The French language Mac news site macgeneration reports that the 24 inch iMac utilizes the MXM standard for the video card.
This brings us the possibility that in the future one may be able to upgrade the 24" iMac's GPU. However, doing so may not be easy.
I also expect the iMac's CPU is socketed, given that previous Intel Macs have socketed CPUs, but so far we do not have confirmation of that.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
24 inch iMac released
Just a few days ago we were talking about a rumoured 23" iMac. The rumours were wrong. It's 24 inches:
24-inch widescreen LCD
1920x1200 resolution
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
4MB shared L2 cache
1GB memory (2x512MB SO-DIMM)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
iSight
Apple Remote
CAD$2249
US$1999
£1349.01 (£1148.09 ex VAT)
Eur 1949 and up
As expected, it also comes with Core 2 Duo, at an impressive 2.16 GHz with 4 MB L2 cache, with the option of an upgrade to 2.33 GHz. It also comes with an nVidia GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3. While the 7300GT and the older ATI Radeon X1600 compete in the same ballpark, the GeForce should be faster on average. More importantly however, there is also an option for the 7600GT with 256 MB RAM, a no-brainer upgrade for gamers and Aperture & Motion users given the low cost. In addition, this machine comes with Firewire 800 too, the first consumer Mac to do so. Very impressive.
All in all, this is an excellent package.
Also impressive is the low end iMac. Apple has released a Core 2 Duo 17" iMac with GMA 950 graphics. The specs are not so impressive, but the price is, at $999. This is the ideal machine for many entry-level consumers, at an affordable price.
[Update 2006-09-08]
It looks like we Canadians are getting a bit of a price break for a change. The 7600 GT GPU upgrade costs C$90 in Canada, or about US$80 at current exchange rates. It's US$125 in the US.
24-inch widescreen LCD
1920x1200 resolution
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
4MB shared L2 cache
1GB memory (2x512MB SO-DIMM)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
iSight
Apple Remote
CAD$2249
US$1999
£1349.01 (£1148.09 ex VAT)
Eur 1949 and up
As expected, it also comes with Core 2 Duo, at an impressive 2.16 GHz with 4 MB L2 cache, with the option of an upgrade to 2.33 GHz. It also comes with an nVidia GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3. While the 7300GT and the older ATI Radeon X1600 compete in the same ballpark, the GeForce should be faster on average. More importantly however, there is also an option for the 7600GT with 256 MB RAM, a no-brainer upgrade for gamers and Aperture & Motion users given the low cost. In addition, this machine comes with Firewire 800 too, the first consumer Mac to do so. Very impressive.
All in all, this is an excellent package.
Also impressive is the low end iMac. Apple has released a Core 2 Duo 17" iMac with GMA 950 graphics. The specs are not so impressive, but the price is, at $999. This is the ideal machine for many entry-level consumers, at an affordable price.
[Update 2006-09-08]
It looks like we Canadians are getting a bit of a price break for a change. The 7600 GT GPU upgrade costs C$90 in Canada, or about US$80 at current exchange rates. It's US$125 in the US.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
23-inch iMac Core 2 Duo coming?
Several weeks ago I speculated that this summer might see the release of an iMac with Conroe, a desktop-oriented version of the 64-bit Core 2 Duo CPU. Well, at WWDC we got the quad Intel Mac Pros I predicted, but we didn't get the new iMacs. Both MacOSXRumors and AppleInsider now believe the next iMac is coming this month and it is going to be based off the laptop-oriented Merom Core 2 Duo instead. That would be a good thing in some ways actually, considering that Merom is lower power than Conroe and therefore a Merom iMac may be quieter than a Conroe iMac. The downside is that it's also slower. Nonetheless, GHz for GHz, it's still a significant performance improvement over the 32-bit Yonah Core Duo in current Intel iMacs.
What's more interesting from those reports, however, is that they predict a new 23" model. That would be a wonderful addition to the iMac line, and given current LCD panel prices, it's also actually feasible. The 23" screen's 1920x1200 resolution represents a 30% increase in screen area compared to the current 20", but despite the large size, a 23-incher has finally become reasonably affordable in 2006. Such a machine, armed with a 2.0+ GHz Merom Core 2 Duo and a reasonable GPU, would make for an excellent high end consumer desktop. In fact, it would also be perfect for many users of so-called "pro" applications, such as Aperture. I've been desiring an iMac like this for years.
