Apple updates iMac line with Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors - Page 6

LG BD-590.

I haven't figured out a way to skip the previews and other stuff. Normally pressing "disc menu" or something like it will skip all the nonsense and take me to the main menu, but some discs prevent that. I've probably seen a hundred, maybe more, only a few have been as obnoxious as The Green Zone.

What magic button gets you around this?

Can't you run iTunes on anything (don't know, I only use Apple)?


Oppo... too much $$$ for something I expect will be outdated in a couple of years. I thought about the PS3 too, decided on the LG. It was "good enough"

Well personally my time is worth FAR FAR more than the $200.

Yeah, still waiting to hear from Prophet Steve when we can expect all the content providers will agree upon a common, fast delivery mechanism for reference quality audio and video with no copy protection that i can play anywhere and only pay once. It may be coming but until then it's wishes and dreams. I'll keep depending on amazon.com and UPS.

-Chris

And that's exactly why I built my own and I have had zero issues with it and you always know that you can upgrade or change components without having to wait for X company to do it for you. I recently changed the mobo in order to use more and faster RAM and to gain onboard FW; a BR drive would be nice but I can always play those files using VLC and right now I just don't see the use for USB 3.0...

To each his own_if I were to buy an equivalent Mac Pro I would have spent almost twice the cost of this machine and as far as tech support when it comes to hardware I don't need it so as long as I can run OS X natively I am good to go...

I click on the next chapter button

Doesn't work with The Green Zone. You get the red X

A hackintosh isn't without difficulty - it's tedious to get everything working to begin with, and updates tend to break things. It's OK for a determined hacker who doesn't mind such challenges, but for the everyday user a $200 premium isn't that much to pay for the convenience of having everything work.


I assume you have zero issues with Apple's copyright either?

Well, in my comparison both Dell and Alienware had less features, were not all-in-ones and ended up being 30% more expensive

Imagine what would happen were I to compare it to other all-in-ones...

Nope, I can't play the iTunes videos on my PS3, will only run on Apple hardware or Windows computers.

I didn't even bring up overall cost of ownership, since Apple hardware doesn't become obsolete whenever an update is released. They easily last twice as long as a Windows counterpart, making the real cost of ownership half as much even if the cost were the same. And the truth as you pointed out, Apple is usually cheaper. More so on the high end.

I've had a couple fence-sitters ask recently, after becoming almost but not quite sold on an Apple computer: "but... doesn't every software update make your computer run slower?"

When I upgraded my 2007 C2D Mini to SL, it ran slower on some things, even after clearing out tons of space on the HD. I could do a clean install, but I shouldn't have to - I don't much of anything with it.

And I don't know if you can reliably get more than 3-4 years out of a computer anymore. If I wanted to get the most out of SL, like OpenCL, H.264 acceleration, I would have to buy a new Mac. It's less than 3 years old. Same thing with my PC, which was about 4 years old. Either SW or the OS will force an upgrade, especially with advances in GPGPU applications and other uses of the GPU/multi-core CPU's.

My iMac just celebrated its tenth birthday, I've been using it just about every day. Completely wore out three mice, and upgraded the HD (of course). Runs Tiger.

I do want a couple new iMacs and now that the i5 is an option, I'll be upgrading. Didn't like the C2D and the 27" is just too big. Nevertheless, it's hard to justify the purchase, they still do the same things I've ever done, they're just faster at it. How much faster do I need to use the internet anyway?

I don't know of any good reason to upgrade to SL. Tiger does everything I need, especially since the release of Safari 4, which is faster than anything I've ever used before. I make full use of ClickToFlash I'm experimenting now with Leopard, but again I'm hard pressed to come up with anything it does better than Tiger.

Mrs. Galt still uses her Powerbook G4 to make iMovies and DVDs, she says it's fast enough for her needs. I think it's 7 years old. My Powerbook is even older. They all work fine.

I think it's reasonable to expect a useful life of over 5 years from these things. Depends what you need to do with 'em.

As long as I've been using Macs (starting with the switch to Intel), you've been able to return an opened Mac (or iPod) for 14 days, taking a 10% haircut for the restocking fee. This guy said he was at day 11.

If a new model comes out and you are within the 14 day return period, the store manager has complete discretion to waive that restocking fee, esp. if you are trading up to the new model at the same (or higher) pricepoint. Then the "old" iMac goes back to Cali for an overhaul and shows up eventually on the refurb store.

Worst case, he's paying 10% for the privilege. Best case he gets a straight swap. There is no shame in taking advantage of Apple's published policies.

