Sorry, but what use is a network ODD? My AE is not anywhere near my mac and neither would my TC be if I had one. You need to load discs into an ODD therefore it needs to be next to your mac.
I have my iTunes lib on an external drive and all my music comes from ripped CDs.
The use is how Apple intended when they devised the protocols bd added the SW to their Macs years ago. It was originally so the MBA, which still stupidly came with a DVD Restore Disc, could be repaired via any updated Mac with an ODD. It wasn't enacted for constant use cases, for that you need one attached to your machine.
So they took out that obsolete feature that most of you don't need - and how much did they shave off the price for you? That would seem like a fair trade, right?
I agree the price shouldn't have gone up. They only added 4GB RAM, which should have been easily offset by the cost of the drive removal. Maybe the screen lamination process is more expensive though and it will be a huge benefit having less glare.
I've had my iMac for about 7 years and at some point I might replace it. The one thing that has ALWAYS annoyed me was all of the ports on the back. Now, everything is on the back (even card slot) and there is no optical drive. Having to add one, and having to add port splitters that sit on your desk just to make your computer functional, sort of kills the point of an AIO design. Unless you have your computer sitting on a desk with no back, or away from the wall, it's a major pain to plug anything in. And with all of the different peripherals to the computer - iPhone, iPad/Pod, cameras, etc - that's a lot that can be plugged in and out a lot.
{...snip...}
I have a mid-2010 iMac with all the ports on the back of the unit (SD card and ODD slots on opposite sides) and routinely cursed when having to swap plugs in and out (a USB hub would fix that but so far I haven't found one that works well with the iMac).
I now mostly use the spare USB socket in the keyboard - going back to the Magic Trackpad would free up the other one - for plugging in the camera and thumb (flash) drives.
I don't like how disingenuous the pictures of it are, you know? Yeah, it's thinner… at it's thinnest point. I don't see any MacBook Air pictures trying to hide its bulge.
And I don't really get why they couldn't have made RAM user-upgradable in the 21.5" model, but we'll have to wait until iFixit breaks one apart (and gives it a zero repairability rating) to see if it would have been possible.
Did you actually believe that you could cram a Intel Core i7 in something 5mm thick?
Removing the optical drive did not allow Apple to make a thinner iMac, because it is not thinner, except for the very edge. It is still just as fat in the back. The 3.5 hard drive in the 27" model is thicker than a slot load optical drive. My 2011 iMac just became more valuable compared to the new iMac. The 2011 iMac has the SD card slot on the side, where it should be. It has an optical drive, which is still used on a regular basis. It has Audio Input. It has a FireWire 800 port. The new iMac...none of that. Apple would prefer you to use dongles and external devices with your sleek new iMac...that you spent a lot of money on. Hey Apple, since you removed those features, why are you still charging the same price as the previous model that included those features? When I look at my iMac, I can't see the sides of it, so I could care less how thin it is, or isn't.
The best part of this refresh is the crippled 21.5" model. Ha! No memory upgrades by the user (they removed the user-accessible panel), and a lousy 5400 RPM laptop drive instead of a 7200 RPM desktop-class drive. Brilliant. Talk about a step-backwards.
Screen is superior on the 2012 iMac.
I will take that any day than the SuperDrive. I look at the screen on a daily basis. I use the drive once every few months.
Your comment about USB sticks points out another huge problem with the current iMac design solution - all of the USB ports are on the BACK of the machine. It is MUCH easier to slip my DVD into the side of my machine than to get up, turn the machine 1/2 way around, find the USB port, stick something in it, turn my machine back around so I can use it (and the USB drive I just inserted), turn it back around when I am done, take the USB stick back out, and finally turn my machine back around.
That's a REAL smart way to work.
I know it's bad but please do not do anything rash like jump out a window or something.
Did you actually believe that you could cram a Intel Core i7 in something 5mm thick?
What part of this is about me? You'd have to ask someone who doesn't know better whether they think this is possible. And what does it have to do with the point at hand?
I don't think the 5mm edge is misleading. They're not claiming it's amazing because the whole thing (or even the majority) is 5mm, they're claiming that even having a working monitor that's 5mm thick just around the edges is pretty amazing. Is it an engineering first? I don't know. But I was looking at the HDTVs and monitors in my local electronics shop on the weekend and none have achieved that, about the best I could find was a Samsung 23" monitor that was 12mm.
