New Mac lineup
 

And there we have it. The new iMac, MacMini et al.

I've been expecting a new iMac since around February, when the product cycle came up to the average refresh time. And I'm not sure I'm too impressed.

No upgradable RAM (on the 21.5") and Apple only do BTO to 16Gb (though the 2011 model can fit 32Gb, though Apple claims only 16Gb).

No FireWire: OK, FireWire has been dying for some time, but why then keep FireWire on the MacMini? I've got several pieces of kit that use it exclusively or as their fastest interface. (Roland Edirol FA-66; G-Drive; EPSON Perfection Scanner.) I can get a Thunderbolt adaptor, and I've got a FireWire hub on my Cinema Display. In the longer term, I'll have to get a non-FW backup drive and a new Audio/MIDI interface.

No optical drive: And I was looking forward to finally burning all my CD collection.

5400rpm 2.5" hard drives? That's pretty poor, unless you go for one of these Fusion Drives. What do we know about them? If one half fails, does the other one still work? And no straight SSD option except on the top-end model.

However, the screen does look good and less glare/reflection is to be welcomed. And the GPU looks better. So that plus the Ivy Bridge and USB3 is a bonus.

I'm hoping that this new purchase will last me a good six years, like my current iMac. It does seem to be the first of a new breed. No doubt it will be the earliest model that will run OS X 10.13. :rolleyes:

I'm just glad I get an academic discount.;)

If I made your post, people would be jumping all over me (:

I'm not impressed by the iMac in general. I dunno why people would buy instead of a Mini with a 3rd party display. Save SO much money and give you an easily replaceable screen or CPU if something breaks or you want to upgrade.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not - but it makes perfect sense to me. Eliminate a component with moving parts that is prone to failure and that many people don't use anyway. An external is available for those who need one. When I got my mid-2012 MBP, the first thing I did was remove the optical drive. I'm glad it was there though, because it gave me room for another HD.

I agree - that is pretty lame.

I don't see that as a big deal, given the ridiculous prices Apple charges for them. You're better off getting one aftermarket anyway.

I know that Apple is an "early un-adopter", but the loss of the ODD and FireWire was a bit of a surprise. I suppose it should have been obvious, but I do still rely on those things quite a lot. It means that I'll have to buy a bit of new kit to match.
Also, the idea of an "all-in-one" is slightly lost if you have to have all sorts of extra bits attached to it, like an optical drive.

iMacs are usually much more powerful than the equivalent MacMini, so there's no direct equality that a MacMini is "a cheap iMac without the expensive screen".

The biggest fear is the continued trend to make them completely sealed units and impossible or very difficult to upgrade at a later date. I doubt that putting an SSD into one of these new iMacs is going to be a fun day out. And I doubt you could replace the CPU on a MacMini easily.

No doubt these are very fast, capable machines with very nice screens, and that's ultimately what I want. But there's going to be a bit of teething.

Nothing is said here from any personal prejudice: We are all just anonymous voices, talking in the dark. We have nothing to go by but the words themselves. ;)

No surprise that optical drive went and Firewire was a bit disappointing but TB to FW adapter "should" sort that bit for a while. Anti Glare will certainly be welcomed across the board with all their products. Why they have taken so long mystifies me as this has been a huge complaint of many regardless that we have all got used to it.

We have been seeing a shift to pretty much "Apple authorised parts and repair" situation (MBP ret, MBA, New iMac etc). I have replaced tons of drives on iMacs onsite, it is not always practical to take machine to Apple Store (regardless of warranty) wait for repair then restore from backup. It will be interesting to see the tear down at some point but i think/hope they would have made it easier to swap/install after market drives which will be welcome to me.

The drive options are a deliberate cost saving and upselling technique to make more money. JUST USE GOOD DRIVES and give your customers sensible options .....Apple stop screwing your customers on drives and RAM. All i do know is the 'Fusion" drives are going to be VERY expensive option to the point of ridiculous ;-) It all sounds great what they are doing their but they will be so overpriced for most of my clients... "Oh your Mac is £1300+VAT and if you want the "best" drive £2000 !"

