well these updates are much needed, they just don't do much for me. It's good to see a "consumer" model finally hit the ghz mark, but overall i think this update was a letdown.
Looks like this really will be the year of the laptop. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
"Sources report Apple's decision to lower prices is based on the current economic climate, price competition from rival Windows-based PCs and surveys taken in Apple retail stores showing customer dissatisfaction with prices. "During the Christmas buying season, we found many customers bringing in ads from competitors literally comparing system prices and features," said one unnamed source who works at an Apple retail Store. "This was reported back to corporate, and they decided this was becoming more of a factor we had to address to continue gaining 'switchers'."
We got new iMacs all right, but the reported reasoning behind the new lineup and price structure are at best MIA or worse - gone AWOL. I guess that report from the front line just got lost in the mail somehow.
Never mind the fact that iMacs already was rather expensive compared to most consumer PCs. Increasing the price on the entry level model by $100 (8,3%) just adds insult to injuries, and can hardly be characterized as a smart move.
Never mind the fact that iMacs are truly state of the art consumer PCs. But why on earth are Apple then making it harder to get one? If you're luring switchers to the Mac-platform, narrowing the window of opportunity to sell your best stuff is just plain stupid. An affordable entry level model is the gateway to sell more high end models. You take a good look at the 15", like it, adore it, but the 17" wide screen is so much sweeter - and before you know it, you go for it. On the other hand, If the stuff is out of your range from the get go, you're never even going to reach for the next level.
I have never ever doubted Apples "non plus ultra" ability to make truly awesome products, but I'm having some serious second thoughts one their business model.
And why does FireWire 2 have a different connector? This is uneccesary complexity for the average users, it should be like USB/USB 2 (yes i know there's an adapter but that is annoying.)
Apple ****ed up the FireWire rollout. Now they've ****ed up the FireWire 2 rollout. What the SHIT!
Prices while absurb don't surprise me, I mean come on it's Apple. But NO FIREWIRE 2!?
Wow these suck.
What has Apple been doing for over a year on the iMac? I can't believe it took that long just to add stupid features like Airport Extreme and Bluetooth... Where is FireWire 2?
Tell what you can do now with FW800? What kind of FW800 devices are available? What you could do with FW800 in consumer machine like iMac?</strong><hr></blockquote>
My MP3 collection is 108.18GBs, on a slow 5400 RPM FireWire drive. Each album I have is a Playlist, which accounts for over 2,000 of them. The hardware that iTunes controls these Playlists is a G4 450, 512MBs of memory. I wanted to update this to an iMac 17" model with FireWire 800.
What would I do with FireWire 800? Buy a new FireWire 800 hard drive with the new Oxford 22 chipset, and 7200 RPM. It would be one hell of a lot faster then what I currently have.
We are certainly a demanding lot, aren't we? New PowerBooks, new towers, new iMacs, iLife, Safari... all in a couple of months. But we want MORE!
I think it's a decent bump. 17" model got a faster processor, got a faster SuperDrive, better video card, DDR RAM, faster system bus... and it's a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Screw you Apple! <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
The 17" bump is actually quite decent, that's not anything to complain about, given Apple's lineup prior to the rev. What appears to me as repackaging an old 15" combo model with just a $200 reduction (basically the initial combo model last Jan with 20 gigs hd and 100 MHz bump) after an entire year is complete crap, if Apple's going to let it sit there for another 6 months like that.
The new 1GHz 17" is looking pretty tempting to me. I want to get my wife a nice new machine to replace her old Rev. a imac and this would be orders of magnitude better in many ways.
The 17 incher's price and specs are where they are for a reason. It's so they aren't too much better value then the low end tower. Compare this machine with a lowend tower now, adding the 80 gig HD and superdrive and 17" LCD to the tower, and it's still $500 more. If they upped the specs more or lowered the price more they would kill their own products.
This is what we get until we get the 970. Hopefully these "Spring iMacs" are too tide us over until we get the "Summer iMacs". If we get the 970 then, then the iMacs can go to 1.42 Ghz or more, and lower the price a little more too. Right now they can't. Not because they physically can't but because of the other product lines.
<strong>We are certainly a demanding lot, aren't we? New PowerBooks, new towers, new iMacs, iLife, Safari... all in a couple of months. But we want MORE!
I think it's a decent bump. 17" model got a faster processor, got a faster SuperDrive, better video card, DDR RAM, faster system bus... and it's a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Screw you Apple! <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
I think part of the disappointment is due to expectations given how long it's been since the iMac was updated. The faster bus really should have been there from the outset and 1Ghz was also expected. The bigger issue seem to be Firewire 800 and price.
