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stimpycat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 2, 2007
142
0
The title says it all - in the next update do you think there is any chnace that they will bring out something a little beefier?

As a graphic design professional who lives in CS2, I currently see the iMacs as a little underpowered for heavy print work, but at the same time see the Mac Pros as a little overpowered (and over expensive) for my needs and perhaps more suitable for video editors.

Is that a fair synopsis or am I missing something?
 
I don't think there will be one. Apple has the three product types covered for desktops, low end (Mac Mini), middle of the road (iMac), and high end (Mac Pro). I don't see any room for another model. The iMacs could be updated with a better processor, and that'd be your best bet for something a bit stronger.
 
The closest thing to an iMac Pro will be an iMac sporting an aluminum enclosure, 2.6Ghz Core 2 Duo Extreme, 4GB RAM support, 256-512MB VRAM, continued FW800, and potentially a 27" lineup addition, most of which is rumored and/or expected in the upcoming revision. The last factor that would really make it more pro/Leopard-Time Machine friendly is a 2nd internal HDD, which I think would be possible in 24" and 27" versions, but don't expect any user accessible HDD bays/back panels to come off like the G5 iMacs.
 
It depends if Apple are adressing the gaming side of a mac.

Now I know many people say it is only a small % of the market, but that is only because a large majority of the PC market that don't use games are for massive company's and work. If Apple addressed the gaming side just a little like a imac pro or something to that effect then people would buy it, I know I would and I know just from reading these forums for 2 days that at least 4 others would as well.

It isn't even like it would take much more effort, they make a pointless black macbook for no reason what so ever as for the colour of it so why they can't just beef up quality of a few parts I don't know
 
Well, if the rumors are true and the next iMac is released in brushed aluminum it will have to be a iMac Pro because....

metal is for pro
plastic is for consumer

and Apple would never go against this philosophy since it is the core of the company. :rolleyes:
 
They should just make a low-end Mac Pro with desktop components instead of server-class components.

But they would never do that, They might at well call them self dell if they did that. Less people would buy the mac pro and the imac, So either way it wouldn't work.

A beefed up imac thought would appeal to your gamer who wants more power the lower speced ones would still appeal to the average user.
 
Well, if the rumors are true and the next iMac is released in brushed aluminum it will have to be a iMac Pro because....

metal is for pro
plastic is for consumer

and Apple would never go against this philosophy since it is the core of the company. :rolleyes:

Except that as noted many times elsewhere, not only is the current Mini wrapped in aluminum, only the top and bottom are white plastic, but the base of the current iMacs is also aluminum and not white. Oh yeah, and the Apple TVs, those are consumer machines too. :D
 
Basically if they brought out a beefier imac with a 8800GTS I would buy it.

( it won't happen but if it did I would be in heaven )
 
But they would never do that, They might at well call them self dell if they did that. Less people would buy the mac pro and the imac, So either way it wouldn't work.

A beefed up imac thought would appeal to your gamer who wants more power the lower speced ones would still appeal to the average user.

Many people forget that until about 2 years ago or so, the G5 PowerMacs were offered in a single 1.8 and Dual 2.0 and 2.3s? (I think, not sure on the high end - pretty sure the G5s came in at single 1.6, Dual 1.8 and 2.0s before getting a bump). For quite a while the Quicksilvers and G5s were like that with one low end model and 2 beefier dual models, giviing consumers and businesses an expandable workhorse that wasn't as powerful as the top two machines. 6-12 months before the tower went Intel, the lineup went all Dual. I think it was Dual 2.0, 2.3, and Quad 2.5s. But the Mac Pro offers two dilemnas. No single Xeon 2.0 for say $1899 instead of $2175 and $$$ RAM which has come down some.

Then again I had a G4 450 Sawtooth for almost 7 years, and the Mac Pro/G5 case is even bigger, and I just don't want something of that size in my tower cabinet or under my desk. While the iMac really appeals to me when its specs are current, I don't care for the white. The Cinema Displays are what I really like, but the MP is overkill, too big and too much $$, and my Mini is underpowered with a joke of a notebook drive and GPU. So an aluminum iMac is ideal especially since I like the space saving aspect. If they can load two HDDs in there I'll be absolutely thrilled. The dream of course is something larger than the Mini with iMac specs and 2 HDD bays that are user accessible. But that discussion has happened in hundreds of other threads.
 
not likely at all. It is more likely that the US government will admit failure and leave the middle east.

Brilliant! I agree with you, but wonder at the same time whether the recent foray back into the gaming market might prompt some sort of "gamer" Mac, one configuration of which might be the elusive MMMM.
 
It will never happen as there is no way to upgrade the iMac, plus they don't want to cut into Mac Pro sales.
 
But they would never do that, They might at well call them self dell if they did that. Less people would buy the mac pro and the imac, So either way it wouldn't work.

