iMac G5

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-Wallstreet-'s picture
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iMac G5

http://www.apple.com/imac

Hmmm. It's close to what I thought it would be like, except I thought it was going to be made out of aluminum. I also don't like the huge Apple logo on the front and the huge iMac written on the back. I think it's going to take some getting used to.

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Hmm...

Looks nice. Didn't see that design coming. While that iMac rumor that showed up before wasn't it, it wasn't far from the truth either.

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Yeah...

... there's something of the "I'm a giant iPod!" feeling to it.

I hate the "chin" but it clearly was necessary.

I do wonder if they should have made the main body aluminim, with a smaller "iMac" on the back and Apple logo on the front.

I understand that the white plastic body codes as "consumer" while the aluminum codes as "pro," but I also think the aluminum codes as "design-oriented" and the white codes as "for people who probably don't have $2000 to shell out," at least as far as the 20" model goes.

Overall, though, I think they're going to sell every one they can make. MacObserver reports that supply will be very constrained until November -- which means that everyone and his dog is going to get one of these for Xmas.

When I first saw the blue and white G3s, with that blueberry color and the giant G3 logo on each side, I thought, "What, are you kidding me?" But they sold tons of them. When I first saw the G4 iMac on that prematurely leaked Time magazine cover, I thought, "Yuk! How goofy!" Now, I'm typing this message on one of them, and it's my favorite computer ever.

So this is to say that I think the new iMac will be a big hit -- but nothing can ever be as big proportionally as the original G3 iMac, because so many more people are buying laptops these days, and because the iPod has permanently made Macs a somewhat smaller percentage of Apple's total business than before.

Finally, I would like to note that now you get the previous midline iMac G4 (17" widescreen, Superdrive, 80GB HD, 256MB RAM), plus a G5 CPU, a 300% faster system bus and a getter video card, for $300 less. Amazing, IMHO.

Matt

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Not so far off...

... from the "spy photo" I posted about last week.

I understand the supposed need to differentiate the consumer models from the pro-sumer, but that unit would look so much better in brushed aluminum. Or at least set the display out a bit from the "chin". If only they would just listen to me! Wink

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they should have put the CD d

they should have put the CD drive on the top in the center, that would have been cool!

other than that i think its abit ugly ... looks like an eMac sans speakers from the front! ... but i suppose we will get used to it! ...

TOM

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Almost exactly as I imagined...

and sadly, that's the worst part, I wasn't surprised. I expect Apple to surprise and delight but this rather predictable design didn't surprise and only slightly "delighted".

However, as a useful, nicely designed bit of desktop kit it looks like a winner. I'm also pleased that in basic layout it comes very close to my TiBook desktop project (in its latest, as yet unbuilt, incarnation.)

dan k

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It is a little lacking. Gi

It is a little lacking.

Give the screen a greater real estate on the front, make it touch-screen, and give me a snap-on battery module for the back and you have a tablet PC. Don't get me wrong, it is a step in the right direction considering that desk space is a premium in my house, but I just think it could be a little more than this.

--DDTM

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Me wantee....

I like it! I want it! I have to figure out a way to convince the wife that I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed it...

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No extended desktop?

There's a lot that I like about the design and the features of the new G5. But why only mirroring and no extended desktop? The one feature I find most utilitarian is missing from ALL models of the new G5.

My Dell laptop does extended desktop. Apple, the industry's most innovative computer manufacturer, can't include this feature on a desktop computer containing the most powerful CPU currently in production?

Great. But not insanely great.

tony b.

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Thickness

It's "1.99 inches thick". I wonder how hard they worked for that last one hundredth of an inch. Smile

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.

My first impreesion on the thing was... Well, it involved words like 'Yuck', 'Fugly', and maybe an expletive or two.
Then I went to the fridge and grabbed a freezee (grape flavored-it was the only one in the box that was frozen at the time), came back to the computer and looked it over again.
Although I agree that it looks like a supersized iPod and I still think it's really really ugly, I also think it has to be one of the most hackable designs Apple has ever brought out.

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Re: .

.... I also think it has to be one of the most hackable designs Apple has ever brought out.

Good point. With the VESA compliant back, people are going to be building these things into everything: Coffee tables, desktops, fridges, seatbacks in a car would be cool too.

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Personally I don't really lik

Personally I don't really like it all that much, thought it would be much cooler...
Laterz...

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iMac hirez pics

Best pics so far I expect are these high rez tiffs:
http://www.apple.com/pr/photos/imacflat/04imac.html

Case appears to be clear plastic (polycarb no doubt) painted(?) white inside. Hmmmmmmm Biggrin

The interior view is the most interesting pic to me. CIPs are gonna include the ram, AP card, maybe even HD and optical. HD appears to be a 3.5" mechanism. The stand must attach to the back, there's no sign of a mounting point on the inside view.

BTW, any idea that maybe Apple should have made some sort of portable/tablet/iMac is not realistic. Anything not attached to a stand ala G5 iMac is gonna require a completely different and much sturdier construction. I can't imagine Apple being able to hit any kind of real world price-point if they had gone that route.

dan k

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Re: iMac hirez pics

... The stand must attach to the back, there's no sign of a mounting point on the inside view....
dan k

That occured to me also. Does Apple think the plastic backplate is strong enough to stand up to children pulling and poking at a wall mounted iMac G5?

Other personal observations:

I see the frontside bus is lacking, but I wouldn't expect any more from an entry level Mac. And whats with the down firing speakers? Last thing, as with the lamp style iMacs, the 20" looks much more proportionate than the 17"

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and another thing...

those ports look mighty dandy without anything in them, but for some reason I think once you get a bunch of stuff plugged in it's gonna look and be a mess. I think a horizontal row along the back bottom edge a better solution, but mebbe Apple's designers know more than me.

re: the downfiring speakers, seems like front outlets would have been a no-brainer, but if they sound good as-is then that's what will count.

