[jl15]

I am about to buy my new iMac 20" Intel. But i recently heard that Apple might be releasing a new Imac this September. I want to know if i should wait for the new mac or go ahead and purchase the present iMac. Is there going to be any major performance/feature change that will make me regret my current purchase. As this is my first mac and aquite an expensive one (quite expensive in India) i am kinda confused. Anyone any advice ?

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by brokenbells

I am about to buy my new iMac 20" Intel. But i recently heard that Apple might be releasing a new Imac this September. I want to know if i should wait for the new mac or go ahead and purchase the present iMac. Is there going to be any major performance/feature change that will make me regret my current purchase. As this is my first mac and aquite an expensive one (quite expensive in India) i am kinda confused. Anyone any advice ?

wait my friend... wait.

[harrisjamieh]

Just buy it if you want it. Seriously, you could wait until a new model comes out, catch a rumour that further model will be out in 6 months or so, and face the same dilemma - technology moves on, you cannot have the latest & greatest for ever.

My advice: Buy now.

Besides, rumours are often wrong

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

Just buy it if you want it. Seriously, you could wait until a new model comes out, catch a rumour that further model will be out in 6 months or so, and face the same dilemma - technology moves on, you cannot have the latest & greatest for ever.

My advice: Buy now.

Besides, rumours are often wrong

listen to me, wait until leopard arrived. Apple will change a lot of stuff with leopard, and I mean you know how it is, no matter what other said, if you have a brand new OS with an old Mac it won't run smoothly, I know what I'm talking about, Right now my MDD sucks with Tiger, I saw a G5 with it and it runs awsome, I wish I was waited for two months before buying that MDD, so, right now Apple is introducing Intels macs, working with a new OS with Windows compatibility, you wont find all the software out there for intel Macs just PowerPCs, it's time to be real and wait until all the Macs runs Intel, and every software runs on it. but if you want just iLife 06, a couple of sharewares and surf the net, well buy one right now. In my case I will loose all my software if I buy one Intel Mac and believe me I want a Mac Book Black! I will be waiting with you my man. that's a fact.

[slugslugslug]

The OP's asking about waiting until September, so he/she most assuredly shouldn't wait for Leopard. It's only being shown to developers in August and will definitely not be out by then. Now if the OP can wait til November or Later, maybe.

My advice is buy now. I can't imagine the next iMac will be a bigger leap in any dimension than the current Core Duo is over the last G5. Maybe some brand new really cool technology will show up in it, but nobody has any clue about that now. The current iMacs are awesome.

[crispin14]

Or do what I'm doing

Buy a MacBook now! Then wait for the new iMac or PowerPC/PowerMac or whatever its called.

I had been using the same Dell for the past 5 and 1/2 years!! There was noway I could wait another 3-6 months for new technology. Btw, as fate would have it, right after buying my MacBook, the Dell decided to die

[jl15]

The real question is, will the current iMac be 'Leopard' friendly? It should not be like Microsoft Vista which wont have its Aero interface working at all if the computer is insufficiently configured. Then I will be having an unupgradable computer in about 6 months !!!

[harrisjamieh]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

listen to me, wait until leopard arrived. Apple will change a lot of stuff with leopard, and I mean you know how it is, no matter what other said, if you have a brand new OS with an old Mac it won't run smoothly,.

That the biggest load of BS ever!!! Any G5 will run 10.5 perfectly, let alone a more powerful (than all but 2.3 Ghz + PMs) Core Duo chip.

If you are talking about the core duo Macs running, say, OS 10.8, then it may stuggle a bit by then, but then the next gen iMacs will struggle with 10.9 .... its a bloody circle - wait for the next rev, and it will last longer - yes, but you will have to wait longer for it.... BUY IT NOW DAMMIT

[cornwallstone]

Wait for Apple to ship the iMac with Core 2 Duo, sometime after Intel releases it in Sept...

but by that time, Leopard will almost be out, so better wait for that rather than have to turn around and spend extra money on it...

but by that time, it won't be long before Intel ships the second generation 800MHz FSB Core 2 Duo, so better wait for that since it uses a new socket design and older Macs won't be able to use it...

but by that time... there will be another reason to wait... and another... and another...

