Apple blings up new iMac with latest Intel chips, next-gen Wi-Fi

Apple has unleashed an update of its all-in-one iMac line, which will now come with boosted Wi-Fi and a beefed-up Haswell processor. The iMac is the technological equivalent of the onesie – all-in-one babygros beloved of Bieber and other nubile young boybadours. It contains all the Apple goodness in one package, meaning …

[JDX]

Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

I do some iOS development on my 2008 MacBook which is starting to show its age. I have to remind myself more and more frequently that a Mac Mini would be a more than adequate replacement, rather than splashing out on a 27" iMac.

Shame there's no i7 version though. If you're going to splash out, you might as well do it properly!

[Anonymous Coward]

There is

There is an i7 version.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

i7 is a £190 option on top end model. Has been an option for the last couple of updates too.

Amazing how even an iMac is upgradeable if one only looks at the options on the Apple Store instead of basing an opinion on a small fluff piece on tech site.

[JDX]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

Actually, I just did go to the Apple store.

http://store.apple.com/uk/mac/family/imac

Since there was no i7 model listed I assumed El Reg were correct. Hiding it as a final customisation offer wasn't something I spotted until I double checked.,

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

I have a Mac Mini and I prefer it. Easy to open and swap out the memory, hard drive, fan, or power supply if necessary. (No need to unglue a screen.) It can be positioned on or under a desk so that the (very quiet) sound of the fan and hard drive don't bother you. Of course, if your monitor breaks, no problem. And it's pretty portable, although I've never had to port mine.

Advantages for iMac: less desk/cable clutter. Webcam. Speakers are better than what you'd get with almost any 3rd party monitor. The monitors are excellent (bonded glass, color calibrated, etc.). Option to get non-integrated graphics if that's your thing.

[Michael Jennings]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

Yes, I like the Mac mini, too. I don't want to have to buy a new screen every time I buy a new desktop.

I'd also like one with a core i7 and a powerful GPU, even if it meant the machine was a bit bigger. Apple doesn't do that though.

[J__M__M]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

I'll sell you my mid-2010 i7 for cheap...

>Shame there's no i7 version though. If you're going to splash out, you might as well do it properly!

[un.homme]

Re: Did you really need to explain what an iMac is on a tech site?

The i7 options are plainly listed on the "Tech Specs" tab.

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs/

[ElReg!comments!Pierre]

Pretty sure there's a battery.

Or do you have to reset the clock at each startup? That would be a lot like Apple to try something like this, come to think of it. Right mouse button? Gone. Floppies? Get your coat. Cut'n'paste? Exit. User-replaceable battery? Don't let the door hit you on your way out. Flash? Security has your stuff in a box. MoBo battery? Who even needs that, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

Sure, they aren't cheap, but compare them with a similar spec else where and they're not "unreasonable".

For example, some four years back I needed a new laptop. I've always used Dell in the past and go for top-of-the-range as that's what I need. This time round a looked at Apple as well and the Macbook Pro came in about £300 cheaper than the closest match I could get from Dell (which had a lower spec, was heavier and had a worse battery life).

[JDX]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

I think they are still very expensive on pure spec. £1750 for a PC with 8Gb of RAM and an i5 seems a lot... this is not a top spec for a desktop PC.

I actually believe design is worth something, and that screen is very pretty too, but I don't think arguing "it's a reasonable price for the spec" is tenable.

Just for laughs I spent 30s on Dell and got a 12Gb i7 & system for £1050.

[simon gardener]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

I just spent 30s on Dell's site too and could only get a machine that ran something called Windows

[pete23]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

Yeah, I spent 15s on Dell, found their XPS 27 which is the logical equivalent, clicked on Select... and apparently "this machine is no longer available online, we just left it on the website for fun". So I guess it's much less likely to trouble my wallet...

[poopypants]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

I have a PC with core i7, 16GB RAM, 2x2TB hard drives and NVIDIA Titan GPU.

Cost me well under AU$3,000. That's less than £1700.

Sometimes it's worth spending a little extra for a great deal more performance.

It won't run OSX, but it dual boots Windows and Linux.

I'll let you decide whether that's a failing or a feature.

[AbelSoul]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

> I have a PC with core i7, 16GB RAM, 2x2TB hard drives and NVIDIA Titan GPU.

> Cost me well under AU$3,000. That's less than £1700.

> It won't run OSX, but .....

And there's the rub.

If you want to run Xcode, Logic or Final Cut (I'm a regular user of all three) you're either lumbered with buying from Apple or you go down the Hackintosh route.

I've been down the Hackintosh route before. Not much fun when update time comes along; thar be monsters, hours lost and tears of frustration.