So why does this matter to you - in particular? Do you in fact own a Mac of any class? Probably not. So why consistently come here to piss in the wheaties of the Apple users here? It doesn't make you look smarter, cleverer or more of a tech than anyone else. In fact there is a classic definition of insanity - repeating the same behavior over and over again, expecting a different result. The entire volume of your contributions do not offer any salient discussion, only continual criticism to an entirely unappreciative audience, with the odd exception of the average newbie who hasn't added you to the ignore list yet.

Your insistence that Blu-Ray is better is a personal opinion - that runs smack up against the wall of contrary user experience, not to mention the licensing and OP issues. And USB 3.0 is not a universal standard yet that has sufficiently mainstreamed to interest Apple enough to include it on this yearly update. There are not many devices out there that take advantage of it yet, so why bother - just to me-too the other PC makers that include it only to list it as a feature? Pretty silly reasoning.

Everyone else:

To the average user - again: those unwashed non- to semi- technical users that constitute the large majority of purchasers - eSATA and the rest are essentially meaningless. What matters is the consistent performance for the usual tasks - and that is what the iMac is built to deliver. iMac has NEVER been about delivering cutting edge anything - we need to drop that little error immediately. It is meant to be an excellent all-round general-purpose computing device for the average user. If it can be configured to suit the needs of a super-user, that's an added bonus - but you guys are in the decided minority, and losing ground fast as Apple eases further into the consumer PC market percentages.

So while it's always fun to toss-off about this feature or that feature, crow about your hack-box that runs a bitchin' GPU that's miles better than the iMac - it is just self-gratification, nothing more, But please, clean-up after your done. *waves hand vaguely* "these are not the iMacs you are looking for. I need to go look at case mods. And over-clock my GPU. And watch some pron from my Blu-ray drive."

There. Not only will you be more satisfied, these threads won't be as long and have so many collapsed/ignored posters.

It was fun for me to build my own too - servers included, until it cost more time than it was worth. It isn't just about parts costs - and if your time is cheap then by all means dive right in! But my time is worth a lot and all of my Macs out-perform comparable PCs over the long-haul - especially around security and vulnerability, but overall performance as well. If parts cost is all that matters to you - you are doing exactly the right thing - for me, time and effort are too precious to spend puttering around on the components. Ease of use, reliability, service and support all are much more critical to me now than building boxes.

which Blu-ray isn't. Categorically. Most of the content creators I know have storage solutions that are far more robust than Blu-Ray will ever be. Blu-Ray is a consumer grade kludge of a storage solution built to support the resale of existing and sales of future content to the unsuspecting consumer. The fact that the format supports deeper storage is a tangential benefit, not built directly into the marketing profile or intentions of the format drivers. If you really need it buy an external and use it. But don't sully your commentary with claims of superiority that aren't merited for the format. It's primary purpose is to get you to buy over again previously purchased content and to drive licensing and use fees for the format drivers. Period. Any gain you realize beyond that is merely incidental.

And let's get real here - "Mac folks" as you so quaintly put it are increasingly average consumers - especially in the iMac series of devices, not the rabid content creators you allege. Yes, a lot of content creation happens on Macs - for good reason, but you are failing to recognize the primary reason for the device being configured the way it is - to offer a better computing experience to the average user. The same arguments were made when Apple dropped the floppy drive. And when Apple went with SCSI. And so on.

I mentioned the pitiful 4.6% CPU improvement at the high end (2.8GHz Core i7 to 2.93GHz Core i7) because that machine is most interesting to me.

At the low end the boost is far more significant. The Core i3 system sports an improved motherboard architecture, hyper-threading and discrete GPU.

But seriously folks, the quad core CPU went mainstream in 2007. At the rate Apple is going it will be 2012 before the majority of the iMac lineup sports more than two cores.

But you don't have to wait for 15 minutes for ads to start rolling before you watch your movie!

and no kotatsu;

great post

apple did a very good up date job that put new buyers with very powerful machines that are all in one marvels

when you watch a movie you marvel at how great the screen is !!!!

any way thanks for a good post

9

fuco blu ras

why can't you stop it . you sound insane reposting yourself topic after topic ,and yes 4 other assholes are hijacking the same topics as you . You made you stupid point .
move on
blu ray does not fit into a 22 in screen .

blu ray is not as good or as cheap as apple's HD

Better Cheaper open content encodings are coming from apple soon , And apple has 140 million itunes accounts . blu ray has how many.

