But really- like what would the number of actual iMac users that would use that as opposed to a fire wire port? Do you think it's widely used?
I would use Extended Desktop in a high end iMac.
I currently have a 3x LCD monitor Extended Desktop set up on my Dual Core Power Mac G5 and only have my iSight plugged into the FW400 port and my 3G iPod plugged into the FW800 port on the back. If I had a high end iMac with iSight already and then just switch my 3G iPod over to USB I have nothing in my set up to use FW for.
To the others that are asking me what is wrong with the Cheese Grater G5 tower? I'm just tired of it. Maybe it's because I own one and use another one at work, but it is stale and boring now after everything else has had updates. Back in the day, the PowerMac was the flagship for new designs from Apple. Those days are long gone now. I just want a fricking update to the look.
Sure the mini hasn't changed looks since introduction but the mini is not a huge seller for Apple and I could see them discontinuing it after MacWorld. It was meant to be a "Switchers" type of Mac with a BYO keyboard, mouse and monitor. In today's world the laptop is King so for $999 you can get a pretty good Mac with a fairly decent 13" widescreen. If you bought a mini today it would cost you that much to include a keyboard, mouse and screen. Besides, what are kids most wanting to have to be a "cool kid"? Apple products. How is anyone going to know they are a "cool kid" if their Mac is sitting on a desk at home? They are not. So these kids are going to buy MacBooks and then sit at Starbucks and Panera Bread where everyone will see the blazing Apple logo.
Think about it, don't you get a slight flutter of kinship when you see someone sitting there with a Mac laptop?
Wasn't much of the news reporting wrong also- that this was the first time Apple had a laptop under $1,000? Didn't that occur years ago with the iBook G3 or G4 if I remember correctly?
Yup! The white G3 iBooks were $999 for a long time.
That's been bothering me too about the bad reporting. Just go to Everymac.com and they will tell you release pricing from back in the day..... and anything else you want to know.
By switching, you mean buying a cheaply built PC with generic parts that you will end up buying again in less than a year. I'm so tired of everyone bitching that Macs cost so much. They do NOT cost more than an equally equipped PC. Often they are (part for part) cheaper. Do your homework.
I'm so tired of fan boys who think that their needs are universal and that anyone who doesn't need what they need is uninformed. I'm tired of apologists for Apple not recognizing that Apple has a glaring hole you could drive a truck through in their product line up that anyone with half a brain can see. I'm old as dirt and literally have used almost every major generation of Macs since the first Mac. I haven't been able too afford every one personally, but I've used just about every Mac model through employers over the years and I need a machine at home as well. I buy my personal machines when I can afford them. Unless you're as old as I am and have been using Macs since 1984, I wouldn't be surprised if I've forgotten more about the various incarnations of the Mac than you've ever known.
Who are you to assume I haven't done my homework?
Again, I've been using macs since there have been Macs. I've been an Art director, Designer, Illustrator, and Animator for over 20 years and here is what I know about what I need as an Apple customer:
----
I know what I can afford and what I can't afford.
----
I know what I need and what I have to live without.
----
I know that I use and need almost every major print, web, and animation software that Adobe puts out plus various other 3D and multimedia aps to do my job.
----
I know that I need to spend somewhere around $1500 -$ 2000 bucks every year to year and a half to upgrade my software to keep up with what my clients use and need me to use.
----
I know that I need to buy an ink-jet printer capable of Super A3 (13"x19") like it or not every 3 of 4 years because they usually stop working after that.
----
I know that I can't afford to keep buying towers when they're always more than I need and the money it costs me initially keeps me from being able to buy a new machine when I need it because the old one cost me more than I could afford when I bought it.
----
I know that I can't use a glossy screened iMac because working with one is like trying to see through a window into a dark room from the outside on a sunny day and that makes my head feel like it's going to explode after a half hour or so of struggling to see around the reflection.
----
I know that I can spend less money and get a better monitor more suitable for professional design from someone other than Apple rather than using their overpriced glossy monitors they are now selling.
----
I know that the PPC will not run the software I need it to in the near future, so I'll need a new computer.
----
I know that I can't continue to spend 3-4 grand every 3-4 years PLUS maintain the software I need.
