New Mac

[mism]

Apple store is down, looks like today is the day. Or its just an iMac update...

[Hanable]

Apple store is down, looks like today is the day. Or its just an iMac update...

The Pros have been updated, new processors that would kick you up to 2.4GHz for 4 cores or 2.66-2.93GHz 12 Core... that'll be expensive!

The big upgrade is in the processor cache from 8 to 12 and a newer generation of ATI graphics... what I have in my PC actually, or one down depending on the option.

It's listed as 'coming soon', can you take it back and re-evaluate? The announcement of these is bad timing for you

The Trackpad is also there... a bit interesting. I can't tell if there's anything else, it all looks the same to me

[Xman TT]

Nice Mac Mism! Where is that jealous smiley......

[mism]

This really hasn't helped. Its very rare for Apple to update without making them instantly available to order. The US get Coming August, we get Coming Soon, we don't even get a price for the 12 core although I reckon about £4000, too much for me.

From what I can gather from the limited info available I could return mine and get an 8 core at 2.4GHz (rather than my 2.26). Its only marginally faster although I'm not sure how much difference the cache would make.
The graphics card would be a big improvement but to be honest the ATI I have is only marginally faster, in use, than the one in my laptop. It should shit on it but for what I do its not a big issue it seems. Plus I may well be able to buy one later. It would cost about £200 more than what I've spent, with the hassle, downtime and possible issues with a new machine it may not be worth it.
Its not clear yet but a fast 6 core machine may be a good option. 6 x 3.33GHz gives me more GHz than I have now plus would be better for tasks like photoshop that only use 2 cores.
But we don't know how much the 6 cores will be or when they will ship!

[Nivek TT]

The magic trackpad now officially exists, and I think I like. Wonder when Windows drivers will appear..?

[robowenmac]

It's annoying that site doesn't have prices so you can evaluate the new machines that are in your price range. As you only have 2 weeks can you not contact apple and tell them your situation. I'm sure they won't tell you the price but they might at least give you a few more weeks until they do release the prices in the UK?

Also, I don't really understand the appeal for the magic trackpad, is anyone thinking of getting one?

[mism]

It's annoying that site doesn't have prices so you can evaluate the new machines that are in your price range. As you only have 2 weeks can you not contact apple and tell them your situation. I'm sure they won't tell you the price but they might at least give you a few more weeks until they do release the prices in the UK?

Also, I don't really understand the appeal for the magic trackpad, is anyone thinking of getting one?

I'll give it a week and see if there is any news out. There's been a lot of criticism of the updates, that Apple have done the bare minimum, no new features like USB 3 or Lightpeak, while increasing the prices. It may be that its not worth changing.

Really don't understand the trackpad, I hate trackpads. Its different on the iPhone where the pad is the screen and isn't used for 10 hours straight.

[Hanable]

Really don't understand the trackpad, I hate trackpads. Its different on the iPhone where the pad is the screen and isn't used for 10 hours straight.

I agree... it's all about motion control now, touch pads are dead... and it's got to be 3D, with glasses... and white (though I think a retro-beige comeback is in order soon)

[mism]

Just arranged the return. Very pleased with the machine but a direct comparison with the new model gets me:

"ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5" or a ATI Radeon HD 5870 if I pay more.

1TB drive instead of 640GB

12Mb Cache instead of 8.

For £100 more. Word is that they'll be available from the 9th.

There is part of me that is seriously considering the 12 core. It would be about £1200 more but a weeks work could cover that (IF I get work). It would be 50% faster, not bad when I've been waiting 20hrs so far for an animation to render. Scary money though.

[Hanable]

Just arranged the return. Very pleased with the machine but a direct comparison with the new model gets me:

"ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5" or a ATI Radeon HD 5870 if I pay more.

1TB drive instead of 640GB

12Mb Cache instead of 8.

For £100 more. Word is that they'll be available from the 9th.

There is part of me that is seriously considering the 12 core. It would be about £1200 more but a weeks work could cover that (IF I get work). It would be 50% faster, not bad when I've been waiting 20hrs so far for an animation to render. Scary money though.

I have the 5870 and it's a beast, worth the money for me

Drives are cheap, cache is king and more processors aren't necessarily better... but I don't do rendering

It's Xeon processors that really kill the value, even for PCs they take the piss for the big boys.

I spent 2k on my machine and it's a good investment just for dicking around and being a media-server. If I had to do work on it I'd spend more.

Macs hold their value longer than PCs but only if you get them at the start of the cycle, your doing the right thing

[mism]

Its all about cores for me, had all 8 (16 inc HT) running flat out for 24 hours. Not even using half my RAM during that time, and the monitor was off for a fair bit of it.

Apple still haven't released prices for the graphics card option or the 12 core machine. If I go 12 core I will be going so far out on a financial limb that anything else will be out. It scares me but if the flip side is regretting it in six months, knowing that competitors are using 12 core machines and that I could be getting 50% more rendering done. Faster rendering means more tests, more time to experiment and ultimately a better job (who am I convincing here).

[Nivek TT]

Just arranged the return.

So this saga has just become a musical

[mism]

I've got a text file with all the return details. I named it return of mac and the same joke occurred to me, I couldn't bring myself to do it though.

[robowenmac]

Glad that you've finally got some info from Apple and you're a little clearer about your situation. How long does this mean you're without a computer? Also £1200 in a week, what do you do? Pimpin?

[mism]

Assuming they are available to order on Monday and ship within the usual time frame then I should have it within two weeks.

For 3D work I'd hope to charge £250 a day freelancing, you get paid more but its obviously far less secure. I don't have any work lined up so its a bit of a gamble. Can't do the work without the Mac though.

These are a few bits I've done this last week. The cameras took 24 hours to render (although I was probably a bit over the top on some settings). They would have taken over a week on my laptop.