Apple This

If there’s one thing that Apple has over PC, it’s a hold on the education industry. Macs are definitely preferred by educational institutions for students and faculty, that’s no secret, and Apple has recently unveiled its newest desktop aimed at education, a new version of the company’s already low-end iMac.Unlike its traditional fashion, Apple didn’t have a huge event for the release of this device. As a matter of fact, the release of this iMac was extremely quiet and avoided almost any fanfare. That could be due to the fact that this version of the iMac has been specifically designed for use in schools and will not be available for commercial purchase.

It is still unclear as to when exactly Apple debuted this new version of the iMac on its education institution Apple store, though MacRumors believes it was very recently. The site says that this version of the device has replaced the earlier version of the iMac (which was priced at $999) that was launched over a year and a half ago.

This new version is 21.5″ and comes with a 3.3GHz Core i3 processor, 500GB of storage and 4GB of memory while custom configurations for RAM and storage upgrades are available for about $270 each. The low-end consumer iMac, in comparison, gives users nearly double the RAM and hard drive capacity.

When I said earlier that this version was for schools only, I meant it. This iMac and other products offered on the education institution Apple store can only be ordered directly by a school, unlike other Apple educational discounts. That means students and educators are unable to purchase this iMac for their own use.

The iMac is definitely good on saving space and this one has enough hardware to be useful in a school computer lab, though the extra costs for RAM and storage upgrades could get pricey. The screen is 1920 x 1080 while the iMac also comes with Intel HD Graphics 4000 all for a price of $1,099, $200 less than the regular consumer model.

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Apple announced yesterday that it will soon begin selling its redesigned iMac desktop computers, making a self-set deadline to start shipping them by the end of November. These new iMacs are smaller than previous versions, coming in at 21.5″. Availability is said to be both online and in retail stores across the country, as well as with authorized resellers, for a starting price of $1,299.

The company had previously promised to deliver these new models in the beginning of November, though that obviously didn’t happen. The larger 27″ iMac, which starts at $1,799, should be available for pre-order as well, though it will not begin shipping until December.

Apple first debuted the newly designed iMacs back in October, though only said that they wouldn’t ship for weeks, giving no explanation as to why. Two days later, CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the delays and said that iMac supplies would be “constrained for the full quarter in a significant way.”

The delays were definitely substantial. Since the announcement of the devices back in October, not a single one has been available for sale on Apple’s online store, with previous generations of the device being pulled from the store as well. In addition to that, the phone ordering desk for the company was also unable to take orders.

The new iMacs feture Intel’s Ivy Bridge 2.7 GHz  or 2.9 GHz quad-core Core i5 processors, 8GB of memory, 1TB hard drives and Nvidia graphics chipsets with 512MB of RAM. In addition to that, these models also opted out of optical drives and retained the previous model’s screen sizes and resolutions.

Another new feature of these iMacs is Fusion Drive, an option that combines 128GB of flash storage with a standard platter-based hard drive of between 1TB and 3TB. The hybrid drive will significantly increase speeds of some tasks, lie starting the computer and opening frequently used applications.

The new iMacs are $100 more than the previous models, with pre-configured 21.5″ models priced at $1,299 and $1,499 and pre-configured 27″ models priced at $1,799 and $1,999. It is also unclear how much the new Fusion Drive will increase the price, though the single option of 1TB for the Mac Mini runs $250.

Source: Computer World – Apple to start selling new, pricier iMacs Friday

According to recent reports, Apple is extremely close to unveiling its new line of home computers, something a lot of users have been waiting for. There have been a lot of news outlets citing “multiple sources” saying that a refresh of Apple’s iMac lineup is “imminent”.

That’s not all, though, as these reports also claim that it is possible for Apple to unveil the new computer lineup as early as next month. If this happens then it will likely be at the same event where the company is expected to show off the new 7″ 0r 8″ iPad Mini and the much anticipated iPhone 5.

It’s no surprise that Apple’s home computer line is no longer the driving force behind the company, what with products like the iPhone, iPod and iPad dominating sales, but that doesn’t mean that the sector hasn’t remained as strong as ever. Mac computers also carry higher margins than Apple’s other devices, meaning they are more profitable for the company at the point of purchase.

Due to the immense popularity of the iPhone, iPod and iPad, many consumers are starting to show a renewed interest in the iMac. However, there still remains a large portion of the population who love their Apple mobile devices but would never dream of switching to an Apple computer.

I think the main reason for this is because people see a computer and think how they will use it and how functional it is. When they look at things like the iPhone and iPad they think of fun and innovation. In addition to that, whenever a new Mac computer is unveiled it generally receives far less fanfare than any of Apple’s mobile devices.

