Apple finally releases new Mac Pro, iMac and Mac mini.

MusicMachine · Mar 4, 2009

yay, so this means all the used ones for sale will go down in price!!! woohoo!

vashpr · Mar 4, 2009

You guys think im better buying a 24" refurb (256 mb vc) than buying the new imac base model for a bit of world of warcraft right? And of course, learn Os x because it will be my first mac

XJ-linux · Mar 4, 2009

Nice to see the Mini finally updated. I use the one I already own as a media center for my television. The new one doesn't seem to do anything that I currently can not do however, so I'm sticking with the one i have. Still, it's definitely a step in the right direction for the Mini, however overpriced.

Mama Luigi · Mar 4, 2009

vashpr said:
You guys think im better buying a 24" refurb (256 mb vc) than buying the new imac base model for a bit of world of warcraft right? And of course, learn Os x because it will be my first mac

Yes, definitely. If you want gaming, the HD2600 Pro is a lot better than the 9400M. It's still not great for really demanding games, but it'll handle WoW just fine.

trademark · Mar 4, 2009

the new single quad core mac pro with nehalem microarchitecture looks very tasty for only 2300 usd (education discount.) especially considering one can upgrade to up to 8gb of ram for only a couple hundred.

But then again one could just spend a couple hundred more and get 8 core mac pro hm... apple makes it very tricky trying to buy things, with their steady incremental price increases.

astar08 · Mar 4, 2009

First post here, but I have been following the forums for a while now.

Anyway, I've been following Apple for a couple years now and slowly but surely moving over to their products. First from switching from the Zune and going to the iPod Touch. Upgrading to the iPhone soon as well. I will soon be buying a mac, and going after an iMac. I waited longer and longer because I was hoping for a bit better "refresh." Would it now be better for me to go after a "refreshed" iMac? When I buy something, especially when it is technology related I must almost get the top of the line version. It is just how I am. Would it be beneficial for me to go ahead and get the top of the line version of the iMac with the ATI Radeon HD 4850? Can anyone speak for how well this card is? From what I am reading on the internet it seems to be quite powerful. What would y'all say for someone like me? Go after the new iMac or what?

PS: I honestly did look at the Mac Pros for a while since I like going all out on technology, but I just don't see myself putting that much down.

gixxersean · Mar 4, 2009

astar08 said:
First post here, but I have been following the forums for a while now.

Anyway, I've been following Apple for a couple years now and slowly but surely moving over to their products. First from switching from the Zune and going to the iPod Touch. Upgrading to the iPhone soon as well. I will soon be buying a mac, and going after an iMac. I waited longer and longer because I was hoping for a bit better "refresh." Would it now be better for me to go after a "refreshed" iMac? When I buy something, especially when it is technology related I must almost get the top of the line version. It is just how I am. Would it be beneficial for me to go ahead and get the top of the line version of the iMac with the ATI Radeon HD 4850? Can anyone speak for how well this card is? From what I am reading on the internet it seems to be quite powerful. What would y'all say for someone like me? Go after the new iMac or what?

PS: I honestly did look at the Mac Pros for a while since I like going all out on technology, but I just don't see myself putting that much down.

Well if you want a laptop on steroids then the iMac is for you. However I do caution you that once you purchase an iMac it is near impossible to upgrade anything except for the ram and once you do that you have nothing else to upgrade. If that sounds fine to you then the iMac will be great, but if you want something with a lot more leeway in what type of hardware you have and can change then you should get the mac pro.

Mama Luigi · Mar 4, 2009

The Mac Pro isn't even a desktop computer, it's a workstation. If you're not sure if you need a workstation or not, then you don't. If you don't know what ECC RAM is and why it's important, then you also probably don't need a Mac Pro.

Honestly I'd go for the iMac because Mac Pros are not meant for consumers. They're $3000 for a reason.

MusicMachine · Mar 4, 2009

astar08 said:
First post here, but I have been following the forums for a while now.

Anyway, I've been following Apple for a couple years now and slowly but surely moving over to their products. First from switching from the Zune and going to the iPod Touch. Upgrading to the iPhone soon as well. I will soon be buying a mac, and going after an iMac. I waited longer and longer because I was hoping for a bit better "refresh." Would it now be better for me to go after a "refreshed" iMac? When I buy something, especially when it is technology related I must almost get the top of the line version. It is just how I am. Would it be beneficial for me to go ahead and get the top of the line version of the iMac with the ATI Radeon HD 4850? Can anyone speak for how well this card is? From what I am reading on the internet it seems to be quite powerful. What would y'all say for someone like me? Go after the new iMac or what?

