Among the other goodies Apple introduced at it’s Media Event, Apple introduced their new iMacs set to be released this month and next month. The iMac looks amazing and IS amazing. Let’s review what has change in the iMac
History
The iMac was first introduced in 1998 by then-CEO Steve Jobs. The iMac was the device that brought Apple back from the dead. It’s lollypop-like colors and nice design and better affordability made it an ideal home computer. It brought Apple back from profitability and Apple is forever changed because of the iMac. The iMac has had 7 updates and this update is it’s eighth. In my opinion, Apple has knocked it straight out of the park.
Design
For those of you who like the current iMac form factor, you are in for a surprise. Apple did not change the form factor of the iMac but did perform some drastic changes to the design of it. When you look at the computer, you ask yourself, where is the computer? To you, it would look like just a monitor. Yes, that is how thin it is. You would think to yourself that this is just a monitor when it is actually the whole computer. The iMac is an incredible 5 mm at the the edge with 40% less volume. It is so thin it can rival iOS devices! The display has some changes as well. It will no longer reflect the sun into your eyes. The new iMac has a 80% less reflection in it’s screen. It’s incredible! Of course, the iMac, in terms of aesthetics have always been incredible but it has reached a whole new level.
Technical Specs
As with the other newest updates to Mac (MacBooks and Mac minis), the new iMac will feature the new Ivy Bridge processors from Intel. The lowest end iMac will feature a 2.7 Ghz i5 processor while the highest end iMac will feature a 3.2 Ghz i7 processor, making the iMac faster and faster than the current Mac Pros (which could be discontinued). The lower end can Turbo Boost up to 3.2 Ghz and the highest end can Turbo Boost up to 3.6 Ghz. Remember when Steve was on stage telling us we’d be at 3 Ghz? Well, that finally has come. It took them awhile but they did it.
Also 8 GB of RAM comes standard with the iMac. The 21.5 inch iMacs have their RAM soldered in but the 27 inch iMacs do not. They have 4 user accessible slots that can have up to 32 GB of RAM which is incredible and that’s what Apple tells you. Usually you can put even more than Apple tells you you can. If that is true this time as well, the user may be able to have 64 GB of RAM, though I would see no point in having that much.
The storage space on the iMac is now a 1TB standard configurable up to 3TB if you get a 27 inch iMac. Also, there is something new in the 27 inch iMacs. It is called Fusion Drive. An Apple Fusion Drive is a hybrid between HDD and SDD that gives you the space overload of the HDD and the speed increases and instant on gives you in SDD. It gives you the best of both worlds. This Fusion Drive comes in an incredible 3 TB of space but yet is very fast. HDDs are cheap sources of incredible amounts of space but they are slower and break easily. SDDs are faster and more reliable but are more expensive and don’t have as much space on them. That’s where combining the two come in. The good and bad of each cancel each other’s bad out and leaves you with the good of both. Of course, if you rather would have an all flash solution, Apple has the option for a 756 GB Flash storage option.
The graphics are also turning out to be incredible. The iMac will have NVIDIA graphics chip installed with each model having a better chip. The lowest end will have a NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M with 512 MB memory and the highest end will have a NVIDIA GeForce 675MX graphics with 1 GB of memory configurable up to 2GB of memory.
As for ports, it is almost exactly the same as the 2011 iMac but the new one comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
Prices and availability
The 21.5 inch iMac will be available sometime this month with the 27 inch coming in December, just in time for Christmas. The low end 21 inch iMac will be $1299, $100 more than the last model, but with the new design and incredible performance, it’s more than worth it. The high end 21.5 inch will be $1499. The low end 27 inch will be $1799 and the high end will be $1999. These prices may be high and those who have the 2011 iMacs, I would not recommend buying the new one. However, anyone with a model earlier than that I would recommend the iMac. Of course, anyone who doesn’t have an iMac or a Mac for that matter should get one. If there is anytime to get an iMac, it is now.
The iMac has always been a great computer and with the new iMac coming out by the end of the month, the computer will be even more great! Apple has really outdone themselves here, more so than any other product they have released in the past few months, in my opinion. It has great promise and I can’t wait to get a hands-on look at these incredible new iMacs.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Image Courtesy: http://www.apple.com/imac/