I'd buy now.... in fact, I did.

[thadw]

I am in the same boat. I have a 5 year old G3, and I figure I have waited this long, I can wait another 7-8 months for 10.5 as I expect it to be a big leap from Tiger. Plus, I won't have to shell out another $120-$150 for an upgrade. I am also hoping that the '07 iMacs will be upgraded in a few other ways as well.

[jwoods]

The current iMac is a great machine. Why wait? Apple releases new stuff all the time, so if you are going to wait for the latest and greatest you will never buy one.

Consider....

Macs in general have a long shelf life. (Alot of folks keep theirs for 4+ years before buying another).

You can have it now.

Other considerations.....

By waiting....

You'll get an arguably better machine. (but, perhaps, not that much better, and pay a premium to do so). Then again, the current machine will be cut in price, so if you can put up with the current (super duper fantastic) machine.....waiting might let you buy one cheaper.

You have to wait 4+ months to get it.

I don't hold my breath on new hardware. When I need a new machine, I buy one. Choice is yours, but if you are ready to buy, you won't be disappointed with the current offering.

[I WAS the One]

people please... I don't know to whom you are talking here, if the guy is just like me, a normal worker with no more than ten bucks in his pocket, then I say it's cool to wait, at the end he will be a loooong time using that mac he buy today. but if he got plenty of money, what the heck! buy it now, and another tomorrow and all the updates of the mac world!!! buy them all!!

but if you are on a budget, save a couple of dollars, wait, and buy the perfect mac.

[jamil5454]

I don't care what people say about 64-bit chips... I'd wait till the iMacs get a 64-bit chip, which is most likely this fall.

[dale]

If you buy now you will have months of trouble free compting pleasure before the next iMac is released. This is surely of greater value that whatever new widgets apple decides to put in the next iMac.

As for core2duo we are talking slight performane increases, not doubling. Unless you are going to be doing extensive computational work, buy now!

This is my first Mac (nearly 3 months old), and I too bought the 20' iMac. Last weekend, I nearly died of boardom whilst waiting for my dad to download digital photo's to his PC from my digital camera. Load this software, load that driver, and then the system was unstable so the import took 3 attempts. The pictures didn't look great on his monitor either. You forget just how bad PC's can be. Got home, hooked the camera up to the mac, imported the pictures first time and they looked fantastic on the pin sharp display.

Macs are fantastic. Come on in the water's great. You will not regret it

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

people please... I don't know to whom you are talking here, if the guy is just like me, a normal worker with no more than ten bucks in his pocket

Um, yeah, except that he says he is ready to buy now, which gives us pretty good reason to infer that he has sufficient funds to buy an iMac right now.

, then I say it's cool to wait, at the end he will be a loooong time using that mac he buy today.

Okay, I actually have no clue what you're talking about, but it sure seems like you're saying what dale just did: if he buys a Mac now, he'll be able to use it for a while.

but if he got plenty of money, what the heck! buy it now, and another tomorrow and all the updates of the mac world!!! buy them all!!

but if you are on a budget, save a couple of dollars, wait, and buy the perfect mac.

If you're on a budget, the time to buy your Mac is when you've accumulated the money you've budgeted towards a computer, unless the current model is super duper old, or the rumor mill is extremely confident that a new model is 'round the corner. But the iMac, right now, is an excellent machine and the update schedule for the current form factor has been really erratic. And there's no buzz about any particularly exciting update in the pipeline.

So OP, if you need a new computer now, buy one now. If your current one is still reasonably functional, play the waiting game. The next iMac, when it shows up, doubtless will be an improvement in some respects. But if your current machine is painfully slow to use, getting a new one will be more fun than reloading the rumor sites over and over again.

