iMacs - due an update soon or not? Buy now or wait?

[ascender]

I'm looking for an iMac just now to replace the faulty one I bought from the Apple Store at the start of the year. I've not been paying much attention to this site recently though, so was just wondering what the informed opinion is about buying an iMac just now?

I guess that now the move to Intel has been made, things are settling down in terms of major upgrades to the product line, but I was just wondering if there's any rumours meaning its definitely best to hold off for a wee bit longer?

Thanks,


Mike.

 

[j26]

Hold off at least until the 7th August. They are due for Core 2 Duo very soon.

 

[yankeefan24]

I'm thinking they will get core 2 duo in paris. so september.

You can look in the buyer's guide on the top of the page, btw.

 

[ascender]

Ah, never noticed that, sorry, having a bit of a blonde moment!

Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can hold off until September!

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

My guess is that it will get a better cpu but then Apple will cripple it with a new Integrated graphics. My prediction.

 

[pianoman]

I'm looking for an iMac just now to replace the faulty one I bought from the Apple Store at the start of the year.

if you got it within a year, it is still covered under warranty. why not try to get them to fix it? especially do this is you have applecare.

 

[ascender]

My guess is that it will get a better cpu but then Apple will cripple it with a new Integrated graphics. My prediction.

One of the things I might want to do is have XP on there to play the occasional game, so maybe I'm better off buying now.

f you got it within a year, it is still covered under warranty. why not try to get them to fix it? especially do this is you have applecare.

Sorry, I never explained myself. I bought a new iMac but returned it within a couple of weeks as the wireless LAN card was faulty and Apple were wanting to repair it instead of replacing it.

 

[pianoman]

Sorry, I never explained myself. I bought a new iMac but returned it within a couple of weeks as the wireless LAN card was faulty and Apple were wanting to repair it instead of replacing it.

why didn't you just let them repair it, then?

 

[yankeefan24]

My guess is that it will get a better cpu but then Apple will cripple it with a new Integrated graphics. My prediction.

I doubt it. The mini is for that, and not having a gpu in it would be a serious hit for their business.

You can always see what they come out with, and if you don't like it, buy a refurb core duo iMac.

 

[ascender]

why didn't you just let them repair it, then?

Because it was a 3 day old machine I bought to replace my main PC in the house and they were quoting 10 days+ to repair the wireless card, so I just went for a refund. It was at a time where I really couldn't be without a main desktop in the house unfortunately. Since then I've made do with my PC and my iBook, but am fed up with the PC now so am looking to replace it asap.

 

[pianoman]

Because it was a 3 day old machine I bought to replace my main PC in the house and they were quoting 10 days+ to repair the wireless card, so I just went for a refund. It was at a time where I really couldn't be without a main desktop in the house unfortunately. Since then I've made do with my PC and my iBook, but am fed up with the PC now so am looking to replace it asap.

oh, i see. so you don't actually have an iMac right now. given that, i would wait until after next week to see if anything new comes along. if there is something new and you still want the current model, you can probably get a good discount on ebay or other sites that will be unloading the current models for the possibly-updated ones.

 

[QCassidy352]

My guess is that it will get a better cpu but then Apple will cripple it with a new Integrated graphics. My prediction.

not on an imac. that's apple's mid-range. graphics aren't upgradable, but they won't be integrated, either.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

not on an imac. that's apple's mid-range. graphics aren't upgradable, but they won't be integrated, either.

iMacs have had pretty poor graphics for years & years until this past year , but with the Intel deal and them coming out with a better integrated graphics chips I wouldnt be so sure. Apple has a love affair with low end graphics. I still think they will go cheap with graphics and use a Intel product.

 

[bendejo]

Refur iMac issue

I doubt it. The mini is for that, and not having a gpu in it would be a serious hit for their business.

You can always see what they come out with, and if you don't like it, buy a refurb core duo iMac.

See, that was my plan, but as of right now they are out of refurb Intel iMacs... does Apple usually wait until they have a sizable stock of refurbs before making them available on their web site, or do they basically put them up for sale as soon as they are available?

 

[BlizzardBomb]

iMacs have had pretty poor graphics for years & years until this past year , but with the Intel deal and them coming out with a better integrated graphics chips I wouldnt be so sure. Apple has a love affair with low end graphics. I still think they will go cheap with graphics and use a Intel product.

Not in the iMacs. I am 99.9999999% sure they won't. I'm thinking X1600 Pro for the next revision.

 

[amac4me]

wait till after wwdc

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Not in the iMacs. I am 99.9999999% sure they won't. I'm thinking X1600 Pro for the next revision.

I would like to see that but Apple is ran by a bunch of bean counters like it or not and integrated is cheap ,cheap, cheap plus who knows how the AMD/Ati merger will affect Apple who has sided with Intel. Apple just may use a garbage GPU for seperation between powerMac & consumerMac. They have done it before but heres how it works.....they use a faster Cpu then a weaker gpu but due to the faster cpu it gets a few more frames then Apple says... see its faster then ever. Then the Mac Fan club says how great they are then the Bean counters at Apple pat each other on the back that they will now make 50 more bucks on each unit. Thats the scenario I forcast.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

I would like to see that but Apple is ran by a bunch of bean counters like it or not and integrated is cheap ,cheap, cheap plus who knows how the AMD/Ati merger will affect Apple who has sided with Intel. Apple just may use a garbage GPU for seperation between powerMac & consumerMac. They have done it before but heres how it works.....they use a faster Cpu then a weaker gpu but due to the faster cpu it gets a few more frames then Apple says... see its faster then ever. Then the Mac Fan club says how great they are then the Bean counters at Apple pat each other on the back that they will now make 50 more bucks on each unit. Thats the scenario I forcast.

50 bucks more per unit but 5x less sold. Seriously, they aren't going to do it. And the AMD/ATI merger affects nothing. Do you really think AMD would stop letting Apple use ATI graphics cards, because that's a loss of money for AMD and ATI. No gain there.