I mainly work in Network store environments so really we would just swap out stock drives for 256GB SSD (our sweat spot) and be done with it, no doubt voiding warranty which i have always found to be one of the most annoying things. We tend to wait a year before doing drive upgrades and we do not use Applecare in business....(i hate extra insurances !). I have done many cost calculations/failure rates/loss of time for repairs etc with client sites and we worked out that it is not the best option for most my clients to get Applecare but great for small companies or individuals.

There's a certain irony in Jonny Ive's video for the iPad mini, in which he warns that “There is inherent loss in just reducing a product in size”.
That's certainly true of the iMac!

Just called Apple UK: they can't tell me the price of the BTO options yet, and they can't sell me the old model either. So there are currently no iMacs to be had, not even for ready money.

I'll probably have to spring for the 27", in the hope that the SSD drive BTO option isn't too pricey, and put in some third-party memory later on. (And buy a USB3 backup drive and a USB Audio interface.)

The trouble with the TB to FW adaptor is that I would ideally like to connect it to my Cinema Display's FW hub. But that's a FW400 hub, so another adaptor is required. I've heard reports that some kit doesn't play well with Apple's adaptor. In any case, I was hoping to drive two external monitors!

Ok although my rep could not confirm UK pricing it looks like it is going to be between £250-£350 extra to get a 128Gb + 1TB fusion drive option. So maybe i was a bit pessimistic over my Apple tax pricing but time will tell.

In the same boat as far as iMac purchasing many suppliers ran down their stock in UK. Luckily I have finished most of my deployments for the moment.

In the photos of the new iMac and 13" MBPr I have seen on-line, I like how you can see this HUGE amount of glare/reflection....and how this is somehow supposed to be an improvement.

Always the optimist, eh :D

Might be good to report back after you get to see one live...

Apple claims that each iMac display is individually calibrated (color, I suppose).
How do you think that will turn out?

They said they same thing about the MBPr 15" - and I looked at it, and it didn't seem any less glossy to me than any of their other glossy stuff.

I dunno. Screen colour fidelity isn't a big concern for me (as know it is for some). As long as red on the screen and more or less red on the printer, that's good enough for me. It doesn't need to be accurate within some very tight tolerance.

And, the new iMac is different from the MBPR (which has no claim of lowered reflectivity), with this addition: Worth a look, don't you think? Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised. :)

Well, given how low my expectation is, it's always possible.

But even so, I'd never even consider buying an iMac, unless it were near the price of a 27" monitor - a real one, not the over-priced ones offered by Apple. I don't want my CPU married to my display in that fashion on a desktop machine.

I wander through many apple sites daily & have been amazed in the downturn of user comments, in some of these sites, over the last few years. So much vitriol/stupidity/point scoring & general unpleasantness.

It is always such a pleasure to know that there is at least one site, where everyone seems to treat each other with respect.

Thanks to all here, for all the help over the years. Long may hintsforum continue this way :)

13" MBPr vs 13"
 

I was looking to buy a replacement 13" for a while. I resisted when the first TB version appeared, but this summer, I really couldn't wait any more.

I wasn't SERIOUSLY tempted by the rumours of a 13" MBPr coming "in the fall" - not after seeing how they mangled the 15" version - but it was in the back of my head. Now that the 13" MBPr is out, I definitely think I made the right choice by not waiting for it.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10...-room-for-ram/

- glossy display (I have a matte display in mine)
- only 8GB of RAM (I have 16GB in mine)
- only one SSD (I have an SSD and a hard drive in mine)
- no Firewire ports (I have one)

It does have a few things I wish mine did:

- 2 TB ports
- 2 microphones
- HDMI port
- one USB 3 port on each side

The two biggest issues for me are lots of ram and a non-glossy display, and in those areas, 13" MBPr definitely loses out to the summer 13" MBP. If and when TechRestore makes a reasonably priced matte screen option for 13" MBPr, the race will be closer, but I don't think 13" MBPr is worth anywhere near the price premium.

I agree the last few generations of 13inch were my chosen machine for anyone that wanted portability and options.