So you're upset that the iMac doesn't have a crummy, slow vertical disk drive, and are therefore going to buy a mini which also lacks an OD? Right...
I'm a film editor, and quite aware of the usefulness of an OD, but give it a year. H265, cloud storage, and cheaper portable drives will make an OD completely obsolete.
Yes, if I'm being forced to run an external drive then I may as well get a 2nd hand 30" cinema display and hang a mac mini and an external drive on the back. It'll be several hundred bucks cheaper with a bigger and better screen. I'd rather have a free "crummy and slow" internal disc drive than a paid for "crummy and slow" external. The CDs spin at the right speed to listen and rip music and the DVD spin fast enough so I can watch films and burn DVDr's. I'm not a DVD production facility. Standard 8x speed and a super 32x speed one really isn't much more than 5 minutes different over a burnt DVD. I spend more time than that trying to find sensible informative posts amongst the nonsensical chaff on here.
Yes, if I'm being forced to run an external drive then I may as well get a 2nd hand 30" cinema display and hang a mac mini and an external drive on the back. It'll be several hundred bucks cheaper with a bigger and better screen. I'd rather have a free "crummy and slow" internal disc drive than a paid for "crummy and slow" external. The CDs spin at the right speed to listen and rip music and the DVD spin fast enough so I can watch films and burn DVDr's. I'm not a DVD production facility. Standard 8x speed and a super 32x speed one really isn't much more than 5 minutes different over a burnt DVD. I spend more time than that trying to find sensible informative posts amongst the nonsensical chaff on here.
The MacMini still lacks an Optical Drive. I'm not understanding where you're going to stick those DVD's...
I'm not trying to sound rude or sarcastic, but I don't understand why buying a $70 (or less newegg.com) external OD is such a break point? Why is this such an issue? I have printers, back up drives, portable drives, mice, an Avid keyboard that all use USBs and are not inside my All in One computer. That's never been a breaking point for me. Why is this such a big deal?
Though it is true the weight doesnt matter to us, it matters to Apple and shipping costs etc.
That said, the prices have gone up, which is quite a shame..
That again said, my biggest regret is that Apple appear to have announced it, given no option for preorder, no proper date, just a month, and we dont even know the prices of Fusion, RAM or processor upgrades
Agreed that the bulge is kind of hidden, but it's still incredibly thin compared to my iMac. It's more to prove a point. I wonder why they even included the bulge and what it holds. It so doesn't fit with the design, and the utilitarian straight lines. I'm sure there's some function but they should have found a way around it.
I wonder why they even included the bulge and what it holds. It so doesn't fit with the design, and the utilitarian straight lines. I'm sure there's some function but they should have found a way around it.
The actual hardware. There's nothing but the screen otherwise.
They can find a way around it in the new Thunderbolt Display. But if you want to actually be buying a computer, you need the bulge.
They can find a way around it in the new Thunderbolt Display.
That probably won't arrive until next year if they aren't able to get the iMacs out until December but they should be able to get the whole thing fairly thin. USB 3, drop FW800, laminated panel. The price might go up though.
That probably won't arrive until next year if they aren't able to get the iMacs out until December but they should be able to get the whole thing fairly thin. USB 3, drop FW800, laminated panel. The price might go up though.
Ooh, that's the last thing we need. Agreed about the timeframe, though.
That probably won't arrive until next year if they aren't able to get the iMacs out until December but they should be able to get the whole thing fairly thin. USB 3, drop FW800, laminated panel. The price might go up though.
I might get that. I want to upgrade my second screen to a 27", and it's a good way for me to get USB 3.
I don't like the road apple is heading towards. Making everything as thin, compact, and trying to be as controlling as possible. Those seem like great qualities but the point of an iMac is to be a desktop. I don't need it to be remarkably thin and compact. I'm buying a desktop and want a desktop GPU, I want to be able to add RAM. DVD's/CD's are becoming obsolete but not yet.
Secondly why does this not have capability of 802.11ac? You push the DVD technology out as being old, but don't embrace technology that is extremely relevant and important for future usage.
At this point I'd just buy a macbook pro and use my second monitor when I'm in desktop mode and travel with it. The new iMac is an immobile laptop.
