iMacs Freshened with 2.0 GHz G5, Bluetooth, WiFi 790
amichalo writes "Apple has updated the popular consumer level Mac, the iMac G5.
So better support the now standard Mac OS X Tiger, Apple has made significant improvements to all standard configurations including 512MB RAM, Radeon 9600 128MB graphics, and on 2.0 GHz models (17" and 20"), a slot-loading dual-layer 8x SuperDrive is standard. The 1.8 GHz 17" model includes a slot-loading Combo Drive.
Also standard are Apple's AirPort Extreme 802.11g WiFi and Bluetooth. Pricing remains at $1300, $1500, and $1800 respectively for 1.8 GHz 17", 2.0 GHz 17", and 2.0 GHz 20", though 2.0 GHz models include additional upgraded features.
These improvements are significant as this line has not seen a refresh in about a year and the upgrade to a Radeon 9600 graphics card will allow the new iMac to take better advantage of Tiger features such as Core Image, which is significant because the video card cannot be upgraded. Lastly, Apple is continuing the interactive chat and QuickTime support program for the iMac G5."
Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I see a trend .. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not a fanboy, but I've never liked the way chips are advertised by clock-speed, it's quite misleading.
Thats cool (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:5, Insightful)
Quite unlikely, since they were updated a couple of weeks ago (to the 2.0-2.7 GHz family). The 1.8 single CPU model - the one used by jest3r in his comparison - was introduced last year and it was never the king of performance. It was even slower than the "original" 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5, due to slower bus clock. It's market niche are the customers who don't want to pay the hefty price for the "real" PowerMacs, but they want a modular computer, so iMac/eMac/Macmini is not an option. This model probably will be updated soon, but it will be purposedly crippled not to make it run too good to damage the high-end models sales.
Re:What about DVI (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Memory Prices (somewhat) improved (Score:3, Insightful)
We ship 256 MB only in the economy model, the single-processor 1.8 GHz configuration. The other three SKUs come with 512.
Sadly my previous generation iMac, which is now 4 years old, is still running perfectly, especially now it has Tiger
While a flat-panel G4 iMac certainly should run Tiger well, we first shipped them in January 2002. Your iMac can't be more than just over 3 years old.
Re:What about DVI (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:BULLSHIT (Score:5, Insightful)
I paid $2400 for a Powerbook a year ago, and you know what I got that I can't get on any PC?
I enjoy using a computer again. A bargain.
i'm tired of fucking dumb ass macs.. i dont care how good they are, i'm not paying $1300 for a Mac that isn't even CLOSE to their higher end models..
You probably think that the 1000 pc. socket set at Walmart is fantastic. I mean, look how many sockets you get!
Quality over quantity, sweet teats.
Re:My Problem With iMacs (Score:4, Insightful)
Then don't buy one.
"...I highly doubt that an iMac will be useful after 4 years."
Depends on who you are and what you do. I did a website for a guy when the 266 MHz iMacs were brand new. (1999, 2000?) He bought one at the time and still uses it to this day. As long as his email works and he can visit his site and a few others, he's happy.
Besides, it'll *always* work as a kick-ass DVD player. Add an eyeTV and it's a PVR. I mean, it's not like you have to throw it away once you get a new machine.
"Ultimately, I do not care about the speed of my CPU, because sitting in front of a computer is the last fucking thing I want to do after working 60 hour weeks."
Then why are you buying computers at all?
"With iMacs, you seem to pay for both: a computer and a screen."
Well duh. But compare the price to a base PowerMac and it's suddenly pretty impressive. Other than expandability and small differences in bus speed, max RAM, etc., the iMac has it all over the base PowerMac.
"Why bother? You can pick up a nice 20" LCD from Apple for $800 ($700 if you can get educational discount) and that is all I want."
Then buy it. Sorry, but your 'rant' is really lame--"Mack trucks are stupid. I'll never need to haul that much. I'm buying a Prius instead."
