apple. Nothing about Blue Ray is nice and intact represents the dirtyness that comes about when companies try to strong arm the market. Consummers have the responsibility to reject this sort of big businesss and it's excessive profits.

Besides buying Blue Ray is just funneling your money into the drug culture of Hollywood.

You are the master of run on sentences!!!

However I agree with what you are saying. Plus in either China or Japan SD distribution of movies is already under way. Read that some place in a trade rag, don't ask which one as I can't remember. It actually makes a lot of sense too, SD cards are far more compact and the capacity is going up at an incredible rate. We could potentially see 1TB SD cards soon if some research pans out. With SD you could carry a whole library of movies in your shirt pocket and still have room for pens and stuff.


I'm not sure what you mean by more reliable, a good CD lasts a long time. Flash based SD cards would have a short life span as flash will not retain info forever. Newer tech might be much better though.

In any event I have to believe that Apple and the Studios are up to something. First why all of a sudden does Apple fine a need to support SD in their new hardware. It certainly isn't for pro photographers which are using Compact Flash. Even consummer cameras use a variety of formats.

Something is up and I wouldn't be surprised to see announcements next year that major studios and Apple will back SD movie distribution in the US. They will do so for lower costs, transportability and to support a range of new consummer devices. I could see this tied in with the rumored tablet/ mystery device rumors.


Dave

Apparently, making it easier for Apple technicians to repair their customers computers is not The Steve's way either. Inserting a stick of memory doesn't count.

Yes Sir!

I wholeheartedly agree... Surprising and even shocking. I'm no expert when it comes to HDMI (far from it actually - I know just enough to get in trouble) but this was my basic (very basic) understanding.

HDMI provides a key based authentication system... Hardware vendors (like Apple and/or Sharp etc) are assigned by the standards body (Intel?) unique keys (each type of device probably gets a different key so with all the different Sharp products they could have MANY keys across their product line) and that key is what's used to decode an encrypted HDMI video signal.

++NOW++

If a vendor does something they weren't supposed to like output 'raw HD video' from a previously encoded HD signal (in other words strip the protection) then HDMI has a problem because anyone and everyone who wanted to rid their world of protected signals would purchase that product and it would be GAME OVER.

++HOWEVER++

The HDMI spec has a plan for just such an event... The standards body can 'BLACKLIST' previously assigned keys if its found the device was purposefully built to work around the protections **OR** if a product was (thru no fault of the developer) was hacked by the neerdowells and ruff-tuffians on the net to defeat the HDMI protections and gain access to unencrypted HD signals.

So to wrap this up... A device was designed that did exactly what it shouldn't - INPUT HDMI (with HDCP support) and OUTPUT DVI where the HDCP was removed. The product is off the market but the HDMI/HDCP key that was officially assigned to that devices is (I'm sure) now on the black-list and content providers can/should include that blacklist when sending their content and when a HDCP device sees that its talking to the 'black-listed' device it will refuse to send the content.

Thats how I understand it anyway...

So if the inbound HDMI/HDCP signal travels across the mobo then that means their MIGHT be a way for hackers who might not even boot into OS X on the iMac to gain access to the raw-unprotected HD signals. Then again I have zero knowledge of systems design and perhaps the decode is done along a path on the motherboard where the CPU still couldn't get at it.

Otherwise if the WORST did happen and the raw HD signal was accessible from the computer itself (by way of linux or os x hacks) then there's a good chance that the KEY for the iMac would be revoked and render the monitor unable to get signals from any devices that have a black-list with the iMacs key on it.

Well now I'm torn.... because part of me SO wasn't to tear down the walls of HDCP and all things DRM but since I actually want to buy and use this new iMac and have an HD cablebox all ready to connect to it I also don't want to loose out on this feature of accepting HDMI from cable boxes and bluray players etc...

Well I can't have it both ways I guess!

Sure I can see it... a re-fitter of sorts...

1 - Pull and sell glossy display

2 - Buy and install matte display

3 - Markup final system

4 - PROFIT

(hey this one doesn't even have that ???? step)

Now we all know that a 'pulled' glossy lcd isn't going to fetch NEARLY what a 'new in box' matte lcd would and the time to do this will have a clear cost as well... but perhaps if someone could get the 'up-charge' (final price) to somewhere near $250 (??) then I'm betting a number of people would line up for the service.

Most definitely would void the warranty. BTW the the glass on the previous Imac was held in place just with magnets. Pops off easy I've heard; so if the LCD isn't itself glossy then maybe you can remove the glass for a mate screen. Who's got one?

That's the optical drive, silly.

The hard drive is a normal, everyday, average 3.5" desktop drive. Y'all think it looks small because the computer around it is really big.

With a software BluRay player that Apple would have shipped/installed with the Macs.


Well slightly perhaps and yes a software player would need to have been developed...


