iMac March 2009 Revision - An Intermediate One?

[spcdust]

I really feel that this iMac revision is a bit of an intermediate one, a metaphorical dusting down of the desktop line-up prior to a more substantial technical update towards year end. I know it's pure speculation but I just cannot see Apple being able to prolong the life of the current iMac specification for another ten or so months - if they do the iMac will seem positively archaic compared to the desktop competition.

 

[wakerider017]

I really feel that this iMac revision is a bit of an intermediate one, a metaphorical dusting down of the desktop line-up prior to a more substantial technical update towards year end. I know it's pure speculation but I just cannot see Apple being able to prolong the life of the current iMac specification for another ten or so months - if they do the iMac will seem positively archaic compared to the desktop competition.

Not sure how you figure that.

I cant see a design change anytime soon as everything mac pretty much matches right now.

The internals are from from "archaic"

 

[Le Big Mac]

if they do the iMac will seem positively archaic compared to the desktop competition.

How so? If they keep upping the chip speed, the HD size, the graphics performance, etc., what will be archaic? The form factor? Who's making a better looking all-in-one? Copies, sure, but it's not like Dell is producing some sweet box.

So I'm not really sure what they could do, other than to drop the iMac altogether and put the guts into a mini and then sell the various ACDs.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Positively archaic? Ha! It's a great machine....

Bryan

 

[wesleyh]

The imac is a desktop system. As such it is archaic compared to others (quad core). Don't care if they use laptop parts inside, that's their problem, not mine. They could have made it an inch thicker and use desktop parts.

 

[sn00pie]

If it ain't broke, then don't fix it.

The iMac is absolutely perfect as it is. They've given it a performance boost for a relatively in-expensive price change...which is a great thing.

 

[spcdust]

Looking at the spec of the high end iMac and the UK price of £1799 the sum of the parts don't really excite me. For starters, same processor as a year ago and a mid range gfx card - these specs, for the money, were looking a bit long in the tooth a few months ago (that's being generous) but are going to look even worse as the months go on.

I don't expect some major re-design in the next update but do expect and more exciting internal overhaul next time round - this revision just seems a bit lazy (chuck a bigger HD in, a bit more RAM). I think that the fact it's a fairly low key revision says a lot and reckon come November we may be more impressed with what Apple have to offer (pure speculation on my part).

As for the UK price, of course the pound is weak but the iMac price structure really does stick out like a sore thumb over here compared to the competition, they cross a psychological barrier for many would be purchasers. Personally I would stretch to the cost of the high end IF I felt that I was buying a computer with up-to-date parts but alas, not this time, Apple need to do better to convince me that their premium price is worth it.

 

[Gregintosh]

Both, the mini and the iMac updates are looking pretty "intermediate"

First, the iMac is just adding more RAM and HD space with a slight graphics update just so that its not laughable compared to graphics on PCs, though it still is behind as usual.

The "major" part of this iMac refresh was the fact that the 24" is now the same price as the high end 20" used to be. Of course, the downside is that you can't upgrade the graphics on it from the 9400m (I wonder how the 9400m integrated stacks up to the HD 2600 from previous models?).

I think they are fine machines, but too steep in price. If you could get the highest end model for $1799 it would really be a killer deal.