Why You Should Care About Apple's Quietly Released Powerful New iMacs

Why You Should Care About Apple's Quietly Released Powerful New iMacs

On Tuesday, Apple quietly (and I mean VERY quietly) released the newest update to the iMac line of personal computers. It's curious why they (Apple) didn't make any sort of major announcement, or even blend this into the September 10th announcement of the iPhone 5S. I personally think that this update is fairly newsworthy, not only because the iMac has become one of the staples in a lot of professional studio's digital labs and Tech carts, but it's a huge leap in performance over it's predecessor, if you believe the info on Apple's website that is.

The updated iMacs now have the new Intel i5 "Haswell" processor (upgradeable to i7), the new 802.11ac WiFi, PCIe SSD drive bay, and last but not least the NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 7oo series graphics cards. What does all that mean?  Simply put; It's REALLY FAST! For me personally, the processor isn't the big news to me.  I'm happy to get the newest technology, but realistically the programs us photographers use run perfectly well with the old "Ivy Bridge" processors. The kicker for me (and why I went ahead and made the purchase) was the graphics card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M comes with a WHOPPING 4gb of VRam that Photoshop and Lightroom are going to just LOVE to have at their disposal. Another interesting upgrade is the addition of the PCIe bus for the SSD and Fusion Drives. This connection is not only faster, but means that Apple has considered letting us add more drive space at a later date.  Which, if you are like me, love running my system and programs off of SSD, and keeping everything else on spinning drives.

Fstoppers_iMac_Chart
One final thing I've noticed is that the price for these iMacs seem to be slightly lower than their previous incarnations. I know this because I have been in the market for an iMac for about 3 months, and kept track of the previous stats (and costs). Turns out that the "top of the line" iMac that I customized 3 months ago would have cost me roughly $100 more.

Fstoppers_iMac_Price

All of that being said, I'm pretty excited about this update to the iMacs. I'm sure there are tech whizzes out there that were looking for more, and maybe that is why Apple decided to just, nonchalantly upgrade the line. Who knows. All I know is that my current machine is out of warranty, and 4gb of VRAM sounds pretty tasty to me, especially coming in $100 less than the last version!

What do you think of the iMac update?  What is your theory as to why the update didn't come with more pomp and circumstance?

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Previous comments

Wow, faced with evidence that proves you wrong, you simply use some mental judo to reverse it and try to prove your point to yourself and no one else. It is fair, and truth, to say 'not true' when your statement was 'No AIO computer is'. And I give you proof that there is one.

What you said is untrue and now you're attaching qualifiers, ifs, thens, etc. I feel you're suffering from tunnel vision and closed off to new ideas.

Of course it's upgradeable if I start it with a 128GB mSata SSD and then the price of a 512GB mSata SSD comes down and I can simply slide the old one out and put the new one in without tearing apart foam, using a heat gun and voiding a warranty.

Most people who upgrade a computer, 'do it themselves'. How many people do you think reading this forum take their desktop in to Best Buy and ask them to replace the hard drive?

Show me how you upgrade a iMac without voiding the warranty and you proved your point. Again let me repeat myself. Am not talking about anything you build yourself.

"using a heat gun and voiding a warranty." am talking about upgrading a brand name AIO without voiding the warranty.

Not everything "just works on a Mac". Such a blatant marketing lie. I have worked for people with office devices that are only supported by Windows, and they're forced to install Windows as secondary OS on their Macs just to make their devices work. I re-educated them about working with Windows PCs as well, and like sheepleZombies they did not listen. They still have those problems and inefficient practices because of their narrow-mindedness (is that even a word?).

I work with all machines and OSs depending on the requirements of my projects. So no - not everything works on a Mac.

lol ... that made my day !!!

The ad says "... with support for millions of colors".

That much sounds like what you read on the packaging of a Nintendo but hardly fits the description of a professional tool for photographers and grfx designers.

Advertise like it's 1999!

Haha I noticed that. That's how they get the iSheep.

I think it's pretty obvious why they didn't put much effort in advertising the upgrade. It's just a spec refresh and most people don't really care about that and they want the iPhone to keep the limelight. Lastly, they know tech blogs will pick up the news so people that care about that kind of stuff will know.

Im waiting until the black trashcan (new mac pro) comes out ( I'm saving all my $$$ for that monster ) :-)

LR/PS just WON'T make use of the extra 2GB memory from the graphic card. Where you got this idea from? Please correct the article, that's just misinformation.

To be clear: Lightroom performance does not benefit from faster graphics cards or greater VRAM at all:

http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html#...

And, like patiferoolz notes, Photoshop only piggybacks off select Nvidia cards in specific situations. And, in such situation, it's more about the processing power of the GPU rather than the VRAM that comes with it.

One really ought not be writing about how hardware affects software performance without a basic understanding of...how hardware affects software performance.

A very valid complaint, especially considering the hyperbole in the article.

You two have said the most informed comments in this article.

BUT IT's A MAC! SO IT's THE BEST FOR PHOTOSHOP AND LIGHTROOM!