----
I know that I don't need, nor can continue to pay for all the power, 4 hard-drive bays, 2 optical slots, or more PCI slots, etc. than I can use that come with the tower whether I want them or not.
----
I know that although feature for feature, the Mac Pro is comparatively priced to a similarly priced Windows uber-workstation, that I can no longer afford an uber workstation be it Mac or PC.
----
I know that the iMac is not useable for me. I know that I need a headless computer that allows me to choose the monitor I need and that isn't tricked out with more than I need or can afford.
----
I know that I would love more than anything for my next machine to be yet another Mac since I have been a loyal paying customer of Apple's since forever.
----
I know that over the years as a loyal Apple customer, I've talked more friends, relatives, Graphic Design Departments, employers, and clients into buying macs than most Apple salesman working at your local Apple store
----
I know, however that if Apple stops making machines that I can use or afford, that I will have to make the decision of whether or not to shell out the cost to switch my software over to windows (as much as I hate windows) so that in the long run I can continue to update my software (which I have no choice to do) AND hardware when I need it because Apple is not offering a mid range computer priced at a point that will allow me to do so.
No Dude "the bag of hurt" was waiting with anticipation for the new MAcBook under$1,000 only to get the old stale one for $999!
Yeah that somehow hasn't been appreciated that much.
Maybe Steve took FW off the MB so that people would be preoccupied with that and not realize that the sub $1000 Mac laptop was just clearance merchandise.
What will disappear quicker, the mini or the $999 plastic MB ? Might make for a nice poll.
So what are they going to announce at MacWorld? Not mew 'books, iMacs, or iPods. Probably not a new phone. I'm guessing Apple TV and iWork/iLife will get some love. Mac Pro refresh, but nothing that really makes a splash.
In all the hubub about "the brick," new MacBooks, where did the "push" notification service for iPhone apps go? Wasn't is supposed to be here in September? Apparently, the reality distortion field has made everyone forget about it...
Trying to put a finger on why isn't easy but I think a big component there is the issue of serviceability. That is DIY upgrades and repairs. The other half of the equation is that of portability which is worth giving up some servicability for. Cost doesn't jive either as a desktop should be cheaper than a portable.
Could Apple change my mind with a newly designed iMac. Frankly I doubt it. I'd go for a new Mini or Maxi before going that route. Yeah the current ones are not ideal for servicing either but they are flexible. There is always the potential though and one thing that Apple could do is make most of the parts accessibly from the rear of the housing. The big fear here of course is their reluctance to mar up the back panel with seams.
Again it is an issue of form winning over function. It is truely a shame as many of us really like MacOS and the features it offers up. Sometimes though it makes good sense to run it on a utility box. This really should be a concept roles into all new iMac and Mini upgrades, the idea that many of Apples customers would be better served by flexible utility machines. The question is can Apple make the bold moves required to innovate on these new platforms?
Let me be the first to ask. What about the Mac Minis? I see no mention of them.
Yeah, those are a bit long-in-the-tooth. Dell mini desktops are more pleasing to look at and have better hardware features.
Apple should merge the Mac Mini with the AppleTV with a blu-ray player built-in. Instead of shipping a keyboard with it Apple could either a) sell separately a remote that looks like an iPod Touch to be the wireless keyboard and remote control or b) give the option for iPod Touch and iPhone users ability to wirelessly control the AppleTV via bluetooth.
The new iMac should be easier to customize and maintain. Also blu-ray in the iMac and the ability to use the iMac as an HD television would be handy. Jobs may have poo-poo'd blu-ray but don't believe him. He's done that to previous tech and then turned around and other the previously poo-poo'd tech. I'd buy an iMac if I could plug-in the cable outlet and watch cable television on it as well as watch blu-ray movies.
The new iMacs are also almost certainly going to incorporate LED backlighting seeing as Apple just announced a 24" LED display and made LED standard for their MacBooks.
LED backlighting, improved nvidia graphics, and hopefully one or two other nice surprises and a price drop will make the iMac UNSTOPPABLE!
