[macnewbie2008]

Hi, I'm a new convert to mac, and I have a question, I've been looking for an answer but did'nt find any. I have a macbook pro and I'm looking to buy a desktop too next month. I'm really interested in the IMAC 3,06 ghs with the ATI 4850, but I would like to know if Apple will release a new IMAC anytime soon, cause I don't want to buy something that expensive just to have it outdated a couple of weeks later.

And, is the Mac pro any good for virtualisation and gaming?

Thanks!

[Hansi]

iMacs are in the latter half of their cycle. There will most likely be a upgrade out before Christmas.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

[macnewbie2008]

Hansi, on September 8th 2009, 09:21 PM, said:

iMacs are in the latter half of their cycle. There will most likely be a upgrade out before Christmas.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Thanks for the answer! Since I'm in no hurry, I'll just wait!

[Sneaky Snake]

The Mac Pro with 4870 or GTX 285 is the best option for gaming and virtualization, but of course it also the most expensive.

According to the Mac Buyers Guide the iMac is approaching the end of its cycle. So if you could hold off a month or two on your purchase that would be ideal.

That said the iMac with a 4850 is pretty formidable for gaming. If you want to save a bit of money you can get the 2.93 GHz iMac and then customize it with the 4850. A good graphics card is the most important factor when it comes to gaming. The difference between a 2.93 GHz CPU and a 3.06 GHz CPU with the same graphics card will be very minimal, maybe a few frames per second

[macnewbie2008]

Sneaky Snake, on September 8th 2009, 09:28 PM, said:

The Mac Pro with 4870 or GTX 285 is the best option for gaming and virtualization, but of course it also the most expensive.

According to the Mac Buyers Guide the iMac is approaching the end of its cycle. So if you could hold off a month or two on your purchase that would be ideal.

That said the iMac with a 4850 is pretty formidable for gaming. If you want to save a bit of money you can get the 2.93 GHz iMac and then customize it with the 4850. A good graphics card is the most important factor when it comes to gaming. The difference between a 2.93 GHz CPU and a 3.06 GHz CPU with the same graphics card will be very minimal, maybe a few frames per second

Thank you Sneaky Snake, I'm going to follow your advice and wait

[Janichsan]

Sneaky Snake, on September 9th 2009, 03:28 AM, said:

So if you could hold off a month or two on your purchase that would be ideal.

Make that five to six months: new iMacs usually are set to come in spring (as the Buyers' guide confirms).

[Hansi]

Janichsan, on September 9th 2009, 06:47 AM, said:

Make that five to six months: new iMacs usually are set to come in spring (as the Buyers' guide confirms).

Although the last two have been in spring there are plenty of times before that where upgrades have been released in fall and provided why try to predict the next date via cubic splines it would be on August 10th, showing that prior release dates give little information for out of sample predictions, other than them being highly cyclical so a fall release is likely:

[The Liberator]

I agree with Hansi here, I think a fall (spring for me) release is slightly more likely. That does not mean that Apple might fool us (like they love doing) and release it after New Year's.

Liberator.

[Sargiel]

Just saw a news article on Macrumors saying it could see an update in weeks

[Janichsan]

Sargiel, on September 18th 2009, 09:11 AM, said:

Just saw a news article on Macrumors saying it could see an update in weeks

I would take this with a grain a pound of salt. Source of this is an analyst firm (you know, one of those that for instance predicted that an iTablet will be released in Spring 2008 Late 2008 Spring 2009 September 2009 Spring 2010 for sure) without any substantial backing. It's pure speculation.

[The Liberator]

Yeah, what Janichsan said.

Also remember that Apple loves fooling everyone when it comes to updates of hardware. 1) No one really knows that is going to be updated next until days (maybe weeks) before the update. 2) No one really knows when the update will occur next until (again) weeks. Sure, we can have a fair idea of what would need updating, and what has recently been updated to know what will be updated. We can also give a few possibilities of when the update will occur; Pre-Christmas, post New Years, WWDC, the Apple convention thing and a few other dates.
Just remember the history of how aloof Apple has been with this type of thing: no one knew the Intel mac were coming, people thought the tablet would arrive (as Janichsan said), I did not expect the sudden change of the laptop range and the camera Nano.
There are many other pieces of evidence pointing to the fact that one needs to be wary of Apple and their updating sneakiness. MacRumours might give a good guide, but it is never the less just a guide (perfect word for the meaning of this context). I am only saying this so one does not become caught out in any of this business, as I would really hate for it to happen to me.

Liberator.

[teflon]

Based on the tech developments of the last year and the upcoming year, I can't see there being anything more than a slight speed bump to the iMacs, and no movement with the MBs and MBPs.
After all, Apple have put themselves in the sticky situation of having shunned intel's integrated graphics in favour for NV's 9400. Since that point, though, there's been a big bust up between NV and intel and it's not entirely certain how NV are going to react.

Rumours have it that there'll be something from NV based on the LGA 1156 socket and the Core i5 CPU with an integrated chipset. But that probably won't happen until next year, unfortunately.

The CPUs in the iMacs are getting a bit long in the tooth, and Apple could really do with switching up to the i5 or something of that ilk, but the other components don't seem to be there for them right now. Unless, of course, they get to announce a surprise chipset from NV as they did last year...

[PeopleLikeFrank]

The first Nehalem-based mobile CPUs (Clarksfield) are now being released, but they're the high-performance quad-core variants. Apple hasn't previously shown any interest in using quads for any of the notebooks or iMacs, although the new Clarksfield ones have a similar power draw to the current Penryn-based CPUs that the iMacs use.

In early 2010 Arrandale comes out, which is a Nehalem-based mobile architecture as well, but will move to 32nm (Clarksfield is 45nm), will be cheaper than Clarksfield CPUs, and will include the dual-core models. The lower-end Core i5 models will have the Intel GPU integrated with the CPU die, which could mean that Apple goes entirely with the i7 models, since they don't include a GPU, are not significantly more expensive than the i5, and the low-voltage models have less power draw than the i5 anyway. (Of course, you have to add the cost + power draw of the 3rd party GPU.) Though given how prone Apple is to shaking up their hardware choices, I could see them switch back to Intel GPUs for their integrated-only models, and using i7+(nVidia or ATI) for the discrete models.

My guess is that they will definitely wait until 2010 and Arrandale for a significant notebook refresh. The iMacs could see a refresh this Fall, maybe using Clarksfield, but it seems more likely they'll just wait for Arrandale for a significant change to the internals.

[Sneaky Snake]

MacRumors is predicting a refresh before the end of October, however a fresh rumor is always around, so take from that what you will

[jackdawsson]

It's all pretty much guesswork, but more info on rumoured new iMacs here:

Apple to unveil new iMacs by mid-October