[Simon]

Everybody has been expecting new iMacs. And recent rumors (here and here) claimed that should happen this week.

The AppleStore in the US and Europe have just gone down. Time to go crazy.

I'm anxious to see what they'll get apart from Penryn and bigger HDDs. And will Apple stick with ATI on the iMac?

[Pierre B.]

Originally Posted by Simon 

The AppleStore in the US and Europe have just gone down. Time to go crazy.

Are you sure that the European ones too are down? If so, then yes, new hardware today.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Pierre B. 

Are you sure that the European ones too are down? If so, then yes, new hardware today.

Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, France. All down.

[Pierre B.]

Originally Posted by Simon 

And will Apple stick with ATI on the iMac?

I think this is the most important point about an iMac update as of now. Apple received too many complaints for this one and rightfully so. In the last update Apple could just move to ATI as it did but leave the GPU option for the nVidia 7600 as it was, instead of downgrading and not giving an option at all. As for the "features" of these new ATI GPUs (hardware HD decoding) it is just ash in the eyes since Apple never used them and they still remain dormant.

[Simon]

Here we are: new iMacs!

20" 2.4 GHz, 2.66 GHz
24" 2.8 GHz, 3.06 GHz

The 3.06 GHz model has an 8800 GS with 512 MB VRAM. It's also a $150 option on the 2.8 GHz model.

[moep]

Yup, another Apple store outage reveals yet another bump in product specs. This time, it's the iMac getting the treatment just as Geeksugar and our own sources predicted... on a Monday though instead of the Apple's customary Tuesday morning approach. So what's new? Well, for starters you're now looking at the latest Core 2 Duo processors starting at the same $1,199. The 24-inch model now sports a 3.06GHz processor and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics as options.

via Engadget

[Pierre B.]

Originally Posted by Simon 

Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, France. All down.

Right, checked from myself too, they are down. So, indeed, something is coming today.

EDIT: oops, I was too slow.

[moep]

Here's a review of the 8800GS for those who aren't familiar with it:

8800GS 384MB quick comparison with 8800GT 512MB - Expreview.com

[Simon]

Now here's the thing: The new iMacs actually don't just come with Penryn, they come with the new Montevina refresh Penryns and the brand new Cantiga chipset. That means they run a 1067 MT/s FSB. That's more than a month before they were scheduled to appear!

It also means Intel has changed their lineup (or Apple has received some type of special deal). The 2.4 GHz iMac comes with 6 MB L2 cache, whereas the announced P8600 was suppoed to come with just 3 MB. Also, a 2.66 GHz socket B Penryn wasn't previously announced at all. There was a P9500 at 2.53 GHz and a T9400 at 2.53 GHz, but no 2.66 GHz part.

[Peter]

cash will be pissed his iMac is now slow as a dog

[MacNNUK]

Pity they didn't sort out the highly reflective glossy display.

I bought a recon matt imac for this very reason.

[Eug]

Nice update, esp. with the bus bump. However, the memory is still 800 MHz, because the iMac is still using SO-DIMMs. (Ironically, my G5 iMac used standard 184-pin DIMMs.) My understanding is that the Cantiga chipset does support 1066 MHz.

However, I'll wait until there's a viable Blu-ray solution (both playback and recording) with the iMacs. My 2.33 GHz 2006 C2D iMac will do fine until then. A 30" screen would be nice too. The continued mandatory glossy display is a little bit of a downer though.

[Big Mac]

Sounds like nice specs, but meh. Bring on the consumer tower.

[P]

Nothing makes sense here. The 8800GS does not exist as a mobile part, the 1066FSB is not supposed to be available for two more months and DDR2-800 is also not supposed to work with the current chipset. The GPU name could be Apple's way of renaming it, but the chipset? Is it really Montevina already? Sounds like it.

[Simon]

It is the Cantiga chipset, not Montevina. And yes, Cantiga does support 800 MHz DDR2. RAM speed ≠ FSB clock.

[asodamiac]

Is the graphics card for the lower 24" and 20" models the same as the previous model? I was really hoping there would be a refresh for the graphics card across the board.

However, I think I'll be picking up one of these bad boys real soon!

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Simon 

The 3.06 GHz model has an 8800 GS with 512 MB VRAM. It's also a $150 option on the 2.8 GHz model.

And I really, really, wouldn't recommend getting that option. Stick with ATI, unless you like your Mac locking up all the time.

[Luca Rescigno]

They kept the graphics the same across the board. All they did was give you the option of an 8800GS on the 24" ones.

That's really disappointing. It would have been nice if they had brought the iMacs up to the current generation with their graphics (Radeon HD 3xxx series and GeForce 9xxx series), but clearly Apple doesn't care enough about gaming to update their GPUs more than once every couple years. That's doubly bad because you can't upgrade them yourself.

[asodamiac]

Hmm, yeah I was hoping for a GPU upgrade, but the more I think about it, I really don't need it. I don't game much, but I mainly do work with photos and videos, but less and less lately. I'm debating if I should wait for the free iPod promotion for students or if I should go ahead and use my student discount to get the newer iMac today.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

And I really, really, wouldn't recommend getting that option. Stick with ATI, unless you like your Mac locking up all the time.

Would this really apply to the iMac? I know the 8800 is known to lockup the Mac Pro, but that's a completely different set of hardware.

Originally Posted by asodamiac 

Hmm, yeah I was hoping for a GPU upgrade, but the more I think about it, I really don't need it. I don't game much, but I mainly do work with photos and videos, but less and less lately.

Parts of Final Cut Studio and Aperture can benefit from not only the faster GPU, but also the increased (and faster) GPU memory.