New iMac / Mac Mini Specs

FranchiseJuan said:
You got to remember that the quad core machines use a different processor (I am assuming) that cannot run in a 2 cpu configuration (even if you could put another CPU into the machine) which would make this kind of hard.
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I haven't found anything saying that on their site. Both are listed as Nehalem QUAD core processors and on previous versions of the pro they have used multi processor capable processors on the single processor models! I think the daughter card is likely to be different though.
 
FranchiseJuan said:
I got to do more research but more and more I am not liking the locked down nature of OsX (even though I am running leopard on an MSI wind).
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I do like the locked down nature it is what gives us the stability! What I don't like is the way they stop looking after people with older machines when it comes to upgrades available on newer machines.
 
badgerbaiter said:
mac mini 120GB 1GB 2Ghz for £500!!! thats taking the proverbial
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That is what I thought too!

I thought it might be down to the much higher cost of DDR3 but they are only charging £40 to upgrade from 1Gb to 2Gb so I doubt 1Gb costs £100 :) The HD is about the same price as an 80 in bulk so its not there either!

You do get non integrated graphics, a DVD writer (from a CD writer/DVD reader), 40Gb more HD space, an upgrade from FW400 to FW800, an extra USB port and the ability to drive dual monitors!! - I think that is worth £100 BUT things have moved on in the computer world in the past 2-3 years since the last one came out!!
 
cowasaki said:
I haven't found anything saying that on their site. Both are listed as Nehalem QUAD core processors and on previous versions of the pro they have used multi processor capable processors on the single processor models! I think the daughter card is likely to be different though.
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Nehalem have three varients the 3000 being only capable of running in a single processor configuration, and the 5000 being able to run in multiple processor state (and the 3000 being cheaper then the 5000) I don't see why apple would use a more expensive processor in a cheaper machine.
 
FranchiseJuan said:
Nehalem have three varients the 3000 being only capable of running in a single processor configuration, and the 5000 being able to run in multiple processor state (and the 3000 being cheaper then the 5000) I don't see why apple would use a more expensive processor in a cheaper machine.
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BUT it does not actually say which one is fitted AND they have done it the past on BOTH variant 1 & 2 models they fitted dual chip versions of the Xeons despite there being single chip versions! Now I am not saying they are OR are not but that information does not seem to be on the site unless I have just missed it.

I think that Apple WILL however use a different daughter card now that the processor(s) and ram are on the card so that would stop you upgrading anyway!! (unless you got hold of a daughter card from a dead pro in years to come)
 
ianm79 said:
ok, what about your workflow? you'll need new software - if you are fine with that and ready for a new experience in computers then go for it
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I install very little software, Elements 2 which is Mac and Windows compatible, an office suite but i can get office 2008 cheaply an ftp client and a few other bits and bats
 
Gary Coyle said:
I install very little software, Elements 2 which is Mac and Windows compatible, an office suite but i can get office 2008 cheaply an ftp client and a few other bits and bats
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I use FETCH for FTP it is really good, open office is free and not at all bad and adobe software can be transferred from mac to windows and vice versa (unless it is OEM) so just give them a ring!
 
Just need to raise the cash or sell my D300 and grip, are there any vendors doing any deals on the outgoing imacs, i fancied the 24 inch 3.06ghz one, Dabs were doing it for a smidgen over £1,000 last week but they dont have any now, and the 2.8ghz is now over £1100
 
I'd wait for a few days to see what turns up in the Apple refurb store, there has got to be places with the old model still in stock too, that they will be needing to shift.
 
After all the hype about a possible quad-core iMac, I'm disappointed...

Eighteen months ago I bought my 2.4Ghz Intel dual-core 24-inch iMac with 2GB of RAM for £1200. Today they're offering, for the same money, double the RAM (which is worth about £30) and an extra 0.26Ghz of processor speed... i dunno :thinking:

Isn't the rate of technological advancement supposed to be faster than this?
 
I agree, They are as lazy as Porsche designers!!
 
ekimeno said:
After all the hype about a possible quad-core iMac, I'm disappointed...

