2012 Ultra Thin iMac refresh buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Will order mine as soon as I can get to the Apple store in DE, I am paying part cash and part credit plus I can't figure out how to get my corporate discount added in...
First reviews are up:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/30/3709120/apple-imac-mac-mini-review
http://reviews.cnet.com/imac/ Video review shows off the humpback
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/30/2012-imacs-on-sale-now-first-look/
Weird boxes, eh? =)
Giz reblogs a japanese teardown:
http://gizmodo.com/5964538/new-imac-teardown-theres-still-spare-room-in-this-skinny-frame
Hopefully iFixit isn't too far behind.
Biggest frustration: Only SSD option is 768GB for $1300 premium.
I believe that I will actually wind up ordering the 3TB fusion drive and split the hard and SSDs out from that into their own drives, which has been confirmed as do-able.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Set my alarm for 3am this morning because I thought the
new iMacs would sell out within an hour.

Over 6 hours later, the shipping times are still holding
at 2-3 weeks for the 27" iMac.

I held my nose and went all out....

Went with the top-of-the-line everything on the new
27" iMac from processor to full SSD drive. The only
thing I did not upgrade was the video card. I am not
a gamer. I do a lot of video work, but I don't think the
more expensive video card will make a lot of difference
with that.

Not going to shamefully say what I ended up spending
but I am certain you can figure it out.

I did get a GVT discount that saved me a few hundred
which was nice.

After I ordered this ultra-expensive machine, I thought
about the fact that I never really boot up my desktop.
I just put it to sleep every night. So, unlike my laptop,
I really didn't need something that booted up instantly
when I turned it on. Though, not a complete loss -- I
will see improvement in program launch speeds.

 

[Sam Posten]

You'll see the SSD benefits with every app launch, not just at bootup. I leave Tweetbot, Chrome, Safari, iTunes and App Store running, but I generally close out other stuff (Lr, PS, FCPX) when I'm not actively using them... And my record I think is about 63 days on the Mac Pro without a reboot, and even that was patch related, not corruption... Others go months and months cause they don't patch religiously...

 

[Sam Posten]

Ordered via Government EPP. No in store pickup available so had to eat the $188 in tax.
27" iMac
3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X8GB
3TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5
Magic Trackpad
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide
Accessory Kit
And I bit on Apple Care too. Too nice a box to not have it covered for 3 years.
Goodbye 2008 Mac Pro!

 

[Sam Posten]

I'm calling it now, my iMac is named Quasimodo, so none of you can use that name, neener neener! =p

 

[Richard Travale]

Then I call dibs on 'Igor' when mine arrives.

 

[Sam Posten]

Awesome =)

 

[Simon Massey]

Had to cancel my order because I noticed I didn't order the Fusion Drive and now the delivery dates been pushed back to January dammit!!
Guess the UK arent getting as many

 

[Ronald Epstein]

iFixit not very happy with the new iMacs when it comes to repairability

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah, no shocker there. IMO the Apple Care is NOT an optional item, it's mandatory. Glad that the price on it via my discount is actually the best Apple bargain compared to retail...

 

[Sam Posten]

Check your order status Ron, those of you who ordered early in the day are reporting get moved up to prepping for shipping.
Mine has not changed

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sam,

Good Morning.

Yeah, I got my order in within the first 5 minutes of the iMac going on sale.

However, checking that order, it is still processing.

Yesterday, I placed a phone call to Apple and was able to get a complimentary
upgrade to Expedited Shipping so it will get to me overnight. That moved the
shipping date up a few days.

Some are reporting that Apple is telling them that if they switch to Expedited
Shipping it will further delay that order -- but others think that's just a ploy to
prevent people from continuing to ask for it.

Where are you hearing that early orders are already prepping for ship?

 

[Sam Posten]

Macrumors forums. I thought there were posters with the 27 saying their status changed but it may just be the 21.5s....
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1500715

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Yeah, I checked that forum and the 27" delivery time thread.

No changes reported.

Nice to see, however, some of the iMacs are being manufactured
here in the United States.

Quite frankly, I expect the 27" iMacs to start shipping a little sooner
than indicated. I think Apple is trying to get them into homes by
Christmas.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Fantastic review of the new 2013 iMac.
Really makes you wish it was sitting on your desk today.

