Hasta La Gadget!

Say what you like about Apple, as a company it’s not exactly on the forefront when it comes to offering standard connectors for peripherals. Case in point: the latest iMac revisions lack eSATA, something of a bother for companies that make external storage devices. Companies like OWC. So, that particular organization is introducing a service to add that to 27-inch iMacs, cutting a small hole into the bottom-right of the display and sticking an eSATA port behind it. It’s a nice idea, the results look flush enough, and 48-hour turn-around time is great — but $169 is hardly small change. You can, however, take that time to get a 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro SSD stuffed in there as well for a mere $1,649 more.

OWC will cut a hole in your new 27-inch iMac, put an eSATA port behind it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Macworld  |  OWC Blog  | Email this | Comments

Faster iMacs, more powerful Mac Pros, larger Cinema Displays, a Magic Trackpad, and a nifty battery charger were among the Apple product announcements today. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know:

• Mac Pros Now Have Up to 12 Cores
• Apple’s LED Cinema Display Now Comes In 27″ Size
• Faster New iMacs Can Run Both SSD and HDDs at Once
• Apple’s Battery Charger Has the Lowest Vampire Draw In Its Class
• Apple’s Magic Trackpad Is Here
• A Driver Update For Apple’s Magic Trackpad Is Now Available

More »

The iMac just got a little bit faster, thanks to an update across the line. Processors, graphics and even the displays have been improved, although the prices have stayed the same.

All iMacs now have i-processors, as in Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 (the last an upgrade option), so the Core 2 Duo now exists only in the Mac Mini. Graphics are now discrete across the line, which means that every iMac has a separate graphics card inside, using its own dedicated memory.

The screens have been replaced, too, using the IPS (in-plane switching) technology found in the iPad. The advantage of IPS is its crazy-wide viewing angle, making the new iMac perfect for watching movies.

There is also a new high-end, small-screen option, letting you put a 3.2-GHz Intel Core i3 in the 21.5-inch iMac (the base chip runs at 3.06 GHz). It’ll cost $1,500 against $1,200, but you also double video memory to 512 MB and get a bigger, 1-TB hard drive.

The sweet spot is now the 3.2-GHz 27-incher, which has the i3 processor and still costs just $1,700. Sure, that’s not a cheap computer, but for what you actually get, it is a real bargain. Add to this redesigned, bassier speakers and an SD card slot that works with the new SDXC spec, and you’ve got almost everything you might want in a home-entertainment computer.

Finally, the iMac doesn’t come with the new Magic Trackpad. You’ll have to buy it for an extra $70. Thanks, Apple.

New iMac [Apple]

It’s not as if we haven’t heard the rumors building over the last few months, but Apple’s long-standing iMac line is seeing its first real update since the Fall of last year on this fine morning. As predicted, the refreshed family now contains Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processor options, not to mention discrete ATI Radeon HD GPU options, IPS panels, an SD slot that understands the complexities of SDXC and an SSD option on the 27-inch machine. For whatever reason, Apple’s not throwing in its new Magic Trackpad with any iMac; instead, it’ll be a $69 accessory. One swank addition to this line, however, is the ability to order your new all-in-one with both an HDD and an SSD on the 27-inch model. Of course, it’ll cost you dearly (a 1TB HDD plus a 256GB SSD is a $750 CTO option, while the 2TB HDD in that combo makes it a $900 option), but at least there’s room inside for DIY adds. Here’s a look at the available configurations, with last Fall’s lineup saved here for reference:

• The low-end $1,199 unit boasts a 21.5-inch display (1,920 x 1,080), a 3.06GHz Core i3 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI’s Radeon HD 4670 GPU (256MB) and a 500GB hard drive. There’s also an 8x slot-loading SuperDrive with dual-layer support, Mini DisplayPort, AirPort Extreme 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, iSight webcam, gigabit Ethernet, a foursome of USB 2.0 sockets, a single FireWire 800 port and a bundled wireless Apple Keyboard and Magic Mouse.
• There’s a new $1,499 21.5-inch model that includes a 3.20GHz Core i3, ATI Radeon HD 5670 GPU (512MB), a 1TB hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 memory (along with the usual suspects mentioned above).
• The $1,699 model is a 27-incher with a 2,560 x 1,440 LED-backlit display, 3.20GHz Core i3 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI’s Radeon HD 5670 (512MB), a 1TB hard drive and available CTO options that include a 3.6GHz Core i5, 2TB HDD, 256GB SSD and up to 16GB of RAM.
• The flagship $1,999 flavor (27-inch) packs a 2.8GHz quad-core Core i5 with 8MB of shared L3 cache, 4GB of DDR3 memory, ATI’s Radeon HD 5750 GPU (1GB), a 1TB hard drive and available CTO options that include a 2.93GHz Core i7 CPU, 2TB hard drive, 256GB SSD and up to 16GB of memory.

Continue reading Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3

Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

The latest word from behind Apple-authorized cashiers is that Cupertino has stopped shipping out fresh stock of its entry-level 21-inch iMac. The Core 2 Duo-equipped machines were already looking long in the tooth in this Core i-something era, and so predictably the latest speculation centers around the idea of Apple taking its full iMac range into Core i3, i5 and i7 territory. Nobody really knows any of the specs for the moment, but resellers are apparently being advised to sell through what stock they have and to “keep inventories lean” for the next few weeks. Considering Apple’s last all-in-one overhaul coincided with the introduction of the Magic Mouse, we’re starting to suspect the company might have another iMac plus touch input device combo coming — potentially in the very near future.

iMac refresh is imminent, according to reseller sources originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  AppleInsider  | Email this | Comments