Eighteen months ago I bought my 2.4Ghz Intel dual-core 24-inch iMac with 2GB of RAM for £1200. Today they're offering, for the same money, double the RAM (which is worth about £30) and an extra 0.26Ghz of processor speed... i dunno :thinking:

Isn't the rate of technological advancement supposed to be fast than this?
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If you bought it 18 months ago is your iMac processor not of a different intel family of chips ? The nehalem processors in the new mac pro for example are supposed to be 30% faster for the same clock speed!
 
Well, as somebody that's owned an iMac for 13 months I'm pretty chuffed.
The spec is a bit better, but not near enough to make me want a new iMac. Cosmetically the same and this thing runs so sweet nobody will be able to tell what it is.
It's good that they are offering slightly better specs to new customers and the 24" starting price is a bit lower.
It's all rosy from where I'm sitting.
 
I was waiting for the new iMac before spending - now I'm thinking that I should wait for Snow Leopard before taking the leap just to recover some of the extra outlay. Has anyone know what the real difference is between the lower and higher spec'd CPU 24" existing machines? Is it worth the substantial difference in cost?

Chris
 
Tulipone said:
I was waiting for the new iMac before spending - now I'm thinking that I should wait for Snow Leopard before taking the leap just to recover some of the extra outlay. Has anyone know what the real difference is between the lower and higher spec'd CPU 24" existing machines? Is it worth the substantial difference in cost?

Chris
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see post #33
 
cowasaki said:
see post #33
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Yeah, I saw that but I was thinking of the difference between the 2.66 and the 3.06. If I remember correctly, a £600 difference -is there a substantial difference with the graphics and processor to warrant the massive cost? I guess the most that I am likely to run is CS4!

Chris
 
ianm79 said:
and? what goodies did you bring back? :)
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A 24" imac, just the lowly 2.66ghz model, but well chuffed! :D Got a new desk and chair to build now, before I get it all out of the box!
 
irw1 said:
A 24" imac, just the lowly 2.66ghz model, but well chuffed! :D Got a new desk and chair to build now, before I get it all out of the box!
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Do you have CS4? Want help building your desk (and can I help you set up the iMac)? Do you need a new friend? Can I come to play?

Seriously, interested in the real performance of CS4 - very interested in your thoughts.

Chris (Jealous of Huntingdon)
 
Tulipone said:
Do you have CS4? Want help building your desk (and can I help you set up the iMac)? Do you need a new friend? Can I come to play?

Seriously, interested in the real performance of CS4 - very interested in your thoughts.

Chris (Jealous of Huntingdon)
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:lol::lol: Thanks for the offers of help with the desk - I've roped my wife into the "holding that bit" and "pass me the screwdriver" duties though, ta! ;)

Will deffo get back to you on the speed of CS4 though. I can compare it to my 1 month old work imac, (2.88ghz, 4gb,) if that's any help? Based on what I've read so far, I expect them to perform at a similar ish speed tbh, which will suit me fine!

ianm79 said:
hey, i saw him first :D
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:lol::lol: Form an orderly queue folks...! ;)
 
irw1 said:
:lol::lol:
Will deffo get back to you on the speed of CS4 though. I can compare it to my 1 month old work imac, (2.88ghz, 4gb,) if that's any help? Based on what I've read so far, I expect them to perform at a similar ish speed tbh, which will suit me fine!

:lol::lol: Form an orderly queue folks...! ;)
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I would be very interested. I have waited so long for the new iMacs and need to buy the right one without over engineering the solution (and paying more in the process). If the entry 24" is good enough, its good enough. Certainly extra hard drive space will be through a NAS if needed so do not need 1Tb right now.

I think that my biggest problem now is waiting for Snow Leopard.

...queue? Nope. You ever heard of the North / South divide?

Chris
 
It will certainly be faster and going from 2.66 to 3Ghz is getting to the point where it will be noticeable. The faster graphics solution will also help BUT the slightly slower machine WILL happily run CS4....

I run CS3 (photoshop and dreamweaver) with Fusion, Fetch, lightroom, safari and mail all at the same time on my macbook pro 2.66 with everything happening pretty much instantly and although I have a faster computer downstairs in reality it does not seem any quicker. I have a quad xeon 2.66 mac pro variant 1 with 6gb ram and a quick HD. This should be about as quick as the new 2.66 iMac give or take a few % but it feels exactly the same as the macbook pro.

