Apple and Macs: New products, iMacs, iWork, iLife

[10spro]

So what's Apple launching this week in anticipation of their 10th anniversary?

[wco81]

So what's Apple launching this week in anticipation of their 10th anniversary?

They've been around way more than 10 years, since the '80s at least.

They intro'd new iMacs in the past couple of weeks.

There is WWDC in early June, when they've announced new iPhones as well as new iOS features. But there are rumors they may not intro a new iPhone until September, to kind of get one model that works on AT&T as well as Verizon.

There's a page on macosrumors.com that tracks the time between releases of a certain model so they can kind of predict what's due in the coming months. Of course there's always a lot of rumors swirling around Apple products.

[10spro]

So what's Apple launching this week in anticipation of their 10th anniversary?

They've been around way more than 10 years, since the '80s at least.

They intro'd new iMacs in the past couple of weeks.

There is WWDC in early June, when they've announced new iPhones as well as new iOS features. But there are rumors they may not intro a new iPhone until September, to kind of get one model that works on AT&T as well as Verizon.

There's a page on macosrumors.com that tracks the time between releases of a certain model so they can kind of predict what's due in the coming months. Of course there's always a lot of rumors swirling around Apple products.

Of course they have been in existence for more than a decade. Who can forget when they were struggling to remain even as an identity? What I meant was their 10 year in retail existence and there's a rumor that something special maybe coming this coming Thursday. Thanks for the other stuff but I was aware of the info you've posted.

[sportdan30]

Thinking of purchasing a new iMac this week. Mine is 5 and a half years old. Not interested in hard core gaming or editing so I'm sticking with the 21.5 base model. Any reason not to go with the iMac and consider a PC?

[dbdynsty25]

Thinking of purchasing a new iMac this week. Mine is 5 and a half years old. Not interested in hard core gaming or editing so I'm sticking with the 21.5 base model. Any reason not to go with the iMac and consider a PC?

If paying twice as much for a computer with the same specs is something you like doing...no...no reason to not go with a mac desktop. If you are talking about laptops...macs are tough to beat but desktop wise you arent going to beat a pc in price to performance ratio.

[WillHunting]

If paying twice as much for a computer with the same specs is something you like doing...no...no reason to not go with a mac desktop. If you are talking about laptops...macs are tough to beat but desktop wise you arent going to beat a pc in price to performance ratio.

Agree, but Lenovo laptops, if you can get past the utilitarian look, gives Apple a run for the money. I just got an x220t (tablet/convertible version of the x220), and it is fantastic. Touch/pen input, IPS screen, Sandybridge i5 cpu, 4gig ram, 720p camera, etc etc etc all for under $1300.

If you don't go for the tablet, it is much cheaper.

[wco81]

The 27-inch model is a jump up in price but the display makes it a decent value:

Apple has never been a value player and the fact that the entry level iMac is at least within the same range as a comparable HP or Dell is pretty impressive. The 27-inch iMac is tempting as the display alone is worth $999. For the base 27-inch iMac that means you get a Sandy Bridge Mac integrated for only an additional $699.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4340/27in ... eview-2011


You can also look at refurbished last year's models:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC510 ... TkwMzU2MjE
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JN0 ... TkxNTU3Mzg

Slower processors and graphics and no Thunderbolt ports but they have the great screens. Also, I think this year's models lets you choose either the wireless mouse or the wireless trackpad whereas older models only give you the wireless mouse.

[Rodster]

I think out of Apples entire line the imac offers the best bang for the buck. If I was to buy an Apple product that would be my choice.

[Murph]

[Nozzleman_216]

Well, just an update since I haven't posted what I chose to do regarding an Ipad or Macbook purchase. I actually just made the choice in the last few days. I am now the proud owner of a 13" MacBook Pro. I have to say so far I am in love. There are times when I feel "hey I can do this on a pc" then I find something new or seamlessly complete a task which was a pain on pc (syncing things together). This is my first Apple product ever. I never felt I need and Ipod (Db's posts talked me out of it) and I have never felt the need only want for Mac. With two laptop purchases in 6-7 years and the first one that was around $850-900 doesn't even work and the current one I passed down to my son is having charge port issues, has had a new battery already and I can't even remember the times it has been formatted.

So far I am very impressed. My wife played with an Ipad while in the store and I believe we will have one in due time lol. Now just to learn the OS and all the cool things I can do with this thing. Any tips?