In my case it's worth the extra cash to avoid the extra hassle.

[Adam T]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC730ZM/A/2tb-sata-hard-disk-drive-kit-for-mac-pro?fnode=5f

2TB HDD £209 +VAT. Are you saying that's not having a laugh? They don't even say what make/model it is.

I just bought a 3TB Barracuda from Scan for £92 Inc. Vat.

Go figure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

but compare them with a similar spec else where and they're not "unreasonable".

Well, "ish" - but the savings are IMHO coming from elsewhere: even I discount the massive time saving because some people still pay attention to usability in the OSX camp, the most immediate cost saving that springs to mind is the price of commercial software on the platform. If your work allows the ignoring of Microsoft and Adobe you can do a lot with quite a low budget, and the model is such that most code also comes licensed as usable on multiple systems.

That's where for me personally the main direct financial saving came from.

[MCG]

Re: Can we PLEASE get to grips with this "Apple are expensive" line?

Yes, well, good luck if you ever realise you need more RAM or you need to replace a failed hard drive.

[Anonymous Coward]

Next gen WiFi???

Christ, they barely managed to get last gen WiFi working properly as I discovered recently whilst trying to connect an ipad to a WPA2/PSK AES network....

crApple.....Fkin hopeless when Jobs was alive, more so now he's dead...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Do people (over the age of 12) actually say things like crApple?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Yes.

Do people still think hiding behind anon makes them look superior?

Fanbois flame on!

[Richard 22]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Not sure hiding behind the name cornz1 is any different?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

"Not sure hiding behind the name cornz1 is any different?"

- Says Richard 22.

[JDX]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Andy Prough... that could be anyone.

John Downs, age 24 3/4, 56 Poplar Drive, Guildford. (left off postcode to protect my privacy)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Was that the result of "pin the tail on a random entry in a phone book".

Cornelius Zacharat.

67b linford street, doncaster, South Yorks.

DN11 3RT

Good game this. Should do it blindfolded...

[MacGyver]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

I live on a houseboat, and drive a Jeep. MacGyver is my last name, my first name is Angus.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

I would've said you weren't a day over 12.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Well, apart from the blindingly obvious advantage of clicking on my name, reading some of my posts and consequently seeing that I am a known crApple hater, don't hide behind anon when I post something possibly inflammatory to the jobsian brigade and really don't give a flying fuck about what people think of me, then no. I see no advantage either...

[Armando 123]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

"Do people still think hiding behind anon makes them look superior?"

Don't worry, the good folks at NSA know.

[Omgwtfbbqtime]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

I prefer the name "MacinToy"

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: Next gen WiFi???

Do people (over the age of 12) actually say things like crApple?

YES. Now go away or I will taunt you a second time!!!

[Norphy]

While I accept that they're not everyone's cup of tea, I've been and am very happy with the two iMacs that I've owned over the last five and a half years. My mid 2010 27" iMac is still a fast and capable machine and it has a beautiful screen. I don't see myself replacing it for a little while.

[HereWeGoAgain]

all-in-one iMac

Except it is not an all-in-one. All-in-one used to mean including a DVD/CD ROM drive.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: all-in-one iMac

CD/DVD - ha ha ha. These days and the future is streaming / digital download. If you 'need' a CD/DVD you can share it from another Mac or spend about £30-50 on a USB one.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: all-in-one iMac

These days and the future is streaming / digital download.

As evidenced by the "maybe not always connected" XboxOne brouhaha.

Still, I might agree that it is USB stick.

[chris 17]

Re: all-in-one iMac

and how often do you need to use a dvd/cd rom drive? I've not had to use one for years at work or at home. Most consumers who buy cheap (the ones found in Asda, tesco etc) machines only use them for backing up the os or installing the odd driver that's out of date anyway.

[Androgynous Cupboard]

Re: all-in-one iMac

What is this "DVD/CD" of which you speak? Is that, like, vinyl or something?

[horse of a different color]

Re: all-in-one iMac

@What is this "DVD/CD" of which you speak? Is that, like, vinyl or something?

Think of it as a big, silvery MP3 player.

[tony]

Re: all-in-one iMac

"All-in-one used to mean including a DVD/CD ROM drive."

Don't forget floppy discs or maybe cassette players.

[Frank Bough]

Re: all-in-one iMac

Get with the 21st century, grandad. Optical media has been replaced by BitTorrent.

[JDX]

Re: all-in-one iMac

I bet it doesn't include a modem either.

[Anonymous Coward]

B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l

[Chris 171]

20+ Inches of case...

Yet no room for a CD drive....

