2017 iMac Discussion (WWDC announcement)

[CWallace]

How do you know the performance of the Pro 580?

Dell's new 27" Ryzen ATO has the same 580 GPU in it and it's said to be solid for 1080p gaming and VR, but starts to stumble at higher resolutions (2K and 4K) so I expect at 5K gaming and VR it's going to suffer

 

[Scary Spice]

All the whiners got their way with both USB-a and USB-c ports.... Apple shoulda went full-on Jobs on the iMacs and only put USB-c ports on these puppies.

 

[CWallace]

All the whiners got their way with both USB-a and USB-c ports.... Apple shoulda went full-on Jobs on the iMacs and only put USB-c ports on these puppies.

I would have preferred dual TB controllers, as well, but if one needs that, they can buy an iMac Pro.

 

[hurtmemore]

Woah, they added a full size wireless keyboard - 30 dollar upgrade hidden in the checkout phase.

 

[CWallace]

Woah, they added a full size wireless keyboard - 30 dollar upgrade hidden in the checkout phase.

Still cheaper than what I paid for my Matias full-size wireless keyboard.

 

[ithinkihaveacat]

Does anyone know if the 1TB Fusion Drive has a 24GB or 128GB SSD? I cannot find it anywhere

It's 32GB on 1TB, 128GB on 2TB (and 3TB).

If you configure an iMac and then select the "How much storage is right for you?" you see the attached screenshot.

 

[boto]

How do you know the performance of the Pro 580?

You can search online to compare the desktop AMD Radeon RX 580 (Apple likes to replace RX with Pro) to the desktop nVidia GTX 1060 benchmarks.

 

[bounou]

You can search online to compare the desktop AMD Radeon RX 580 (Apple likes to replace RX with Pro) to the desktop nVidia GTX 1060 benchmarks.

Don't forget the 580 is very new, better drivers over time might make it a better card then the 1060... or maybe I am just trying to convince myself in ordering an iMac lol

 

[Glideslope]

no, the only gpu based on vega is the imac pro that is coming to december. The others are based on desktop class polaris

Correct. These are nice dedicated desktop class graphics for the iMac.
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i wonder if the amd 580 will heat like the M295x did

It runs cooler.

 

[Lankyman]

Wow! huge disappointment. All that waiting for the same old non-user upgradable design. Thank god I jumped ship and built my own Windows PC last month - for a third of the price and for a better spec.

 

[dgp1]

They are now available on the site for purchase. The 27" still allows for user replaceable memory.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac/27-inch

I asked the Apple chat about this, because I didn't want to take something so important for granted - here's their reply:

 

[Growlernz]

Wow! huge disappointment. All that waiting for the same old non-user upgradable design. Thank god I jumped ship and built my own Windows PC last month - for a third of the price and for a better spec.

Love to see your build specs, screen etc you used and price.

 

[mollyc]

I asked the Apple chat about this, because I didn't want to take something so important for granted - here's their reply:

For the 27" it says "user accessible" right on the website. I didn't just make it up.

 

[CWallace]

I asked the Apple chat about this, because I didn't want to take something so important for granted - here's their reply:

Note Apple Chat might not have the latest information available.

The memory configurator on Apple's site does say that the RAM in the 21.5" can be upgraded "at an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Reseller". This leads me to believe that it is like the earlier 21.5" model where you have to remove the LCD display to get to the slots which is not what most folks would consider "user accessible".

 

[adnbek]

Wow! huge disappointment. All that waiting for the same old non-user upgradable design. Thank god I jumped ship and built my own Windows PC last month - for a third of the price and for a better spec.

Lolll you expected upgradable iMacs? It's an iMac dude... It's always been non-user upgradable. Why would you be waiting for something that had never existed?

 

[dgp1]

Lolll you expected upgradable iMacs? It's an iMac dude... It's always been non-user upgradable. Why would you be waiting for something that had never existed?

"Dude"... iMacs until very recently all had user-accessible slots for replacing SO-DIMMs. It's a pretty recent development to have anything but. Only one iMac in the past has not had at least an "authorized service provider" accessible slot, the iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014).