@oneceagain you have an Gigabit Ethernet port as well ;-) on yours

Hey ho it is the way it is, i sort of pity all the Mac Technicians who in few years may be out of a job as AppleCare is completely mandatory on these these super pimped up Macs.
ie. MBA, MBP (retina), and now the New iMac.

I still pine for my PBG4-12". I wish Apple still made a machine in that form factor, with newer specs. That would be awesome.

Oh, the new one lacks it? I didn't notice. Well, chalk up another point for the non-retina then! (:

The 12inch PowerBook was a total Apple legend laptop but my god it was hard to take apart and put back together :-)

Yeah, but once you maxxed it out, it wasn't a big deal (:

Two of the very best machines produced by Apple - the IIci and PBG4-12. awesome goodness (:

OK, from the UK Apple Store BTO options:

The Mac Mini Server has 1 x 256Gb SSD for £160, or you can have 2 x 256Gb SSDs for £480 ....?
The 15" rMBP 2.6GHz has a 768Gb SSD for £400, but the 2.3 GHz offers the same drive for £800.
The same 768Gb drive in the 13" models costs £1050. A 256Gb SSD for the 13" costs £250 -- much more than in the MacMini.

Are they just pulling these numbers out of their arse?

There's lots of variations there.
Notice the wording carefully.
The mini can be upgraded with Solid State Drives.
The 13-inch rMBP does not use the word "solid state drive" anywhere, but does use the term "flash storage".
The different devices, although the result is the same, are physically very different, which would also affect the pricing.

Then, the different prices for the upgrades on the two 15-inch rMBP are simply because the faster CPU comes with a larger SSD standard, so upgrading to 768 GB will be less extra cost (but the basic cost is already a lot more with the faster CPU.)
So, you also have to notice what is being upgraded in each situation.

Ah, yes, I hadn't quite comprehended that this is (obviously :o ) an upgrade price on what is already there.
Even so, the MacMini Server pricing is screwy.
And if +256Gb is £400, then that makes the total cost of a 768Gb drive £1200, which is nuts.
The costs for assembling the same SSD into a 13" MBP or a MacMini are still £90 off

Wow. As well as ditching FireWire, the new iMac doesn't have HDMI (and no Thunderbolt adaptor that I can see), nor even Audio in!!
The 2012 MacMini has ALL of those, plus you can upgrade the memory yourself.

So, after waiting all year for a new iMac, looks like I'll be getting a MacMini instead. Crucial Memory have 16Gb RAM for £61, versus Apple's £240. I'll opt for the Fusion drive, though. And I'll buy an external optical drive, which I would have to get with the iMac anyway.

The only disadvantage to the MacMini is the less-powerful Intel 4000 GPU, but that's probably still adequate for most uses, unless you're relying on GPU-accelerated progs.
I've got two Apple Cinema Displays, which the Mini can power easily, so the iMac really has too many disadvantages. Shame.

One can only hope that the next generation MacPro does not suffer the same fate as the iMac.

ThunderBolt to HDMI adapter from Apple: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H1...-audio-support
It's really for Mini DisplayPort, but functions with Thunderbolt, too.

I've been advising people to get Minis over iMacs for years.

In fact, my mother recently called to thank me for talking her out of buying an iMac and into buying a Mini 4-5 years ago. Turns out she just got a new machine, and since she had a Mini, she could just buy another Mini, and keep using her existing 27" monitor (without having to buy a new "built in" one). Of course, this is why I gave her the advice in the first place.

Assuming there is one.

The Mac Mini is a very compelling product really they have reached a good performance/price point but again Apple have done a clanger....no discreet graphics option but as far as Fusion Drives check this out. Use you own SSD and HDD ;-) It works !!!

http://jollyjinx.tumblr.com/post/346...ince-apple-has

Yes, I 've read a number of articles that show how the Fusion drive concept is just done in the OS and how you can recreate it yourself. Of course, that's assuming you can actually open up a Mac to fit an SSD and HDD…!:rolleyes:
It would even help that guy who had a 20Gb SSD and wanted to split the OS across that and his HDD.