P.S. I just realized that the thing you heard was coming in September may have been what AppleInsider calls an eMac replacement. In which case, the next all-in-one desktop Mac to be introduced may in fact be cheaper but also less powerful than the entry-level iMac (and possibly available only for edu institutional purchases).

[Jasoco]

The best time to buy a new Mac or any Apple product is RIGHT AFTER it is released. That is the longest time there is before a new one will be released.

If you buy one right now, there WILL be a new one very soon. It is pretty much a guarantee.

In fact, there will be new iPods within the next month simply because my brother just bought one. It's inevitable.

I'm in the same boat. I am saving up for a new iMac Intel, but am kinda hoping to take my time so I can time it right.

[Dale Sorel]

Originally Posted by jwoods

The current iMac is a great machine. Why wait? Apple releases new stuff all the time, so if you are going to wait for the latest and greatest you will never buy one.

Exactly

[eddiecatflap]

the spec of the imac is seriously impressive imo

arguably the best value computer they've made in a loooong time

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

So OP, if you need a new computer now, buy one now. If your current one is still reasonably functional, play the waiting game. The next iMac, when it shows up, doubtless will be an improvement in some respects. But if your current machine is painfully slow to use, getting a new one will be more fun than reloading the rumor sites over and over again.

[Apple1]

i know there will be new cpu for iMac and cpu is one thing you cant upgrade
there will also be the benefit of a new OS and is another thing that you can't upgrade becasue it wont run well, we both know that. hahaha

[macintologist]

You can upgrade the CPU in the iMac so buy now and upgrade 2/3 years from now if you want

[harrisjamieh]

Originally Posted by Apple1

there will also be the benefit of a new OS and is another thing that you can't upgrade becasue it wont run well, we both know that. hahaha

'I WAS the One' has put this thing into your head that any mac you buy now will not run leopard (10.5) well. This is total crap. Todays iMac will run leopard fantastically. 10.6 will run very well, and 10.7 and 10.8+ will run, though no one can say how well.

[slugslugslug]

I'm looking forward to running Leopard on my iMac, which is now 2 generations old. I must be crazy, huh?

[Dave Hagan]

If you can wait, wait. If you need it now, buy. The current iMac is closing in on 6 months old, and with the way Intel is pumping out chip updates (2.3 GHz Yonah soon + Conroe in July + Merom in Aug) there will probably be an update in the next 8 weeks.

[harrisjamieh]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

I'm looking forward to running Leopard on my iMac, which is now 2 generations old. I must be crazy, huh?

How could you? You HAVE to buy a new machine, it simply wont work!

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

'I WAS the One' has put this thing into your head that any mac you buy now will not run leopard (10.5) well. This is total crap. Todays iMac will run leopard fantastically. 10.6 will run very well, and 10.7 and 10.8+ will run, though no one can say how well.

Hey, dude. stop ok?
even if Apple sells two copies of Leopard one for PowerPC and one for Intel, it will no be the same OS. let's pretend that this guy want to buy a new iMac on eBay, and suddenly he buy the iMac G5. It's not an old machine, it's practically NEW, but Leopard will not run well on it and you know it.
this is a transition era as Steve Jobs said. people who can deal with it is fine, but people like me need to have something good from start to 5 years of functionality. All my Macs go after 5 years, try do that on a PC!... and I've been using Macs since the Performa, so, I know how it is when the Mac updates and your old peripherals won't respond as always. Be real, every Mac user knows it will be changes soon, I mean Leopard won't run fantastic on a onecore Mac Mini as it will on a brand new iMac that comes with Leopard from the Box, it simply won't. So, it is bad to wait?
it's bothering you that I'm too real for this? I will wait, and I trully need one new Mac right know.
I feel sad for a friend of mine that bought a iMac G5 with iSight and all... he's doomed. and He knows.

I don't want to brain wash nobody. relax. do whatever the *binary move* you want. I'm waiting. sigh.

