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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > New iMacs.....where are they?

New iMacs.....where are they?
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Eden Aurora
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Jan 31, 2012, 08:27 PM
 
Been waiting for a new iMac to be released. anyone know how long it's been since the last one was released?
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rjenkinson
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Jan 31, 2012, 08:33 PM
 
273 days as of today, which is actually also the average number of days between updates since 2008, strangely. Check the Mac Buyer's Guide for more details.
( Last edited by rjenkinson; Jan 31, 2012 at 08:42 PM. )
     
Eug
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Jan 31, 2012, 10:01 PM
 
273/273. Heh, what a coincidence.

However, I expect new iMacs by Q2 2012. That's when Ivy Bridge is supposedly coming out. And, I'm hoping these iMacs will have USB 3, because Ivy Bridge includes USB 3 support built-in.

     
P
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Feb 1, 2012, 06:18 AM
 
It doesn't make sense to update anything consumer just after Christmas, and in any case there is nothing new to put in them - no new CPU, no new GPU, no nothing. Q2 seems likely, and it you want advance warning I think that the next iMac update will come a few weeks after the next MBP update.

Update is likely to be only the new Ivy Bridge CPUs, including USB 3.0 if that doesn't make the port too deep to fit, and possibly cheaper SSDs. There are no new mobile GPUs yet (the only mobile Radeons from the 7000 generation are rebranded from the 6000 generation), although there may be something at the top end by mid Q2.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
voodoo
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Feb 13, 2012, 09:31 PM
 
Ivy bridge is available for OEMs already, will be available for retail in april. The chipset includes USB3, of course.

My main curiosity is where are the Mac Pros???

The replacement Xeons have been available since april 2011, while the Xeons used in the Mac Pro are from march 2010.

Some besserwissers have until this moment claimed that Apple couldn't update the Mac Pro because Intel didn't have the Xeons ready, when the truth is Intel has had the Xeons ready for almost a year.

Which means that perhaps there won't be any iMac Ivy Bridge upgrade any time soon. Perhaps we'll just see an iMac speedbump, with Sandy-bridge E.

Anyway, when will Apple recognize that they've killed the Mac Pro? And more to the point, will the Apple zealots admit that there is a Xeon that Apple could have used since almost a year ago to upgrade the Mac Pro?

The Xeon Westmere-EX is available as a 10 core processor, while the one used in the Mac Pro is six core (technically available up to 8 core, but well n/a at Apple)

So since the Xeone W-EX starts at six core, it would make fore a nice low end Mac Pro and a potentially 20-core high end.

But I forget. This processor doesn't exist (since april 3rd 2011) in the Apple-zealot world. Or so I'm told.
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OreoCookie
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Feb 14, 2012, 06:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by voodoo View Post
Some besserwissers have until this moment claimed that Apple couldn't update the Mac Pro because Intel didn't have the Xeons ready, when the truth is Intel has had the Xeons ready for almost a year.
Sandybridge-based Xeons have not been available for a year. The estimated release date for the E5 family which will likely make it into Mac Pros is still Q1 2012.
Originally Posted by voodoo View Post
Which means that perhaps there won't be any iMac Ivy Bridge upgrade any time soon. Perhaps we'll just see an iMac speedbump, with Sandy-bridge E.
Current info suggests Ivy Bridge will be released in April 2012. Why would you expect Apple to get their hands on it several months sooner than everyone else?
Originally Posted by voodoo View Post
The Xeon Westmere-EX is available as a 10 core processor, while the one used in the Mac Pro is six core (technically available up to 8 core, but well n/a at Apple)
You just need to look at the prices: the cheapest 10-core Westmere Xeon costs $2558 -- a piece! And since for most desktop applications can't make use of a 40 thread beast (2 10-core cpus with hyper threading), it's quite obvious why it doesn't make sense for Apple to offer these configurations.
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P
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Feb 14, 2012, 06:42 AM
 
Which replacement Xeons have been available since April 2011? The Xeons that are supposed to fill the same slot in Intel's structure are the Xeon E5 series, codename Sandy Bridge-EP, and they are STILL not available to buy. They are excessively delayed due to at least two bugs. One of the bugs is in the chipset and the other in the CPU itself - that VT-d doesn't work. The Sandy Bridge-E chips that you can buy at very high prices are bugged Sandy Bridge-EP chips with VT-d disabled and using a different chipset. There are however signs that Sandy Bridge-EP is close now - some webmonkey at HP made a mistake and showed Xeon E5 chips in some upcoming models, due to launch this quarter.

