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Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

Summary: The rumored iMac updates are here. Apple also updated its Mac Pro desktop, and released a new input device, the Magic Trackpad, and a 27-inch LED Cinema Display.

John Morris

By for Laptops & Desktops |

The rumored iMac updates are here. Apple's all-in-one hasn't had a major refresh since last fall, but this morning with relatively little fanfare the company updated its site with the new models that include Core i3 and i5 processors, standard discrete graphics and in-plane switching (IPS) displays for a wider viewing angle. Apple also updated its Mac Pro desktop, which can now be configured with up to two six-core CPUs, and released a new input device, the Magic Trackpad, and a 27-inch LED Cinema Display.

The 21.5-inch iMac starts at $1,199 with a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB, 500GB hard drive, slot-loading DVD and wireless keyboard and mouse. The step-up $1,499 model has a 3.2GHz Core i3 processor, 1TB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics with 512MB. The 27-inch model starts at $1,699 with the same specs. All of these are dual-core processors, but you can also get the 27-inch version with a quad-core, a 2.80GHz Intel Core i5, starting at $1,999.

The revamped Mac Pro uses quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors with speeds up to 3.33GHz, paired with ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics with 1GB. The Mac Pro starts at $2,499 with the 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Xeon W3530 processor, but you can configure it with dual CPUs (up to a total of 12 processing cores and 24 threads), up to 32GB of memory, dual GPUs including the faster Radeon HD 5870 graphics, and up to four drives including 2TB hard drives or 512GB SSDs. The single-CPU quad-core configuration uses Nehalem Xeons, while the single-CPU six-core (the 3.33GHz Xeon W3680) and the dual-CPU configurations with two quad-cores (Xeon X5620) or two six-cores (the Xeon X5650 or 5670) are all Westmeres. The Mac Pros will ship in August.

The Magic Trackpad is pretty much what it sounds like: a multi-touch trackpad that connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless. The advantage to this is that it lets you use the same multi-touch gestures that work on MacBooks--swiping to flip through pages or albums, inertial scrolling and pinch-to-zoom-on your desktop The Magic Trackpad is a $69 option and runs on two AA batteries. Like the displays on the new iMacs, the 27-inch LED Cinema Display (2560x1440) has an edge-to-edge IPS display. It also has an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust brightness, a MagSafe charger, iSight camera, speakers, Mini DisplayPort and USB ports. The 27-inch model, which will be available starting in September for $999, replaces the existing 24-inch and 30-inch models, which are priced at $799 and $1,799, respectively "while supplies last."

CNET has more coverage of today's announcements:

Topics: Servers, Apple, Hardware, Processors

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15 comments
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  • Cooooool! 2 grand for a Core i5 desktop and a mid-range 27" monitor?!

    ..Where do I sign up?!

    ..And while you're at it, do you have a $60,000 Yugo that I can buy?
    daftkey
    Reply Vote

    • Sorry.. not a fair comparison..

      ...In true iMac fashion, I'll only pay the 60G's for the Yugo so long as you staple a spoiler on the back of it and tint the windows.. <br><br>You can also feel free set the radio to the all-day Britney Spears channel and rip off the tuning knob..
      daftkey
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

        @daftkey

        That would be "cruel and unusual" punishment.
        kenosha77a
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

        @kenosha7777

        ...just lining up my vehicle purchase to the typical "Mac Experience".. :)
        daftkey
        Reply Vote

  • And yet

    Apple continues to sell record numbers of these every quarter. More and more people find this to be a fair value proposition, even though PCs are cheaper.
    Monkeypox
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

      @Monkeypox That lowers my opinion of people, more than it raises my opinion of Macs.
      blondlot
      Reply Vote

    • they're beating their own (weak) records

      @Monkeypox
      Overall Mac share has only risen a few percent in the last 10 years.

      Meanwhile Microsoft is on track to TRIPLE the entire Mac user base in Windows 7 sales within 12 months of its launch.

      While nothing you said is untrue, some perspective reminds us how few people are deciding Mac is a fair value proposition.
      ericesque
      Reply Vote

      • True and False

        @ericesque : If you consider 10%-15% in the last 2 years "a few percent," then you are quite correct. However, that means that Apple has increased its sales by over 400% in just the last two years and its installed base now approaches 20%. Meanwhile, Windows 7 is NOT absorbing all of the losses seen by WinXP and WinVista. Most of it, yes; but a small proportion of those migrating out of older versions of Windows are going to other OSes.
        Vulpinemac
        Reply Vote

    • More and more people find this to be a fair value proposition...

      @Monkeypox : ... maybe <i>because</i> PC's are cheaper?
      Vulpinemac
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

      @Monkeypox : Errr. Apple is selling better with it's gadget line - not with iMacs and Mac Book Pros. Sounds like you've been brainwashed by Steve. Oh if people want to spend an extra 25%+ for the *SAME* hardware as a typical Windows based PC, then I guess they have money to burn in this economy.

