iMac GE

4fx4fx
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
The new iMac looks like quite the nice little machine for games and such. However, the gf2mx is dated, though it has quite some life in it left. I would like to see Apple make a gaming edition. Specs wouldnt have to change much at all. Just take the high end machine, replace the superdrive with a dvd/cdrw and add a gf4ti. This would more or less be a substitute. The only other thing different would then be a large bundle of popular mac osx games. Im thinking, warcraft 3, unreal 2, ev3, deimos rising, and various others. Id gladly pay the same price for this machine as the top end. And in all actuality, it wouldnt cost Apple any more than the superdrive equiped one.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    4fx4fx Posts: 258member
    The thing is, this manouver would probably look like an aggressive maneuver on Apple's part to game producers. And could possibly bring more games to the mac, if not the ones that are going to be anyway faster. Plus, just having it in name would open gamer's eyes to the wonderful world of macintosh I know many people who want a gaming machine, but dont want to spend the money on a powermac. This bridge for gaming(and all around purposes) could potentially do a lot for Apple's PR.
  • Reply 2 of 40
    Its possible apple might experiment with a gaming edition machine sometime down the line. I don't feel like now is a good time, Perhaps second or third rev of the new iMac will have BTO geforce4...or something like that....once all ranges are shipping, and iMac2 has sold millions and everyone loves apple, THEN expect more experimental things like a gaming machine. imo.
  • Reply 3 of 40
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    the imac should not have models targeted at specific demographics. that makes it seem like the other models are limited.



    There is no reason Apple can't just use a geforce 4mx in the existing high end and include a few more games.



    no need for specific models.
  • Reply 4 of 40
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    I agree with the gaming edition - or at least a better graphics card in the high-end.



    But the problem is still that you can't upgrade the video. Even a gamer's video card will be "obsolete" in a year (or at least the gamers will think so).
  • Reply 5 of 40
    I also think this is a good idea... whether a 'special edition' model, or something else along those lines, but an iMac with a better video card might be cool... GeForce 3? I dunno ... unfortunatly, it may require a new motherboard, since the 2MX is soldered on there now ... i have the 2MX in my cube, and its a decent video card, but, hey, more is always better (more memory on the card, more fill rate, etc). Including the games is a good idea too ... (instead of rebates).
  • Reply 6 of 40
    Hi there!



    Although I am of the opinion that Apple should offer larger display options I am not sure about them offering a special gaming machine:



    I think the future is consoles - cheaper to produce at the same performance level, longer product cycles, unified platform = easier, more efficient programming, performance advantages due to missing modularity.



    Well, the iMac is not all that modular but still it does not offer the high level of component integration consoles offer either.
  • Reply 7 of 40
    Why doesnt Apple just offer any kind of specs people want?
  • Reply 8 of 40
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by Macintosh:

    <strong>Why doesnt Apple just offer any kind of specs people want?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Nice to have you back.



    1: Taking sales away from PM

    2: Less choices=Cheaper storage and production

    3: Design doesn´t have to consider BTO (2MX on mother board etc.)

    4: You buy a new iMac sooner.
  • Reply 9 of 40
    How much more heat does the Gforce4Ti produce then the 2mx? I think quite a bit. I think apple needs to have the iMac video card upgradable somehow though.
  • Reply 10 of 40
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    I would love to have one of the new Geforce 4 Ti in my new iMac. Yeqah, woohoo!



    Of course, I haven' t bought any of these things yet. Have to sell my iMac 500 first.
  • Reply 11 of 40
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    [quote]Originally posted by 4fx:

    <strong>However, the gf2mx is dated</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The GeF2MX in the iMac is a Ti-400 model. It's no GeF3, but it is hardly dated. But



    Frankly, it's surprising Apple used the latest edition. I was betting they would use the older versions.



    If they still use the GeF2mx i in the 2003 iMac, then we can start bitching!
  • Reply 12 of 40
    It's also surprising they put a 24X burner in the low end config...
  • Reply 13 of 40
    [quote]Originally posted by applenut:

    <strong>the imac should not have models targeted at specific demographics. that makes it seem like the other models are limited.



    There is no reason Apple can't just use a geforce 4mx in the existing high end and include a few more games.



    no need for specific models.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I don't agree. I think in the world of the consumer, bundles are very big and since gamers are high-end consumers by and large (or is that by "in" large). Consumers are worried about software issues. Allay those fears with bundles.



