Apple rumored to release new iMacs with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt by early May - Page 3

I never understood why this is so difficult for people to understand. You can't implement what your supplier doesn't have. As to third party USB3 chips they only started to stabilize late last year.

Now if someone where to ask is Intel making a mistake dragging it's feet with respect to USB 3, I'd say yes! Frankly I don't see it competing with Thunderbolt at all as the two standards aren't even in the same league.

For Apple USB 3 isn't a big deal as there are well supported Mac alternatives.

So what is "rip lock"? I don't really use my optical much at all but have had little in the way of problems with it.

The guy doing Ives was spot on.

a nasty feature the MPAA forced some drive makers and/or system builders into implementing... In short, it purposefully reduces the read speed of a DVD to 2x or 3x instead of allowing the drive to perform at it's engineered read speed of 16x or more.

LoL, nice crazy stare. No one takes the p*ss quite as bitingly as the Brits.

Specs leaked! It can be fake but it can be also true:

http://www.mojipod.sk/pozname-konfig...novych-imacov/

That doesn't make any sense. So Apple can squeeze an i7 into a 13" MacBook pro....but NOT a 21.5" iMac? Um....I'm calling FAKE on this one.

Mobile chips are different from desktop ones though and the i7 in the 13" is dual-core. But they could have used the 65W quad i7-2600s in the iMac as it pretty much costs the same as the 73W i5-580.

It makes sense to me that Apple would do this though to coerce people into buying the 27" models to get a quad, like they do now.

It's clear to see why when you see the two quad-core models with those specs. You do get 8GB RAM in the $1999 model but I suspect people will just go for the lower quad this time. For reference, the configs listed are:

21.5″ / 3.2GHz Core i5 / 4GB / 750GB / ATI Radeon HD 5630 512MB $1199
21.5″ / 3.6GHz Core i5 / 4GB / 1.5TB / ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB $1499
27″ / 2.8GHz Quad-Core Core i5 / 4GB / 1.5TB / ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB $1699
27″ / 3.3GHz Quad-Core Core i5 / 8GB / 1.5TB / ATI Radeon HD 6850 1GB $1999

Again....calling fake on this. So Apple is going to get rid of the i7 in the 27" iMac too??? Gimme a friggin break! LOL. This doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever. What is that blog site? Hungarian? Totally lame completely made up rumor if you ask me.

Rumors about the next iMac are so lacking that people are just making crap up now.

Looks like we are just gonna have to wait until they are actually updated to know anything. :-)

I'm not saying the specs are correct, but the current $1999 model iMac has an i5, not an i7. The i7 is a BTO option for an extra $200.

It makes NO sense. You can currently get an i7 Quad core for $1,999 standard.

So you're saying Apple will change it to an i5 and then force you to pay $200 for a BTO i7?

Not bloody likely. :-)

No, I'm saying you are incorrect, and you DON'T currently get an i7 quad for $1999. It is an i5. You have to shell out another $200 for the i7 RIGHT NOW.

For your edification:

Actually I get a special student discount, so that is why I was off on the current pricing. You're right about the regular price currently.

HOWEVER...I still think these specs are completely bogus. Again...simply look at the recent MacBook pro updates. i7s across the board....even on the higher end 13" model.

Secondly, that graphic with the supposed future models and pricing is totally bogus! Why? BECAUSE the iMacs haven't been updated yet and won't be for at least another month....maybe not until the late summer even.

Apple won't update their store until then. Anyone who believes that graphic of the actual update page is smoking crack. I'm sorry. :-)

I agree.

Well... I just gave you the link. I don't think the source is trustworthy either. And yes, it would be bad if you couldn't get an i7 this time (BTO options apart).
The graphics aren't bad and the 8GB on the 27" looks nice, however...

Correct. It may very well be that those specs are simply showing the basic configs - the BTO option always shows in the specific model page, as is the case with the i7 option.

Difficult to assess whether the czech site is trustworthy, but the specs don't seem that absurd either...

Yeah they seem about right.

It will be a shame however, if the 21" doesn't get a BTO option for the SB 2.8GHz i7 that's got a 65W TDP.

Not Czech, nor Hungarian, but Slovak. But yes, it is the first time they are mentioned here and with zero track record no one can know.

If you use Chrome, you can get Google to translate the page to a much understandable english. The translation is not perfect but much better than trying to figure out what it says...