PS: I honestly did look at the Mac Pros for a while since I like going all out on technology, but I just don't see myself putting that much down.

if your gonna be doing high end graphic work, or using it as an audio workstation in a studio or out of your house, you definitly want a desktop. the mac pro would be your #1 suspect. If you dont want to put down that much money, ebay for a supped up g5 that is loaded or can take 8gb of memory with at least a 2.5 dual core. it will still perform the way you need it to. most apps released these days are capable with g5s. after thats all said, if your not doing any of that high end work, choose a imac or macbook, based on the portability you want. i just seen a 24" imac with a 2.8 core 2 duo for 1200 on the apple refurbished section. take advantage of the later models before these new ones. the older ones are going down in price and will still perform the way you want it to. you truely only need so much performance for what you wanna do, no need to have the latest thing out, people are still using g4s. just be SURE you want a mac and have used one, some people get it and hate the thing. good luck

astar08 · Mar 5, 2009

MusicMachine said:
if your gonna be doing high end graphic work, or using it as an audio workstation in a studio or out of your house, you definitly want a desktop. the mac pro would be your #1 suspect. If you dont want to put down that much money, ebay for a supped up g5 that is loaded or can take 8gb of memory with at least a 2.5 dual core. it will still perform the way you need it to. most apps released these days are capable with g5s. after thats all said, if your not doing any of that high end work, choose a imac or macbook, based on the portability you want. i just seen a 24" imac with a 2.8 core 2 duo for 1200 on the apple refurbished section. take advantage of the later models before these new ones. the older ones are going down in price and will still perform the way you want it to. you truely only need so much performance for what you wanna do, no need to have the latest thing out, people are still using g4s. just be SURE you want a mac and have used one, some people get it and hate the thing. good luck

Oh, trust me, I know I want a mac. I've never owned one but I have spent quite a bit of time in the Apple store lately (some of them know me already...lol), used one hands on, asked tons of question and more. The mac seems excellent for me.

Thanks everyone. I'm sure I'll be going after an iMac.

OZmac · Mar 7, 2009

Alexis said:
Horrendous price increases for the UK. 20" iMac now £900 instead of £700.

And in Australia. Base model iMac from $1600 up to 2 grand !!!! Just when I need a new one as well. Grrrr.

Santino · Mar 7, 2009

You shouldn't really be complaining, considering i paid my $1799 iMac a whooping sum of almost $3000 us dollars.

And updated models take one or two months after release to be sold by official resellers.

gixxersean · Mar 9, 2009

I was kinda hoping they brought back the sleep light that they had on the white iMac's and the laptops. It's kinda cool

the8thark · Mar 9, 2009

gixxersean said:
I was kinda hoping they brought back the sleep light that they had on the white iMac's and the laptops. It's kinda cool

I totally agree. I love that feature on my white imac.

MacbookWilis · Mar 9, 2009

when i was buying my MacBook at the time i was also looking at getting a mac mini they are great for what i need i like the new updates on them, i will probably buy one next trip to the US ;-)

Elessar78 · Mar 10, 2009

Stef Andrews said:
Hi all,

it seems to me that Apple haven't really updated the desktops, really just upgraded the graphics cards etc. Yes the iMacs come with bigger HDs but it doesn't really seem like they're that much *better* compared to the huge update of the Macbooks in October.

I was most surprised about the mini though. Only one processor speed etc, difference being HD and RAM. Though the number of ports on the back was a good outcome.

What are other opinions?
Stef

Stef, I just bought the mini after my macbook's logic board died. I got the mini because once I get some cash together, I'll repair my laptop so I can have a desktop and a laptop. Anyway.

I was going to buy the iMac the day before they released, and the reseller told me to hold off (because of the rumors). But I saw the new specs for the mini and it was a no brainer—it had the computing power that I needed for a much lower price point than the iMac.

My only complaint so far is that the internet seems to be running slow. I haven't deciphered if that's the computer or my connection (although I doubt it's my connection, but I can't see how it can be the new mini).

Elessar78 · Mar 10, 2009

dangerous365 said:
I have a G4 mac (need a refresh) was very tempted to go for an i7 pc to run my creative suite 4.

Do you think the new macbooks/pros or imacs rival this yet? (i know the specs on the pc destroy it - ati 4870 card, 6gb ram etc) but macs are macs and usually perform above their spec. I can get the PC for £900!!

Would you buy a new imac, macbook or get an i7 pc.

I was running CS4 on my macbook (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) pretty handily. I don't know if they rival, but can def. hold their own.

Elessar78 · Mar 10, 2009

fleurya said:
I'm glad they made the Mini upgrade, but can't help to be a little disappointed in the low RAM and hard drive. I mean, you have to admit 120GB is pretty abysmal these days. I mean, it was the low-end HDD size for my MBP back in 2006! Luckily there are plenty of affordable external drives.

I've been itching to get one for an HTPC and think I might take some tax return money and finally pull the trigger.

it's targeted for "entry-level" consumers. So 120GB should be more than enough for the surf/e-mail crowd. I just bought a mini and it seems to work fine for the graphic design stuff that I work on. And I think that's the key—if you have a display and can get a less expensive external drive, why pay Apple's retail price?

dtravis7 · Mar 10, 2009

For the user that said the new Mini only has one CPU speed, look at the high end model closely, there is a CPU upgrade at 2.26Ghz also but it does raise the price.