[wco81]

I think Apple Stores offer classes. Otherwise there might be tutorials online for things like iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand).

They may also help transfer data from your PC to your new Mac.

[dbdynsty25]

Well, just an update since I haven't posted what I chose to do regarding an Ipad or Macbook purchase. I actually just made the choice in the last few days. I am now the proud owner of a 13" MacBook Pro. I have to say so far I am in love. There are times when I feel "hey I can do this on a pc" then I find something new or seamlessly complete a task which was a pain on pc (syncing things together). This is my first Apple product ever. I never felt I need and Ipod (Db's posts talked me out of it) and I have never felt the need only want for Mac. With two laptop purchases in 6-7 years and the first one that was around $850-900 doesn't even work and the current one I passed down to my son is having charge port issues, has had a new battery already and I can't even remember the times it has been formatted.

So far I am very impressed. My wife played with an Ipad while in the store and I believe we will have one in due time lol. Now just to learn the OS and all the cool things I can do with this thing. Any tips?

Cool...congrats. Still love my 13" Macbook even after almost three years. If it were a pc id have already upgraded. Thats why i think the mac laptops are superior to the pc counterparts. They just seem to hold up better performance wise even though they command a premium price.

[10spro]

So far I am very impressed. My wife played with an Ipad while in the store and I believe we will have one in due time lol. Now just to learn the OS and all the cool things I can do with this thing. Any tips?

Apple offers classes called 'One on One' for $99 for a full year no matter where you are. You can also sign up for group projects at their store and that's free.

[Nozzleman_216]

Yea, I know about the one on one program. I had thought about it but to my knowledge its all in store and I live over an hour away from Apple Stores. So I guess I will just research anything I come across. I was just hoping there may be a few really cool things others may have learned or know about they could share.

I know its small and other laptops and netbooks can do it, but the touchpad and gestures are simply amazing. I have never used a touchpad that works as well as this one. And something else other's have bit I am loving, backlit keyboard. I will NEVER go back LOL.

[sportdan30]

Well, I went ahead and purchased the base 21.5 iMac model. Great looking computer compared to the butt ugly PCs I saw at Best Buy. Sure, asthetics shouldn't necessarily be a factor in deciding which computer to purchase, but the PCs that were on display just looked cheap and dated. With regards to specs, yeah it's a mixed bag compared to what I could have gotten from a PC. However, I've had my iMac G5 since 2006 and have had absolutely no problems, so I figured to go with my gut.

A lot has changed since 2006. With the advent of tablets, the desktop computer doesn't have that wow factor to me as it once did. I can still envision myself using my iPad for roughly 90 percent of my daily computer use. The iPad is that much more accessible and quick. Now, I'm searching for things I'll use the iMac for. Of course, emailing is easier with the iMac, photo editing, word, excel, etc. It's nice to have the new Mac Store, and I'm not quite sure how much of it I'll use.

[wco81]

You may be eligible for a free Lion upgrade. There's usually a cutoff date.

Now they're going to distribute Lion through the Mac App Store so I'm not sure how they'll handle that, if they give you a free upgrade. Otherwise, it's $30.

[Slumberland]

I'm considering getting one of the imacs today. My macbook is creaking these days, and having the ipad has sort of changed things, in that the macbook now never leaves my desk. Any real advantage to having i7 processor over the i5? I mostly use the home computer for music recording in Logic, with some light video editing and image manipulation from time to time.

[sportdan30]

You may be eligible for a free Lion upgrade. There's usually a cutoff date.

Now they're going to distribute Lion through the Mac App Store so I'm not sure how they'll handle that, if they give you a free upgrade. Otherwise, it's $30.

I am elgible for the free Lion upgrade. I believe that offer started for those who purchased on or after 6/5/11.

Thanks for the reminder.

[pk500]

I can still envision myself using my iPad for roughly 90 percent of my daily computer use. ... Now, I'm searching for things I'll use the iMac for .... It's nice to have the new Mac Store, and I'm not quite sure how much of it I'll use.

So you dropped a large on a computer you might use 10 percent of the time and are searching for reasons to use? Some of you cats definitely are wired differently than me when it comes to discretionary spending.

Enjoy your new toy!