[slugslugslug]

I would like to bet you $50 that Leopard will run well on my iMac G5, but of course, there's no clear and objective line between "runs well" and "runs poorly", and you will undoubtedly disbelieve me when I say it's running great. There's certainly no need to worry about Leopard's performance on a current Core Duo iMac.

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

I would like to bet you $50 that Leopard will run well on my iMac G5

Ok. right now, as in TODAY, I'm using Tiger on my MDD Dual G4 BUT when I want to see Dashboard, I got to wait like a minute or two to see it. When I click on the Dashboard icon on my single G4 Mac Mini I'm seeing all the widgets before I release my finger from the mouse. same processor, same OS... week performance on my old G4, great performance on my NEW G4, the one that came with Tiger. New machines run better with up to date OS because they were made for that OS in mind. MDD Dual 1.24 Mhz (upgraded lately) V.S Mac Mini G4 with ONE processor.
c'mon... do I have to explain it to you again. when he buy that iMac now, he will have to deal with all the slow task processing, no game upload issues, and worst of all, he will be using one of the slowest Intel Core Duo in Apple history. because, my friend... Apple is working on brand new toys and all of those will need the most up to date machine to give a better performance. They would not showcase Leopard on a iMac G5, I bet your 50 cents that it will never happen. pay me now. retired with dignity.

[Jasoco]

50 cents? Where'd the other $49.50 go?

I say Leopard will run well on a G5, but it'll run BETTER on an Intel.

[BikerJonTN]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

New machines run better with up to date OS because they were made for that OS in mind.

Absolutely wrong.

Processors are not designed for operating systems. Intel develops new processors to improve speeds at which computations are performed. The types of computations a processor supports is determined by engineers who attempt to select the most important or most beneficial computational instructions. Instruction importance is often determined by new ideas in the fields of computer science and computer engineering. Imagine a researcher at some lab or university discovers some new way to manipulate data to solve a problem (think small scale here, i.e. addition/subtraction/multiplication/division). This new method for solving said problem can now possibly be implemented by the group of engineers at Intel on a new line of processors. The engineers determined that this improved method for solving this particular data manipulation problem has increased performance for this operation by a factor of 2. Intel develops, creates, and manufactures this processor.

Apple decides to use this new processor from Intel because they determine the operations their operating system, Mac OS X, performs uses the improved instruction 50% of the time. Apple's operating system now feels "two times snappier!"

Intel did not ask Apple (or Microsoft, or Palm, or any other operating system vendor) how it should improve its processor offerings. If Intel relied on these software companies to set its engineering parameters for new processors, then Intel would simply be a manufacturer of processors, and not an innovative computational engineering firm.

It is the job of the software developer to design their software to best utilize the available hardware to the best of their ability. Apple (and every other large software vendor) can, and often does, recode perfectly working portions of their operating system to use newer, faster instructions that become available on newer, faster processors.

If you would like to learn more, I suggest enrolling in your local university and signing up for many courses on computer engineering, computer science, and software engineering. A large mathematics background is also very beneficial.

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by Jasoco

50 cents? Where'd the other $49.50 go?

I say Leopard will run well on a G5, but it'll run BETTER on an Intel.

Hahaha! I don't want you to go broke my friend! LOL

Originally Posted by Jasoco

I say Leopard will run well on a G5, but it'll run BETTER on an Intel.

Case CLOSE! you explain it better than I did!

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by BikerJonTN

Absolutely wrong.

Processors are not designed for operating systems. Intel develops new processors to improve speeds at which computations are performed... and so on...

go and try to install Tiger on a PowerBook 3400, I'm sure you don't gonna have any problems because the OS is not made for certain machines...that doesn't matter.. right?

[jl15]

What bikerjon definately meant that OSs are designed keeping in mind available technologies in mind. Overtime technologies change so much that newer OSs are not able to run in older hardware.