I don't like the road apple is heading towards. Making everything as thin, compact, and trying to be as controlling as possible. Those seem like great qualities but the point of an iMac is to be a desktop. I don't need it to be remarkably thin and compact. I'm buying a desktop and want a desktop GPU, I want to be able to add RAM. DVD's/CD's are becoming obsolete but not yet.
Secondly why does this not have capability of 802.11ac? You push the DVD technology out as being old, but don't embrace technology that is extremely relevant and important for future usage.
How many PC models are supporting 802.11ac right now? Can you not see a difference between jumping on a new marketing term right away and actually making a viable tool for users? It would be nice to have, but not at the expensive of it being little more than an item on a spec sheet.
At this point I'd just buy a macbook pro and use my second monitor when I'm in desktop mode and travel with it. The new iMac is an immobile laptop.
So it uses up to a 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz) CPU but somehow that's something you find in a notebook? It uses a 3.5" HDD and that is something you find in a notebook? It has a 21.5" or 27" display and you can find those in notebooks? You can even upgrade the RAM. So because you don't want a GPU with an 'M' in the model name you are taking a stance that it's slow and that the entire device is a laptop. Now do you really think you are making reasonable claims here?
I don't like the road apple is heading towards. Making everything as thin, compact, and trying to be as controlling as possible. Those seem like great qualities but the point of an iMac is to be a desktop. I don't need it to be remarkably thin and compact. I'm buying a desktop and want a desktop GPU, I want to be able to add RAM. DVD's/CD's are becoming obsolete but not yet.
At this point I'd just buy a macbook pro and use my second monitor when I'm in desktop mode and travel with it. The new iMac is an immobile laptop.
On the part you bolded, detractors have been saying that about iMacs all along, since the introduction of the model, which dropped the floppy, generating the same complaints, yet life went on.
Comments
The use is how Apple intended when they devised the protocols bd added the SW to their Macs years ago. It was originally so the MBA, which still stupidly came with a DVD Restore Disc, could be repaired via any updated Mac with an ODD. It wasn't enacted for constant use cases, for that you need one attached to your machine.
I agree the price shouldn't have gone up. They only added 4GB RAM, which should have been easily offset by the cost of the drive removal. Maybe the screen lamination process is more expensive though and it will be a huge benefit having less glare.
I have a mid-2010 iMac with all the ports on the back of the unit (SD card and ODD slots on opposite sides) and routinely cursed when having to swap plugs in and out (a USB hub would fix that but so far I haven't found one that works well with the iMac).
I now mostly use the spare USB socket in the keyboard - going back to the Magic Trackpad would free up the other one - for plugging in the camera and thumb (flash) drives.
Did you actually believe that you could cram a Intel Core i7 in something 5mm thick?
Screen is superior on the 2012 iMac.
I will take that any day than the SuperDrive. I look at the screen on a daily basis. I use the drive once every few months.
I am weird like that.
I know it's bad but please do not do anything rash like jump out a window or something.
Originally Posted by msantti
Did you actually believe that you could cram a Intel Core i7 in something 5mm thick?
What part of this is about me? You'd have to ask someone who doesn't know better whether they think this is possible. And what does it have to do with the point at hand?
I don't think the 5mm edge is misleading. They're not claiming it's amazing because the whole thing (or even the majority) is 5mm, they're claiming that even having a working monitor that's 5mm thick just around the edges is pretty amazing. Is it an engineering first? I don't know. But I was looking at the HDTVs and monitors in my local electronics shop on the weekend and none have achieved that, about the best I could find was a Samsung 23" monitor that was 12mm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkunicorn
So you're upset that the iMac doesn't have a crummy, slow vertical disk drive, and are therefore going to buy a mini which also lacks an OD? Right...
I'm a film editor, and quite aware of the usefulness of an OD, but give it a year. H265, cloud storage, and cheaper portable drives will make an OD completely obsolete.