The one thing that could turn desire for an iMac could be if Apple decides to upgrade the lineup with its highly popular Retina Display, the same display seen on the new iPad. Unfortunately, many tech analysts don’t believe that the technology is ready for use on such a large screen. I guess we will just have to wait and see what Apple offers consumers when the new iMacs are debuted, possibly, next month.

Source: TG Daily – Rumor: Apple to show off new iMacs soon

In the computer world, portable devices get the most attention and sales without a doubt. However, despite that, all-in-one PCs have quietly become an overwhelming and booming market and Apple’s iMac accounts for almost one-third of all of the all-in-one PCs sold in the industry.

All-in-one desktop computer sales increased 39% in 2010 to a total of 14.5 million units according to research firm DisplaySearch. Among those sales Apple accounted for 32.9%, putting Apple on top as the single largest all-in-one PC maker in the world.

The iMac is Apple’s only all-in-one device and is also the company’s strongest selling desktop computer, even beating out the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro. In the previous quarter for Apple, portable Mac computers represented 74% of Mac sales, though desktop sales still hit an all new record for the company.

Apple has a 33% share of all-in-one desktops, which put it ahead of Lenovo, the second place company. Third place goes to HP with a 21.4% share. HP is planning on releasing a new pair of desktop PCs before next week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012.

HP’s HP Omni is an all-in-one desktop that comes with a 27″ screen that is specifically designed for family use. It will go on sale January 8 for a base price of $1,200. In addition to the HP Omni, HP will also be releasing a standard desktop PC aimed at PC gamers known as the Pavilion HPE h9 Phoenix. The Phoenix will have a base price of $1,150.

Bloomberg stated that HP’s decision to highlight new desktops as portables is evidence that the company is trying to stand out for the influx of portable devices destined to dominate CES 2012 next week. The all-in-one PC market is set to see continued growth and DisplaySearch believes that it could reach 23.3 million units by 2014.

Even though the iMac is performing stronger than ever for Apple, the company is suspected to be questioning the future of the more traditional Mac tower computer, the Mac Pro. It has already been reported that Apple is considering doing away with the entire Mac Pro lineup and sparing all the resources devoted to it.

Source: AppleInsider – Apple’s iMac accounts for 33% of all-in-one PC sales

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While I am not a huge Apple computer fan, I will give them credit for one thing and that is their all-in-one computers. I’m talking, of course, about their computers that have everything you need built right into the monitor, leaving you with no need to have a big tower cluttering up your workspace.

Well, Apple is back with a brand new batch of all-in-ones and has just unveiled their latest iMac refresh about a week ago. These new iMacs come with a new selection of AMD Radeon HD graphics cards, quad-core Intel Sandy Bridge processors and solid-state storage options to nobody’s great surprise.

The latest version of the iMac was designed to be faster and it quite literally is the fastest version yet. Faster internal components along with external Thunderbolt ports turn this newest iMac, which is slated as a family-friendly eye-catcher, into a formidable powerhouse that may even cater to some professional users.

The pricier configuration of the newest iMac will get you a 27-inch iMac with a 3.1GHz Core i5 processor. However, if you want to drop an extra $200, you can upgrade to a 3.4GHz Core i7. You get four cores either way. The i5 version comes with 4GB of 1333MHz, DDR3 RAM which is installed as two 2GB DIMMs. You also get a 1TB 7,200RPM SATA drive as well. The 27-inch display is a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution IPS panel that has an integrated AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory.

This, along with the pair of Thunderbolt ports, gives you a new way to power multiple external displays. It seems possible that you may be able to power as many as four, thanks to the dual-channel nature of each port. However, the 27-inch display is pretty spacious on its own and is certainly enough.

Aside from faster internals, there isn’t a lot of difference between this latest iMac than its predecessor. It has the same design that the past few iterations have had. There are some problems that a good number of users are reporting like the SD slot being uncomfortably close to the DVD-ROM slot and the DVD=ROM slot still not accepting Blu-ray discs. There is also the placement of the power button which has many users accidentally turning their device off whenever they go to tilt the display.

Nobody buys an iMac, or any Apple computer for that matter, if they are looking for something to game on. However, this new iteration does run Portal 2 and Half-Life 2 at full resolution with no problems. Just don’t try to max out Crysis 2 or anything like that. 1080p videos also load very quickly and cycle just fine, which is always nice to have.

Pro-level users, like those who spend a lot of time in editing programs like Photoshop, Premiere or REDCINE, could get a lot of satisfaction out of this device. The internal SSD, which is a $500 option for 256GB, definitely helps in this department and so could an external storage device connected to one of the Thunderbolt ports.

Average, everyday users might find all of this a bit too much for them, however. The 21.5-inch model, which is entirely more affordable and still very capable, seems to be a better choice. However, this new iMac is still very pretty, very easy to set up and very good in terms of performance and flexibility.

Source: Engadget – Apple iMac (spring 2011) review

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