A beefed up imac thought would appeal to your gamer who wants more power the lower speced ones would still appeal to the average user.

iMac bye-mac. This is the most illogical argument I have ever seen. What you're basically saying is Apple doesn't want to 'lose' iMac sales, so they won't offer any other option that might cause that loss. But the faulty thinking there is this. I'm going to buy ONE computer. If I buy a mid-range tower, I've purchased an Apple Computer. What's the difference in terms of their yearly sales if it's an iMac, a Mac Pro or a hypothetical mid-range tower??? I'm still only buying ONE computer!!! They didn't 'lose' an iMac sale, they gained a tower sale!

Let's take that one step further now. What if I'm willing to buy a mid-range tower Mac but NOT an iMac or anything else Apple has? THEN they are going to ACTUALLY *LOSE* a sale because they don't have ANYTHING in their stable that I'm interested in and because of some total *BS* thinking about 'losing iMac sales' (Who cares? They SUCK for gaming! Have you noticed that no one else sells large numbers of similarly styled computers in the PC world? There's a REASON for that! They SUCK! Get over it Mr. Jobs! We want COMPUTERS, not digital magazines!)

I'm using a dual-CPU G4 PowerMac TOWER right now and it shares an "L" desk with a Windows PC Tower. I want a reasonably priced Intel Tower to replace them both with! There is no need or reason for an iMac. This desk will comfortably accommodate a tower below with 1-2 monitors up top. The main difference is a tower would let me add more hard drives and change the video card. Now I personally don't care if it's a 'big' tower or a 'small' tower. But I want two optical drive bays (to ease copying CDs for the car, at LEAST two internal HD bays and at least 3 expansion slots including the graphics card slot. Get me that machine Apple and you've sold another computer. Otherwise, I'm going to think about other options, maybe even buying a Dell and putting MacOS on it via Hackintosh. If Apple wants money, they better offer me a good product. Stop telling me what to buy and start LISTENING to what I WANT to buy, Apple!
 
Sorry if this is a repost or something similar, but iMac Pro doesn't even sound right. I am sure Apple would come up with a different name. the i-moniker seems too be geared towards consumer products. i mixed with pro just doesn't roll off the tongue.
 
Mac mini< Imac < Mac Pro... Nothing wrong there.

Macbook< Macbook pro... Also fine... WAIT!!!

We need a consumer laptop if anything, and then apple should beef up the macbook a little more ( better graphics, bigger hd, more RAM).

Anyways, no there will not be an imac pro. Like many other people have said, Apple has the desktop market covered. They have a consumers, a entry level, and the professional, although the mac mini should be upgrade to something better.
 
No chance IMO.

The Apple product line works great right now, and the stock 2.0 GHz Mac Pro is fairly inexpensive, bridging the gap very nicely between the consumer and the pro machines.

NickD
 
Mac mini< Imac < Mac Pro... Nothing wrong there.

Macbook< Macbook pro... Also fine... WAIT!!!

We need a consumer laptop if anything, and then apple should beef up the macbook a little more ( better graphics, bigger hd, more RAM)...

If Apple did that, they would sell no MBPs. When the MBs were last updated, the BlackBook was almost equal to the low end, minus graphics card it was better... of course there's more than that, but... anyway, iMac Pro isn't an Apple name "i" is for consumer, "pro" is for, well, professional. iMac Pro just doesn't fit. If Apple were to release a line that would directly compete with its flagship line, that would be kindof bad for them if it sold well. I doubt we'll see any new products... minus iPods and updates.
 
You can't say Apple shouldn't make a high end iMac or a midrange tower because it would cut into sales of other computers. But really who cares? The Mac Mini cuts into sales of the iMac, should we discountue that? Maybe we should get rid of the Macbook because then people wouldn't buy the Macbook Pro.
 
Very low.

The chances are much greater that the 24" or bigger iMac will be turned into a gaming computer by Apple putting in a 8800 GTX or something in it.

And it shall not be called the iMac Pro. How many times do I have to say this??? It shall be called the iMac Ultra. It shall have a 30" screen, a 3.0GHz Kentsfield, 4GB 1200MHz RAM, two 8800GTXes in SLI, with 3 250GB 10,000 rpm HDD's (RAID 5??? striped across two, with third as parity drive). And none of the components, even the RAM, shall be user upgradeable. In fact, a small self destruct explosive shall be placed inside just incase people try.
 
I doubt there going to make a pro version of the imac. The Imac is suppose to appeal to the middle of the road buyer not the professionals per say. Not to say that professionals don't use them.

It would be great if they started packaging mac pro's with lcd screens. I think more people would be interested in the mac pros if it came with a monitor. (hopefully the over priced cinema displays)

For it to be considered a pro i think in may ways the imac would have to mimic the mac pro. It would have to have functional upgrade ability. This includes graphics memory and hard drives. In such a small structure cooling might be an issue. Which is probably why the limit the imac to a degree. I think the 3 or 4 gig mac would have to be extended to at least 8 gigs and have more than 2 dimm slots. And the cooling system would have to be revolutionary. And then fit this into the same or slimmer casing lol. Picture the price of that machine... can you fit all the zero's in your head :D
 
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