Nope not at all...

Infact... do you realize that IF you install a BluRay player to a Mac running OS X 10.6 (perhaps even 10.5.x) that it will do NOTHING! (shocked ya didn't I)

However! if instead you installed BluRay drive that also had WRITE capabilities then the Mac will show you a BluRay disc in the drive and even put it on you're desktop but it will not be able to play it.

HOWEVER! Some smart people have been working on software that WILL rip the movie off the drive and unprotect it in the process. This process is very much a work in progress but it works for a great number of 1st gen BluRay media ... BluRay+ I think is still giving them some fits but this is ALL being done WITHOUT any 'special bluray-centric' updates to OS X from Apple.

Link for the lookenspeepers: http://www.makemkv.com/

While admittedly far from 'Playing the Godfather Collection in 1080 with the press of a button' this all shows that OS X all by it lonesome can be coaxed into allowing you to read data off a BluRay disc and with software from above it can also RIP said BluRay data from that drive and save it unmolested on a HD of your choosing. There are issues with subtitles I think and perhaps chapter markers as well... Not following that project too closely but I did heard that they were making headway with the new and improved BluRay+ protected discs.

Yea I tried that line on my Wife but she wasn't falling for it one bit..

She married you, didn't she?

Anyway. Nice to see Apple finally using desktop processors in the iMac. I knew they could do it if they wanted to. That should make the machine much more competitive.

It's not exactly clean and elegant inside but it's impressive all the same. If only they had included a BD drive, then I would have clicked 'buy'. Instead I'll just install Win7 on my old PC and wait for the next iMac update.

I was referring to the optical drive. But it was still my error re the topic of discussion. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I was mixing it up the queries, especially since it was made quite clear by Apple that, "All iMac models include standard 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drives that run at 7200 revolutions per minute (rpm)." http://store.apple.com/us/configure/...co=MTMzNzY5NDA

Why, so it can leak like the Power Mac G5? Bad idea.

holy crap those speakers are shocking in the iFixit teardown. I was marveling at the drivers themselves until I realized that each set are actually set into their own bevel faced enclosure cabinets. That's amazing inside of an iMac case.

Much more for sure. This is the first time I'm even considering an iMac.

Three days ago, the iMac was simply a mobile computer in a sexy desktop package.

Today, the 27" iMac is a desktop computer in a sexy desktop package...complete with desktop CPU, desktop HDD, and a screen big enough to act as a nice media center (a TV). I'm somewhat worried this iMac will be plagued by heat issues. But if it turns out that the heat dissipates well, I'm for sure going to buy this thing.

I'll just turn my Mac Pro into a media server considering it has tons of storage expandability. Three years ago, the Mac Pro was a good deal because I figured I needed the speed and expandability and the iMac wasn't cutting it with its laptop components. Today I realize that I've done little in the ways of expanding my Mac Pro outside adding more storage and more memory.

I never used the expansion slots. Apple obsoleted my Mac Pro by cutting graphics card expandability support as soon as it shipped 64-bit EFI Mac Pros. I've got an aging pair of Soundsticks.

I figure I might as well just get a 27" iMac, buy memory and storage from OWC or Newegg. Put the standard 1TB into the last slot on my Mac Pro. Make the Mac Pro a media server.

Everything about the new 27" iMac seems to be high quality.

Mossberg says the new iMacs are evolutionary not revolutionary...I suppose I *could* agree except that the 27" iMac is one pretty frickin' big evolution -- it's a real desktop computer.

Desktop CPU
Desktop GPU
Desktop speakers
Desktop HDD

Like I said in my previous post though, I'm thinking heat is going to be an issue with these beasts.

Maybe thats why its pretty much all aluminium now. This seems to help the new unibody macbooks keep cool.

Definitely some hot stuff inside there, but yes I think the additional aluminum and the increased size will go a long way to keep temps down. And who knows what else? (fan placement. Blade configuration?) Apple's been doing this for awhile, and I certainly think they keep learning.

Might have something to do with the fact that Macs use EFI instead of BIOS. The graphics firmware has to be compatible with the system firmware.

And this 5-star review would agree: http://computershopper.com/desktops/...e-imac-27-inch

And another: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/app...?tag=mncol;txt

Plus VESA mount. Its like going back to the original G5 iMac. Too you still have to tear them apart to service them though.

Does anyone know how the display input will work with a second computer. My current setup has a USB switch for keyboard/mouse, with inputs from the mac and pc going to the monitor. If I'm using a 27" imac, how do I (i) switch between displays (i.e. flip between using the mac and the pc attached to it), and (ii) connect a pc to the display port so that I can use the full resolution. On the latter question, wouldn't you need a dual dvi to display port adapter to use the full resolution, and if so, does such a beast exist?

Now that was really informative- thank you Dave.

I was told in the store that now that's it's LED it will be much cooler.