New iMac Announced

[srwatters]

For those who have been waiting...

Apple - iMac - The ultimate all-in-one desktop computer.

[Jake]

Ordered the 27" i7 this morning!

[srwatters]

Nice! Congrats.

Can't wait to see the performance numbers. I'm seriously considering one rather than another Mac Pro. My 8 core 3.0GHz model is getting a bit long in the tooth as a desktop, but it would make a killer file server with 2x gigabit ethernet channels, 8GB of RAM and 8TB of disk. As long as I can drive my external wide gamut display via Thunderbolt, I think that would be a rockin' setup. Throw a big SSD boot drive and 16GB of RAM in the iMac and it should really fly.

[groovyone]

Do they really have to keep calling them iMacs? I can help but picture the neon monitor/computers from many years ago.

[Rson]

Another new proprietary technology the Thunderbolt.

AMD Video cards???? And the cheap ones at that.

[crbeveri]

Ordered my 27" i7

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by Rson

Another new proprietary technology the Thunderbolt.

It's Intel technology. If you want to call that proprietary, then I guess the processor is too... Apple is just first to market with it.

Originally Posted by Rson

AMD Video cards???? And the cheap ones at that.

For a photographer these cards are far more than what's needed. This machine isn't made for PC gamerboys.

[hue-e]

http://youtu.be/NgJkl2jCA5Y

[mercphoto]

Originally Posted by srwatters

It's Intel technology. If you want to call that proprietary, then I guess the processor is too... Apple is just first to market with it.

Correct! Remember the same thing happened with USB. Intel technology that Apple was the first to utilize.

[sn805619]

You guys are quick!

[zachary]

Originally Posted by srwatters

For a photographer these cards are far more than what's needed. This machine isn't made for PC gamerboys.

Wouldn't you rather have that power though?

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by zachary

Wouldn't you rather have that power though?

What power? Additional FPS for games? At one point the power of the GPU could be used for additional general computation, but now with every machine sporting at least 4 cores, as long as the GPU can support the color depth and display sizes needed, I fail to see what it would do for my application. Photoshop does use the GPU for acceleration and it does make scrolling around my 1 GB images (39MP * 16bit color * 4-6 layers) pretty nice, but beyond that, the CPU power, memory, and disk bandwidth are more important. The GPU system Apple has put into these units was probably chosen with Lion (OS X 10.7) in mind and I'll bet provides all the power needed for a great desktop experience.

If I was into gaming, video editing, or any other application the depended on massive GPU power, then this wouldn't be the machine for me. But as a photographer, software engineer, and general computer user, the additional horsepower a state of the art GPU provides just isn't important to me.

Of course YMMV...

[groovyone]

Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays! (video) -- Engadget

[crbeveri]

Originally Posted by srwatters

What power? Additional FPS for games? At one point the power of the GPU could be used for additional general computation, but now with every machine sporting at least 4 cores, as long as the GPU can support the color depth and display sizes needed, I fail to see what it would do for my application. Photoshop does use the GPU for acceleration and it does make scrolling around my 1 GB images (39MP * 16bit color * 4-6 layers) pretty nice, but beyond that, the CPU power, memory, and disk bandwidth are more important. The GPU system Apple has put into these units was probably chosen with Lion (OS X 10.7) in mind and I'll bet provides all the power needed for a great desktop experience.

If I was into gaming, video editing, or any other application the depended on massive GPU power, then this wouldn't be the machine for me. But as a photographer, software engineer, and general computer user, the additional horsepower a state of the art GPU provides just isn't important to me.

Of course YMMV...

Don't forget about all the viruses and security holes you could have too with all that extra power.

I am with srwatters: If I was still into gaming like I was 10-15 years ago I would be building my own computers again. However, b/c I typically only use my computer for webdesign, photography, and general purpose I have no reason to build them. I have contemplated building a hakintosh but dont care to anymore.

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by groovyone

Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays! (video) -- Engadget

Nice! Not lovin' the Dell displays, but that's friggin' cool!