cgWerks

claire1 said:
I hate how suddenly everyone listens to music while iPhone charges. I don't remember anyone doing that uncomfortable, tangled, 2-wire practice before iPhone removed the jack.

I do it every time I go for a longer-than-few-minute drive in the car.

Also, some people (like my wife and son) aren't habitual device-chargers, so they often seem to end up in a state where they want to use the device when the batteries are low. Not being able to charge while they listen would obviously be a problem. Luckily, they have 3.5mm jacks, as their devices are from before Apple lost their minds. I'm not sure what will happen come next upgrade cycle.

In terms of Apple-stupid, removing the 3.5mm jack ranks right up there near the top. Then calling it a legacy port just poured salt in the wound (and forever threw Apple's credibility into question).

macxpress said:

mike54 said:

I'm waiting for a reasonably priced and spec'd headless mac. I will not buy an all-in one, especially these iMac's as they have serious thermal limitations.

So basically you're waiting on either a Mac Pro which isn't really gonna be reasonably priced for most people, or a Mac mini which will have WORSE thermal limitations than the iMac. I guess you're gonna keep waiting for a long time. I'm not sure what you're doing that requires something other than an iMac. 

The Mac mini I owned didn't seem to have thermal issues, nor did the quad-core iMac... unless you pushed them hard (ex: I used to run 2 of the 4 cores full out nearly 100% of the time, and hardly ever heard the fans... though I didn't push all 4 cores, as I didn't want it to break). It sounds like these newer ones easily run the fans up (i.e.: Chrome with some tabs open!?!?).

One would think Apple could design a mini or iMac that didn't have such thermal issues if they cared to try. But, I suppose they'll make them thinner and louder, as their new target audience won't make them noisy creating a letter in Pages, checking email, or using Facebook (so long as they aren't in Chrome).

If it weren't for the thermal issues and fan thing, I'd probably agree with this article and go iMac. (Well, that and the fact that it becomes a big single-use display in my environment where I can't have multiple displays.)

tht said:

backstab said:

My only wish for the iMac is, that they would increase the screen size. Something like, 24" and 30".
21" is just too small for a desktop. And while 27" is too big for the needs of users like me, I'm sure pros who really need a bigger screen would do well with a move to 30"

Totally agree here. 

It’s been 5 years for this form factor, and 9 years for iMacs with 21.5” and 27” displays. Hoping this 16 to 18 month period of no iMac update means a new form factor with new display sizes, 24” 16:9 and 34” 21:9. A 34” 21:9 display at something like 6720x2880 would be sporty, but 8K will be coming sooner or later. 

I agree here too, as I am concerned 27" is getting a bit big, but I wouldn't mind a bit more space than the 21". The iMac used to be 24", right? Except, I suppose then the 24" model wouldn't have the expandable RAM or VESA mounting, so I'd have to go towards the 30"... so maybe this 27" is better then.

eightzero said:
You know, this is fair. But the monitor/display should last for a long long time. Maybe it is time to separate the two, and then upgrades/ replacements are more tenable. I guess I've just gotten to the end of the iMac being my only choice.

Yeah, different target markets, I guess. I'd also much rather they be separate. Once you have a good display, you generally keep it and use it a long time. Plus the flexibility of having multiple inputs. But, if the target market is the computer using masses, I suppose they don't care and would rather not have separate pieces. I just wish Apple could serve more than one market.

wonkothesane said:

Since the days of my “iLamp G4” I was always going for Laptop + Screen because of the portability versus power. The iMac 5K was the first Mac to convince me to try again a desktop. Ok, lack of decent Apple made screens (I am like that) plus my iPad Pro made that choice easier. Never looked back so far. Great machine. 