My PCs are crying with laughter XD

Can you still pop open the back to add more RAM?

Another Mac professional option using laptop hardware and charging 3 x the price for it?

You can easily get the PC version of those systems for half the price. $2000 for an i5 machine? Give me a break. They look slick, if you're into tossing the whole thing away once a single part breaks, but no thanks. I can build an Ivy Bridge system for half that.

in the end that is the problem.

I have been shopping all summer. No matter what configuration I put together. I end up around the same price. Once I include a Xeon...its just as expensive if not more.

The issue thou is not price. Either way I see it, am spending 4K. I just really, really don't like windows. If it wasn;t for the OS. I would pay to build my ultimate machine. Screw apple.

"...keeping everything else on spinning drives".
Where do you put another drive?

I'm not so excited..a new processor and a new graphic card are cool and it's great that it is a little bit cheaper..but I don't feel like it's a revolution..

Maybe he was talking about portable harddrives. Maybe, just maybe...

i hope Mac Mini will know the same evolution ^^

Are Macs over priced? Yes. Are they worth it? Well, that depends on the buyer. You can spend your time and money how ever you like. Clearly, you chose to spend the time researching your components on various websites and online stores, reading reviews and learning how to put all the parts together in a functional way. The rest of us either don't have the leisure time to do this, or can't be bothered with all the hassle to save a few hundred bucks. Don't get me wrong, I'm not challenging you or trying to spark the infamous, endless debate - I'm actually stoked you were able to put together your own little super computer, it's great that people are out there doing that, because in the end I hope that it does help keep Apple from attaining the market and creating a monopoly (and maybe one day it'll even cause them to slash their prices!).

They have 7% of market share in a dying market place. No monopoly opportunity in sight lol.

It's a good thing really. We don't want viruses. Let windows be numero uno and continue to be the target.

Off the shelf I've already saved some $ on computer slowing antivirus software.

did you consider the monitor? a slim case for the components?

The debate continues. People need to understand that the iMac is for the general consumer and not for people who like to mod out their machine. I personally can't see someone's grandma saying I'm going to build out my pc cause macs are to expensive. Computers like cameras are a tool. Pick the one thats right for you based on what you need and stop ragging on mac cuz without them a lot of tech would not be in existence.

Can this screen be color corrected and does it cover the full RGB gamut? I think that is my biggest concern with looking at buying an iMac. I like the Apple operating system (kill me Windows), but also like the customizability and affordability of PC. But that screen.

APPLE WAKE UP, Intel already have i7 Extreme with 15M Lcache and it will overclock up to 4.0GHz which will be very handy if you have big After Effects or Premiere rendering.

PS: I didn't mention CGI as it's not even a possibility :)

I use an iMac at work and I have an older Macbook and a newer PC laptop at home, so I don't really like to pick sides, but...

Why should we care...when you could have bought a PC desktop with the exact same components since they came out earlier this year...

Congrats to anyone who was waiting for for the new line to come out, since it's like four months overdue by now.

Instead of discussing how expensive Macs are, or how terrible the Windows experience is, why don't we pressure major software designers to support Linux? That way we can build affordable machines with decent operating systems.

I think you're going to see android (linux kernel) become more robust and a real alternative to the big two before seeing linux itself become more mainstream. Chrome OS shows promise as well (also linux derived). What makes Linux great also holds it back: open source. Linux will only grow as far as the enthusiast sector will take it. Without a real way to monetize it, it will always lack the funding needed to make it a polished platform. I also believe that the developers that drive linux prefer to keep it obscure and somewhat exclusive to power users.

You have essentially repeated what I already said, which was intended to be representative of the major complaints against Windows and Mac systems. Your not-so-subtle spin of blaming the Windows user for their own bad experience is both unfair to the consumer and unjustly generous to Microsoft.

Moving on, the point I was trying to make is that Linux is really not in a different ballpark, but it is perceived to be such because most major software designers have long ignored the platform. (One notable exception being Google.) With a little attention from people like Adobe, Apple (iTunes, Aperture) and Microsoft (Office), Linux can be a perfectly viable third-OS option.

It's actually not that great of a deal.....the lower end model of the previous generation, had a 7200 rpm drive, and a discrete graphics card....the new one is 5400 rpm, and a integrated graphics....for the same price....

Makes me glad that i bought my refurbished quad i7 mac mini for hundreds less, then put my own sad and maxed out ram...all for less than they want for the iMac....

Rather get a xeon or a 4770 with 32gb of mem and a 32" sharp igzo 4k mon. Worth much more than I am paying for an all in 1 Imac that is stuck at i5. I saw that monitor and wow apple should be bowing down to the new retina display at 4k.

Pretty overpriced as always. Keep paying for that name.

for $1100 I can get a E3 1230 V2 and GTX 760 for a desktop including a cheap monitor, what does this mean?

That was the base PC machines 2 years ago. I have twice as much ram, video ram, video cards (4 outs), 512 ssd and a 1tb drive for less - a year ago. I use both Macs and PC and anymore they are both the same speed.