 

[Sam Posten]

2012

 

[Carlo_M]

Wow that's a great writeup.
With the economy how it is, and some new commitments on my funds, I find myself having to be very conscious about price. Couple that with my new Creative Cloud subscription and I now have a need for massive storage as well as the need to upgrade both my CPU and GPU semi-regularly. If I go the iMac route I'm going to have to spend for the 27" upscaled CPU/GPU version, with 1TB fusion drive ($2500 with academic discount). If I add in aftermarket external BD drive ($100), plus a Thunderbolt 4x1TB RAID enclosure ($1100) and 32GB RAM ($150) all from Macsales, I'm at nearly $4000.
I just spec'd out in my Newegg shopping cart the following, and yes it's a full tower so I know it won't have nearly the aesthetic appeal of an iMac, but the positive side is that I won't be using mobile versions of the GPU so there will be more power there than the version found in iMac:
Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5Ghz Ivy Bridge
Gigabyte GA-Z77X mobo with dual thunderbolt
32GB DDR3 1600 RAM
EVGA GTX680 2GB
Corsair 240GB SSD
2 X 2TB Seagate HD in mirror raid internal
14X LG Blu-Ray writer
plus associate high quality fan, case, keyboard, and *ugh* Windows 7 Pro OEM
$2100
Even if I add in a 27" IPS panel at 2560x1440, that's about $800
So my dilemma, as it's always been with the desktop decision, is that I'd stand to save $1100 or more, and have the ability to swap out video cards and CPU, and the native ability to play and burn all of my Blu-Rays (Apple's Bag of Hurt). And now I don't consider space/size a factor because if I went with iMac, I'd have to get an external Thunderbolt RAID array which take up a similar footprint to a PC tower, where my RAID would be internal.
The downsides?
Obviously using Windows 7. While it's a much more mature platform than Vista, it's still Windows, and nowhere near the pleasure to use that my OSX experience has been.
Also I'd have to go completely with Pro Tools because Logic Pro obviously will never have a Windows version
Viruses, viruses, viruses (and yes Macs can get infected too, but there are just an order of magnitude more of them for Windows)
I've nearly gone all Apple with 3 iPhones in the house, two Macbook Pros, and likely an iPad or a Mac Air to be purchased within the next 12-18 months, so compatibility with those devices won't happen.
No nice, easy, integrated iSight solution with all OS software (my last experience with PC cameras was not a good one)
The plusses, software wise:
Adobe CS6/Creative Cloud seems to work about as well on PC as Mac now (whereas in years/versions past the Mac versions of some of the software were superior)
Microsoft Office works much better on PC (especially Outlook, where the search function is like 100X faster for my work email, which contains tens of thousands of emails).
Pro Tools has, surprisingly, been just as easy to use on Windows, and my instrument input device has better software support than on the Mac side.
I guess I could wait for the "something special" Mac Pro that Cook promised. But my fear is that price-wise I'd be in the same region (or higher) as the iMac + TB RAID considering I'd also have to buy an Apple Cinema Display.
The good news is that with Christmas decimating my funds, I'll probably not be in the market until February or March so I'm hoping Apple will show their Mac Pro by then (fingers crossed).

 

[Walter Kittel]

ARS Technica looks at the new entry level iMac and raises some valid questions about design tradeoffs.
Review 21.5 inch 2012 iMac takes two steps forward one step back
- Walter.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just completed reading that entire review. Thanks
for bringing it to our attention, Walter.

I have to agree with the opinion that there isn't a real
demand for thinner desktops that sacrifice features.
The review was very correct in pointing out that unlike
a laptop, desktops remain stationary and are accessed
by mice and keyboards.

To top that off, this really isn't a thinner desktop. You
still have nearly the same sized bubble in the back of
the iMac to house the electronics. In fact, the review
goes on to suggest that this will not save any space on
the desktop whatsoever.

I can live with omitting the optical drive. Would rather
have an external after dealing with replacing the optical
drive on my 2009 iMac earlier this year.

However, putting the SD card slot in the back of the
iMac? How friggin' inconvenient is that? I am going to
have to pull my iMac forward every time I need to access
that card slot. Every time I move my iMac it results in
a plethora of fingerprints left behind on the screen.

Of course, I'm griping about the bad things here. For
the most part, the benchmarks are improved over the
2011 models and GREATLY improved over the 2009,
which I am looking forward to.

Most are saying retina screens on the iMac are still
years away (due to affordability and manufacturing) so
I am not uncomfortable that what I buy now will be
quickly outdated in the next year or two.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Hey Ron.
I thought it was a good review that offered up some legitimate questions about the pluses and minuses of the new entry level iMac desktop. I agree with you that there is a LOT to like about the new model, despite some of the points raised by the review.
I'm seriously on the fence about upgrading from my current (two generations back) macMini to a new iMac, although if I'm being honest with myself - it is a want, not a need. I would definitely get a Fusion Drive if I do order one, despite the added expense.
- Walter.