    The best times for buying Macs was during the clone wars when every Mac reseller had bundles at great prices.



    Applenut has a point about diluting the message of the iMac being your digital hub. However you can easily keep the iMac from seemingly being limited in anyway by actually using quick, UBIQUITOUS advertising that explains all of the ways the simple consumer Mac could be used by 80% of the world's computing population. The other 20% should buy a PowerMac.



    The iMac for Business; the iMac for Gaming; the iMac for Music and Video - those are all great marketing visions that start with a computer that really can do it all. It would be nice for consumers to be able to optimise a few things on their own, since that part of the consumer market that wants to, is getting larger.



    [ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: MacGregor ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 40
    This is a great idea! The automakers do it all the time LE, SE and so on (luxury, Sport editions) here are the specs:



    Gamer's Edition (GE)

    G4 1Ghz

    NVidia GeForce 4Ti 128MB DDR

    17" LCD

    CD/RW (Superdrive is an option)

    512MB RAM

    80 GB Hard Drive

    Creative Audigy? Sound card..their big one whatever it is

    (2) USB 2.0 (1) Firewire

    Boston Acoustics Speakers

    $1999



    Multimedia Edition (MME)

    G4 933Mhz

    NVidia GeForce 3 or 4MX

    15" LCD

    Superdrive

    100 GB Hard Disk

    512MB RAM

    Audigy

    (2) USB 2.0 (2) Firewire

    Boston Acoustics

    $1799



    Office Edition (OE)

    G4 800 Mhz

    NVIDIA GeForce 4MX

    15" LCD

    80 GB Hard Drive

    CD/RW

    256 Ram

    (2) USB 2.0, (1) Firewire

    $1399
  • Reply 15 of 40
    I would buy the GE tomorrow, that would be a sweet ride if I do say so myself...Oh wait I did.
  • Reply 16 of 40
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Sorry, but this is a bad idea. In fact, it's a VERY BAD idea.



    Why? Most people don't buy computers to play games. Now I'm sure a lot of people here do buy computers to play games, but most consumers do not buy a computer for gaming.



    Targeting a machine for games alone, is silly. There just isn't a market for it. There aren't enough Mac games to warrant it either. For most games, you could just take a 500 MHz iMac with a 16 MB graphics card and 256 MB of RAM and they would run fine. Sure there are some FPS games that will run better and get more frames out of the processor, but to spend $1800-$2000 on a machine just to play games is ridiculous.



    If you're really serious about games, the major consoles will be online within months- PS2 already is for some games, so is the XBox. The Game Cube should have it's online plans forecasted by E3. Plus, for portability, there's always the Game Boy Advance. They have many more games out there to choose from and are MUCH cheaper.



    Unless Apple works much harder to get game developers working on making nearly everything for the Mac, a Gaming Edition iMac is a bad idea.
  • Reply 17 of 40
    stevessteves Posts: 108member
    For starters, one of the oldest suggestions is for people that are interested in games, to buy a console instead of a PC. Of course, this statement comes from people that don't understand the gaming market. (No insults intended). Consoles are great for the typical arcade type of games. However, the more serious gamer is often in to simulation type of games that just aren't available on consoles (not the arcade type of sims). Unfortunately, many of these games, but not all, do in fact require a very serious system. For these types of gamers, only a high end PC (like the $3000+ dream systems described in PC Gamer magazine) or equivalent Mac will do. Of course, these systems come with the latest and greatest video (previously nVidia Geforce 3 TI500) and kplisch 5.1 speaker systems, etc.



    There's no sense in Apple catering to this market really. Instead, the best thing Apple can do is raise the standard for the lowest common demoninator in terms of gaming performance. Let's not forget that Apple did exactly that with the new iMacs. Apple moved from the G3 to the G4s. This is big for all around performance, but specifically helps OpenGL. More importantly, Apple ditched the crappy ATI Rage 128 (16mb) for the nVidia GeForce2mx (32mb). This is huge! The ATI chip was state of the art 4 years ago. The combination of G4 and nVidia graphics has more than doubled the iMacs gaming performance overnight. Is it state of the art? No. But the iMac is no longer the laughing stock it once was for gaming. This is exactly what Apple needed to do and did. Further, with the Geforce4mx, it's clear that Apple has a nice low cost speed bump ready and waiting for the iMac when the time is right.