Oh and in the world of impossible hopes, A MULTI-TOUCH SCREEN FOR GOODNESS SAKES OR SOME KIND OF MULTI TOUCH MOUSE REPLACEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want Apple to release a 30' LED iMac quad-core with a new complementary 30' LED Cinema Display! The ports on the back... I'll let you guys take a whack at it.
Again it is an issue of form winning over function. It is truely a shame as many of us really like MacOS and the features it offers up. Sometimes though it makes good sense to run it on a utility box. This really should be a concept roles into all new iMac and Mini upgrades, the idea that many of Apples customers would be better served by flexible utility machines. The question is can Apple make the bold moves required to innovate on these new platforms?
This is the flaw in the imac. It's essentially a vertical laptop anchored to a desk. It's appeal is footprint and price. Price only because as Mac's go, it's a desktop that doesn't cost as much as a Mac Pro. Price is high for what you get. Put the guts in a more practical but still small horizontal format. Divorce if from the built in monitor (really a bad idea if you weigh the merits of a computer and a monitor connected like Siamese twins). The iMac has the shortcomings of a laptop and missing the power of a desktop crammed into a bizarre hybrid that doesn't use the best of both. WTF? Lose the built in monitor, make the guts accessible?now you have the computer everyone wants. I have no idea why apple hasn't done this. Remember the IIci? Take that format which today's technology could make considerably thinner and smaller, there you have it?gold for Apple share holders and customers alike.
Comments
The first generation Mac Pro was introduced in August 2006 and didn't change specs or price until it was replaced in January 2008. That's 17 months.
The 8-core mac pro was introduced in April 2007. Keeping my fingers crossed for an update soon.
But really- like what would the number of actual iMac users that would use that as opposed to a fire wire port? Do you think it's widely used?
I would use Extended Desktop in a high end iMac.
I currently have a 3x LCD monitor Extended Desktop set up on my Dual Core Power Mac G5 and only have my iSight plugged into the FW400 port and my 3G iPod plugged into the FW800 port on the back. If I had a high end iMac with iSight already and then just switch my 3G iPod over to USB I have nothing in my set up to use FW for.
To the others that are asking me what is wrong with the Cheese Grater G5 tower? I'm just tired of it. Maybe it's because I own one and use another one at work, but it is stale and boring now after everything else has had updates. Back in the day, the PowerMac was the flagship for new designs from Apple. Those days are long gone now. I just want a fricking update to the look.
Sure the mini hasn't changed looks since introduction but the mini is not a huge seller for Apple and I could see them discontinuing it after MacWorld. It was meant to be a "Switchers" type of Mac with a BYO keyboard, mouse and monitor. In today's world the laptop is King so for $999 you can get a pretty good Mac with a fairly decent 13" widescreen. If you bought a mini today it would cost you that much to include a keyboard, mouse and screen. Besides, what are kids most wanting to have to be a "cool kid"? Apple products. How is anyone going to know they are a "cool kid" if their Mac is sitting on a desk at home? They are not. So these kids are going to buy MacBooks and then sit at Starbucks and Panera Bread where everyone will see the blazing Apple logo.
Think about it, don't you get a slight flutter of kinship when you see someone sitting there with a Mac laptop?
Wasn't much of the news reporting wrong also- that this was the first time Apple had a laptop under $1,000? Didn't that occur years ago with the iBook G3 or G4 if I remember correctly?
Yup! The white G3 iBooks were $999 for a long time.
That's been bothering me too about the bad reporting. Just go to Everymac.com and they will tell you release pricing from back in the day..... and anything else you want to know.
By switching, you mean buying a cheaply built PC with generic parts that you will end up buying again in less than a year. I'm so tired of everyone bitching that Macs cost so much. They do NOT cost more than an equally equipped PC. Often they are (part for part) cheaper. Do your homework.
I'm so tired of fan boys who think that their needs are universal and that anyone who doesn't need what they need is uninformed. I'm tired of apologists for Apple not recognizing that Apple has a glaring hole you could drive a truck through in their product line up that anyone with half a brain can see. I'm old as dirt and literally have used almost every major generation of Macs since the first Mac. I haven't been able too afford every one personally, but I've used just about every Mac model through employers over the years and I need a machine at home as well. I buy my personal machines when I can afford them. Unless you're as old as I am and have been using Macs since 1984, I wouldn't be surprised if I've forgotten more about the various incarnations of the Mac than you've ever known.
