Official iPad Event *LIVE* Discussion Thread 10/16/14 (CONFIRMED) (1 Viewer)

[Thomas Newton]

retina iMac very pricey

It may cost a bit more than a regular 27" iMac, but for $500, you get a Retina Display, an upgraded GPU, and an upgrade to a Fusion Drive. Meanwhile, a Dell monitor with the same resolution as the $2499 Retina iMac goes for, you guessed it, $2499 … for just the monitor.

 

[Sam Posten]

$700 more

 

[Thomas Newton]

$700 more

$700 more than the 3.2 GHz model. But looking at the 'off-the-shelf' 27-inch iMacs, the 3.4 GHz quad-core Core i5 model has a somewhat closer CPU/GPU specification match to the Retina iMac. That model is $1999, hence $500 difference.

 

[Sam Posten]

Compare the standard models and they are $700 different, we can make up competing BTO differences all day...

 

[Thomas Newton]

I am comparing standard models.
$1799 non-Retina 27-inch iMac - 3.2 GHz Core i5, 1 GB VRAM
$1999 non-Retina 27-inch iMac - 3.4 GHz Core i5, 2 GB VRAM
$2499 Retina 27-inch iMac - 3.5 GHz Core i5, 2 GB VRAM
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/imac
All have quad-core CPUs, 8 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage. The stock Retina iMac has a Fusion Drive. None of the three stock models has exactly the same GPU as any of the others.

 

[Sam Posten]

The 'base' model of each is a $700 difference. That there is a 'better' off the shelf model in the middle doesn't matter.

 

[McPaul]

Did they drop the price of the regular 27" iMac? it seems to be the same price to me...

 

[Thomas Newton]

Did they drop the price of the regular 27" iMac? it seems to be the same price to me...

I believe that the specifications and pricing for all of the non-Retina iMacs stayed the same. The addition of a Retina iMac was the change.

With the Mac Minis, there were price cuts and specification changes, though some of those changes (no more user-upgradable RAM, no more quad-core CPUs on higher-end models) were not for the better.

 

[DaveF]

Ars reviews the 2014 Mac mini and aren't thrilled.http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-were-hoping-for-the-2014-mac-mini-reviewed/

 

[Carlo_M]

They're pretty much spot on, and echo just about all of our complaints here.