I can actually run CS2 very happily on my iBook 1.33GHz 1.5Gb and still use it. If you have the money to spare then by all means go and buy the faster machine. If computers are your hobby then, again, go and buy the more expensive one but if, as I believe, computers are a means to complete your photography then go and spend the £600 on a spanking new lens. That is what I would do and I am a complete computer nerd ;)
 
Don't know how much of a boost in speed I'll notice going from 2.4Ghz to 2.66Ghz TBH - certainly not worth selling my iMac and buying this new one.

The next logical step for me is a MacPro... but the prices :cuckoo:
 
FranchiseJuan said:
Nehalem have three varients the 3000 being only capable of running in a single processor configuration, and the 5000 being able to run in multiple processor state (and the 3000 being cheaper then the 5000) I don't see why apple would use a more expensive processor in a cheaper machine.
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Looks like the quad does use a 3 series and the eight core two 5 series but information was not from Apple's site (this is a first with the intel mac pro line!). To be honest Apple's processor/memory card was unlikely to take 2 processors anyway but it was a nice thought whilst it lasted. I still think it is rather expensive though and I cannot see how a quad nehalem is going to be faster than dual quad core xeons that are clocked higher! Will be interesting to see some direct comparisons.
 
ekimeno said:
Don't know how much of a boost in speed I'll notice going from 2.4Ghz to 2.66Ghz TBH - certainly not worth selling my iMac and buying this new one.

The next logical step for me is a MacPro... but the prices :cuckoo:
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I wouldn't do it to be honest. 2Ghz to 2.66GHz maybe but 2.4GHz to 2.66Ghz just isn't a big enough step.
 
Agreed. Although the next step up is truly massive... if I had to get a MacPro, it would need to be a 2.93Ghz Quad core with 8Gb RAM. When you add in an airport card, mouse/keyboard and say a 24-inch Dell monitor on top of that, I'm facing a bill of around £2800.

In the current climate, for me at least, that would just be looking for trouble :lol:

In retrospect iMacs are amazing value for money and very glad I have one that's still pretty powerful.
 
A hefty price hike for the top of the range iMac just to get another 2g of ram and a different graphics card, unless I've missed another upgrade in there.



Oh I missed that it has a 1Tb drive, so not as big a jump as I thought.

I can have one in 24 hours, unless I want to upgrade the graphics to the ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB then I'll have to wait 3 to 4 WEEKS :lol:
 
There will probably be a nasty Mac only virus that will kill our machines ..... then you can laugh at us :lol:
 
Hi,

Seeing the new iMac and Mac Mini updates has made me as well as other potential Mac upgraders decide to hold off for now due to the stupid prices...£649 for a Mac Mini??? Thats's a rediculous price to pay for something that's a starter Mac system in comparison the the older prices in where a potential switcher would pay around £400 for the base model and only another £100 for the next model up. Not only that but with a recession going in here at the moment can Apple really expect sales of the Mini to take off along with their other priced bumped products??

The upgrades themselves are not exactly amazing either with cost cutting on RAM(the base model Mini only has 1GB whereas the next model up has wait for it...2!!!! Gee, thanks Apple how kind of you!!) a bigger hard drive and a bit more memory on the graphics card-Not enough to warrent the hefty £150 markup for those features alone.

The iMac too has seen crazy pricing too with the top spec a now eye watering £1800!!! The only real worthy upgrade here from what I can see is going from the lonely 20" model iMac to the 24" iMac which gives you a bigger screen, more RAM, and a bigger hard drive..other than that the other options are mainly centred around gaming with graphic card upgrades and hard drive capacity increases and nothing else....very disappointing to say the least!! I won't be reaching out to buy a new iMac anytime soon which is a shame as I was looking to sell my trusty old white 20" Core 2 Duo iMac for a new one.

I won't go into the Mac Pro as that's another story, It seems as if Apple is focusing less on desktop customers these days, and more than their Macbook line of products...with the Intel Core i7 processors out you'd think Apple would have looked into using them for their new lineup across the range along with quadcore for when Snow Leopard is released which will no doubt be focused around multi core processing.

Michael.
 
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