      Apple's OS X share has not gone up that much over the last 5 years. Go to the various sites that keep track of this.

      @vulpine: Unsure where you got your 20% OS market share from. Just about every source that tracks the OS market share still has it under 10%. And your 40% comment makes no sense and really sounds odd.

      I've seen some who post comments in various blogs that cry because something is not working in Windows or maybe got some malware [OK, who installed the malware or how did it get there?] and swear that they are getting a Mac. Well, you can tell these are novices. Good riddance to them.

      Recent statistics now point out that Apple has taken over from Microsoft as the software vender with the most vulnerabilities in the year ending June 2010. They took in account every software made by Apple, Microsoft, Oracle/Sun, Mozilla, etc. That isn't good.
      Gis Bun
      Reply Vote

      • You make a reasoned argument.

        @Gis Bun: Installed base is not Market Share. Market Share is based on what percentage of all computers sold during a given time period--usually counted on a quarterly basis, but sometimes measured monthly. By these market figures and depending on who is doing the measurements, Apple is selling between 8% and 14% of all desktop and laptop computers. However, since the average upgrade cycle for replacing a Windows-based machine is about 3 years and the upgrade cycle for Macs is about 5 years, this puts the installed base for Macs considerably higher--especially since for the last two years Apple has maintained a minimum of 17% increased sales year over year as compared to the PC average of -5% (that's negative 5%) and HP's +5%. Admittedly, netbooks carried a 50% growth rate during that period, but nearly everyone agreed that netbooks were, at best, minimally capable as a laptop. It's only been the last couple of quarters that Windows PC growth has exceeded 20%, but the Mac's growth in the same period has been as high as 35%. Apple's installed base, in other words, is growing faster than the Windows installed base. Yes, Windows still gets the higher overall numbers, but Apple has yet to fall out of the top 5 PC companies in sales and looks to be ready to regain one or two positions from the companies that snatched their ranking with netbook sales.

        You also may have misunderstood my 400% growth (yes, I meant 400%; i.e. 4 times as many) statement earlier. If you look at total number of Macs sold in the mid-summer quarter say, 3 years ago, Apple sold roughly 4x as many this past quarter and is selling more on a year-to-year basis than any previous period. Where Apple was lucky to sell a few hundred thousand machines in a full year ten years ago, they're now selling almost 4 million machines each quarter. No matter how you look at it, Apple's computer sales have grown far faster than any other single brand and more people are using them than ever. Even on a global scale, Apple is selling between two and four times as many machines as they sold even 2 years ago.

        I don't argue the report that Apple seems to have the most vulnerabilities. But I have a question: With Apple so evident in the face of technology reports, why, in the last ten years, has <i>Apple not had one viable malware attack levied against it?</i> I won't deny there have been a few attempts, but as yet, not one has been able to infect more than 0.02% of the entire OSX installed base. Why? Don't try to argue that it's because Apple is such a bit player--Apple's made enough noise over the last ten years that they're anything but. However, for whatever reason, Windows is still the most frequently- and must successfully attacked OS on the market. Bar none. Why?
        Vulpinemac
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

    So let's take that Core i5 iMac at $2000. Probably 1TB hard disk and 4GB of RAM. Compare that with an ASUS system at Best Buy at $960. Alsoa Core i5 - but faster. 8GB of memory. Also 1TB of hard disk space. Only advantage on the iMac is a 27" screen [ASUS has 24"] and a better video card. But the Radeon 5670 has been out for a while [I know, I have the 5770]. So even if you get a larger screen and a better video card, it doesn't make up for the difference in price. And remember that ASUS has a faster processor and twice the RAM.

    God who knows what those Xeons will go for if they are charging $2000 for this Core i5! Need a loan?
    Gis Bun
    Reply Vote

  • OS Market Shares

    OK. Even my "under 10%" was way too much. These sites says the OS X market share is under 6%

    http://www.neowin.net/news/market-share-windows-7-up-os-x-down-chrome-up-ie-down
    http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/windows-7-growing-faster-than-vista-overtakes-mac-os.ars
    http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8
    http://theappleblog.com/2010/02/02/market-share-os-x-safari-flat-iphone-os-slows-in-january/

    Yes. Even an Apple oriented web site says so. Not a Microsoft plot.
    Gis Bun
    Reply Vote

    • Don't you worry about it...

      Just remember that Vista didn't suck (even though Microsoft said it did) and that the iPad wasn't a hit even though people are buying it as fast as they can stock it. Just you hold out for WP7 and Win8 and whatever else from Microsoft that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.
      zkiwi
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple overhauls iMac, Mac Pro desktops

        @zkiwi I generally wrap myself in the all the money I'm saving by not buying Apple products, when I need to feel all warm and fuzzy.
        blondlot
        Reply Vote
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