Some 'design' right there...

Smh

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

The Macbook Pro has no CD/DVD and better for it as get more battery life. I'm guessing few people still use CD/DVD drives these days and it's one of the more likely things to go wrong. For the few times I may need one I'm happy to use a USB one.

[Tom 35]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

That could be a good point. I have replaced quite a few optical drives so I would not want a computer with the DVD drive glued in. Better to spoil the All-In-One and use a USB drive, could even add a BD drive. Anyone who did not have a use for one would not have to worry about it.

[Chris 171]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

Yes it's design over function, apple internal drives break a lot, makes total sense to dispense with them, etc etc..

I like the ability to rip audio/video myself and my key point still stands.

It's a big piece of kit that will not be moved regularly and for the money, apple should be making their own hyper reliable internal drives that blend into the design unobtrusively, if you need it or not.

Then again, all you downvoters use itunes don't you?

Who am I trying to kid, carry on.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

apple internal drives break a lot

That statement unsupported by facts as far as I can see from a quick search, and my own experience doesn't bear this out either (but that could be due to me ripping a disk out if it's older than 3 years anyway - old sysadmin habits never *completely* die :) ).

[ThomH]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

You're wrong: there's room for a CD drive. Space was not the deciding factor.

[Frank Bough]

Re: 20+ Inches of case...

Have you checked out the superslim iMacs? They're magnificently thin, I'm not sure an optical drive would fit in there.

[adnim]

I don't mind

having an ugly Asus ProArt monitor on my desktop and an ugly Lian-Li PC-60 case containing an i5@4.5Ghz and a 3Gb MSI 7970 lightning, 256Gb SSD and 1Tb of RAID that I can upgrade at my whim under my desk. All at less than 2 /3rds the price I might add.

Not as pretty I agree, no where near as pretty in fact.

Still, I don't spend a great deal of time looking at my tool, I prefer to use it.

[PhilBack]

Re: I don't mind

Same here. Got an i7 and 32GB RAM w/ a GTX770 Gfx card and tons of screen estate (2x 27 inch monitors + 1 extra 24), +SSDs, all under EUR 2000.

.

And run OSX in a VM or on my old MBP2009 upgraded to 8GB

[ThomH]

Re: I don't mind

If you're running an i5 at 4.5Ghz then you probably also have a freezer down there to cool the thing? Though Google says you're not alone in pushing that clock speed.

I'm happy I can buy a Mac but I'm also happy you can mix and match and overclock, and optimise for whichever of price, performance, noise, etc, you value most.

[adnim]

@ThomH re: I don't mind

4.5Ghz at 1.272v + huge air cooler = lower temps than stock clocked chip under a stock Intel cooler. Quiet enough for 2:00am work sessions too. It started out a long time ago as a 386SX, it just evolved over time.

Myself and Apple are incompatible because we are both control freaks.

Apple insist on controlling the customer experience and they coerce the customer into behaviours that are good for the Apple business model and Apple revenues.

I insist on controlling my own experience and behaving in such a way that it is good for me and my bank balance.

[Hans 1]

Re: I don't mind

Do you own a Fiat Multipla ? Thought so ...

[Lallabalalla]

CD/DVD drive

Oh surely you remember - it's the thing that imports CDs and movies and stuff that other people have made for you into the computer, and allows me & the kids to make our own movies which we can show to Grandad or watch in the car or anywhere or post to rellies, which we use ALL THE TIME, so PUT IT BACK you CHEAPSKATES :(

Otherwise that is NOT an all-in-one as it has peripherals hanging out of it, so don't call it that. You might as well call a mac mini an All-In-One - hey just add a CD/DVD drive .... and a keyboard ... and a mouse ... oh and a screen.

I suppose it does get around the problem that a lot of people found that the "superdrive" was very unreliable and expensive to fix or replace, as now you can just throw it away and plug in a new one. But I don't really think much of that "solution".

[Slap]

Re: CD/DVD drive

Well personally I'm glad they got rid of it. As people have pointed out a 30 quid job does the business for any CD/DVDs you want to listen to, rip, or watch.

The benefit for me is that with these models it's now impossible to lose an SD Card in the CD slot. I don't know who's stupider: my users who constantly manage to miss the SD card slot and end up inserting a card into the CD slot of the older generation iMacs, or the industrial designer who thought putting the two holes so close together would be a good idea. That said, the human body suffers from the same issue, so I guess this design fault isn't unprecedented.

[stizzleswick]

Re: CD/DVD drive

For all those saying DVDs are a thing of the past, I have to disagree; I need both DVD and BluRay burners regularly (read: daily) for my business (so the iMac is out for me anyway; can't reasonably expect to burn BRDs via a USB connection). The CD/DVD drive would be minimum spec for my expectations. So I side with those who agree that without an optical drive, it's not an all-in-one.

