Alex1N

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Alex1N
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  • Apple is working on a giant iMac, but it isn't coming soon

    Alex1N said:
    Alex1N said:
    dewme said:
    The product just doesn't make any sense. The iMac comes from a completely different time. A time where the look and feel of the iMac was a breathe of fresh air to computing, and was one of the few computers average people would actually want to look at in their homes. Those days are long gone, and a giant metal all-in-one Mac is huge burdern to bear. Moving it around is impossible. Getting service or support for it is impossible. Selling it (shipping it) down the road is impossible. It's wildly impractical. And the display itself will outlast the computer inside, turning it into a giant paperweight that can't be repurposed. I still have iMacs sitting in boxes in the garage because I don't know what to do with them. Can't reuse them for anything, and can't bear to just throw them away.

    Displays on the other hand can be reused for a long, long time. I can't even count how many times I have packed an old display away in a closet only to drag it out again for some purpose at a later time.

    The Mac mini/Mac Studio/Mac Pro approach to Apple desktops is how it should stay, and Apple should devote its efforts to making better displays, at varying sizes and resolutions.
    I wouldn’t go as far as saying what Apple should or shouldn’t do because there is a market for all-in-ones and the iMac is the cream of the crop. The iMac is a great family computer to be shared in a common area. But for technology fans like us the iMac is not so optimal. In fact, if you really love the all-in-one approach Apple has two full lines of amazing all-in-one computers that are substantially lighter, more portable, and still deliver great stuff in the performance department - MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. 

    In my opinion, the real challenge for performance oriented Mac buyers today is choosing between the Mac Studio and the MacBook Pro. Either one can serve as the core of a high performance component based computing solution. The lack of discrete graphics support and limited upgradability of all current Apple Silicon based Macs makes for a lot of overlapping capabilities across across all platforms, even though each platform still has its unique and specialized performance and/or capacity attributes to address edge cases.

    The lack of differentiation, or stated another way, the broad overlap, between different Mac platforms has never been at the level it is today. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because buyers may be able to fine tune their expectations to fit into lower cost options, like a Mac mini instead of a Mac Studio or a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. If you blur your expectations a little more, the iPad Pro may even be in play. 

    So where does a jumbo iMac fit into this landscape? It does provide a “comfortable” upgrade path for customers who are still in love with their 27” iMacs but not attracted to the 24” iMac. I do trust that if Apple actually delivers on the jumbo iMac speculation, they will have arrived at an answer that makes sense for both their business and their customers. 


    Laptops are great when you have to be mobile.  But personally, I hate having the trackpad underneath my palms.  Much prefer to use a big screen and full keyboard.
    And sometimes use a different pointing device.  

    When I get to the point I can't flog my 5K any further, probably get a stuffed Mini or a basic Studio (same price).  I already have one 32" 4K screen...
    I’ve been on a right merry-go-round with looking for the replacement for the creaking old mid-2010 27” i7 that I keep banging on about here. The default was to wait for the ‘27” AS iMac’, but as I can no longer update MS Office or Apple iWorks apps and there are no longer security updates coming down the pipeline, I really have to do something.The last straw was Mozilla ceasing Firefox updates to older systems (I’m on High Sierra of course). It’s basically used as a TV now.

    After trawling through the various MacBook options (I have become increasingly annoyed with the iPad and its boobytrap geatures), I have converged on the stuffed M2 Pro Mini or a not-quite-low-end Studio - and a monitor. This was also recommended after an hour’s online chat with an Apple sales person.

    The monitor’s going to be the catch as I haven’t found anything that looks right yet. Maybe using an HDMI to Mini DisplayPort cable to the (QHD) iMac running in Target Display Mode (that was one of the models that still supported the TDM function and the quality is still acceptable), as it would be far cheaper than a Studio Display - or an off-brand 4K or 5K monitor which I haven’t found yet.

    But what I have done is give up on Apple coming out with a 27”+ iMac within the time-frame that I need it (i.e., next week-ish). I’ll shut up about this now.
    Wow you beat me and my 2014 5k iMac! Just to throw a spanner in your works, Open Core Patcher works a treat and will let you update and enjoy the super secure slowness of the latest OS (later OSes).
    Indeed! I had ruled that out because it seemed to require a Metal-supporting GPU card to be installed - unless I’ve got the patcher flavour wrong - and I’m a bit wary about getting one via the various Amazon links since I’m in Aust. Although even with the egregious shipping costs and even if it didn’t work, it would still be a tiny fraction of the coast of a new setup. Back to the top of the loop…
    "awkward" — Maybe you can hit a sweet spot between your official max OS 10.13.6 and Ventura that doesn't need Metal, but does still have more updates? Enjoy looping the loop!  Or is the top of the loop actually the bottom in Aust. ߤ㦬t;/div>
    I had a closer read of the relevant sections on the OCLP site - it looks as though Monterey will run all right on the iMac11,3 as it still runs in non-Metal mode (Ventura drops non-Metal support if I read it correctly). And in any case, the installer will let me know if the chosen OS is incompatible with the iMac. Many thanks for prompting a closer look - time to fire up Time Machine again!
    appleinsideruser
  • Apple is working on a giant iMac, but it isn't coming soon