Re:A Prediction: (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Low level design flaws? Hold off buying. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:3, Insightful)
Steak dinner $29.76
- eight ounces USDA prime beef
- one teaspoon safflower oil
- one quarter teaspoon salt
- one quarter teaspoon black pepper
- twelve spears of asparagus
- eight ounces fingerling potatoes
- four ounces butter
- four cloves garlic
That $60 bill they handed me in the restaurant last night was completely unreasonable.Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:5, Insightful)
By and large, yes it does.
But you're not telling the whole story. You left out the part where the mac user sells the old mac on eBay for far less of a discount than you'd need to put on a similarly aged PC. Easily over half the original price, in my experience. Sometimes ends up being as much as 2/3rds the price of a new mac just by selling your old one, depending on how frequently you upgrade.
Upgrades are for chumps.
Re:A Prediction: (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think he's an Apple guy of much significance. For all we know he works the "genius bar" at a really, really slow Apple Store somewhere, and surfs slashdot to kill time... if he works for Apple at all.
Whatever the case is, he can claim to be whoever he likes. It doesn't matter. What matters is that his comments tend to contribute to the discussion, while your comment is just whining flame-baiting.
Re:game (Score:2, Insightful)
I couldn't tell you. There's only one game on the Mac I like, and that's WoW.
For all other gaming, I fire up the X-Box.
Nothing on the Windows side really piques my interest, but when the GTA MMORPG comes out in 2007 or so (assuming it's not vapor), I may end up shopping for an AMD or Intel box if it's Windows-only.
Re:Maybe they will upgrade the capacitors? (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with generalizing from your woes--as much as I'm sure they've sucked--is that Apple consistently is very highly ranked in customer satisfaction surveys (though I don't have a link for this). Unless you have some data to back up your anecdote, I'm going to stick with my personal experience: Apple makes really good machines, typically much higher quality than Dell et al., and supports them well.
Re:looks like the end of the PowerMac (Score:1, Insightful)
I thought maybe his whole "I work for Apple" thing was just a story until I saw this. Now I think it just might be true.
Re:One significant thing about the iMac (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Of course you're screwed, you bought a Mac (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Memory Prices (somewhat) improved (Score:3, Insightful)
Every retailer buys RAM from a manufacturer. For sake of argument, let's say that manufacturer is RAMCO. If you go to RAMCO and ask to buy RAM, they're going to say no, because they're not a retailer. They're a wholesaler. They only sell to people who intend to re-sell their RAM.
So instead you go to a retailer. You have two choices. One, BIGCO, does sixty-five skrillion box tops a year in business with RAMCO. The other, LITTLECO, only does ten thousand box tops a year in business. So BIGCO is able to negotiate a lower price per unit with RAMCO, while LITTLECO has to pay more.
Consequently, BIGCO sells RAM cheaper than LITTLECO can.
We're LITTLECO. Somebody like Crucial is BIGCO. See?
Re:game (Score:3, Insightful)
Not that the Mac users can do much about that, really. But I, personally, wish I weren't locked into one particular architecture just because I enjoy playing games. I probably would never, ever use a Mac (I would rather build a computer myself, thanks), but I really wish I could make Linux my primary operating system. Indeed, I wish I could make it my only operating system.
Scientists are also ... (Score:5, Insightful)
But lets not dwell on the snide tone of your comment. Have you ever tried to get work done on a Mac vs. Windows/Linux PC? I have done serious work all three and I rate the OS.X as first (and it took a major step forward with Spotlight), Linux comes in as a quite close second (largely because it is a bit chaotic and less polished than OS.X) and Windows comes in at a distant third and it's saving grace is mostly the fact that it has a larger and more varied flora of applications than the former two.
Re:max. ram size? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Would have been nicer if... (Score:2, Insightful)
Call me crazy, but I'm pretty certain that a G5 iMac starting at 1.6GHz can run Tiger.
Re:game (Score:1, Insightful)
Maybe us PC gamers should complain about all the shitty button mashers, linear RPGs with no real role playing, crappy console FPSs, and 3rd person platforms, just to name a few.
Re:One significant thing about the iMac (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, PC hardware changes so rapidly that sometimes an upgrade is practically new system anyway. About a year and a half ago, my 800mhz duron system failed -- cpu fried. I decided I'd use that opportunity to move to an athlon -- this meant a new video card due to incompatability between MB and video card, new ram because old ram wouldn't fit, and a new power supply just to be safe (old one was a 350, I moved up to 500). So by the time I got done, all I had of the "old" computer was the case, burner, and hard drive.
