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Apple announces faster, smarter iMacs

krs


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I don't see "OneMoreThing" posting Apple news like the new versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini yesterday or the new versions of the iMacs today, so I thought I would post that.

The company announced on Tuesday (19 March 2019) its iMac line is getting a refresh after nearly 14 months.

Its new 21.5-inch iMac with a Retina 4K display, due out next week, will come with a 8th-generation quad-core processor, and for the first time 6-core processors. The 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display features up to 6-core and 8-core processors, making it twice as fast as the previous model.
The computers also come with an improved graphics chip that'll give video games and editing programs an 80% boost in performance.
But the design remains unchanged, so you still won't find FaceID or TouchID on the iMacs.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/19/tech/new-imacs-released/index.html
 

Raz0rEdge

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Faster is almost just guaranteed since the newer processors are bound to be faster. Nothing new there. But what does "smarter" mean, the article is severely lacking in any details.
 
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No FaceID? No support for the fresh WiFi 802.11ax standard? Booooo!

...
...
...

Well I'm still probably going to have to buy one. I'm long overdue. But man I'm upset they didn't at least add FaceID.
 

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Yeah, the refresh only addressed the CPU and graphics. However, it should be noted that the 27" iMac is still user upgradeable for memory. And they didn't add the "blankety blank" troublesome T2 chip!

I can understand wanting the faster WiFi standard, but FaceID for an iMac? :goofy
 
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Yeah, the refresh only addressed the CPU and graphics. However, it should be noted that the 27" iMac is still user upgradeable for memory. And they didn't add the "blankety blank" troublesome T2 chip!

I can understand wanting the faster WiFi standard, but FaceID for an iMac? :goofy

Why wouldn't I want it? It works fantastically on my iPhone XR. I'd be happy with TouchID, but I don't know if that would work since keyboards are externally connected on iMacs. I'd like to have FaceID recognize that I'm in front of the iMac so I just have to click a button with the mouse, or perhaps push a button on the keyboard, to authenticate an action that otherwise requires my password.
 
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Why wouldn't I want it? It works fantastically on my iPhone XR. I'd be happy with TouchID, but I don't know if that would work since keyboards are externally connected on iMacs. I'd like to have FaceID recognize that I'm in front of the iMac so I just have to click a button with the mouse, or perhaps push a button on the keyboard, to authenticate an action that otherwise requires my password.
The Apple Watch does that. The iMac iSight camera is connected through USB connection, internally, although I don't think that should matter.
 

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I hope as a member of staff I can still speak my mind on this. I feel people are getting, how shall I say this, Lazy. A desktop computer you sit down and use. I really do not care if just looking at it wakes it up. I still use my hands and love using them on the mouse and keyboard. I hope this does not upset anyone but to me it's what I see happening.

I had a friend who had a disease where they could not use their hands that much but was warned if they just sat there and never used them they would lose 100% use of them. That is what happened.

On a mobile device that you use while walking and doing other things, Facial ID makes more sense but I really am content with just the Fingerprint part.
 
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chscag

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Why wouldn't I want it? It works fantastically on my iPhone XR.

LOL, lot of difference between a hand held device and one that resides on your desk at home. Apparently, Apple agrees and as far as I'm aware, has no intention of implementing it for the iMac. But who knows what Apple will do in the future?
 

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On a mobile device that you use while walking and doing other things Facial ID makes more sense as I really am content with just the Fingerprint part.

Have to agree with you Dennis. That's one reason why I opted to purchase an iPhone 8 rather than the X series. Actually two reasons: The only X phone that I liked for its smaller size was the Xs but spending close to $1K for something to make calls on in my opinion is ridiculous.
 
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Have to agree with you Dennis. That's one reason why I opted to purchase an iPhone 8 rather than the X series. Actually two reasons: The only X phone that I liked for its smaller size was the Xs but spending close to $1K for something to make calls on in my opinion is ridiculous.

Well now, these aren’t “just” for making phone calls, but yeah, I agree otherwise. $1K is just too much. I had contemplated keeping my 6s for another year, but with the battery life already down to 72% despite having been replaced once already (under a recall 2 years ago), I decided to go ahead and get a new one while I could still flip the old one for a fair chunk of change. I couldn’t justify the prices of the Xs and Max, so setttled on the XR. I’m quite happy with it. More than I expected to be honest. I didn’t think I’d care for the larger size even though I’d come to accept that I needed a larger one (darn my aging eyes!), but it’s proven to be very comfortable. It helps that I found a low profile leather case that I really like also.
 
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I hope as a member of staff I can still speak my mind on this. I feel people are getting, how shall I say this, Lazy. A desktop computer you sit down and use. I really do not care if just looking at it wakes it up. I still use my hands and love using them on the mouse and keyboard. I hope this does not upset anyone but to me it's what I see happening.