It's fine to give provide incremental enhancements but give buyers an incentive by being more competitive on the price.
you know, i am one of the BIGGEST apple supporters on the planet, but just for kicks i took a screenshot of the apple canada store for imacs, anticipating this release. the models ranged from CAN$1849 to CAN $3149.
today, they range from CAN$1999 to CAN $3668. now, ignore the "smoke and mirrors" they played by throwing in a gig of their overpriced ddr ram int he high end model, and you'll see that the prices actually went UP.
WTF?!?!?!
okay, you say, but look at all those extras... bluetooth, airport extreme, etc. well, i guess apple just had me trained to expect that their price points would always remain the same or lower from revision to revision, unless there was a MASSIVE shift in features, etc.
there is no massive shift in features here. just a slight bump in price for features we were expecting anyway.
admittedly, i have been suffering from a bad fever for the past two days, so i may be a bit grumpy. but this just smacks of "does apple think we're that stupid?!?"
I think part of the disappointment is due to expectations given how long it's been since the iMac was updated. The faster bus really should have been there from the outset and 1Ghz was also expected. </strong><hr></blockquote>
The 100MHz bus in the 15 inch model does seem a joke. A CRT iMac I bought 2 or 3 years ago (several lifetimes in computer terms) had a 100MHz bus, and that was when the iMac was the bottom of Apple's line up (no eMac). To still find it in a newly released computer... <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />
[quote]you know, i am one of the BIGGEST apple supporters on the planet, but just for kicks i took a screenshot of the apple canada store for imacs, anticipating this release. the models ranged from CAN$1849 to CAN $3149.
today, they range from CAN$1999 to CAN $3668. <hr></blockquote>
That's a ridiculous way to look at it rok... and I'm sure you know that.
Look at your screenshot again: $3149 for the 17" iMac.
Now look at it today.
$2799
That's $2799 with a 1GHz G4, new video card, faster bus, DDR RAM, AirPort Extreme ready, and Bluetooth ready. All those improvements and a $350 CDN price drop. I think it's a nice bump.
Using the $3668 price with 1 GB of RAM is pointless, really, considering that almost no one will buy that model with cheaper RAM available elsewhere.
Anyway, as Eugene pointed out, they are referring to these as the Spring iMacs. Wouldn't surprise me to see a much faster update this time around.
Comments
<strong>I was disappointed when Apple did not add USB-2 to the laptops and towers.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Do we really need USB2? USB1 is perfect for printers, scaners and mouses etc... FW800 is perfect for hard disks etc...
That's great! Three months ago the price range would have been from $1800 to $4200 for the same product line. And the speeds are now faster too!
Now I just have to find a few piggie banks to break (or wait for Murbot to upgrade in the next few weeks) and I will be set!
Airport Extreme
Bluetooth (even if it is just an option- hey- its there- who else builds it into their desktops?)
Fake DDR
1GHz
64 megs of graphics memory
Audio Line In
Comes w/ sound studio (eventhough its not that profressional it works great w/ the line in)
S-Video out
7200 rpm drives
$1799
What I don't like:
No Firewire 800
no level 3 cache
Overall nice (but very small) update. But really I don't know what they could have done to make these consumer machines better.
Now off to pick up my airport extreme basestation....
Looks like this really will be the year of the laptop. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
"Sources report Apple's decision to lower prices is based on the current economic climate, price competition from rival Windows-based PCs and surveys taken in Apple retail stores showing customer dissatisfaction with prices. "During the Christmas buying season, we found many customers bringing in ads from competitors literally comparing system prices and features," said one unnamed source who works at an Apple retail Store. "This was reported back to corporate, and they decided this was becoming more of a factor we had to address to continue gaining 'switchers'."
We got new iMacs all right, but the reported reasoning behind the new lineup and price structure are at best MIA or worse - gone AWOL. I guess that report from the front line just got lost in the mail somehow.
Never mind the fact that iMacs already was rather expensive compared to most consumer PCs. Increasing the price on the entry level model by $100 (8,3%) just adds insult to injuries, and can hardly be characterized as a smart move.
Never mind the fact that iMacs are truly state of the art consumer PCs. But why on earth are Apple then making it harder to get one? If you're luring switchers to the Mac-platform, narrowing the window of opportunity to sell your best stuff is just plain stupid. An affordable entry level model is the gateway to sell more high end models. You take a good look at the 15", like it, adore it, but the 17" wide screen is so much sweeter - and before you know it, you go for it. On the other hand, If the stuff is out of your range from the get go, you're never even going to reach for the next level.
I have never ever doubted Apples "non plus ultra" ability to make truly awesome products, but I'm having some serious second thoughts one their business model.