[johnnymotel]

or this version?

I run a LG BR burner via USB, no problems and burns at a good speed.

[You have not yet created a handle]

Re: or this version?

What's wrong with burning BD's over USB? Your bottleneck is the write speed on the drive, not USB.

[Hans 1]

Re: CD/DVD drive

For all those saying floppies are a thing of the past, I have to disagree; I need both 5.14 and 3.5 floppies regularly (read: daily) for my business (so the iMac is out for me anyway; can't reasonably expect to use floopy drive via a usb connection). The floppy drive would be minimum spec for my expectations. So I side with those who agree that without a floppy drive, it's not an all-in-one.

Seriously, why is USB 3.0 not suitable for BD burning ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: CD/DVD drive

I don't agree that the best solution to stop idiots putting SD cards in a DVD drive is to remove the DVD drive. I think the fault was the designer who thought that easily accessible slots were somehow unattractive. Which is why you have to root around behind your 27" screen every time you want to plug a memory stick in.

[JDX]

Re: CD/DVD drive

You're going to say it's not all-in-one because it has a MOUSE? What kind of retard ARE you?

[Eddy Ito]

Re: CD/DVD drive

"You're going to say it's not all-in-one because it has a MOUSE?"

Technically I think he is saying that it isn't any more of an all-in-one than a Mac Mini screwed to the back of a Monitor since if you wish to use a DVD or BD it has to be added. I guess it just depends on what you expect "all" to encompass.

I do understand the point in that companies simply redefine "all" consider that it wasn't that long ago when I used to buy a bag or can of coffee and it was a pound for quite a while then suddenly it was 14 oz, later 12, and now 10 oz all for roughly the same (given inflation) money. Sure, call me grandpa or retard and welcome me to the 21st century but don't think it won't be long before you notice they are redefining things on you. Until then, lay off the ad hominems, relax a bit and have a pint. Or is that only 500 ml?

[Lallabalalla]

Re: CD/DVD drive @jdx

The kind of retard who reads the whole post and realises that the punchline is about the screen. *Your* kind of retard, fellah.

[ID10T]

I'm not a massive fan of Apple products but my Mid-2007 iMac is still going strong on lion and makes a great edition to my lab.

[Anonymous Coward]

So if the new iMacs are here then what are they goin to announce on Oct-15?

iPads? iPods? iWatch?

[Frank Bough]

Hopefully the up-specced 64bit iPads.

[stizzleswick]

The new MacPro, most likely.

[Michael Jennings]

Plenty still to announce.

New iPads, new MacBook Pros, new Mac mini, and the new Mac Pro will all likely be with us before the end of the year. That's plenty.

[Fink-Nottle]

I suspect they'll announce the MBP and MBA are to be merged into a single product line.

[Jack Project]

I hate Apple with a passion but even I have to concede that iMacs are pretty fucking seet, especially the ultra thin 27 inchers. Even turned off I just want to look at it.

*shudder* I need a bath.

[Bad Beaver]

Never again

I vowed to never again buy an iMac with my own money. Too expensive for a SPOF design. They are great machines as long as they work but then they … well they stop and should that happen out of warranty you might as well dump them.

[stu 4]

Re: Never again

screen went on my old 19" iMac.

3 years out of warranty (4 1/2 years old).

went into apple store for them to look at it.

motherboard and screen replaced, free of charge.

that's one of the reasons my hoose in now full of macs.

[Mike Bell]

Re: Never again

Yup, Apple support is not to be sniffed at when buying their kit. I dropped my 2-year old 4S in a car park and cracked the screen. Took it it the Apple store and they just replaced it with a brand new one, FOC.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Never again

My Xerox Phaser printer was repaired for free 2 years outside the warranty. Called them up, they came out, chap fixed it free of charge.

My house isn't full of Xerox Phaser printers.

[Lallabalalla]

Re: Never again

My Pure internet radio bust its power socket a month out of warranty. They told me to throw it away and buy a new one off them at a discount (which was still more than retail), because they wouldn't fix it. They never fix anything, it turns out - if it's in warranty you get a refurb or something, if not you can get stuffed.

Never Again!

[mafoo]

Mobile Graphics

Its disappointing to see them go with Mobile graphics again, and desktops shipping with half a gig of VRAM is pretty wtf in this day and age.

Spec wise its almost an upright laptop with a larger screen.

<sadface>

[All names Taken]

£2G? 4aPootah?