Who are you to assume I haven't done my homework?
Again, I've been using macs since there have been Macs. I've been an Art director, Designer, Illustrator, and Animator for over 20 years and here is what I know about what I need as an Apple customer:
----
I know what I can afford and what I can't afford.
----
I know what I need and what I have to live without.
----
I know that I use and need almost every major print, web, and animation software that Adobe puts out plus various other 3D and multimedia aps to do my job.
----
I know that I need to spend somewhere around $1500 -$ 2000 bucks every year to year and a half to upgrade my software to keep up with what my clients use and need me to use.
----
I know that I need to buy an ink-jet printer capable of Super A3 (13"x19") like it or not every 3 of 4 years because they usually stop working after that.
----
I know that I can't afford to keep buying towers when they're always more than I need and the money it costs me initially keeps me from being able to buy a new machine when I need it because the old one cost me more than I could afford when I bought it.
----
I know that I can't use a glossy screened iMac because working with one is like trying to see through a window into a dark room from the outside on a sunny day and that makes my head feel like it's going to explode after a half hour or so of struggling to see around the reflection.
----
I know that I can spend less money and get a better monitor more suitable for professional design from someone other than Apple rather than using their overpriced glossy monitors they are now selling.
----
I know that the PPC will not run the software I need it to in the near future, so I'll need a new computer.
----
I know that I can't continue to spend 3-4 grand every 3-4 years PLUS maintain the software I need.
----
I know that I don't need, nor can continue to pay for all the power, 4 hard-drive bays, 2 optical slots, or more PCI slots, etc. than I can use that come with the tower whether I want them or not.
----
I know that although feature for feature, the Mac Pro is comparatively priced to a similarly priced Windows uber-workstation, that I can no longer afford an uber workstation be it Mac or PC.
----
I know that the iMac is not useable for me. I know that I need a headless computer that allows me to choose the monitor I need and that isn't tricked out with more than I need or can afford.
----
I know that I would love more than anything for my next machine to be yet another Mac since I have been a loyal paying customer of Apple's since forever.
----
I know that over the years as a loyal Apple customer, I've talked more friends, relatives, Graphic Design Departments, employers, and clients into buying macs than most Apple salesman working at your local Apple store
----
I know, however that if Apple stops making machines that I can use or afford, that I will have to make the decision of whether or not to shell out the cost to switch my software over to windows (as much as I hate windows) so that in the long run I can continue to update my software (which I have no choice to do) AND hardware when I need it because Apple is not offering a mid range computer priced at a point that will allow me to do so.
----
What do you know?
Virtually all computers will come with DisplayPort within a few years. DisplayPort will replace DVI as effectively as DVI replaced VGA.
Where is your proof of this? or are you just pulling things out your thin air?
Would an iMac with a optional Bluray drive be to much to ask for?
Who needs a 'bag of hurt'?
Who needs a 'bag of hurt'?
Dude, the bag o' hurt was waiting with anticipation for the new MBs, ready to buy one, and having legacy FW gear.
That's a bag o' hurt.
Who needs a 'bag of hurt'?
Please oh please, Santa Steve - what did I do this year to deserve "a bag of dirt- I mean hurt"?
Dude, the bag o' hurt was waiting with anticipation for the new MBs, ready to buy one, and having legacy FW gear.
That's a bag o' hurt.
No Dude "the bag of hurt" was waiting with anticipation for the new MAcBook under$1,000 only to get the old stale one for $999!
No Dude "the bag of hurt" was waiting with anticipation for the new MAcBook under$1,000 only to get the old stale one for $999!
Yeah that somehow hasn't been appreciated that much.
Maybe Steve took FW off the MB so that people would be preoccupied with that and not realize that the sub $1000 Mac laptop was just clearance merchandise.
What will disappear quicker, the mini or the $999 plastic MB ? Might make for a nice poll.
I find that 4GB is not quite enough when running Adobe's CS3 and VMWare;s Fusion, plus all the other apps I normally have open.