You wouldnt expect software that runs todays scientific calculators to be able to run those '+' or '-' ones, a decade back would you. Today's firmware is unrecognisable when compared to those even 10 years back.....though present technologies are nothing but their 'upgrades'.

So your Powerbook argument holds no water......just like windows could not run on the 'G' class processors or the OSs still cannot run in Intel Pc counterparts. Codes are written for hardware.

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by brokenbells

Codes are written for hardware.

BINGO!

[jl15]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

BINGO!

Yup! I have the answer now !

[TiDual]

I nominate this for "most pointless thread of the year".

[I WAS the One]

Originally Posted by TiDual

I nominate this for "most pointless thread of the year".

lol lol

[ouisch]

Ok! I'm on the same situation, and im from argentina, so i have my old g3 and waiting to buy a new imac.
The reason that i'm waiting for a new imac its that the actual iMac its Rev.A and for my experience, the Rev.A it'snot cool.
So i'm waiting for a Rev.B and the core 2 duo...

[unix]

dude...take it from another indian, just buy it now.

even if apple comes out with a new model in 6 months, it wont sell in india for atleast a year. they still havent started selling macbooks there. ur not gonna wait for another year r ya?

The current generation is GOOD, its better than just good, trust me its not gonna become old in 6-8 months, it'll serve you for a long long time. as far as i know, this current generation of imacs doesn't have those many faults either, just get it.

why wait for something your not even sure about? u know what is in front of you, you like it, buy it. period.

[parsec_kadets]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

Ok. right now, as in TODAY, I'm using Tiger on my MDD Dual G4 BUT when I want to see Dashboard, I got to wait like a minute or two to see it. When I click on the Dashboard icon on my single G4 Mac Mini I'm seeing all the widgets before I release my finger from the mouse. same processor, same OS... week performance on my old G4, great performance on my NEW G4, the one that came with Tiger. New machines run better with up to date OS because they were made for that OS in mind. MDD Dual 1.24 Mhz (upgraded lately) V.S Mac Mini G4 with ONE processor.
c'mon... do I have to explain it to you again. when he buy that iMac now, he will have to deal with all the slow task processing, no game upload issues, and worst of all, he will be using one of the slowest Intel Core Duo in Apple history. because, my friend... Apple is working on brand new toys and all of those will need the most up to date machine to give a better performance. They would not showcase Leopard on a iMac G5, I bet your 50 cents that it will never happen. pay me now. retired with dignity.

Wait, so let me get this straight. Just because YOUR MDD G4 doesn't run Tiger as well as YOUR Mini, that must mean that ALL MDD G4s run it worse than ALL Minis? Did you ever stop and consider that there's a problem with the installation of Tiger on your PowerMac? I have both the 17" Intel iMac and a 1GHz, 17" PowerBook. Both machines run Tiger just fine. Also, this lag you're seeing, is it just the first time you look at dashboard, or everytime? If it's just the first time, this is because OS X doesn't load anything on the dashboard until you actually look at it for the first time. I experience a short lag the first time I look at Dashboard on either machine.

Finally, I find it amusing that you already know that Leapord won't run well on the current iMacs when we know almost NOTHING about what the upgrade will include. All we know now is that it will have Boot Camp built in. Other than that, it might just be a new collection of fonts for all we know. Stop acting like you know everything there is to know about Leapord, when nobody knows anything at this point.

[ouisch]

you are right parsec,
i have a g3 beige running tiger, it works well but slow, i dont mind, because i have no worries about the time....

[Mike Pither]

I have tiger installed on my 6 year old 400mhz iMac. It's not great but it is ok. On my (almost 3 year old) g4 powerbook there are no problems at all. I would also be shocked if leopard had problems on it. It certainly doesn't have problems loading widgets on the dashboard.

[I WAS the One]

Wow. I thought this whole deal was over... but here we go again then...

manuchis said:

i have a g3 beige running tiger, it works well but slow

Mike Pither said:

I have tiger installed on my 6 year old 400mhz iMac. It's not great but it is ok

parsec_kadets said:

I have both the 17" Intel iMac and a 1GHz, 17" PowerBook. Both machines run Tiger just fine.

translation: The newer the mac, the better Tiger responds. you said it yourselves.