As to your other question: Yes, there are Xeons that Apple could have used to upgrade the MP. One is the incredibly expensive Xeon E7 series (codename Westmere-EX), but that would have driven the price way up. Another is the Xeon E3 (regular Sandy Bridge - would be Sandy Bridge-EN, but I don't think I ever saw that name), but that would mean losing the dualprocessor model. Was there some other model you were thinking of?
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
OreoCookie
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Feb 14, 2012, 06:54 AM
 
AFAIK HP is the first to announce servers based on the next-gen Xeons. Obviously they are not available yet due to the delays in the release of the CPUs.
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Eden Aurora  (op)
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Feb 14, 2012, 05:13 PM
 
Forgetting the tech specs of the processors, I agree that Apple has killed it's MacPro line. Mentally, i feel like the iMac is just a better option these days (with several external hard drives).
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Spheric Harlot
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Feb 14, 2012, 05:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eden Aurora View Post
Forgetting the tech specs of the processors, I agree that Apple has killed it's MacPro line. Mentally, i feel like the iMac is just a better option these days (with several external hard drives).
For audio production, the current models of the Mac Pro offer the first little baby steps into the next generation of software plugins: component modeling.

It will take YEARS until they're really up to snuff to building an entire studio, resistor by resistor, and cap by cap, of physical equipment.

The way the music industry is developing might make that irrelevant before then, though, because nobody's willing to pay for the production investment by paying for shitty compressed audio files to play on the iPhone's internal speaker, but hey.

Just saying that there's certainly very useful perspective for that kind of power, at least in theory.
     
Eug
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Feb 28, 2012, 02:30 AM
 
Release dates for Ivy Bridge?

Intel's revised Ivy Bridge launch schedule revealed by VR-Zone.com
Nya lanseringsdatum för Intel Ivy Bridge - Processorer - SweClockers.com

April 8: Mobos with Intel Z77 and other Ivy Bridge chipsets. This includes USB 3.0.
April 29: Quad-core desktop Ivy Bridge CPU.
June xx: Dual-core laptop Ivy Bridge CPU.

No mention of quad-core laptop Ivy Bridge CPU yet.

Intel pushes back launch of processor - FT.com

Intel expects its next-generation microprocessors to go on sale eight to 10 weeks later than initially planned, according to Sean Maloney, executive vice-president of Intel and chairman of Intel China.

In his first interview to discuss Intel’s business in China, Mr Maloney told the Financial Times that the start of sales of machines equipped with Ivy Bridge – the 22nm processor set to succeed Sandy Bridge in notebooks this year – had been pushed back from April. “I think maybe it’s June now,” he said.

Mr Maloney said the adjustment was not caused by a lack of demand but came because of the new manufacturing process needed to make the smaller chips.
An Intel spokesperson said the company’s plans to start shipping Ivy Bridge in the second quarter had not changed.
     
P
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Feb 28, 2012, 06:26 AM
 
Have to admit that I don't understand why they focus on the quadcore desktop chips with their rather minor performance improvements over the power savings in the new mobile chips.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
nostalgiaCa$h
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Mar 6, 2012, 09:55 AM
 
Who needs new iMacs when you've got a rockin' lime FrankeniMac.
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Eden Aurora  (op)
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Apr 25, 2012, 09:08 PM
 
can't believe they still haven't been released.
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P
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Apr 26, 2012, 10:12 AM
 
Ivy was launched this week, FFS.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Big Mac
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Apr 26, 2012, 12:15 PM
 
Yeah but we want it now! Now now now now now!

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Eug
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Apr 26, 2012, 01:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Ivy was launched this week, FFS.
And Ivy Bridge motherboards are already available for purchase in retail stores.
     
P
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Apr 26, 2012, 02:01 PM
 
Yes - the missing piece may be the graphics. AMD just launched, but only the top mobile model is available yet. Apple is rumored to be switching back to nVidia, however, and they have only launched a single mobile chip - the mobile version of the middling GK107.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
   
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