Alex1N

baconstang said:

dewme said:

PauloSeraa 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.

charlesn said:

Skeptical said:

Let me guess. It’s faster, with a bigger screen. 

That would be an incorrect guess! Bigger screen yes, but speed should be on par with the MBA 13" from last year, UNLESS... if you recall, the new MBA 13" introduced us to SSD-gate. Instead of the base model SSD getting a 2x128 configuration as with the wedge M1 model, Apple switched to 1x256... which, if you pushed the machine to do what no base model of the MBA would be purchased to do, did not perform as well as the wedge M1. But if you ordered 512GB of storage or more, you still got the 2x configuration. In the latest MBPs however, Apple switched to a 1x512 configuration for those ordering that size SSD. Only 1TB and above gets the 2x configuration. So I wonder if that will be the story with the new MBA 15" -- the 256 and 512 storage tiers will get a single chip, in which case the MBA 13" 512GB might outperform the 15" model on certain tasks. 

The SSD bottleneck mentioned is one big reason that I’m keen to see the review. Although I’m also assuming that 1TB will be ok - if not, there’s going to be a Great Squawking and Clucking here at chez Alex.

Hmm…Apple ad network - as if we aren’t beleaguered enough by ads.

This article and especially the comments have made me focus (at last) on my actual needs, rather than whims. So, I’m planning a roadmap, which I should have done years ago but some ‘life issues’ got in the way. For me, this new track probably doesn’t include an ipad of any sort  at all. So, thanks, chaps, that was very useful .

I’m one of those ‘low-count’ commenters - partly because my old AI account, which had a modestly good post count, seemed to get wiped a while ago. I haven’t had the time or inclination to post much since, nor do I have usually much to say that’s relevant in any case.

Having said that, however, I have a 6th gen ipad with that infernal pencil mk.1. I hate charging it in the ipad’s lightning port - it's one bump away from disaster (like my recent iphone rear glass/apple silicon case’s camera protector ’incident’). It’s also very cumbersome and I fear for the ipad’s connector while the pencil waggles around. (Apple’s removal  of the convenient battery widget and burying it in settings in ipados has been another issue that stick’s in my craw.) I usually charge the pencil using the supplied adapter and a lightning cable.

The old pencil’s functionality has left a little bit to be desired for some time, too, but I’ve put up with it until now - not including support for a more up-to-date pencil in this new ipad is a deal-breaker for me. I’m going to have a much more serious look at the ipad air.