Sounds a bit daft 2 me.

That's about as much as a Yamaha YBR125 (new) or a decent 4 cylinder Kwak (pre-owned)

[Thordoubt]

£2G? 4aPootah?

Course, you have to remember that, unlike most common-or-garden PC's, these things will have a hefty resale value. Not unusual to offload a 3-4 year old iMac for more than 50% of it's original purchase price

[All names Taken]

I mean, ...

10 of those or one of these?

http://www.kawasaki-cp.khi.co.jp/Z_special/z_sugomi/index_e.html

[RTNavy]

New Option

I just wish I could buy the OS and install it on the hardware selection I want instead of the "canned" hardware (as nice as it is). I prefer to do my cooking :)

[Volker Hett]

Re: New Option

I'm used to that, back from the days when I needed another computer in my Apple ][ to run CP/M :) Later I had to buy HP for MPE and DEC for VMS and IBM for OS400. It'll never change!

[mafoo]

Re: New Option

What, like my corsair c70 with an asus sabertooth MB and hydro h110i cooler and radeon HD graphics card?

Its pretty easy, and it works pretty much flawlessly - more flawless than windows sitting on the other disk. ;)

...and that apple sticker i got with my iPod stuck on the bottom of the case makes it "apple branded" hardware... doesn't it? :D

The only thing is you need access to a mac to buy and download the OS to a usb stick to install it.

[stu 4]

Re: New Option

@RTNavy: well.. you can of course - search for hackintosh. pretty straight forward. not in keeping with the intent of the licence, but inkeeping with the wording if you slap an apple sticker on the resulting machine.

I ran hackintoshes for a few years as my main desktop PC before switching to imac27.

And of course, the pleasure of osx and timemachine, meant all I needed to do was restore my hackintosh onto my new imac27 and that was the job done.

[Fink-Nottle]

Wait a few months ...

... pick up a nice refurbished model from the Apple Store for a significant saving.

[Hemel IT Teacher]

Is it worth over a grand?

It is gorgeous but is it worth over a grand? It depends on how long you intend to keep it. If you keep it for 6-8 years then definitely. In my experience Mac's rarely go wrong and so tend to last a lot longer than PC's. Have you seen what old Apple kit goes for on Ebay? Even at that age you'll get a surprising amount back. Considerably more than an equivalent vanilla PC...

[Lallabalalla]

Re: Is it worth over a grand?

Yes.

[Lord Zedd]

Stupid articles like this....

...are what give The Register its bad reputation.

[Levenax]

Out of the top six software titles for Mac on Apple's web site two are Microsoft applications and another lets you run Windows on your Mac. Oh, and if you want a server with enough muscle for a big workgroup you're going to be disappointed 'cos they discontinued their Xservers due to no sales. I've got a Mac Mini that I enjoy using but why don't they release a version of iOS that runs on a PC? Lot's of people run hacked versions just for fun anyway.

[Lallabalalla]

Microsoft on a Mac

Yes, because there's some decent Windows software that people need or want to run (ever tried using Pages as a proper word processor? Really??), but Windows boxes are awful by comparison. Cheap, shoddy, short-lived, buggy and no resale value. Makes perfect sense!

[Levenax]

Re: Microsoft on a Mac

Well SOME Wintel boxes aren't very good but spec one properly with good components and it'll be a sound bit of kit and you can fix it yourself if it does go wrong. All of my PC's over the years have been pretty reliable. The PCs at work that run embedded Windows and control lab equipment like analyser interfaces and sub-networks are bulletproof. If a glued shut Apple goes tits up (and they do) it's either very hard to DIY or uneconomic to fix it at all. I had iOS running on a PC for quite a while as a hobby project and it was fast and stable so maybe Wintel owners might pay to have an official copy of iOS as a dual boot on a PC like thousands already do with Linux.

[Lallabalalla]

OSX on a PC?

mmmmm... maybe not. Back in the day, my mates and I used to drool over Triton motorbikes - hand-built hybrids consisting of a nicely tuned Triumph twin in the legendary Norton Featherbed frame. One day, a friend turned up on his Triton - a Norton engine in a Triumph frame... oh how we laughed. And no, it wasn't any good. When it worked at all.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: OSX on a PC?

In other words, a No-umph ...

[Malcom Ryder 1]

Hows the sound?

My 2010 Imac has surprisingly good sound for internal speakers. Are the new thinner models as good sounding?

[PJI]

No no. All-in-One is a suite of programmes from Digital, running on Vax under VMS for email, do unenthusiastic management and so on.

How far back do you want to go?

[codemonkey]

would i but one..

Fill in the gaps.... would I ++++!