Another thing to note is that the horizontal resolution of 1920 pixels is exactly the same size as for 1080p high definition video (1920x1080) in HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Thus, it would be ideal if the new iMac supported HDCP for future commercial HD movie playback. Unfortunately, the optical drives for these HD formats are likely currently too expensive for an iMac, but having HDCP support would still be an nice bonus, since external HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives should become affordable in the near future.
The 23" iMac still remains unconfirmed, but in the meantime, Stefanicotine has created a mockup of what an 23" iMac would look like and has graciously allowed me to show it here:
She's a beauty, isn't she?
[Update 2006-09-04]
Think Secret now also reports that a new 23" iMac will be released this month, and repeats the September 12 date reported by others. September 12 is the first day of Apple Expo, and the day that Apple is said to be hosting a special media event in San Francisco.
What's more interesting from those reports, however, is that they predict a new 23" model. That would be a wonderful addition to the iMac line, and given current LCD panel prices, it's also actually feasible. The 23" screen's 1920x1200 resolution represents a 30% increase in screen area compared to the current 20", but despite the large size, a 23-incher has finally become reasonably affordable in 2006. Such a machine, armed with a 2.0+ GHz Merom Core 2 Duo and a reasonable GPU, would make for an excellent high end consumer desktop. In fact, it would also be perfect for many users of so-called "pro" applications, such as Aperture. I've been desiring an iMac like this for years.
Another thing to note is that the horizontal resolution of 1920 pixels is exactly the same size as for 1080p high definition video (1920x1080) in HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Thus, it would be ideal if the new iMac supported HDCP for future commercial HD movie playback. Unfortunately, the optical drives for these HD formats are likely currently too expensive for an iMac, but having HDCP support would still be an nice bonus, since external HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives should become affordable in the near future.
The 23" iMac still remains unconfirmed, but in the meantime, Stefanicotine has created a mockup of what an 23" iMac would look like and has graciously allowed me to show it here:
She's a beauty, isn't she?
[Update 2006-09-04]
Think Secret now also reports that a new 23" iMac will be released this month, and repeats the September 12 date reported by others. September 12 is the first day of Apple Expo, and the day that Apple is said to be hosting a special media event in San Francisco.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Next Intel iMac: What CPU?
Core 2 Duo is set to launch tomorrow, July 27, 2006, and many people are wondering if the iMacs will be updated to use these chips. The timing would be right, considering the last iMac update was in January, over 6 months ago. However, let us look at the options:
1) Core Duo: This 32-bit chip is what the iMacs use now, and the upgrade path would be the next step up to Core Duo T2600 2.16 GHz. This is a viable option, but the pricing of this chip is a bit high at least for now, at $423 (in trays of 1000, although Apple would pay less).
2) Core 2 Duo Merom: Merom is a direct 64-bit replacement for Core Duo, but unfortunately the cost of these chips is comparatively high. The 2.16 GHz T7600 is slated to be $423 as well, so the cost of the T7600 also may be undesirable. While the 2.0 GHz T7200 is only $294, and Merom Core 2 Duo is clock-for-clock faster than Yonah Core Duo, the 2.0 GHz Merom wouldn't be ideal from a marketing point of view since the current Core Duo is already 2.0 GHz.
3) Core 2 Duo Conroe: This 64-bit desktop chip based off Merom is a strong possibility from a marketing point of view. Apple could launch the iMac with the new Core 2 Duo E6600, a 2.4 GHz chip with 4 MB L2 cache. That's quite a clock-speed and performance boost for the iMac, but with a chip price of only $316.
The one issue of concern with Core 2 Duo Conroe is its TDP of 65 Watts. This is considerably higher than the 31 Watt TDP of the current Core Duo, and likely also higher than the G5's max power in the last PowerPC iMacs. However, the last PowerPC iMacs were not all that cool either, considering the G5 970FX's max power utilization at 2.0 GHz and 2.2 GHz was 50 and 60 Watts respectively, and the last PowerPC iMac was at 2.1 GHz. While TDP cannot be directly compared to IBM's max power specs, it is likely in the same general ballpark, which suggests that the iMac can easily handle chips over 50 Watts. Given my experience with my own 2.0 GHz iMac, it's clear that the machine is built to handle something even hotter, since the machine doesn't get that loud even at full tilt. Along with the fact that dual-core Intel CPU has superior power saving features and that it would need less of its CPU to support basic usage, that would mean that an iMac with such a chip would still be quiet with normal daily computing.