[wco81]

I'm considering getting one of the imacs today. My macbook is creaking these days, and having the ipad has sort of changed things, in that the macbook now never leaves my desk. Any real advantage to having i7 processor over the i5? I mostly use the home computer for music recording in Logic, with some light video editing and image manipulation from time to time.

For CPU-intensive applications like video encoding and audio processing, there should be an advantage.

But a lot of people are realizing that the biggest upgrade is to have SSD drive. The MacBook Airs have better performance than expected because of the SSD drives. The SSD option for iMacs are really pricey though and the Apple SSDs are not the fastest on the market.

But trying to install the SSD yourself on an iMac is difficult, apparently requires removing the screen cover. So you either pay the big premium to have the SSD installed for you or maybe there will be Thunderbolt storage options which will offer comparable performance (though you want your boot drive with the OS to be on the SSD).

[dbdynsty25]

I can still envision myself using my iPad for roughly 90 percent of my daily computer use. ... Now, I'm searching for things I'll use the iMac for .... It's nice to have the new Mac Store, and I'm not quite sure how much of it I'll use.

So you dropped a large on a computer you might use 10 percent of the time and are searching for reasons to use? Some of you cats definitely are wired differently than me when it comes to discretionary spending.

Enjoy your new toy!

That's what I was thinking. Wish I had that kind of money laying around to justify using an item 10% of the time. Yeeesh.

[Rodster]

I can still envision myself using my iPad for roughly 90 percent of my daily computer use. ... Now, I'm searching for things I'll use the iMac for .... It's nice to have the new Mac Store, and I'm not quite sure how much of it I'll use.

So you dropped a large on a computer you might use 10 percent of the time and are searching for reasons to use? Some of you cats definitely are wired differently than me when it comes to discretionary spending.

Enjoy your new toy!

That's what I was thinking. Wish I had that kind of money laying around to justify using an item 10% of the time. Yeeesh.

Murph's Mapple Youtube video sums it all up.

You know that's another reason I stopped using a Mac because all of the stuff I needed to do on a computer was Windows based. So basically my iMac was an internet machine.

[JRod]

I can still envision myself using my iPad for roughly 90 percent of my daily computer use. ... Now, I'm searching for things I'll use the iMac for .... It's nice to have the new Mac Store, and I'm not quite sure how much of it I'll use.

So you dropped a large on a computer you might use 10 percent of the time and are searching for reasons to use? Some of you cats definitely are wired differently than me when it comes to discretionary spending.

Enjoy your new toy!

That's what I was thinking. Wish I had that kind of money laying around to justify using an item 10% of the time. Yeeesh.

Didn't know he was spending your money. Who cares.

[sportdan30]

While I may not use it as frequently as the iPad, my son will surely use it quite frequently for his school work. Along with light flash games, Mac Store apps, email, photos, and music, etc. it will get plenty of use. In addition, our iMac G5 was no longer compatible with the iTouch or iPad. We were S.O.L. in terms of syncing our devices. For the past year, it sounded like a jet airplane...it was that noisy and annoying.

So, I didn't drop all that coin for a new "toy". If you really think about it though, most people use their desktops or laptops solely for the internet, email, games, music, and photos. I don't replace my computers every two to three years. I'm fully expecting it to be something my kids will grow into and use, perhaps more than I. I just tend to really enjoy the accessibility of the iPad. It really was evident this past week when we were on vacation with my parents, sisters and their families, etc. Both my brother-in-laws had their bulky laptop pcs. Watching as they started them up, plug the power cord in to the wall, just to check email and surf the web was rather amusing. Meanwhile, they and everyone else used the iPad for the bulk of web browsing because of the ease of use.

[dbdynsty25]

It really was evident this past week when we were on vacation with my parents, sisters and their families, etc. Both my brother-in-laws had their bulky laptop pcs. Watching as they started them up, plug the power cord in to the wall, just to check email and surf the web was rather amusing. Meanwhile, they and everyone else used the iPad for the bulk of web browsing because of the ease of use.

Yeah I'm noticing that this week as well. My in-laws are staying with us and we'll all be sitting on the couch, I whip out the Tab and can be on it all day, while they've got all kinds of cables running across the floor to plug in their laptop and netbook. It is definitely the biggest advantage I've found so far. Previously I'd break out my Macbook and I'd be out of juice after a few hours...now I'm good all day long. To me, that's the one KILLER app/feature that made me want to get a tablet after holding out for so long.