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Any real reason Apple solders video cards into iMacs?

post #1 of 12
11/22/01 at 6:27pm
Thread Starter 
Any real reason Apple solders video cards into iMacs other to prevent upgradability?
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post #2 of 12
11/22/01 at 6:41pm
One reason probably is because it's a consumer computer and most people who would buy it wouldn't upgrade it or don't like messing around with the inside of a computer. Another reason could be that Apple wants you to keep buying new computers so they make more money.
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post #3 of 12
11/22/01 at 6:56pm
they don't solder a card onto the motherboard; they build a chip set into the motherboard because it's cheaper for them and they need all the space they can get in that tight enclosure, especially without a fan. A 'card' would use a lot more power. Steve doesn't like that.
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post #4 of 12
11/22/01 at 7:50pm
And isn't having upgradable system components just too un-Apple like?

*Registered March 1, 1999*
Member #14
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*Registered March 1, 1999*
Member #14
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post #5 of 12
11/22/01 at 9:09pm
[quote]Originally posted by MacAddict:
<strong>And isn't having upgradable system components just too un-Apple like?

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yep, definately is un-Apple like.
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post #6 of 12
11/23/01 at 12:05pm
Because the iMac design wouldn't fit an upgrade card anyway. There's a dearth of developers making normal PCI and AGP upgrade cards for Macs as it is...there's not much of a chance they'd make a special card that would fit some proprietary physical size spec needed in an iMac.
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post #7 of 12
11/23/01 at 1:08pm
Eugene, that might not be true. So many people have iMacs that maybe a company would think it would be a good investment to make specific cards for iMacs.
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post #8 of 12
11/23/01 at 1:50pm
The iMacs *did* take 3rd party vid cards way back when, didn't they? Couldn't you put a Voodoo 2 in the rev A, B's?
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post #9 of 12
11/24/01 at 11:13am
Yep, the Rev. A and Rev. B iMacs would take an 8MB Voodoo 2 in the mezzanine slot, but Apple dumped the slot with the Rev. C iMacs.

Plus, the company that made the cards, Microconversions, went bankrupt because people would buy the PC Cards and use Microconversions drivers for them.
*Registered March 1, 1999*
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*Registered March 1, 1999*
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post #10 of 12
11/24/01 at 2:20pm
WHy did people buy PC cards and not the MicroConversions cards? They were simply too expensive. The same ones with the Mezzanine Voodoo2 card they made. Not enough people wanted them, and they weren't really worth it. Voodoo2 cards still required passthrough cables, remember? Anyway, MicroConversions went bankrupt because making upgade cards for proprietary specs isn't lucrative.
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post #11 of 12
11/24/01 at 5:50pm
[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong>Because the iMac design wouldn't fit an upgrade card anyway. There's a dearth of developers making normal PCI and AGP upgrade cards for Macs as it is...there's not much of a chance they'd make a special card that would fit some proprietary physical size spec needed in an iMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>

that's not true. if apple wanted to they could easily implement a 7 inch AGP slot into the iMac design. I mean even the 20th anniversray mac had a 7 inch PCI slot in it.

the reason(s) likey is
1.) Steve Jobs thinks the imac should offer everything out of the box and should never need to be opened. this is why there is no internal expansion on the first mac
2.) by keeping the imac feature set closed and not open to changes by the user developers know what they have to use use and meet the requirements of.
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post #12 of 12
11/28/01 at 3:29am
7-inch slots were never standard fare. My Radeon does not fit in a typical 7-inch slot. The original iMac had no room for a 7-inch PCI slot.

Even with the Centris 610 and it's 7-inch nubus slot...it was a nice addition, but practically useless.

I bought a Formac iProRAID/TV for my iMac Rev. A, but I'm not a model user.
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