I always find it quite entertaining how whenever a blog like this reports about a new mac the comments are just a stream of Windows users who seem all offended that anyone would ever imagine buying a mac.

Do car blogs have similar problems? Report about a new Acura or Audi and everyone hops on showing how there are Toyotas and Hondas with just as much power for half the price?

I think we all just need to learn to accept that everyone has different values when they are purchasing a computer.

I whole heartedly support anyone that loves to build their own machines and constantly tinker with them to maximize their performance. I also fully support those who want to just buy a computer and not have to think about anything technical until it comes time to buy another one half a decade later.

The reality is that macs are low maintenance and elegant. That low maintenance and elegance comes at a higher price point. This is pretty much how it is with any luxury product.

Personally, I am thrilled they have announced these new iMacs and I will be buying one shortly to replace my current mac. Which is about to turn 7 years old. And in those 7 years I have hardly had to do any maintenance to keep it running. It simply works. And it still works like the day I bought it. It just no longer has the horsepower to run software as fast as it once did.

I have owned windows machines, if you keep on top of them and are constantly updating drivers, anti virus software, etc they run great. If you don't they nose dive. I have no interest in constantly worrying about that sort of thing so I shell out the extra money for a mac.

To each his own. I say we just be happy that there are two VERY different brands that each meets the needs of a specific user.

Still glossy screen, which is hard to calibrate...

With the money you spend on a Mac you can buy a PC 3 times faster. Mac is for computational ingnorant people, period!
-Computational Systems Engineer/Photographer-

Sorry buddy, you're wrong. I am a long time windows user, when I became a pro photographer I realised the value in a highly polished product and transitioned to Mac. I decided that my time was better spent working on my craft rather than working on my PC, Mac has done that for me. You can't compare stats in the PC/Mac battle but rather the sum of all parts and execution, this is where Mac pulls ahead. PC building is no longer a hobby of mine and I have no time for bugs and workarounds. The money I lose upfront is more than made up for in time gained by using tools that JUST WORK. In short: I'd rather be a great Photographer than a mediocre I.T. guy and so so photographer. So have fun waving your "Computational Systems Engineer/Photographer" flag and looking down your nose at "computational ingnorant people". I'll let my work talk for me.

BTW you spelled ignorant wrong.......

That's what I said, Mac is for computational ignorant people (Thanks for stating that super important typo over there, being English my third language makes it important for me to improve it) Knowing about computers doesn't take 80% of your brain's memory capacity, it's not that complicated and it can help improve photography workflkow a lot without the idiotic need to pay way too much for something not worth it.

What Mac is, as Steve Job stated many times, is a love brand. A brand that gives people not functionality but status instead, a brand that gives design instead of practicality and, from the computer system engineer point of view (Wich is the scientific one) Buying a Mac is for computer ignorants. Maybe it works for you and that's fine, but that also means you are a computer ignorant, that's only my statement, I'm not saying you are a stupid in general (Wich you may be) I'm just saying you are a stupid in the computer realm regard.

Do you own a Mac? I own 3 Macbook pros, a PC desktop, windows/linux dual boot laptop, 4 android devices, 2 ios devices. We can talk nerdy all day long. I've had my fill of devices and operating systems. I'm not the biggest fan of OSX and utterly despise itunes, however I am pleased as punch with the overall reliability of both hardware and software. I am also impressed by how my mbp runs faster than my higher spec'd laptop. I am also in love with the well calibrated IPS display that makes proofing and editing images a breeze. The problem with windows is it tries to be ok at everything rather than great at a handful tasks. You are arguing stats and I'm looking at the end result and overall experience.

And yes misspelling "ingnorant" is a "super important typo" when pointing out the ignorance of others....In any language. I am fairly certain that spell check is a working function in windows.

I don't get it if you're a professional and not really in to gaming, you can be so happy with a castrated mobile version of the gaming oriented graphics card. For that money I'd rather see them sticking in a Quadro / FirePro card with 10 or 12bits output and make it the graphical workhorse it used to be.

To the author of the article:
the cool and exciting thing about this iMac is that the top of the line cpu, is a yet to be released chip from Intel. The closest thing to it is scoring from 1st to 3d place on geekbench when comparing to all other cpu's in existence. The one in the iMac will be ever so slightly better and perfectly optimised thanks to apple.

To all the windows boys:
the iMac was never a gaming pc or a video and audio workhorse.
It was always a cheap computer that offered consumers with an all in one solution and up to date I/O. (first with USB 1.1 by the way)

I personally don't mind that Apple creates a consumer product that is build around the good enough for everyone idea and also brings out a version with a good cpu and gpu, a 27" display, plenty of I/O, and a price that let's me buy a new one every 2 years.

mac really need to got do something better they stick really high price tag on.......go ask google for some help

Thanks for the update! Always had Macs since I bought my first computer in 2002. I purchased my current 24" iMac in 2007. It still runs great but am looking forward to getting a new 27" iMac asap.