So, I’m getting a desperately needed new iMac.
I’d been planning to get the i5, but after seeing this report I think I’ll plump for the i7. It’s on sale today for AUD$2,758.01 (don’t forget the 1c).
Tags: mac
So, I’m getting a desperately needed new iMac.
I’d been planning to get the i5, but after seeing this report I think I’ll plump for the i7. It’s on sale today for AUD$2,758.01 (don’t forget the 1c).
Tags: mac
November 28th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Ah interesting, 91€ off across the entire line. If I had the cash in the bank would indeed “plump” as you say.
I wasn’t even thinking about an i7 though. I was thinking of going for the low-end 27″ model (with the Core Duo processor) which is 1358€ over here (1449€ tomorrow). My only misgiving with that model is the wimpy graphics card driving such a large display, thus pushing me towards the i5 model (1658€ here today, 1749€ tomorrow).
But as I don’t have the liquidity right now for any such thing, it’s all moot for me.
As for you, well, don’t know. Don’t think you’d really need the extra performance of the i7 for your workloads (the Rails dev I mean); the slowest part of it is running the test suite, and that’s probably mostly disk-limited anyway. (Although knowing you, I’ll bet the test suite is small enough that even running slowly it doesn’t take long…)
November 28th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Well, what I really need is more memory. This MBP is limited to 3GB and currently has 2GB – it’s dismally inadequate. The first thing I’m going to do when I get a new machine, whatever it turns out to be, is put 8GB into it – I can’t wait to be finally free of the memory starvation that dogs my every workday on this thing.
I’d thought about the i5 and was intending to get it – but the i7 is only a little more and according to that report it appears its performance is drastically improved in some areas. The hyperthreading seems to make a big difference when running virtual machines – a big use case for me. Since it’s only $250 or so more, there really seems little reason not to get it. It’s certainly a hell of a lot less than a Mac Pro or something, which start to look like pretty poor value compared to the new iMacs.
I didn’t actually buy one yesterday, as I realised that I’d only be saving $11 over the education discount I can usually get – not enough of a saving to force my hand. I’m still thinking about it and will probably act next week.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
For me too memory is the real performance limiter for some larger applications that I run. My machine only has 2GB. Raising that even to 4GB would make a huge impact.
November 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Yup, RAM’s what it’s all about. Surprising that your iMac has such a low memory limit!
If I was using the unit solely for Rails I reckon the i5 with 8GB of RAM would be a close to perfect development machine.
November 29th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Don’t know why you need so much memory for Rails development. I reckon it could be done fairly comfortably even on a 1 GB machine (or a 2 GB machine allowing for various open windows in bloated browsers for things like consulting documentation and testing).
November 29th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
My experience could not be more different. I am constantly butting my head against the 2GB limit on this machine.
It’s probably related to my working style – I have a lot of things open and constantly switch between them. Once you’ve got Mail, iTunes, a couple of web browsers with a few tabs each, some Rails instances and a text editor – I’m way over 1G by that point and usually over 2, pushing things into swap and making my reflex command-tab take several excruciating seconds rather than the instant response I would strongly prefer.
I’m running basically what I describe above right now and have about 50M free. The system is responsive enough right now but that’s not a lot of headroom. All it takes is for one rails instance to grow a bit, or I need to load PhotoShop or some other memory intensive program, and the working experience turns quickly to frustrating delays and inefficient coping mechanisms such as only keeping one “big” program open at a time. Pretty far from the way I want to work.
And as for why I’d need 8GB – well, why not. Memory is cheap and I just want to forget about any kind of memory worries for a long, long time. 2GB of memory for that model imac is $72 at my local shop – a no-brainer. With 8GB, firing up a VM to check something on Gaydows is a whim and a click of the mouse – currently it’s basically impossible, and even with 4GB I’d at least have to think about it. I look forward to just not having to even consider the idea that there might be a limit on available RAM for a couple of years.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Unfortunately, it seems I should have acted sooner – the machines are now out of stock!
I am not particularly happy about ordering from the Apple Store – I like to carry the box home right there and then – but seems I might have no choice, unless I want to start making calling the local Apple Stores for availability updates a daily routine.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
My last 2 or 3 machines have all come from the Apple Store. I actually quite like having it delivered right to my door, and they’re pretty quick.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I like buying big things in person. Perhaps if I did it more often, the store would look more appealing.
Especially if there’s a problem – a cracked screen, or a dead pixel – being able to go back to the physical store that very day, receipt and offending item in hand, and demand satisfaction is convenient to me.
Higher on my list of concerns in this instance, though, is the nature of stock priority. Once I place an order on the web site, they have my money, or the guarantee of it anyway. I am a low priority, despite my order being unfilled. In the stores, however, if they don’t have stock customers will walk away. The stores will thus receive stock first. I don’t want to wait weeks.
Ah well, busy for the next few days anyway – will step up the campaign later this week.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:26 am
Did you end up getting one of these things?
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Yeah. I got a i5 in mid Dec. But then I went straight on holiday, so I haven’t been able to use it until I got back yesterday.
I have nothing but praise for it – it’s the best machine I have ever owned by a long, long way.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Awesome! Glad to hear it.
I am hoping to get a new machine pretty soon too, but will have to see if some payments that are owed to me come in or not. Right now am leaning towards the i7 due to the superior graphics card (doesn’t make much sense to have an enormous display if you don’t have a gutsy card to properly exploit it) and the fact that quad cores would be well suitable to my workload (parallel compilation).
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:17 pm
I thoroughly recommend you, and everyone else, buy this machine immediately. It’s the best mac ever made, full stop, and you will find its performance and screen quality an utter joy.
The i7 shares the same graphics card. The only difference is a slight upclocking and the enabling of HyperThreading, which I always thought was a load of crap. I didn’t judge the 10% price premium (it ended up more than 20% actually – I was able to get a very good price) worth the 5% increase in performance, and I didn’t want to wait two weeks for delivery, so I went with the i5.
Absolutely get the quad cores, they’re a new generation and the leap from the Core 2 series is very noticeable. I can’t recommend this machine enough. Remember when macs were expensive? A price premium? I paid AUD$2339 for this thing and I feel like I got the deal of the fucking century!