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New Apple Desktops

post #1 of 68
3/3/09 at 12:59pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not terribly impressed with the new hardware offerings from Apple. Still only Core 2 Duos for the iMac, and the "low-end" Mac Pro seems awfully pricey for what you get. Granted, Macs tend to be a little pricey regardless, but nevertheless I'm not too excited about the latest hardware refresh. My Core i7 Windows system may not be endangered after all.
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post #2 of 68
3/3/09 at 2:19pm
Thread Starter 
I just priced out a system using (as close as possible to) the same hardware in the "low-end" Mac Pro. Just a shade over $1,000 not factoring in case or PSU. That's just frickin' disgusting.
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post #3 of 68
3/3/09 at 2:59pm
Great news!
Especially the Mac mini, which where insane outdated.
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post #4 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:09pm
Yeah I'm afraid when you buy Apple, you're paying a premium for their brand and their design.

Apple is a freak of nature in the electronics industry. They are able to be the "price setters," due to the popularity and perception of their products and designs. Everyone else (Dell, Sony, Asus, etc) are all stuck in price wars.
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post #5 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:20pm
Does anyone else sometimes get a feeling that krmathis just posts w/o actually reading the original topic?
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post #6 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:21pm
When you buy apple, you've got to price in their software. I don't really like their desktop offering but their laptop w/ OSX is just perfect for what I need.
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post #7 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnothingpoetic View Post
Does anyone else sometimes get a feeling that krmathis just posts w/o actually reading the original topic?
lol, at least for this thread... yes.
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post #8 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:28pm
The Mac Mini is an updated Apple desktop computer. Decent performance - does anybody know what is the largest size of RAM that can go into the iMac or Mac Mini?
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post #9 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnothingpoetic View Post
Does anyone else sometimes get a feeling that krmathis just posts w/o actually reading the original topic?
Well, I did!
But decided to post my feeling, since I could not second the OP's feeling.

I am well pleased with Apple's products, and don't find them overpriced for what they are.
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post #10 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:41pm
Keep in mind Apple uses server/workstation class Xeon 3500 Nehalem-WS or Xeon 5500 Nehalem-EP processors in the Mac Pro, not ordinary i7 desktop parts. Neither Dell nor HP seem to offer them in their workstations yet. You can disagree with the Xeon's value proposition, but they are not directly comparable.

It's a bit odd Apple doesn't provide a SSD option on them, though. I guess I'll just have to order an Intel X25-E by myself and find adapters for the mounting brackets.
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post #11 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by krmathis View Post
I am well pleased with Apple's products, and don't find them overpriced for what they are.
You're a better man than I, because I can't look past what is basically a $1,000 price premium for the Mac Pro. And after all this time for the iMac to get nothing more than a video card change and a higher RAM limit is pretty weak, IMO.
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post #12 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by majid View Post
Keep in mind Apple uses server/workstation class Xeon 3500 Nehalem-WS or Xeon 5500 Nehalem-EP processors in the Mac Pro, not ordinary i7 desktop parts. Neither Dell nor HP seem to offer them in their workstations yet. You can disagree with the Xeon's value proposition, but they are not directly comparable.

It's a bit odd Apple doesn't provide a SSD option on them, though. I guess I'll just have to order an Intel X25-E by myself and find adapters for the mounting brackets.
Nevertheless, I still think it's a massive rip-off. Of course, my opinion might change once the Nehalem Xeons become publicly available and I can get an idea on the price. I haven't really looked at the specs too much, though, to get an idea of what's different between the 2.66 GHz i7 and the 2.66 GHz Xeon. Maybe when I get home from work I'll check into that.
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post #13 of 68
3/3/09 at 3:59pm
The new mini isn't a very good value either.

I'm an Apple enthusiast, but their desktop offerings have never impressed me. But we do own two MacBooks and are thrilled with them. I use a Windows PC for any desktop computing I do.
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post #14 of 68
3/3/09 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnothingpoetic View Post
Does anyone else sometimes get a feeling that krmathis just posts w/o actually reading the original topic?
That's great news! I too can't tolerate too much sodium in my eggs.
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post #15 of 68
3/3/09 at 8:51pm
it ain't a rip. it is apple. it is like comparing sansa to sony. both have good hardware but one is another 1/3 to 50% the price again. people who buy sansa buy sansa. people who buy sony buy sony.

apple products usually hit a price performance ratio that is good at a certain point, but you have to be prepared to compare the system, not the spec.

for the spec, you could go half the price or lower usually. but again, apple buy xeon class chips for the mac pro. the other thing to think is machined aluminium, a nice case that allows for pull outs and easy connectioin and cleaning.

apple don't put together a box, they design it.

it is expensive to those who don't care about a product but only about performance. for those who care about design and product, then apple's offerings are the only ones that will deliver and are worth the asking.

money is not the object, the object is the purchaser in this case. just like us: we buy headphones and amps that likely give the smallest of returns and we spend thousands on them. we are the apple to anyone not interested in headphones. but to us, it is worthwhile and necessary.

obviously, our similar goals don't apply to computers as if we are worried about price versus others or spec/spec comparison, we just want bottom line or in other words:

To relate headphones to computers, headfi is massively into the ibuds of computers.
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