And why does FireWire 2 have a different connector? This is uneccesary complexity for the average users, it should be like USB/USB 2 (yes i know there's an adapter but that is annoying.)
Apple ****ed up the FireWire rollout. Now they've ****ed up the FireWire 2 rollout. What the SHIT!
Prices while absurb don't surprise me, I mean come on it's Apple. But NO FIREWIRE 2!?
Wow these suck.
What has Apple been doing for over a year on the iMac? I can't believe it took that long just to add stupid features like Airport Extreme and Bluetooth... Where is FireWire 2?
<strong>
Careful Eugene, or you'll have to move this thread to Future Hardware!</strong><hr></blockquote>
that's right they're even speculating about a $1499,- 17" imac!!!! :eek: lock it
<strong>
Tell what you can do now with FW800? What kind of FW800 devices are available? What you could do with FW800 in consumer machine like iMac?</strong><hr></blockquote>
My MP3 collection is 108.18GBs, on a slow 5400 RPM FireWire drive. Each album I have is a Playlist, which accounts for over 2,000 of them. The hardware that iTunes controls these Playlists is a G4 450, 512MBs of memory. I wanted to update this to an iMac 17" model with FireWire 800.
What would I do with FireWire 800? Buy a new FireWire 800 hard drive with the new Oxford 22 chipset, and 7200 RPM. It would be one hell of a lot faster then what I currently have.
I think it's a decent bump. 17" model got a faster processor, got a faster SuperDrive, better video card, DDR RAM, faster system bus... and it's a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Screw you Apple! <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
[ 02-04-2003: Message edited by: MCQ ]</p>
This is what we get until we get the 970. Hopefully these "Spring iMacs" are too tide us over until we get the "Summer iMacs". If we get the 970 then, then the iMacs can go to 1.42 Ghz or more, and lower the price a little more too. Right now they can't. Not because they physically can't but because of the other product lines.
Dangerous. Joe Dangerous.
<strong>We are certainly a demanding lot, aren't we? New PowerBooks, new towers, new iMacs, iLife, Safari... all in a couple of months. But we want MORE!
I think it's a decent bump. 17" model got a faster processor, got a faster SuperDrive, better video card, DDR RAM, faster system bus... and it's a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Screw you Apple! <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
I think part of the disappointment is due to expectations given how long it's been since the iMac was updated. The faster bus really should have been there from the outset and 1Ghz was also expected. The bigger issue seem to be Firewire 800 and price.
It's fine to give provide incremental enhancements but give buyers an incentive by being more competitive on the price.
you know, i am one of the BIGGEST apple supporters on the planet, but just for kicks i took a screenshot of the apple canada store for imacs, anticipating this release. the models ranged from CAN$1849 to CAN $3149.
today, they range from CAN$1999 to CAN $3668. now, ignore the "smoke and mirrors" they played by throwing in a gig of their overpriced ddr ram int he high end model, and you'll see that the prices actually went UP.
WTF?!?!?!
okay, you say, but look at all those extras... bluetooth, airport extreme, etc. well, i guess apple just had me trained to expect that their price points would always remain the same or lower from revision to revision, unless there was a MASSIVE shift in features, etc.
there is no massive shift in features here. just a slight bump in price for features we were expecting anyway.
admittedly, i have been suffering from a bad fever for the past two days, so i may be a bit grumpy. but this just smacks of "does apple think we're that stupid?!?"
Today I have repeated the exercise, all the machines are faster, have more ram and better video cards and the bill is $4500 less!
Yes this was an awful update.
<strong>
I think part of the disappointment is due to expectations given how long it's been since the iMac was updated. The faster bus really should have been there from the outset and 1Ghz was also expected. </strong><hr></blockquote>
The 100MHz bus in the 15 inch model does seem a joke. A CRT iMac I bought 2 or 3 years ago (several lifetimes in computer terms) had a 100MHz bus, and that was when the iMac was the bottom of Apple's line up (no eMac). To still find it in a newly released computer... <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />
today, they range from CAN$1999 to CAN $3668. <hr></blockquote>
That's a ridiculous way to look at it rok... and I'm sure you know that.
Look at your screenshot again: $3149 for the 17" iMac.
Now look at it today.
$2799
That's $2799 with a 1GHz G4, new video card, faster bus, DDR RAM, AirPort Extreme ready, and Bluetooth ready. All those improvements and a $350 CDN price drop. I think it's a nice bump.
Using the $3668 price with 1 GB of RAM is pointless, really, considering that almost no one will buy that model with cheaper RAM available elsewhere.
Anyway, as Eugene pointed out, they are referring to these as the Spring iMacs. Wouldn't surprise me to see a much faster update this time around.