Will there ever be a new large iMac (Pro)?

[Azrael9]

RDNA2 is 'imminent.'

If it offers more power for Macs. Great. We'll see how it plays out for eGPUs...the iMac Pro (IF) and Mac Pro (IF.)

And for the PC market also.

AMD always pack a bit of punch in the value gpu market.

May apply the brakes on NV's pricing.

I'm curious how they counter the 3080 and pricing which...surprised me.

Azrael.

 

[pldelisle]

May apply the brakes on NV's pricing.

Keep dreaming.

Nvidia is in its own league since a couple of years. I doubt RDNA2 will change this.

 

[Freida]

Seeing the late release date of RDNA2 compared to Nvidia it kinda makes sense why we didn't get it in the iMacs.

if AMD had those ready in september than Apple could have waited but end of October with who knows when availability is just to far and also too close to AS iMac which might probably be either at WWDC or next fall (most likely WWDC).

So, all in all, the iMac is a good deal now but I wish the stars were aligned better.

RDNA2 is 'imminent.'

If it offers more power for Macs. Great. We'll see how it plays out for eGPUs...the iMac Pro (IF) and Mac Pro (IF.)

And for the PC market also.

AMD always pack a bit of punch in the value gpu market.

May apply the brakes on NV's pricing.

I'm curious how they counter the 3080 and pricing which...surprised me.

Azrael.

 

[Alwis]

Unboxed my new 2020 iMac today, my wife asked me why I bought a new iMac that looks exactly like my 2014 iMac, which I will use as my secondary desktop. Good question, but the truth is, the surface finishing of the old iMac looks better...

I was really disappointed by the sloppy packaging. The power cord was not in the closed “box“ but on the other side, so it has fallen out during transport. It had two minor marks, probably because it got stuck between the stand and the carton. Nothing serious, but nonetheless annoying.

The outer cover hat lots of loose styrofoam on it, so the first thing I did was getting the vacuum cleaner out. The inner foil was, again, sloppy. Maybe the iMac wS reopened in the factory or someone in Ireland had a bad day.

Tomorrow I will start with the migration

 

[pldelisle]

Tomorrow I will start with the migration

Don't. Just manually transfert your files from one to the other.

 

[CWallace]

AMD always pack a bit of punch in the value gpu market.

May apply the brakes on NV's pricing.

I'm curious how they counter the 3080 and pricing which...surprised me.

Most recent speculation is that Navi 21 will sit between the 3080 and 3070 in terms of performance and therefore AMD will need to reduce their planned pricing by around $50 (from $549 to $499) to match the 3070's MSRP.

 

[jazzer15]

Tomorrow I will start with the migration

Don't. Just manually transfert your files from one to the other.

I agree. See my post HERE

YMMV, but that was my experience coming from a 2015 Time Machine backup.

 

[Azrael9]

Most recent speculation is that Navi 21 will sit between the 3080 and 3070 in terms of performance and therefore AMD will need to reduce their planned pricing by around $50 (from $549 to $499) to match the 3070's MSRP.

This is true. Big Navi was estimated to be around 20%(?) faster than the 2080Ti. That would make it between a 3070 and 3080 in performance.

And with Nv's new 'aggressive' (and cynical pricing moving now they have some competition turning up...) pricing AMD will have to do what they did with the 5700 etc launch. Slightly adjust their pricing.

Looks like charing $999 for a Big Navi isn't going to happen after all...'thanks' to the 3080.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Unboxed my new 2020 iMac today, my wife asked me why I bought a new iMac that looks exactly like my 2014 iMac, which I will use as my secondary desktop. Good question, but the truth is, the surface finishing of the old iMac looks better...

I was really disappointed by the sloppy packaging. The power cord was not in the closed “box“ but on the other side, so it has fallen out during transport. It had two minor marks, probably because it got stuck between the stand and the carton. Nothing serious, but nonetheless annoying.

The outer cover hat lots of loose styrofoam on it, so the first thing I did was getting the vacuum cleaner out. The inner foil was, again, sloppy. Maybe the iMac wS reopened in the factory or someone in Ireland had a bad day.

Tomorrow I will start with the migration

Your wife had a valid question there.

And the packaging. Fair enough. Probably an 'off day.'

My iMac packaging was impeccable.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Seeing the late release date of RDNA2 compared to Nvidia it kinda makes sense why we didn't get it in the iMacs.

if AMD had those ready in september than Apple could have waited but end of October with who knows when availability is just to far and also too close to AS iMac which might probably be either at WWDC or next fall (most likely WWDC).

