What are the odds of a Mac getting a next-gen graphics card soon?

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I've been a PC user for ages and ages, but Vista made my computer explode. I've pretty much decided that I'm done with PCs, the look and feel of a Mac were love at first sight. I was looking at getting a 20-inch iMac with the 1600 Pro - but I was wondering if the iMac was going to change with the next generation of graphics cards?

I play games pretty heavily on my computer, and I'm willing to make sacrifices in performance for an overall better experiance, but would it be better to wait if there's a chance that I'd be able to get a Mac with a better graphics card?
 
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The only guarantee is that the next generation will be better than the existing, and on, and on, and on, and on....

You could wait for the "next" generation for the rest of your life :D

If it helps... I play Call of Duty 2 on my 20" iMac.. and it's great!!! Is it the VERY best out there? No... But it's perfect for me.
 
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Historically, iMacs generally get the average video cards while you can only find the high end cards in the high end (duh) Mac Pros.

The next version of the iMac will probably just have the next average video card. However, you can still play games with good graphics at playable framerates with the iMac video cards.

Plus, worst case scenario, you keep your old PC around to play some games (I suggest putting XP back if you go this route).
 
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I understand that I won't have a high end graphics card, but I'd rather not be stuck with a last generation average card if a next gen average card will be in an iMac soon. Do we know if that's gonna happen at all/any time soon? Or will it not happen until the iMac 3?
 

cwa107


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The only comment I'd like to make is that if you consider yourself an avid gamer, keep your PC for playing games (or buy a console) and buy a Mac for everything else. Macs don't generally get the newest games right away, and if you go with an iMac, you're not going to have the upgradeability that you need to keep with the times if you're running Windows on it. That of course is different with a Mac Pro, but then, the Mac Pro would be a really expensive gaming box and you can't change the various components out as easily as you could with a DIY PC. I will likely always have a Windows desktop for my games, but for everything else, my MacBook is the computer of choice.
 
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Well, according to the Mac Buyer's Guide, it seems as though the iMac is due for an update soon. So I guess you could hold out for a little bit and see what the updates bring.
 
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The main reason I feel I am gonna be able to eschew PCs is because I was gonna pick up a Wii and a 360 :D but I'd like to be able to play the occasional PC only title.

How long before the actual release of an updated computer does Apple say it's happening, usually?
 
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Apple never announces product cycle upgrades unless they're something HUGE, like the transition from PowerPC to Intel. So you're most likely going to notice an update when Apple's site is updated.
 
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The iMac, due to it's small form factor, is always going to have a laptop-breed graphics card, due to size and heat restrictions. That said, a lot of recent laptop graphics cards these days pack quite a punch (my vaio has a geforce 7600 in it, and that runs pretty nicely) so it's not impossible that the iMac will get a decent graphics card...
 
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This is all conjuncture though. Plenty of people ask 'when's such and such being updated' and 'what's the next version going to be like'?

The only time anyone ever knows is when the product appears on the Apple store website.
 

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