New iMac, major difference or not?
I see some articles now appearing on the new iMac range announced yesterday. Does anyone have any real performance data yet which compares the current to previous models?
With new NVIDIA GPU and DDR3 versus DDR2 but same frontside bus (1066) and Intel processors I can see potential for improvement in some areas but perhaps not across the board? In addition, it is extremely disappointing to see the same Intel Core 2 Duo processor range and lack of a screen update given the last refresh was April 2008. Surely with the release of the 24"LED cinema display we would see an LED backlight screen on the iMac to replace the TFT which dates back to early last year? Granted memory and disk capacity have doubled but we expect this given the pricing is roughly the same for these new higher capability devices now.
Finally looking at the Apple press release there is an indication that you get the entry level 24" (2.66GHz) for the same as the previous 20" 2.66GHz. It may be different in the US but in Australia but the price of the previous 20" 2.66GHz with 2GB was $1999AUS on the Apple web site and now the 24" with same processor spec (2.66GHZ) is $2499AUS. The Apple Australia store RRP is somewhat higher even allowing for the current exchange rate. Normally Apple US regulate the RRP worldwide, however looking at one example: the 24" 3.06GHz is $3699AUS versus US $2199 So there appears to be a skew in the Australia RRP over and above the US Ex rate of some $200+ dollars. Perhaps there are other factors which explain this?
With new NVIDIA GPU and DDR3 versus DDR2 but same frontside bus (1066) and Intel processors I can see potential for improvement in some areas but perhaps not across the board? In addition, it is extremely disappointing to see the same Intel Core 2 Duo processor range and lack of a screen update given the last refresh was April 2008. Surely with the release of the 24"LED cinema display we would see an LED backlight screen on the iMac to replace the TFT which dates back to early last year? Granted memory and disk capacity have doubled but we expect this given the pricing is roughly the same for these new higher capability devices now.
Finally looking at the Apple press release there is an indication that you get the entry level 24" (2.66GHz) for the same as the previous 20" 2.66GHz. It may be different in the US but in Australia but the price of the previous 20" 2.66GHz with 2GB was $1999AUS on the Apple web site and now the 24" with same processor spec (2.66GHZ) is $2499AUS. The Apple Australia store RRP is somewhat higher even allowing for the current exchange rate. Normally Apple US regulate the RRP worldwide, however looking at one example: the 24" 3.06GHz is $3699AUS versus US $2199 So there appears to be a skew in the Australia RRP over and above the US Ex rate of some $200+ dollars. Perhaps there are other factors which explain this?
Macbook Pro 17", iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.5.6)