And SCARY MOVIE 6 looks stupid on blu ray
so does mad men looks dumb on BD .

the horse is dead //

9

why are you here
hackintosh forumis over there

you wintels are so poorly made that they need super power chips to run any thing

mac does it right

my
mbp can run any game made on a mac dvd that you can
ANY AT high res.

HAVING fast refurbed parts from dell mean nothing when the whole game is slow and fat .

email any time dude .

any time

Don't think that Blu-ray will happen any time soon so you're in for a long wait.

Hope that they will return this to the upper end 15'MBP--seems that there is a need for for this for higher end users.

Please no complaints about advertisements. Advertisement is everywhere on iTunes.

It sucks not being able to connect a high speed external SSD on macs. They're all bottlenecked by USB2 or FireWire. I have a feeling Apple is waiting and plan to support Light Peak big.

You have a number of issues, none of which are a blu-ray issue.

Studios want these features, they will want to include these with digital downloads as well, this includes forced adverts

Well, it lets us wallow in our own crapulence.

2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Magic Mouse




this is what i will buy once i drop my current 4yr old on the floor by mistake

all those nay sayers are so full of shit

this imac has a great screen
screaming fast cpu/gpu unclocked chips
and its instant on with ssd power .

4g ram too little ???

ok ok'



wow apple hits another small home run

next yr we will have face time i am sure and a whone new config

if you can wait by a whitenMB until ..../ facetime open cl and the rest come out



peace

go apple

9

'Crapulence.'

I dunno. That word does for me with the recent desktop 'updates.'

Side grade and price hikes.

Lemon Bon Bon.

Crapulence is a real word:

Wow, thanks Mr.Pedant, you're just swell!

As for BD DRM, there are countless BD players available from many manufacturers. Plus BD DRM is child's play to break. A world of difference from Apple DRM which locks your purchases down to a handful of devices. Surely you can see that? No? Fanboy glasses filtering out anything Steve doesn't like?

Too bad.

Got it out of your system now?

As for owning a Mac, yes, I own a MacBook. So please, be quiet. Thanks,

Apple's iMac performance page @ http://www.apple.com/imac/performance.html states:

"Now all iMac models come standard with Intel Core processors built on a new architecture. Based on Intels 32-nanometer process technology, these processors set new benchmarks for iMac performance."

and the tech spaces page @ http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html says:

"2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost"

Which actual Intel CPU is inside that is 2.93 base speed and is on the 32 nm process?

http://www.intel.com/consumer/produc...rei7-specs.htm

If it's an i7-870 (hyperthread, Turbo to 3.6 GHz, 2 channels, 16GB, 1333 support, 95W TDP), then it's a 45nm chip, unless Intel has re-tooled the same chip as a 32nm part? Or Apple has some bad data on the site there?

Intel has really made knowing which CPU is which a real PITA in the last few years, and of course, since Apple sometimes gets 'new and unusual gear', it's even trickier. Any input is appreciated!

My point exactly. Get one!

Excellent! Your spelling has already improved.

My last 2 PCs have lasted me 5 years with minimal alteration. Current system running strong after 2 1/2 years and I may not need to make any changes to make it last for 5 years.

BS. I have 3 Macs, 2 iPhones and an iPad in my house... oh, and one Windows machine with an AMD/ATI combo (Phenom II and 4890)... so don't start your point by trying to label me.

Also, email ME when L4D2, or Fallout New Vegas comes out for the Mac via Steam and tell me how well it runs on an external monitor with 4xAA/16xAF and 1680*1050 or higher...

Mac games on Mac DVDs are not exactly cutting edge, so doesn't really prove anything. I'd like to see Macs run Steam games as well as they run on PCs, which means two things...

1) Far better drivers (they're awful right now, on the same hardware, Mac versions fo the games are always slower than they run under Windows. This is entirely down to APIs and drivers)

2) A better choice of hardware... yes, still sell the 5670 version of an iMac, but allow for something a little more powerful so people like me can finally be free of Windows.

It's now an unfortunate truth that Macs are the ones that need supercomputer chips to run anything properly...

The i3 3.2GHz no longer shows that it supports Turbo Boost, as that goes along with what Intel has on their site.

Also, I read a big article on Anandtech that where they said.. "Turbo isn't really important for two cores, it's only with quad-core that it really starts to matter "

Almost to the point, they said that the i3 was a better value than the i5...
"There isn't a single Core i5 I'd recommend, but the i3s are spot-on."

(He is talking about the dual-core i5 processors, not the quad-core.)

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/16

So, I wonder if the upgrade to the dual-core i5 is worth it or not.