I prefer the laptop as desktop too, as long as I need a laptop when mobile anyway. But, if you could get by without a laptop mobile (i.e.: just don't need it or can use an iPad, etc.) then it's a much more expensive and complex setup, and you generally sacrifice money and performance to get it.

damn_its_hot said:
P.S. I get the style and aesthetics but I would not mind a slightly thicker iMac (edge and bulge) if it allowed for better thermal performance and easier user upgrade (mind you and don't want a Mac II with a Monitor shaped on the front. /s

I just don't care that much, beyond being reasonable about it. The space behind my display is somewhat wasted anyway, so another inch or two doesn't much matter besides Apple's marketing photos (which try to make it look thinner than it actually is, anyway). I was OK with Apple downsizing things until they started to compromise reasonable performance expectations to get there.

razorpit said:
And you would be wrong. The MacMini is (was) a fantastic work machine as a small server. Trying to fit three or four iMacs in a rack is a bit silly. My home also has repurposed Mini’s where an iMac would never work. 

In my opinion I think the iMac is the most ridiculous (limited) product Apple sells but to each their own...

No doubt. And, the not selling thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

steven n. said:

I have a serious question:

"I personally prefer using Google Chrome as a browser, and even with 40GB of RAM, the fans can sometimes kick up really loud when I'm researching and opening a bunch of tabs at once."

I find Chrome to be big, slow, battery hungry program with no tangible benefits over Safari. When I launch Chrome (basic install, no add ons) on my iMac Pro, it takes about 5 seconds (VS about .2 seconds for Safari). I don't see the appeal.

What is it people like about Chrome?

Often the extensions that people install, or there are a number of other browser projects based off Chrome, like Ghost Browser. But, I agree, it mostly sucks. Also, Safari used to be much less compatible and Firefox was horrible (as was IE on the PC)... so Chrome became the go-to. But, Safari and Firefox are now much better.

curtis hannah said:

The iMac seems to be a great position for Apples #1 selling desktop machine, but there should still be non all in 1 macs available ...

Well, should be and Apple's new spread-sheet/pie-chart driven design model are two different things.  If all you care about is numbers, why do anything but the best selling? (And, I'm not sure if Tim has learned the answer to that question, yet.)

davgreg said:
I see Macs as the tools they are- not as a styling exercise or fashion statement.

Welcome to the new Fashion-R-Us Apple.

MacPro said:

Nice Mac but still loving my trashcan.   I am looking forward to the next Mac Pro though, for both HVEC and latest I/O. Given the performance of the new MBPs it has got to be a spectacular machine that's coming. /hope

So, if you were buying one today... would you buy the 'trashcan' Mac Pro cylinder, or the 5k iMac? (I had been leaning towards the cMP, but seeing how much the newer generation CPUs speed up some of this stuff has me questioning that.)
(I suppose you'll say the iMac Pro, but that's out of my budget.)

AF_Hitt said:
 I would also like to see just how many people complaining about the lack of Fn keys actually used the Fn keys as anything other than brightness/volume/music control buttons.

Probably very few. But, if I could order the exact same MBP with or without TouchBar, I'd order the non-TouchBar. (In part, because using brightness, volume, etc. is easier on it.)

Oneanddone said:

... AI is a multi-decade investment theme and Nvidia's technologies sit in the pole position. As users train and tweak their AI algorithms, the GPU has proven to be the most effective hardware, sometimes by an order of magnitude."
...
When Apple threw the industry a bone this year with external video card support, it was too little, too late. If Macs can't natively run Nvidia cards without an external enclosure ...

I mostly agree with what you've said, but wanted to comment on a couple of lines.

re: AI - The possible correction I'd caution at to this, is that IMO, AI is quite over-hyped right now. The question is how long before reality sets in. Anyway, there might be some corrective there for anyone betting too much on AI.

re: threw a bone - I just don't think Apple really gives a rip. They need the Mac around for a while yet, but they seem to be targeting it towards a few vertical use-cases and screw everything else.

mcdave said:
Why are you attributing so much significance to incremental hardware gains?

Please explain incremental hardware gains.