Thus, I think it's likely that the next iMac will use Core 2 Duo Conroe, probably at around 2.4 GHz. The venue for its release may be WWDC next month, alongside new quad (dual dual-core) Intel Xeon Woodcrest Mac Pro towers.
1) Core Duo: This 32-bit chip is what the iMacs use now, and the upgrade path would be the next step up to Core Duo T2600 2.16 GHz. This is a viable option, but the pricing of this chip is a bit high at least for now, at $423 (in trays of 1000, although Apple would pay less).
2) Core 2 Duo Merom: Merom is a direct 64-bit replacement for Core Duo, but unfortunately the cost of these chips is comparatively high. The 2.16 GHz T7600 is slated to be $423 as well, so the cost of the T7600 also may be undesirable. While the 2.0 GHz T7200 is only $294, and Merom Core 2 Duo is clock-for-clock faster than Yonah Core Duo, the 2.0 GHz Merom wouldn't be ideal from a marketing point of view since the current Core Duo is already 2.0 GHz.
3) Core 2 Duo Conroe: This 64-bit desktop chip based off Merom is a strong possibility from a marketing point of view. Apple could launch the iMac with the new Core 2 Duo E6600, a 2.4 GHz chip with 4 MB L2 cache. That's quite a clock-speed and performance boost for the iMac, but with a chip price of only $316.
The one issue of concern with Core 2 Duo Conroe is its TDP of 65 Watts. This is considerably higher than the 31 Watt TDP of the current Core Duo, and likely also higher than the G5's max power in the last PowerPC iMacs. However, the last PowerPC iMacs were not all that cool either, considering the G5 970FX's max power utilization at 2.0 GHz and 2.2 GHz was 50 and 60 Watts respectively, and the last PowerPC iMac was at 2.1 GHz. While TDP cannot be directly compared to IBM's max power specs, it is likely in the same general ballpark, which suggests that the iMac can easily handle chips over 50 Watts. Given my experience with my own 2.0 GHz iMac, it's clear that the machine is built to handle something even hotter, since the machine doesn't get that loud even at full tilt. Along with the fact that dual-core Intel CPU has superior power saving features and that it would need less of its CPU to support basic usage, that would mean that an iMac with such a chip would still be quiet with normal daily computing.
Thus, I think it's likely that the next iMac will use Core 2 Duo Conroe, probably at around 2.4 GHz. The venue for its release may be WWDC next month, alongside new quad (dual dual-core) Intel Xeon Woodcrest Mac Pro towers.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Video: MacBook running Windows Vista with Aero Glass
In previous articles, I said that Vista should run fine on the MacBook, even with its poor GMA 950 graphics. The Vista Beta 2 download was made public last week, and I finally got around to installing it on my MacBook. The full Aero Glass indeed does work fine on my 2.0 GHz Core Duo MacBook. Below is an H.264 Quicktime video (in two sizes) demonstating what Aero Glass looks like:
Small (640x360p, 25 MB)
Large (960x540p, 32 MB)
Note: The video was taken a low frame rate, so it appears jerky. However, in real life the animation is very smooth on the MacBook.
Although Windows Vista does run, I wouldn't necessarily recommend installing it just yet on Macs. It still has a very beta feel to it, and the install process is difficult, much harder than with Windows XP. Vista will not boot properly on Macs using the Boot Camp application as is. After installation, one must delete a hidden 200 MB partition to get Vista to boot properly.
There are also various driver issues. For example, Aero Glass does not work with the usual Intel 945GM drivers, so one must use the Intel Lakeport WDDM drivers instead. Furthermore, sound does not seem to work properly with the Sigmatel drivers. Wired and wireless LAN works great however.
P.S. As you can see from the video, Flip 3D is basically useless.
[Update 2006-06-16]
Here is another Quicktime H.264 clip, this time at 30 fps. I had to use a camcorder to capture this however.
30 fps Vista video (640x480p, 7.3 MB)
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Hon Hai exec spills beans about new "none-touch" iPod
An article in the China Post quotes Terry Gou, Chairman of Hon Hai (one of Apple's major manufacturing partners), as saying that Apple is about to release a new iPod line which will make use of a "none-touch" concept. This was not clarified but sounds like it could possibly be referring to a new iPod without the traditional clickwheel. Perhaps this is confirmation of the long rumoured touchscreen widescreen video iPod.
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