So, all in all, the iMac is a good deal now but I wish the stars were aligned better.

Yeah. By the time these Ampere and RDNA2 gpus get into mainstream supply and demand balance...it will be nearly half a year later than the iMac launch.

Who knows if Apple will release an iMac Pro or BTO the Mac Pro with the RDNA2. The 'when' and 'if' questions. It's apple.

At least the RDNA2 can (possibly) eGPU later to the iMac and still be cheaper than the iMac Pro's starting price. And Big Nav looks like it is going to be cheaper than I thought it would be.

Imagine a 5700 and an RDNA2 working side by side...for creative work eg. GPU rendering.

Though it seems the 5700 XT is blazingly fast enough for me. 'For now.'

If I wanted to game in 4k, I'd just get a PS5 and hook it up to a large 4k TV.

Looking forward to see how the dusty settles on Amp'/RDNA2...Apple AS (and their own custom gpus...) etc. The back end of this year was always going to be exciting end after a tortorously slow year.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

So, all in all, the iMac is a good deal now but I wish the stars were aligned better.

Aye.

But Apple won't mind selling us a year old mid range gpu...and then comparing how great their AS GPU is to it...

Azrael.

 

[Freida]

When I unboxed mine there was some weird black "dust" coming from inside the iMac (from the vent holes).
That was a bit weird but seeing that this is just a test machine then I wasn't too concerned.

Your wife is right, of course its weird that the machine looks exactly the same after all these years. That is the sad reality that us customers allowed to happen. If the iPhone looked identical for so many years I think the sales would show it.

Unboxed my new 2020 iMac today, my wife asked me why I bought a new iMac that looks exactly like my 2014 iMac, which I will use as my secondary desktop. Good question, but the truth is, the surface finishing of the old iMac looks better...

I was really disappointed by the sloppy packaging. The power cord was not in the closed “box“ but on the other side, so it has fallen out during transport. It had two minor marks, probably because it got stuck between the stand and the carton. Nothing serious, but nonetheless annoying.

The outer cover hat lots of loose styrofoam on it, so the first thing I did was getting the vacuum cleaner out. The inner foil was, again, sloppy. Maybe the iMac wS reopened in the factory or someone in Ireland had a bad day.

Tomorrow I will start with the migration

 

[Azrael9]

Your wife is right, of course its weird that the machine looks exactly the same after all these years. That is the sad reality that us customers allowed to happen.

*nods.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

You know. Is it just me. Or is corporate behaviour getting increasingly short term and consumer hostile.

I had a Wacom Intuos. It's just a glorified mouse pointer at the end of the day. The 'latest' drivers don't support it in Catalina. Or Win 10. A customer support response told me it was 'old.' What we going to do next, omit drivers for mice and keyboards because they're 'old?' My tablet works perfectly fine. It worked with High Sierra, just fine. And now it's been scrapped by driver omission. Cynical. Given the increasingly 'corporate' nature of Wacom, I'm not surprised. (Just glance at the their 'corporate' website. Irked? Just a little bit.

And Corel. Painter 2019. That's not even a year or so old? Give or take. But Corel didn't update it to support Catalina.

But naturally, both companies said I could upgrade to the latest hardware and software from them.

YEah....sure. I'll be sure to do that... *looks at the camera.

'The release of funds from Azrael to either company could take some time for their release.'

Azrael.

 

[pldelisle]

I had a Wacom Intuos. It's just a glorified mouse pointer at the end of the day. The 'latest' drivers don't support it in Catalina. Or Win 10. A customer support response told me it was 'old.' What we going to do next, omit drivers for mice and keyboards because they're 'old?' My tablet works perfectly fine. It worked with High Sierra, just fine. And now it's been scrapped by driver omission. Cynical. Given the increasingly 'corporate' nature of Wacom, I'm not surprised. (Just glance at the their 'corporate' website. Irked? Just a little bit.

Theses business practices should be crucified, nothing less. It stinks. It's disgusting.

 

[Azrael9]

Meanwhile. You can buy Affinity's apps for much less. They actually work more smoothly. You get free updates as the OS updates.

I'll be keeping my eye out for the iPad A14X. That and Procreate will serve me better than Wacom and Painter 2019.

Azrael.