There's not really any technical justification for soldering in RAM on iMacs, like there is on the MacBook/MBP lines, so it's a question of designing them intentionally for or intentionally to prevent upgradeable RAM.

And as evidenced by the new 27" in fact having accessible SO-DIMM slots, this goes to show that it's not an unreasonable expectation.

Given how much RAM goes down in price, it's a HUGE benefit to be able to upgrade after the fact. Not even counting the absurd Apple Tax on RAM.

 

[Shivetya]

I asked the Apple chat about this, because I didn't want to take something so important for granted - here's their reply:

32 off Amazon 4x8 was like 225 and 2x16 was 240 which makes buying memory separately a no brainer

 

[CWallace]

iMacs until very recently all had user-accessible slots for replacing SO-DIMMs. It's a pretty recent development to have anything but. Only one iMac in the past has not had at least an "authorized service provider" accessible slot, the iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014).

And now the mid-2017 21.5" iMac has an "authorized service provider" accessible slot again.

There's not really any technical justification for soldering in RAM on iMacs, like there is on the MacBook/MBP lines, so it's a question of designing them intentionally for or intentionally to prevent upgradeable RAM.

There was a technical reason - the RAM the 2014 21.5" model used was only available in a soldered format.

And as evidenced by the new 27" in fact having accessible SO-DIMM slots, this goes to show that it's not an unreasonable expectation.

The 27" model has always had user-accesble RAM.

 

[Lankyman]

Love to see your build specs, screen etc you used and price.

Kaby Lake i5 7600, GTX 1060 6GB GPU, SSD/HDD combo, 16 gigs of DDR4. I already had a Dell U2415M monitor which is more than enough as I have no use for a higher res screen plus, I removed the 500 gig Evo SSD from my iMac and reused it in the Windows setup. Put everything a Corsair case. Set me back £765 GBP.

 

[M3Jedi77]

So the last iMac they said supported 32GB RAM (but it actually supported 64GB).

This iMac they say supports 64GB Ram. Is there a chance 128GB works?

 

[Lankyman]

Lolll you expected upgradable iMacs? It's an iMac dude... It's always been non-user upgradable. Why would you be waiting for something that had never existed?

And yet I upgraded my mid-2011 iMac to SSD/HDD combo and upped the RAM to 20 gigs?

 

[adnbek]

"Dude"... iMacs until very recently all had user-accessible slots for replacing SO-DIMMs. It's a pretty recent development to have anything but. Only one iMac in the past has not had at least an "authorized service provider" accessible slot, the iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014).

There's not really any technical justification for soldering in RAM on iMacs, like there is on the MacBook/MBP lines, so it's a question of designing them intentionally for or intentionally to prevent upgradeable RAM.

And as evidenced by the new 27" in fact having accessible SO-DIMM slots, this goes to show that it's not an unreasonable expectation.

Given how much RAM goes down in price, it's a HUGE benefit to be able to upgrade after the fact. Not even counting the absurd Apple Tax on RAM.

And yet I upgraded my mid-2011 iMac to SSD/HDD combo and upped the RAM to 20 gigs?

Ram upgrades haven't changed on the 27inch. Obviously the 21 is another story but then just get the 27 if user-uogradable ram is important to you.

As for any other upgrade, if you have to completely dissassemble the computer to do it, it's not really meant to be "user upgradable". This goes for every previous iMac too. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but it's never been a piece of cake.

 

[Shivetya]

does memory in the iMac benefit from 4 chips or 2?

 

[dgp1]

For the 27" it says "user accessible" right on the website. I didn't just make it up.

View attachment 702317

Thanks Molly - I was just terrified, because it would drastically affect my purchase decision. I'm a hard 8GB if it has accessible SO-DIMM slots, and super disappointed if anything else

 

[vapourtrails]

Concerning the Fusion drive. Can anyone see if the Fusion drive sports the faster flash or is that just the ssd upgrade, also with the new faster USB ports does this make the Fusion drive less of a trade off because you can easily add a fast external flash drive?