Anyway, it is also true that if you want to upgrade the video on a PC, you might just have to change out the motherboard as well because of rapidly changing plug shapes, voltage levels, or what have you.
Re:Of course you're screwed, you bought a Mac (Score:2, Insightful)
You forgot to add "And all this for only $399" to your comment.
Try again.
Re:One significant thing about the iMac (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Memory Prices (somewhat) improved (Score:4, Insightful)
We're LITTLECO. Somebody like Crucial is BIGCO. See?
Sounds to me like Apple should buy it's RAM from Crucial, then. If your negotiated price with RAMCO is still higher than Crucial's retail price, or better, whatever price you could negotiate with Crucial, it sounds like you'd be better off. Really.
Re:One significant thing about the iMac (Score:2, Insightful)
If you don't care... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the answer is that you *do* care, and being a PC fanboy, you hate the fact that Apple are making real strides and doing things that Microsoft can't seem to (like stick to their OS schedules).
Realistically, this doesn't impact you in any way whatsoever, as you've got your PC, and you're probably happy with what you paid for it.
So why do you hate the concept of the Mac so much?
Is it because you hate anything *different*?
Is it because it threatens to invalidate your choices?
Face yourself - you care, and the proof of that is in your post. You're coming across as someone who's upset about something that really shouldn't affect you.
Oh - to your 'point'... I'll go out on a limb and say that most Slashdot readers know about technology - where it's been, where it is now and some vague idea of where it's going next. Most people are reasonably well educated around here. They're capable of making their own choices, and they're capable of making informed choices.
Apple are gaining a lot of mindshare around here because they're doing a lot of things right. OS X is the best OS out there, and is actually innovating. People can read the source code for Darwin if they like, and contribute to it if they want to. Macs are easier to use than ever, and people like that.
What can we do on our Macs that you can't on your PC? We can forget the computer and use the things as the tools they are. I don't have to screw around on my iBook to get things working, or to maintain the system integrity. The OS takes care of that for me. I don't have to worry about it. I can get on and just use the apps to get stuff done.
I've used computers since 1981 (when I was 10), and I've seen pretty much everything that's happened in the industry. I've used Windows since 3.1, and before that DOS, CP/M, Amiga-OS and others. I know what I'm talking about. In my view, OS X is the current pinnacle of operating systems. People are noticing it, and people are buying Macs.
If you don't like it, you'll have to learn to live with it.
Re:BULLSHIT (Score:2, Insightful)
If you buy any retail DVD reader or have your PC pre-built with one software akin to iMovie and iPhoto are absolutely free, just like on a Mac.
As for FireWire, my PC I just built recently has FireWire built into the motherboard and it's just a common nForce4 motherboard. It cost me zero extra dollars at all and so you are slightly off on that point.
As for spyware or viruses, any moderately computer literate person can avoid tehse with ease. Simply allow Windows Update to do the critical updates when its needed and when browsing the web make sure your software firewall is on, which all Windows PCs that are SP2 or greater have, or browse behind a router which will keep you safe from spyware.
One could also go ahead and spend the ~$50-$60 CDN dollars for antivirus software as well, but I've never, ever, had a virus following the basic advice that I gave above. That's one more point you have to tick off your pro-Mac list.
As for on-screen font, CTRL + mousewheel really is a beautiful thing as it allows fast zooming in Windows. Additionally, the more readable font for Macs is arguable as some people find the Mac OS X font hinting harder on their eyes than the generic Windows font rendering or the ClearType Windows fond redering.
Me, I'm indifferent and find ClearType and the Mac OS X rendering to be pretty much interchangeable. I suppose that's one more point that you should've researched a bit more on the Windows side as it is readily available for Windows computers.
I will say that I enjoy my iBook and some of the features of Mac OS X Tiger very much, but the Windows trolls do have a few points in that some of the much lauded Mac features are really overblown and available in consumerate form on the Windows platform.