    dewme said:
    The product just doesn't make any sense. The iMac comes from a completely different time. A time where the look and feel of the iMac was a breathe of fresh air to computing, and was one of the few computers average people would actually want to look at in their homes. Those days are long gone, and a giant metal all-in-one Mac is huge burdern to bear. Moving it around is impossible. Getting service or support for it is impossible. Selling it (shipping it) down the road is impossible. It's wildly impractical. And the display itself will outlast the computer inside, turning it into a giant paperweight that can't be repurposed. I still have iMacs sitting in boxes in the garage because I don't know what to do with them. Can't reuse them for anything, and can't bear to just throw them away.

    Displays on the other hand can be reused for a long, long time. I can't even count how many times I have packed an old display away in a closet only to drag it out again for some purpose at a later time.

    The Mac mini/Mac Studio/Mac Pro approach to Apple desktops is how it should stay, and Apple should devote its efforts to making better displays, at varying sizes and resolutions.
    I wouldn’t go as far as saying what Apple should or shouldn’t do because there is a market for all-in-ones and the iMac is the cream of the crop. The iMac is a great family computer to be shared in a common area. But for technology fans like us the iMac is not so optimal. In fact, if you really love the all-in-one approach Apple has two full lines of amazing all-in-one computers that are substantially lighter, more portable, and still deliver great stuff in the performance department - MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. 

    In my opinion, the real challenge for performance oriented Mac buyers today is choosing between the Mac Studio and the MacBook Pro. Either one can serve as the core of a high performance component based computing solution. The lack of discrete graphics support and limited upgradability of all current Apple Silicon based Macs makes for a lot of overlapping capabilities across across all platforms, even though each platform still has its unique and specialized performance and/or capacity attributes to address edge cases.

    The lack of differentiation, or stated another way, the broad overlap, between different Mac platforms has never been at the level it is today. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because buyers may be able to fine tune their expectations to fit into lower cost options, like a Mac mini instead of a Mac Studio or a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. If you blur your expectations a little more, the iPad Pro may even be in play. 

    So where does a jumbo iMac fit into this landscape? It does provide a “comfortable” upgrade path for customers who are still in love with their 27” iMacs but not attracted to the 24” iMac. I do trust that if Apple actually delivers on the jumbo iMac speculation, they will have arrived at an answer that makes sense for both their business and their customers. 


    Laptops are great when you have to be mobile.  But personally, I hate having the trackpad underneath my palms.  Much prefer to use a big screen and full keyboard.
    And sometimes use a different pointing device.  

    When I get to the point I can't flog my 5K any further, probably get a stuffed Mini or a basic Studio (same price).  I already have one 32" 4K screen...
    I’ve been on a right merry-go-round with looking for the replacement for the creaking old mid-2010 27” i7 that I keep banging on about here. The default was to wait for the ‘27” AS iMac’, but as I can no longer update MS Office or Apple iWorks apps and there are no longer security updates coming down the pipeline, I really have to do something.The last straw was Mozilla ceasing Firefox updates to older systems (I’m on High Sierra of course). It’s basically used as a TV now.

    After trawling through the various MacBook options (I have become increasingly annoyed with the iPad and its boobytrap geatures), I have converged on the stuffed M2 Pro Mini or a not-quite-low-end Studio - and a monitor. This was also recommended after an hour’s online chat with an Apple sales person.

    The monitor’s going to be the catch as I haven’t found anything that looks right yet. Maybe using an HDMI to Mini DisplayPort cable to the (QHD) iMac running in Target Display Mode (that was one of the models that still supported the TDM function and the quality is still acceptable), as it would be far cheaper than a Studio Display - or an off-brand 4K or 5K monitor which I haven’t found yet.

    But what I have done is give up on Apple coming out with a 27”+ iMac within the time-frame that I need it (i.e., next week-ish). I’ll shut up about this now.
    baconstangappleinsideruserking editor the grate
  • Threads hasn't been alive for a day, and Twitter is already threatening to sue

    Meta and Twitter - fighting like cats in a sack…


    There once were two cats of Kilkenny
    Each one thought the other too many
    So they fought and they fit and they scratched and they bit
    And excepting their nails and the tips of their tails
    Instead of two cats there weren’t any.

    - Old limerick.
    Alex_VDogpersonwatto_cobra
  • Meta's Instagram soft-launches Threads to take on Twitter

    jSnively said:
    I see AppleInsider already has over 2,000 followers. Curious what you think of that?
    More please? 
    Not on ‘Threads’ for me, see above. Mastodon/Toot!, ok, but not on Meta.
    MeteorAlex_Vwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Meta's Instagram soft-launches Threads to take on Twitter

    Great. So Meta have yet another way to stalk you. No thanks.
    chasmMplsPMeteorAlex_Vwilliamlondonbyronlwatto_cobra