Tuesday, May 3rd 2011
Apple Announces New iMac with Next-Gen Quad-Core Processors, Graphics, Thunderbolt
Apple today updated its signature all-in-one iMac with next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, groundbreaking high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime HD camera. Starting at $1,199, the new iMac is up to 70 percent faster and new graphics deliver up to three times the performance of the previous generation.
"Our customers love the iMac's aluminum enclosure, gorgeous display and all-in-one design," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, Thunderbolt technology and a FaceTime HD camera, we've made the world's best desktop even better."
The new iMac features quad-core Intel Core i5 processors with an option for customers to choose Core i7 processors up to 3.4 GHz. These next generation processors feature an integrated memory controller for an amazingly responsive experience and a powerful new media engine for high-performance video encoding and decoding. With new AMD Radeon HD graphics processors, the new iMac has the most powerful graphics ever in an all-in-one desktop.
iMac is the first desktop computer on the market to include groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. The 21.5-inch iMac has a single Thunderbolt port while the 27-inch model features two ports for even greater expansion. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on an all-in-one computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices, and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems, cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O.
iMac includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera and Apple's innovative FaceTime software for crisp, widescreen video calling the whole family can enjoy. The new camera supports high definition video calls between all FaceTime HD-enabled Macs and standard resolution calls with iPad 2, iPhone 4, the current generation iPod touch and other Intel-based Macs. The iMac continues to feature its signature aluminum and glass design, gorgeous IPS LED-backlit high resolution display, SD card slot and comes with Apple's innovative Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.
Continuing Apple's commitment to the environment, Apple's desktop line is a leader in green design. The iMac meets stringent Energy Star 5.2 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold rating.** iMac features LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iMac uses PVC-free components and cables, contains no brominated flame retardants, uses highly recyclable materials and features material-efficient system and packaging designs.
Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the world's most advanced operating system, and iLife, Apple's innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes the Mac App Store for finding great new apps for your Mac. iLife '11 features iPhoto with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.
Pricing & Availability
The new iMac is available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 21.5-inch iMac is available in two configurations: one with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 500GB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US); and one with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6770M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US). The new 27-inch iMac is available in two models: one with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6770M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US); and one with a 3.1 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6970M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US).Images Courtesy: Apple
"Our customers love the iMac's aluminum enclosure, gorgeous display and all-in-one design," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, Thunderbolt technology and a FaceTime HD camera, we've made the world's best desktop even better."
iMac is the first desktop computer on the market to include groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. The 21.5-inch iMac has a single Thunderbolt port while the 27-inch model features two ports for even greater expansion. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on an all-in-one computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices, and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems, cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O.
iMac includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera and Apple's innovative FaceTime software for crisp, widescreen video calling the whole family can enjoy. The new camera supports high definition video calls between all FaceTime HD-enabled Macs and standard resolution calls with iPad 2, iPhone 4, the current generation iPod touch and other Intel-based Macs. The iMac continues to feature its signature aluminum and glass design, gorgeous IPS LED-backlit high resolution display, SD card slot and comes with Apple's innovative Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.
Continuing Apple's commitment to the environment, Apple's desktop line is a leader in green design. The iMac meets stringent Energy Star 5.2 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold rating.** iMac features LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iMac uses PVC-free components and cables, contains no brominated flame retardants, uses highly recyclable materials and features material-efficient system and packaging designs.
Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the world's most advanced operating system, and iLife, Apple's innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes the Mac App Store for finding great new apps for your Mac. iLife '11 features iPhoto with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.
Pricing & Availability
The new iMac is available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 21.5-inch iMac is available in two configurations: one with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 500GB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US); and one with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6770M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US). The new 27-inch iMac is available in two models: one with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6770M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US); and one with a 3.1 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6970M and 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US).Images Courtesy: Apple
50 Comments on Apple Announces New iMac with Next-Gen Quad-Core Processors, Graphics, Thunderbolt
There is space under the ODD due to convex back. There is also foam around the ODD to reduce airflow loses. air goes like this: blower - under ODD - GPU heatsink
For CPU it's blower - CPU heatsink - PSU
Intake is at the bottom of the bezel, exhaust is at the back near the top.
Apple has not shipped their units with a blu-ray drive because they believe that blu-ray is a dying format. As you can see from all of apple's product line, they are of the firm belief that in the future all content (ie, music, videos, pictures, software, etc) will be available online 24/7 365. They are literally betting the farm on this (N Carolina). for that reason, you will never see blu-ray on their devices. for them to do so, would be to admit they were wrong.:ohwell:
Been playing with USB 3, it's not bad, but wheres my thunderbolt?!!! :respect: I'm curious on data latency for the data transfer: Thunderbolt GPU, anyone?Why would you cripple yourself with such an out of date OS? Time to move on. Let the horse die. Win7 x64 is quite solid.
Well, he bought the 27" i7 version iMac.
I can say, it's very very nice.
This thing was/is a TANK!. Only complaint I have is the damn white keys combined with the clear base. It shows you what kinda dirty bastard you are :laugh:
I like this one too. My only issue with this one was the keys got "sticky" after a while. No clear "clicks" ya know?
CD media is pretty much dead or dying. I hadn't used my DVD drive for months, until I was reminded I needed to burn a physical disk copy of my assignments. Still emailed copies though :D that'll learn 'em!
I'd like to use some Thunderbolt accessories. In the MBP and the iMac, the Thunderbolt chip uses a separate PCI-E channel to the other internal chips, so it has full bandwidth. No chance of heavy GPU operations interrupting your big copy across external HDD(s) connected to Thunderbolt, which is nice.
The GPU is on an MXM module (can't remember which number/type), while the CPU is socketed, not soldered, in the iMac. Should hopefully mean upgrades are very possible. The 21.5" has a space for 2.5" HDD under the ODD, same as the 27", so potentially, in a year or two, you could upgrade it to 16GB RAM, add an SSD, upgrade the HDD, remove the ODD and add another SATA drive, change the GPU and the CPU, leaving you with a very different iMac.
With the 27", you've got the same choices of upgrades, but even better is that you have two Thunderbolt ports so technically, you can connect two external displays. Should be great for iOS/OSX devs, no need to buy the Mac Pro just to have three displays any more.
Oh, and btw, cooling should handle things nicely in the iMac. Not as many issues with heat as in the MBP, which is ridiculously hot-running. The two fans in the MBP have to run full-blast on my old model with the 9600m turned on, to avoid getting to 60c on the desktop...
The only real problem is that the heatpipes pass directly under the keyboard, which when at low fan speeds with the 9600m, means I can't stick around too long, else my fingertips really start heating up very quickly. Still, I type much quicker, so I guess it has its advantages!