I had a friend who had a disease where they could not use their hands that much but was warned if they just sat there and never used them they would lose 100% use of them. That is what happened.

On a mobile device that you use while walking and doing other things Facial ID makes more sense as I really am content with just the Fingerprint part.

It’s not about being lazy, but more about convenience AND security. I used to have my settings configured to auto log me in and not require a password after going to sleep. I decided to step up my security game and eliminated those weak points, so now I’m entering my password a LOT more often just to use it. My password is also shorter and weaker than I’d like because it’s just too much hassle to have a longer, complicated one that I constantly have to enter and frequently mis-type. Even for routine use that leads to prompts for an admin password, it just gets old. At work, we used to constantly all day log in and out of the software we use and the computers (2 computers shared by several people). Now, we have a little device that we tap our badges on to log us in to the computer and apps. It’s great. We just have to authenticate with our password once a day. There’s no downside to being able to do the same at home... only upsides.
 

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LB, don't take this as gospel, but many fear Facial recognition and feel it will be used against us someday to track people. Not sure myself but who knows!

I hear you on the long and complicated passwords although some of my more important ones are that way if there is any chance someone could hack and get to my bank and transfer my $$$ out of it!
 

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Have to agree with you Dennis. That's one reason why I opted to purchase an iPhone 8 rather than the X series. Actually two reasons: The only X phone that I liked for its smaller size was the Xs but spending close to $1K for something to make calls on in my opinion is ridiculous.

The 7 I just got does everything I would ever need it to do. I have some friends who do complex work on their phones. Even with that the 7 seems to cut right through anything I have thrown at it so far. Even if I had more $$$ I would have probably not gone past the 8 like you.
 
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LB, don't take this as gospel, but many fear Facial recognition and feel it will be used against us someday to track people. Not sure myself but who knows!

Oh, tracking people with facial recognition absolutely is a thing now. But there’s no reason to fear it on Apple devices. Not with the way they have implemented it.

I hear you on the long and complicated passwords although some of my more important ones are that way if there is any chance someone could hack and get to my bank and transfer my $$$ out of it!

I have to use a password manager. I have unique passwords for everything that are as long and as complicated as I can get them. Even my wi-fi... when I switched to DirecTV, the installer was very aggravated when he had to enter that password with the remote. �� I don’t even have real answers for so-called “security” questions that some websites require. Every site that requires them has phony, absurd answers that are stored in 1Password. Yeah, I take this stuff real serious, having dodged a couple bullets with logins that were compromised in website hacks.
 
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Has anyone ever tried fooling facial recognition using a photograph to log in?
 
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Has anyone ever tried fooling facial recognition using a photograph to log in?

As far as I know, no one has successfully done it with a photograph. It has been defeated by twins, siblings who look so much alike that they may as well be twins, and children who look enough like their parent. Someone managed with a custom mask made to mimic the person it was made for, but that wasn’t an easy or cheap feat.
 

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Very much agreed. Apple is way ahead of the game on Facial recognition.

The S10 is a good phone but for the high price there are a few things like this that would make me purchase an iPhone over it for sure.

Also although I am not a large fan of Dropping expensive hardware, they did a test with a S10 plus and iPhone XS Max. 5 drops from just waist height and the samsung was basically dead and iphone still working perfectly.

I am happy that Apple on the new iMacs left the 27" upgradeable and did not go the route of the iMac Pro with no memory door.
 
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Don't overlook the  Watch feature that Bob mentioned in post #6. I have an  Watch and set my MBP to allow the watch to unlock it. It's nice to get to my desk, tap the space bar to wake it up, sit down and by the time I put my fingers on the keyboard, the system is ready for me. It doesn't allow entry of my password for things like installing apps, or making system changes, but it does work well for when it logs me in. And given the  watch locks when I take it off my wrist, requires a password, or for my iPhone to unlock it, it's all pretty amazing how secure it feels.
 
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Welp, I pulled the trigger. I bit the bullet and went with a 1 TB SSD but otherwise stuck with the base 27" model. It'll be here in 2 weeks. I'll be replacing the RAM myself for half what Apple would have charged me, plus I can flip the modules I pull out on Craigslist or eBay. I needed a high capacity external HDD and had long planned on going with a Thunderbolt-ready enclosure, but geezus are they crazy expensive! I finally realized USB-C was more than adequate and it uses the same port anyway. Anyone have any experience with the G-Technology G-Drive? It's a Western Digital brand and they reportedly use their Red series in them, which are working very well for me in my current 2010 iMac and a Disk Station.

I'm really anxious to get going with it. I'm LOOOOONG overdue for an upgrade and have a couple strategy games I've been anxious to play but holding off on until I had a more capable computer.
 

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