 

[pldelisle]

I want Xcode on my iPad Pro

 

[Azrael9]

Theses business practices should be crucified, nothing less. It stinks. It's disgusting.

I probably sound a bit peeved (I am a little...) but it's outright cynical.

One is a gloried mouse. The other is bit of painting software (which seems clunkily back ported from the Windows version...) barely two years old.

So. Can't use my trusty (old friend...) tablet...back to the 'bar of soap mouse' for now.

Thing is. Corporations get big and think this is going to strong arm force users along to line their profit pockets. Nah. Wallet goes closed and elsewhere seeking alt solutions.

When you step in bleep...you don't punish it by jumping up and down on it. You just walk away.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

I want Xcode on my iPad Pro

It will come if the Big Sur / AS preview is anything to go by.

The A14X should have the power to run anything the consumer Macs can...and fringe pull the 'Pro' Macs without the help of 'noisy' fans.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

I got Big Sur working on my external drive. Looks exotic. Different.

I actually don't mind the way Catalina looks with the icons. It's very refined. Though I understand it's had a buggy road to get here. (I haven't done extensive work on the current version to see if it is still buggy. Seems ok to me. So far.)

Whilst I'm still on my moan. Take a company like Pixelogic. Z-Brush. You buy it? You get free updates. Saved hundreds and hundreds in software fees going with them...and they're constantly trying to push and evolve their product. A real artist's friend of a software company. They seem really product and community focused.

Just the differences you can get between corps.

Affinity's pay once vs Adobe's monolithic rental scheme.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

We'll see if we get AS preview next week. (Puts thread back on track.)

Macbook AS with a killer A14 (AS) variant and to die for battery life. For laptop buyers? This will be the product to beat.

Not for me. But it will highlight just why Apple have gone their own road.

Efficiency and power.

Azrael.

 

[Alwis]

Don't. Just manually transfert your files from one to the other.

I agree. See my post HERE

Thanks for the warning to booth of you!

After reading your report I was really unsure what to do. I have a lot of application with individual configuration, that would have been a lot of work to duplicate. At the end I decided to give it a try.

At the end the migration assistant worked without a problem, I guess sometimes you need a little bit of luck...

 

[scotttnz]

Meanwhile. You can buy Affinity's apps for much less. They actually work more smoothly. You get free updates as the OS updates.

I'll be keeping my eye out for the iPad A14X. That and Procreate will serve me better than Wacom and Painter 2019.

Azrael.

I didn't want to install Adobe on my new iMac, so it pushed me to switch over to Affinity Photo. I was mostly a Lightroom user, and mostly really enjoyed it. But my photography hobby fluctuates from daily use to not picking up my camera, or editing any photos for months, and i'd had enough of paying the Adobe subscription no matter what.
Affinity Photo works really well, but there are some quirks to get used to. So far there is nothing that makes me want to start renting software from Adobe again.

I do wonder if Affinity's free upgrades forever is a sustainable business model though....

 

[jazzer15]

Thanks for the warning to booth of you!

After reading your report I was really unsure what to do. I have a lot of application with individual configuration, that would have been a lot of work to duplicate. At the end I decided to give it a try.

At the end the migration assistant worked without a problem, I guess sometimes you need a little bit of luck...

I'm happy to hear it worked well for you. I'm not sure what it was that caused a problem for me, but clearly there was something it didn't like. It has been taking a little time to set everything up, but in the end I'm glad to be able to clean things out and think about what I really want on the system. And maybe it will make the upgrade to Big Sur more seamless

Good luck with the new computer!

 

[jazzer15]

I didn't want to install Adobe on my new iMac, so it pushed me to switch over to Affinity Photo. I was mostly a Lightroom user, and mostly really enjoyed it. But my photography hobby fluctuates from daily use to not picking up my camera, or editing any photos for months, and i'd had enough of paying the Adobe subscription no matter what.
Affinity Photo works really well, but there are some quirks to get used to. So far there is nothing that makes me want to start renting software from Adobe again.

I do wonder if Affinity's free upgrades forever is a sustainable business model though....

I'm similar to you in terms of use. I had a one year subscription to Adobe that expired several months ago and since I haven't been out shooting I haven't renewed. I'm seriously thinking about switching to something else, be it Affinity, On1, Luminar, etc. I just have so many photos in my Lightroom library at this point and I'm used to the workflow.

What are you doing with all your old photos if you haven't installed Lightroom?