In all the hubub about "the brick," new MacBooks, where did the "push" notification service for iPhone apps go? Wasn't is supposed to be here in September? Apparently, the reality distortion field has made everyone forget about it...
Trying to put a finger on why isn't easy but I think a big component there is the issue of serviceability. That is DIY upgrades and repairs. The other half of the equation is that of portability which is worth giving up some servicability for. Cost doesn't jive either as a desktop should be cheaper than a portable.
Could Apple change my mind with a newly designed iMac. Frankly I doubt it. I'd go for a new Mini or Maxi before going that route. Yeah the current ones are not ideal for servicing either but they are flexible. There is always the potential though and one thing that Apple could do is make most of the parts accessibly from the rear of the housing. The big fear here of course is their reluctance to mar up the back panel with seams.
Again it is an issue of form winning over function. It is truely a shame as many of us really like MacOS and the features it offers up. Sometimes though it makes good sense to run it on a utility box. This really should be a concept roles into all new iMac and Mini upgrades, the idea that many of Apples customers would be better served by flexible utility machines. The question is can Apple make the bold moves required to innovate on these new platforms?
Let me be the first to ask. What about the Mac Minis? I see no mention of them.
Yeah, those are a bit long-in-the-tooth. Dell mini desktops are more pleasing to look at and have better hardware features.
Apple should merge the Mac Mini with the AppleTV with a blu-ray player built-in. Instead of shipping a keyboard with it Apple could either a) sell separately a remote that looks like an iPod Touch to be the wireless keyboard and remote control or b) give the option for iPod Touch and iPhone users ability to wirelessly control the AppleTV via bluetooth.
The new iMac should be easier to customize and maintain. Also blu-ray in the iMac and the ability to use the iMac as an HD television would be handy. Jobs may have poo-poo'd blu-ray but don't believe him. He's done that to previous tech and then turned around and other the previously poo-poo'd tech. I'd buy an iMac if I could plug-in the cable outlet and watch cable television on it as well as watch blu-ray movies.
The new iMacs are also almost certainly going to incorporate LED backlighting seeing as Apple just announced a 24" LED display and made LED standard for their MacBooks.
LED backlighting, improved nvidia graphics, and hopefully one or two other nice surprises and a price drop will make the iMac UNSTOPPABLE!
Oh and in the world of impossible hopes, A MULTI-TOUCH SCREEN FOR GOODNESS SAKES OR SOME KIND OF MULTI TOUCH MOUSE REPLACEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want Apple to release a 30' LED iMac quad-core with a new complementary 30' LED Cinema Display! The ports on the back... I'll let you guys take a whack at it.
Would an iMac with a optional Bluray drive be to much to ask for?
Steve said, "Yes."
Sad but true.
Again it is an issue of form winning over function. It is truely a shame as many of us really like MacOS and the features it offers up. Sometimes though it makes good sense to run it on a utility box. This really should be a concept roles into all new iMac and Mini upgrades, the idea that many of Apples customers would be better served by flexible utility machines. The question is can Apple make the bold moves required to innovate on these new platforms?
This is the flaw in the imac. It's essentially a vertical laptop anchored to a desk. It's appeal is footprint and price. Price only because as Mac's go, it's a desktop that doesn't cost as much as a Mac Pro. Price is high for what you get. Put the guts in a more practical but still small horizontal format. Divorce if from the built in monitor (really a bad idea if you weigh the merits of a computer and a monitor connected like Siamese twins). The iMac has the shortcomings of a laptop and missing the power of a desktop crammed into a bizarre hybrid that doesn't use the best of both. WTF? Lose the built in monitor, make the guts accessible?now you have the computer everyone wants. I have no idea why apple hasn't done this. Remember the IIci? Take that format which today's technology could make considerably thinner and smaller, there you have it?gold for Apple share holders and customers alike.
No Dude "the bag of hurt" was waiting with anticipation for the new MAcBook under$1,000 only to get the old stale one for $999!
The "old stale one" rocks!
Plus, the SuperDrive is included!
And it's got FireWire!
Or give it light and make the whole face black? Get rid of the raccoon look please.
Answer me someone please- why a 24" iMac needs a display port?
Why does a MacBook need FireWire? Because people will want it and use it, no matter how few.