I'm gone.

[ouisch]

yeah

[parsec_kadets]

A single revision within the same product is not going to make a noticible difference. My point was that the PowerBook I bought in early 2003 runs Tiger just as well as the iMac I bought in 2006. If those two are seperated by three years and there's little noticible difference, then why would there be a huge difference between two machines that are seperated by 9 months (or however long it ends up being)?

[slugslugslug]

Hey, he said he was gone Don't bring him back, please...

[Helmling]

I vote: BUY NOW.

The current iMac is supposed to be one of the best machines Apple's had out for awhile. It's got plenty of juice for the long haul. Will there be a new version in September? Probably, but you could play that game forever.

And about the OS debate. My G4 17" iMac soccer-ball has been running smoothly for 4 years now. I have upgraded with each subsequent OS release with no problems and Tiger is running smoothly. If you buy an iMac now, you'll have no problem upgrading to Leopard. Hell, I'll probably upgrade this old machine to it also.

Buy, Enjoy, and welcome to the fold.

[onlykaria]

Originally Posted by brokenbells

I am about to buy my new iMac 20" Intel. But i recently heard that Apple might be releasing a new Imac this September. I want to know if i should wait for the new mac or go ahead and purchase the present iMac. Is there going to be any major performance/feature change that will make me regret my current purchase. As this is my first mac and aquite an expensive one (quite expensive in India) i am kinda confused. Anyone any advice ?

this is not which computer buying advise more like a keep in mind note. when i bought my mbp i did not know that you can earn frequent flier miles for buying apple products. 2 per dollar with continental. and some credit/debit cards give you extra bonus points for buying with apple. for example if you buy with citibank, you get 1 point per dollar plus 2 bonus points per dollar, plus 2 miles per dollar with continental. not a bad deal thats 10,000 points/miles for an mbp. not bad.

so like ask around with your airline and cc company, if i could do it again i would not miss out on the miles/points

as for you new mac, something new is always around the coner get something that you are happy with, if that means waiting wait.

[fesdds]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

people please... I don't know to whom you are talking here, if the guy is just like me, a normal worker with no more than ten bucks in his pocket, then I say it's cool to wait, at the end he will be a loooong time using that mac he buy today. but if he got plenty of money, what the heck! buy it now, and another tomorrow and all the updates of the mac world!!! buy them all!!

but if you are on a budget, save a couple of dollars, wait, and buy the perfect mac.

"wait, and buy the perfect mac."

You will always be unhappy if you are waiting for the "perfect mac"

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by I WAS the One

Ok. right now, as in TODAY, I'm using Tiger on my MDD Dual G4 BUT when I want to see Dashboard, I got to wait like a minute or two to see it. When I click on the Dashboard icon on my single G4 Mac Mini I'm seeing all the widgets before I release my finger from the mouse. same processor, same OS... week performance on my old G4, great performance on my NEW G4, the one that came with Tiger. New machines run better with up to date OS because they were made for that OS in mind. MDD Dual 1.24 Mhz (upgraded lately) V.S Mac Mini G4 with ONE processor.
c'mon... do I have to explain it to you again. when he buy that iMac now, he will have to deal with all the slow task processing, no game upload issues, and worst of all, he will be using one of the slowest Intel Core Duo in Apple history. because, my friend... Apple is working on brand new toys and all of those will need the most up to date machine to give a better performance. They would not showcase Leopard on a iMac G5, I bet your 50 cents that it will never happen. pay me now. retired with dignity.

Fix your MDD and then come back. Tiger runs absolutely lag free on my Titanium PowerBook. 867mhz G4. Which is OLDER than your MDD.
There IS a problem with your Tiger installation OR your hardware. What you are experiencing is far from normal. Tiger should run smooth as butter on that machine.