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Does anyone think the refresh will include a mini-displayport in on any models smaller than the 27"... That's literally the only reason I am considering that sheer monstrous beast of a screen... 27" led for PS3 whilst multitasking to rip DVDs using Handbrake in super time >> sounds awesome, but a 21 (or 24!) option would be more sensible.

Someone mentioned above, the significant speed increase an iCore would have over C2D when using handbrake... what sort of percentage increases are we talking about here?

3X faster according to gizmodo tests:
handbrake_test.jpg


Full tests here:
http://gizmodo.com/5407204/

More benchmarks:
http://everythingapple.blogspot.com/2009/11/core-i7-imac-benchmarks-and-first.html

Compute intensive applications are hugely improved now. The extra efficiency per core and extra cores are very welcome with video encoding for example. My Core i7 is more than three times as fast as my older Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz, for Handbrake H.264 encodes.

In this test I transcoded Chapter 7 of Spirited Away to H.264, from the computer's hard drive, and measured the total time to completion. At first I thought there might be something wrong with Handbrake 0.9.3 on Core i7, as I was getting speeds slower than my Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. Then I realized it was because I had mistakenly installed the PowerPC version of Handbrake on my iMac. Yet even running under Rosetta, the speed of Handbrake was not terrible. The Intel version was however nearly 5X as fast, with the iMac 3.5X as fast as my MacBook Pro. It took just 2 minutes and 7 seconds to encode that 10 minute chapter using the default 2-pass x264 encoding settings. In other words, the iMac Core i7 can encode at nearly real-time speed under Rosetta, and nearly 5X real-time using native (32-bit) code.
 
ohhh but do I need that increase... hell, I might just get a second-hand 2GHz C2D mac mini for a fifth of the price. I know that wouldn't bring me nearly as much satisfaction! OH THE BANE OF MY LIFE!
 
Encoding's like the thing that most efficiently takes advantage of additional cores

Yes, true. especially since Handbrake is optimised for multiple cores. As gizmodo say "In short, any task we tried that expressly was written to either a) take advantage of multiple cores, or, b) take advantage of multiple cores through Snow Leopard's multicore middleware, Grand Central Dispatch, were 2 to 3 times faster."

The other benchmarks show less impressive performance gains...

But for someone who uses Handbrake to encode videos, 3x faster is really quite a treat :)

Hopefully more developers will be taking advantage of Snow Leopard's Grand Central and other means to optimize their apps!

I'm still not impressed with Apple, who don't seem to have fully optimized their own iLife suite for 64bit.... and am wondering if they're using Grand Central to take advantage of the multiple cores

If not, they should really be spearheading the movement and encouraging other developers to do the same!

Hopefully, iLife '11 will correct this and we will see some nice performance improvements!
 
ohhh but do I need that increase... hell, I might just get a second-hand 2GHz C2D mac mini for a fifth of the price. I know that wouldn't bring me nearly as much satisfaction! OH THE BANE OF MY LIFE!

Therein lies the rub. I want it, but do I really need it.
 
Aaaaaaargh! *snaps*

I'm going to make a purchase today.

I can't wait any more. :D The next generation will have a marginal impact on my usage in all honesty. I create home video and I game. I've been pretending that USB3 and a GPU upgrade will be vital to me. The reality is that I've invested in a lot of equipment that won't work with USB3, and the GPU update will be marginal.

On a more personal note, I am looking at a refurb i5 and thinking that I can use the money saved to get an iPad and maybe an iPhone 4.

Wish me luck.

For those waiting, I wish you well. The decision to buy is remarkably freeing :p

Yeah, why not. Get the refurb i5 and an iPad/iPhone for the same price of a new one. When the i5 starts to become obsolete in four years, then get a new iMac with Ivy Bridge or whatever 22nm chips they'll have, plus Light Peak and Blu Ray?
 
:eek::eek::eek:

300% increase. I'm sold.

Would love to get my hands on that, but a 21.5" mac will fit perfect in my office desk + hutch, can't fit a 27" monster. And hence my dilemma. I want a new mac, would love the power of a quad core for video editing, music recording, and handbrake, but I need a more compact all in one rather than the 27". :(

(Sigh)...still waiting for that "refresh" with cash in hand. :confused:
 
The price of Core i7-870 has dropped from 562$ to 294$ so we will likely see it replacing the i7-860 which is currently found in iMac. Also, i5-760 is official and costs 205$ so it will likely replace the i5-750.
 
Man I can't wait for the new releases. I have been holding on to my old G3 Lombard Powerbook for almost 10 years now for my personal use but it is time to say goodbye now that I will be doing my graphic and video editing at home. Geez the Lombard has served me well....gonna kinda miss it...I don't think Apple has ever made a sexier looking notebook.:)

My problem with waiting for the refresh is this: I have been given about $1500 in Best Buy gift certificates for various awards, gifts, and contests that I have one. I want to get whatever iMac is released at the usual high end price point of $1999. But I know that there will probably be a delay between when Apple actually releases the new models and when Best Buy will actually carry them. Does anyone happen to remember the lag time the past few releases between when Apple releases the series and the third party vendors actually stock them?