Yes, if I'm being forced to run an external drive then I may as well get a 2nd hand 30" cinema display and hang a mac mini and an external drive on the back. It'll be several hundred bucks cheaper with a bigger and better screen. I'd rather have a free "crummy and slow" internal disc drive than a paid for "crummy and slow" external. The CDs spin at the right speed to listen and rip music and the DVD spin fast enough so I can watch films and burn DVDr's. I'm not a DVD production facility. Standard 8x speed and a super 32x speed one really isn't much more than 5 minutes different over a burnt DVD. I spend more time than that trying to find sensible informative posts amongst the nonsensical chaff on here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evilution
Yes, if I'm being forced to run an external drive then I may as well get a 2nd hand 30" cinema display and hang a mac mini and an external drive on the back. It'll be several hundred bucks cheaper with a bigger and better screen. I'd rather have a free "crummy and slow" internal disc drive than a paid for "crummy and slow" external. The CDs spin at the right speed to listen and rip music and the DVD spin fast enough so I can watch films and burn DVDr's. I'm not a DVD production facility. Standard 8x speed and a super 32x speed one really isn't much more than 5 minutes different over a burnt DVD. I spend more time than that trying to find sensible informative posts amongst the nonsensical chaff on here.
The MacMini still lacks an Optical Drive. I'm not understanding where you're going to stick those DVD's...
I'm not trying to sound rude or sarcastic, but I don't understand why buying a $70 (or less newegg.com) external OD is such a break point? Why is this such an issue? I have printers, back up drives, portable drives, mice, an Avid keyboard that all use USBs and are not inside my All in One computer. That's never been a breaking point for me. Why is this such a big deal?
Though it is true the weight doesnt matter to us, it matters to Apple and shipping costs etc.
That said, the prices have gone up, which is quite a shame..
That again said, my biggest regret is that Apple appear to have announced it, given no option for preorder, no proper date, just a month, and we dont even know the prices of Fusion, RAM or processor upgrades
Agreed that the bulge is kind of hidden, but it's still incredibly thin compared to my iMac. It's more to prove a point. I wonder why they even included the bulge and what it holds. It so doesn't fit with the design, and the utilitarian straight lines. I'm sure there's some function but they should have found a way around it.
Originally Posted by obsessedapple
I wonder why they even included the bulge and what it holds. It so doesn't fit with the design, and the utilitarian straight lines. I'm sure there's some function but they should have found a way around it.
The actual hardware. There's nothing but the screen otherwise.
They can find a way around it in the new Thunderbolt Display. But if you want to actually be buying a computer, you need the bulge.
That probably won't arrive until next year if they aren't able to get the iMacs out until December but they should be able to get the whole thing fairly thin. USB 3, drop FW800, laminated panel. The price might go up though.
Originally Posted by Marvin
That probably won't arrive until next year if they aren't able to get the iMacs out until December but they should be able to get the whole thing fairly thin. USB 3, drop FW800, laminated panel. The price might go up though.
Ooh, that's the last thing we need. Agreed about the timeframe, though.
I might get that. I want to upgrade my second screen to a 27", and it's a good way for me to get USB 3.
I don't like the road apple is heading towards. Making everything as thin, compact, and trying to be as controlling as possible. Those seem like great qualities but the point of an iMac is to be a desktop. I don't need it to be remarkably thin and compact. I'm buying a desktop and want a desktop GPU, I want to be able to add RAM. DVD's/CD's are becoming obsolete but not yet.
Secondly why does this not have capability of 802.11ac? You push the DVD technology out as being old, but don't embrace technology that is extremely relevant and important for future usage.
At this point I'd just buy a macbook pro and use my second monitor when I'm in desktop mode and travel with it. The new iMac is an immobile laptop.
How many PC models are supporting 802.11ac right now? Can you not see a difference between jumping on a new marketing term right away and actually making a viable tool for users? It would be nice to have, but not at the expensive of it being little more than an item on a spec sheet.
So it uses up to a 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz) CPU but somehow that's something you find in a notebook? It uses a 3.5" HDD and that is something you find in a notebook? It has a 21.5" or 27" display and you can find those in notebooks? You can even upgrade the RAM. So because you don't want a GPU with an 'M' in the model name you are taking a stance that it's slow and that the entire device is a laptop. Now do you really think you are making reasonable claims here?
On the part you bolded, detractors have been saying that about iMacs all along, since the introduction of the model, which dropped the floppy, generating the same complaints, yet life went on.
Originally Posted by AandcMedia
The new iMac is an immobile laptop.
Other than the desktop CPU, desktop HDDs, desktop RAM, desktop screen…