    Steve
  • Reply 18 of 40
    stevessteves Posts: 108member
    [quote]Originally posted by YakManDoo:

    <strong>This is a great idea! The automakers do it all the time LE, SE and so on (luxury, Sport editions) here are the specs:



    Gamer's Edition (GE)

    G4 1Ghz

    NVidia GeForce 4Ti 128MB DDR

    17" LCD

    CD/RW (Superdrive is an option)

    512MB RAM

    80 GB Hard Drive

    Creative Audigy? Sound card..their big one whatever it is

    (2) USB 2.0 (1) Firewire

    Boston Acoustics Speakers

    $1999



    Multimedia Edition (MME)

    G4 933Mhz

    NVidia GeForce 3 or 4MX

    15" LCD

    Superdrive

    100 GB Hard Disk

    512MB RAM

    Audigy

    (2) USB 2.0 (2) Firewire

    Boston Acoustics

    $1799



    Office Edition (OE)

    G4 800 Mhz

    NVIDIA GeForce 4MX

    15" LCD

    80 GB Hard Drive

    CD/RW

    256 Ram

    (2) USB 2.0, (1) Firewire

    $1399</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I like the idea of a gaming edition iMac in theory. The problem comes when theory meets practice. For starters, a 1GHZ G4, nVidia GeForce 4TI, 17" LCD... etc.. for $2000?? Come on, let's be realistic. The current iMac is considered to be a good deal, even by PC standards. I know you're dropping the DVD-R, but even still, there's no way all of those things could be added at that price.



    Even if it could, who would buy the Pro Macs? How much should people spend for PCI slots?



    Also, it gets to be a bit ridiculous to have the iMacs into the $2000 range. IMO, iMacs should cover the $999 - $1800(max) range. You could get a lower end G4 tower that is fully expandable at the $2000 range. Further, the serious Mac gamer will likely buy a tower anyway.



    Steve



    [ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: SteveS ]</p>
  • Reply 19 of 40
    First in the next Rev. this pricing point is not too far out there especially six to eight months from now. Second...the specs on all three carry over to a million different things, there are companies who cater to gamers alone for their pc's and they are built to play...try Alienware for one and Falcon (I think that's it) for 2. Third, most people who are buying the imac under 35 want to play games and the $1799 machine is a dog for games of any kind. The open source community plays a lot of games and that is where Apple is targeting...$2000 ain't too much to put great hardware in the hands of capable users who aren't sure that the Mac platform is the way to go. Games are very important to the consumer don't underestimate them.
  • Reply 20 of 40
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    [quote]For starters, one of the oldest suggestions is for people that are interested in games, to buy a console instead of a PC. Of course, this statement comes from people that don't understand the gaming market. <hr></blockquote>



    Well, I used to buy that argument, but I don't any more. I fully understand the gaming market, and I own all of the 'next-gen' consoles thanks to my very good luck.



    Any way, when I look at the XBox games that are out now like Halo, or I play a Game Cube game like Madden 2002 or play a PS2 game like GTA3, I have to wonder why people do buy PCs just for gaming. Most, if not all, of the very popular titles come out for the consoles in the end any way, and come out looking very spiffy. Take Deus Ex for PS2 for example. It's a great port. The gameplay and graphics flow on the game just like on a very good computer.



    Plus, the game libraries of these systems are HUGE! You've got sports games (which the PC never replicated well), a lot of console classics, and some great FPS like Halo (I'm sorry for those who hate M$, but this is a great game). Plus, with systems like the XBox coming with a hard drive and an ethernet port, add ons are definitely possible, as are great internet games. When they come out with the voice headset, that will be even more amazing. Who wouldn't want to play Unreal Championship in a huge open arena with 31 other players with virtually no lag because you're all on high speed internet connections?



    I'm not saying that this is the end of PC games by a long shot, but the consoles do a great job and have a ton of games and they are a LOT CHEAPER than a $3000 computer. (Heck, for $3000, you could buy an XBox and every XBox game! :eek: )



    I just don't think there is a market for a Gaming iMac, or at least not a machine marketed as a gaming iMac. I think it would be a flop.
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