I know that is a crazy weird question but eh...

I love this Forum! What a great site! I can't believe it took me 15 years to find it! :D
 
I want to get whatever iMac is released at the usual high end price point of $1999. But I know that there will probably be a delay between when Apple actually releases the new models and when Best Buy will actually carry them. Does anyone happen to remember the lag time

The lag time might be very short, like a week or so. However, Best Buy does not carry all iMac models so it is unlikely you will be able to get a top of the line iMac. I know Best Buy sells i5 iMacs but I do not think they carry the i7 - I may be wrong on this and even if correct that does not apply to whatever will be offered on the next refresh
 
Pricing history?

I've been following this thread for a while and really really hope the refresh is going to happen tomorrow! (though I don't think it's going to happen ;p)

I have PC at home forever and Mac at work, I don't want to argue which one is better since each has it's pro and cons. But my home PC is already 5 years old, though it's not that slow (3.xx GHz with 2 GB Ram), but really slow to run Photoshop and Lightroom 3.0 at the same time. At first I just thought about upgrading the ram, but at the same time I kinda missed my super nice 24" monitor at my previous workplace, and also I have been confusing myself with PC/Mac shortcuts in Photoshop while working a home, so buying an iMac seems like a solution :D

I am not so interested in the predicted new features in the refresh, expect USB 3.0. The 27" i5 model should be enough for my daily and freelance needs. My only question is should I buy it now (with Bing cash back running until end of July.), or should I wait for the new ones come out, so the current ones will drop in price? Or should I go even further, wait til Black Friday?

Does anyone know what's the price drop would be like when an iMac refresh come out?
 
Best Buy does not carry all iMac models so it is unlikely you will be able to get a top of the line iMac. I know Best Buy sells i5 iMacs but I do not think they carry the i7


I know but what Best Buy does do is carry the standard models of the iMacs, just as if you ordered a non-customized one from Apple. As of right now, the top model iMac on the Apple website non-customized is the same 27in i5 as at Best Buy. Hopefully the new release is an i7 with more memory as well.
 
Why do you expect a price drop? MacBook pro, Macbook and Mac mini upgrades were not much of spec bump (still c2d, slightly faster graphics, more ram) and increased in price, i expect the same thing happening to the iMac. If, they update soon, and if there is gonna be a core i5 option for 21' iMac, my guess is 1400 $
 
I'm going in today for the 27" 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7. :D
I figure even if it got updated tomorrow, I'll still have a pretty much top of the line iMac. Just wanted to share with you guys as I have been following this thread for a while.

Word
 
I'm going in today for the 27" 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7. :D
I figure even if it got updated tomorrow, I'll still have a pretty much top of the line iMac. Just wanted to share with you guys as I have been following this thread for a while.

Word

good luck, post a review when you get your hands on it.
 
UPDATE:

I know nobody else cares, but I'm so excited :p

Ordered my 27" i5 Yesterday. Just saw via online tracking that my baby is in the country already! It may even arive before my extra RAM does!
 
Haha congratulations, I'm currently working my ass of to buy an iPhone 4 + an iMac. The iPhone 4 will be available in the Netherlands at July 30th, so I'll buy it then. In October, I got the money to buy the refreshed iMac, so I'm ok with waiting.

It'd be great if I can connect my Xbox 360 directly to the new iMac at 1080p :)
Would this be possible?
 
About the new "Magic Touchpad".. could there be an iMac + Magic Touchpad bundle coming up? Magic Touchpad is apparently not too far away. Interesting! :)
 
I dont know how long I cant wait! Its this friggen graphics card update thats killing me! If the rumours are true with this 5xxx ATI cards coming out. How would it compare to the current 4670 on the current 21.5 imac (roughly)?

If Diablo 3 wasnt supposedly a resource hogger id have brought one by now!
 
I dont know how long I cant wait! Its this friggen graphics card update thats killing me! If the rumours are true with this 5xxx ATI cards coming out. How would it compare to the current 4670 on the current 21.5 imac (roughly)?

If Diablo 3 wasnt supposedly a resource hogger id have brought one by now!

Depends about what 5xxx we are talking about. 5650 is not really an upgrade. 57xx would be okay update but nothing revolutionary. 5850 would be great update as it's as fast as 4850 and fits well in 21.5".
 
Depends about what 5xxx we are talking about. 5650 is not really an upgrade. 57xx would be okay update but nothing revolutionary. 5850 would be great update as it's as fast as 4850 and fits well in 21.5".

What would be the most logical option for apple? or they all a possibility? if you take into account heat + cost etc ....

Also you know how well Stracraft 2 runs on 4670s?
 
What would be the most logical option for apple? or they all a possibility? if you take into account heat + cost etc ....

Also you know how well Stracraft 2 runs on 4670s?

5850 is probably too expensive but it could be included as BTO option. 57xx seems like, not sure about prices though

4670 should be able to run it at medium-high settings at native res

https://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-971016.html
 
About the new "Magic Touchpad".. could there be an iMac + Magic Touchpad bundle coming up? Magic Touchpad is apparently not too far away. Interesting! :)
I'd say there's a good chance the next iMac update will have the Magic Touchpad.
 
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