Major shame. It better! Lol. Seriously. If they can squeeze an i7 into a 13" MacBook pro...they've gotta be able to get one in the 21.5" iMac.

I'd also love to see the ability to add a second SSD drive option in the 21.5" as well.

Can't let it's big brother hog the spotlight. Some people want the features, but not the huge screen of the 27".

A fully specced 21.5" would had a wide appeal I think.

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Yep, of course it's Slovak...sk is their ccTLD - I'd thought the top-level domain was .cz; I stand corrected.

This makes no sense. I'm calling fake. The GPU options don't match Apple's "Good Better Best" strategy, nor does it jive with previous marketing for iMac graphics options. Nor does it even make sense.

The iMac has always used Mobile graphics. Apple has always present the iMacs as having desktop graphics parts, when in fact the hardware is a mobile GPU (usually of a different identity) that has roughly the same performance as the Desktop part they name. In the current models for example, The top-end 27" iMac is listed as having a Radeon HD 5750. In fact, it is loaded with a Mobility Radeon HD 5850- a part which has the performance of the Desktop Radeon HD 5750.

Considering this, And being aware of the plethora of mobile graphics parts available from AMD (and formerly ATi): Any iMac having a claimed Radeon HD 5850 is impossible. There is no Radeon HD 5xxx-series Mobility GPU that has the performance of that desktop card. The part simply doesn't exist. There is a Mobility GPU that has the performance of the Desktop 6850: The AMD Radeon HD 6950M. This part is widely believed to be slated for the next iMac revision on rumor sites; it does make sense for it to be in the top option.

But, this list still doesn't make sense on yet another level.

In performance comparisons, the Radeon HD 5850 is actually a slightly more powerful graphics chipset than the 6850. This is because the 6850 is successor to the 5750. There is no precedent for Apple to put a GPU in the "Best" model that is inferior to the GPU in the "Better" model.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...arts,2776.html

So, yeah. Calling fake.

If they put a HD6950M in the top end, I'll basically have to buy it.

As I said when I posted the link, I didn't consider the source trustworthy. The lack of standard configurations with i7 processors doesn't make much sense these days after seeing what's in the new Macbook Pros. On the graphics side, I don't know what's coming out. If I was the one to decide, I'd rather go with nVidia but that's just me... personal taste.

I don't care what the specs are as I know it will be a lot faster than the current model but I just need it to be released soon! I'm in need of an iMac NOW and the current ones do not fit my needs (lack of Thunderbolt).

What kind of Thunderbolt devices do you plan on using with your iMac? Right now, only Promise (Pegasus RAID arrays, Q2 availability) and LaCie (Liitle Big Disk, summer availability) have announced actual products...

I don't know if Apple will go Xeon in the iMac but there are models with extremely low power profiles. More so there are models with clock rates up to 3.5GHz.

An iMac with 4cores/8threads running at 3.5 GHz would be pretty impressive to say the least.

Xeon iMac means the death of the Mac Pro*, pure and simple.

I'm not in either camp. I don't believe that Apple won't do it. I don't believe that Apple will do it. I'm just saying that's what will happen.

*Current incarnation. Professionals will need something with multiple internal HDDs, PCIe cards, and more RAM slots than at which you can shake a stick, but the current Mac Pro would be dead in the water.

Exactly that, likely the Pegasus 6-bay RAID.

The 3.5GHz model is a little expensive for my taste (and the iMac), but there are lots of those chips that could be used in an iMac 21.5" and 27", and offer better performance and power profiles than regular desktop models, for just a few more $. And the added PCIe lanes would be useful for TBolt.



Don't be so afraid of the name Xeon, those (E3-1200 series) cpu are closer to the desktop Core i5/i7-2000 series than to the Xeons used in the MP (even the single cpu models). They can't be used in pairs, dual-channel memory controller only, fewer PCIe lanes,.. it's a desktop chip with a workstation/server twist, nothing more.

Using a 3.40 Xeon E3-1270 or a 3.40 Core i7-2600 would make no difference.

But I agree that Apple should do something about the single cpu MP models, they need to be better than that. IMO, they need to adjust both specs and prices, until SB and a complete redesign.



Let us know when you get both!

The problem with this is that the 5850 is actually faster than a 6850. I hope it's a typo and they mean the 6950 or better yet a 6970.