Hey, and where's the built-in TV tuner?!?!?!? Biggrin

dan k

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There should be ports on the front.

That would be the most logical place for them. Just a Firewire and a USB port on the front, for plugging in removable devices like cameras & portable drives. I know the thing is light enough to move around the desk, but...

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I wonder how stable it is. I'

I wonder how stable it is. I've pulled quite a few expensive usb/fw connected devices off my desk accidentally by fumbeling around with entangled cables. I can easily see someones cat rubbing against this thing 'till it falls over.

jt
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Severely . . .

. . . appearance challenged, still no slot and now the rat's nest is eleveated above the surface of the desk and and threatening to topple the freakin' thing . . . D*U*M*B*!*!*!

YUCK!!!!!!!!! Slots -n - bays -n- pixels, there are NO SUBSTITUTES!

IMHO, of course.

jt :ebc:

edit: now if they'd done a 20" tethered AIO i(Book)Mac I could have lived with it, slotless dead end machine, video mirroring and all. Mebbe a battery free, 20" ToiletSeat/eMate riff?

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Cables

Between Airport and Bluetooth, you many not need any cables.

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Eh...

It's allright. Good value for the money - I'd buy one if I hadn't just bought a PB. I actually really like it aside from the large white desert underneath the LCD. I'd rather have it be a bit thicker than have the chin.

Nice, but I'm 100.99% happy with my PB.

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iG5

Anyone else see it the first time and think lovechild-of-eMac-and-iPod? Wink

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Well it happened more quickly

Well it happened more quickly than I thought it would--after spending some time looking at those high-res. pictures, it's starting to grow on me. I don't mind the huge "iMac" on the back anymore. If anything, it's become my favorite part of the whole design. The big Apple still bugs me though. It's bigger than the one on the eMac, which I thought looked rediculous the first time I saw as well, but I now type this post from one right now.

These sort of love-hate relationships with Apple's spankin' new products are just one of the many great things involved in being obsessed with Macs. Smile

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thinksecret nailed 'em (and more...)

back on 13 Aug.:
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/imacg5specs.html

pics from the show:
http://www.thinksecret.com/archives/images/appleexpoparis04/TOC.html

this pic:
http://www.thinksecret.com/archives/images/appleexpoparis04/images/image041.jpg

shows a pair of studs which I assume attach the stand (and back?) to the chassis.

dan k

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The only realy problem is tha

The only realy problem is that you might as well spend a little more and get a PowerMac g5 with, more upgradability, better FSB, dual processors...

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I disagree....

*You* might want to spend a little more to get the G5, but *you* are not the target demo for the iMac.

I can get the high-end iMac for $1900, or I can get a low-end PMG5 for $100 more... then I have to buy a monitor to go with it, so there's another $1300... hmmm... now I'm at $1900 for the high-end iMac, and $3300 for a low-end PMG5...

That's where the price point and the target demo come into play. John Q. Public isn't going to want to buy processing power he will never use for 3 Large when he can get the all-in-one for 2...

Just my $2...

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you could use an old monitor.

you could use an old monitor. plus, the PM G5 is an awful lot more powerfull. it is worth it.

"isn’t going to want to buy processing power he will never use"
this statement is wrong. i have a 2ghz and i feel it could be faster. Graphics manipulation uses it, (high-end) audio editing/recording uses it, games use it, crytography and cryptanalisys use it. the speed of 2 processors over 1 is obvious.

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Not to continue arguing...

Only to provide an Angel's Advocate...

Yes, you could use an old monitor... but why would want to? You are spending $2K on a Dual Processor, kick-ass, Fasten-Your-Seat-Belt-And-Take-Out-Yer-Teeth-Grandma-Cuz-Here-We-Go computer, but you are going to use your 15" CRT that you got 3 years ago?

If I buy the iMac, I get an LCD monitor built in.

Finally, John Q. Public won't be doing cryptography or cryptanalisys, will do little high end audio editing/recording, will do some graphics manipulation, but will mostly use it to check email, IM, web jaunt, and listen to iTunes. Gaming is definately going to use more proc. power, but I could get an iMac AND an XBox for the price of the Low-End PMG5...

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Re: iMac hirez pics

I too was most interested in the pics of the interior, but the first thing that grabbed my attention was the rows of capacitors just above the power supply; I counted 26 of them!

I'm no electrical engineer, but I can usually find my way around a printed circuit board as well as the next guy. What in the windows does it need 26 capacitors for? Anybody got a guess?

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Re: thinksecret nailed 'em (and more...)

this pic: http://www.thinksecret.com/archives/images/appleexpoparis04/images/image041.jpg
shows a pair of studs which I assume attach the stand (and back?) to the chassis.

dan k

Those studs attach to where the back plate would normally go. But for display purposes, they took off the back and used the studs to securly mount it to what looks to be a turntable.

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Firstly by using many capacit

Firstly by using many capacitors instead of a few large ones, it is easier to get the correct capacitance in such a small place. A larger cap would not fit.

Secondly, it could be to filter the cpu power signal. Many pc overclockers replace pc motherboards with capacitors of a larger size, which gives less fluctuation to the cpu power and thus allows for a larger overclock.

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Have you seen the video. They

Have you seen the video. They are marketing the computer for people who could actually use a PM G5 (ie advanced graphics and high end sound).
If they made one same spec but a powerbook, I might buy one, but why they couldn't have made it a little thicker to make it DP with expansion.

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