New iMacs feature DirectX 10-compatible ATI Radeon GPUs
by Ross Miller 
{ Aug 7th 2007 at 1:39PM }
The low-end model ($1199) features a 20-inch display, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Radeon HD 2400 XT. The high-end model ($1799) features a 24-inch display, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Radeon HD 2600 Pro. (Comparison) If hardcore gaming is your primary concern, then the iMac is still not a long-term, cost-effective option. However, for those who love the design and using Mac OS X for non-gaming means, this looks to be a pretty good setup.
A new keyboard was also revealed today, showing a design more akin to what has been seen with the Macbook laptops. Gamer-friendly? We're just not sure at this point. Though the picture shown after the break doesn't have it, we're pretty sure the above image shows a numeric keypad still on the right side of the keyboard. The new iMacs are available starting today.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
baby sea tuna @ Aug 7th 2007 1:47PM
Dammit Apple, you did it again! Every time I buy one of your products, you bring out a new, sexier iteration like 3 months later!
Well, good thing I waited on the iPhone at least.
Ignatius @ Aug 7th 2007 3:01PM
Here's the irony, they said 'Hardcore-gaming' and 'Mac' in the same sentence. A possibility it is not.
:P
Korova @ Aug 7th 2007 5:20PM
i know, they do that. its annoying
next time go to http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/, they tell you how likely a line to be upgraded soon and therefore whether to buy or not. They are usually spot on.
mr nimblewick @ Aug 7th 2007 1:48PM
Ah, I remember the days when I was a hardcore pc gamer, back when video cards were as hard as "here's the voodoo 3. What's a GPU?" With so many different types of cards, CPU's, even RAM, at such high costs, I'm glad I bought a laptop when I did. Don't miss it at all.
Marasai @ Aug 7th 2007 1:49PM
So very funny that my current computer is better in nearly every way to their high end machine....and it is over a year old...and cost about the same.
James @ Aug 7th 2007 1:53PM
You bought a DX10 computer a year ago for the same price?
baby sea tuna @ Aug 7th 2007 1:53PM
And yet, when most people see it (unless they're hardcore computer nerds) I'm sure they don't start drooling over it and ask to mess around on it.
Hence, the cult aspect of Apple branded products.
superberg @ Aug 7th 2007 3:18PM
Um, this isn't their top-of-the-line. It's their top of the line CONSUMER model.
For top of the line, see Mac Pro. Highly expandable, big, and yes, more expensive.
The iMac is designed to be no-hassle, hence the simplicity of design. Just because it's not for you donesn't mean it doesn't have merit.
required @ Aug 7th 2007 1:48PM
the logo on the front sure looks horsey, should be tone on tone
James @ Aug 7th 2007 1:55PM
I'd love one of these. Bought the 17" a year ago, and now there's a 20" with better everything and DX10 for the same price (£600). Shame about that keyboard, the only decent keyboard they've made is the PowerBook/MBP one.
teitoku @ Aug 12th 2007 12:10AM
DX10, yes. But not in OS X, and not good for gaming in windows. So who cares?
Anonim @ Aug 7th 2007 1:56PM
Pity the graphics cards are really really cheapo ones...
Radeon 2400 and 2600 are REALLY weak.
The (only) good features:
-Dual DVI with HDCP support.
-acceleration of h264 and hd-wmv VC-1 (Hddvd's and Bluray)
mr nimblewick @ Aug 7th 2007 1:58PM
I have no idea what any of that means.
syco @ Aug 7th 2007 3:02PM
You know, that's probably why they bothered with that line of GPU's, the H.264 accelleration. Macs are used heavily in video editing circles, and so having H.264 hardware acceleration would be extremely useful if ATI's mac drivers allowed for it.
Andy O. @ Aug 8th 2007 1:16PM
The cards are weak on PC sure, but they will be just fine for iMac level systems. I think the last models had x1600's? when the x1900 was king. So iMac = mid-level everything, with the exception of design, form, and function (OSx)
I had a fustrated old lady come in with a new Vista box, maybe i'll call her today to tell her about the new iMacs.
Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 7th 2007 2:01PM
that keyboard looks uncomfortable (there was leaked images a week or so ago as well) but the mac itself looks sweet.
deaftly @ Aug 7th 2007 2:03PM
apple is so damn overpriced, ill stick with a pc forever, guess im not cool enough to be in the hip/emo apple crowd, looks likes its suicide for me
ill trooper @ Aug 7th 2007 2:59PM
...trolling the Apple posts enough?
deaftly @ Aug 7th 2007 3:08PM
its possible to troll on apple? news to me, apples are just not worth the money they ask for in my opinion, that is all, have a great day
borland502 @ Aug 7th 2007 2:05PM
I don't trust it. After all, I just got used to the concept that CPU cases can come in colors other than beige.
Theta @ Aug 7th 2007 2:06PM
Those are some pitifully weak specs for a $1.2K computer.
syco @ Aug 7th 2007 3:08PM
Nearly half of the cost is OSX itself. When you buy the OS in a box, they assume you've allready paid the Mac Tax, and so it's cheaper, but when you first buy a mac you pay a lot for it. You may as well just consider it as being a $700 computer with a $500 OS.
Matt @ Aug 7th 2007 2:06PM
That would be exciting news... until one remembers how big of a FAILURE ATI's latest gen crap has been on the Windows side of the world.
Gluttonous power consumption, obscene amounts of heat output, slower performance than nVidia cards half their price...
Tukulito-Zakayama @ Aug 7th 2007 2:16PM
ATI video card are not best of the best, but they are very decent cards to have fun.....
Tukulito-Zakayama @ Aug 7th 2007 2:21PM
ATI video card are not the best of the best, but they are decent cards to have a lot of fun.....
Tukulito-Zakayama @ Aug 7th 2007 2:23PM
!!Oopss double post, sorry....
Twist @ Aug 7th 2007 2:23PM
There are two different keyboards. The normal USB version has the numeric keypad while the Bluetooth version does not.
Sizer @ Aug 7th 2007 2:42PM
There is another higher end iMac on the Apple store right now. 24 inch, 2.8GHz, 500 GB hard drive, 2 gigs of RAM for $2299 (compared to 2.4 GHz, 320 GB, 1 gig of memory for the $1799 model).
Slvrgun @ Aug 7th 2007 2:48PM
How do you upgrade that thing?
James @ Aug 7th 2007 2:50PM
Lay it down, there's a panel underneath for access to the RAM. Then you can open the whole back off (if it's anything like the current iMac) to upgrade.
Shagittarius @ Aug 7th 2007 3:12PM
1. Take it out to your garbage can and throw it in.
2. Go to the Apple store and buy another one.
syco @ Aug 7th 2007 3:26PM
Actually you'd probably need to recycle it, most trash companies won't take computers anymore.
iMacs aren't really designed with short term upgrades in mind. You're really supposed to keep it for 4 or 5 years with nothing but a RAM upgrade because it's not really a gaming box. If you need the ability to upgrade you need a Mac Pro.... and an absurd amount of money.
Korova @ Aug 7th 2007 5:25PM
my iMac is seven and going strong. iMacs are like dogs - they are really exciting when you get them and then they are still lovable but mellow
BTW, the new line is sexy
Gregory Kimball @ Aug 7th 2007 3:04PM
The Radeon 2600 Pro is DirectX 10 in name only. It's simply not powerful enough to take advantage of DX10 capabilities. I have nothing against the new iMac, but don't expect stellar gaming performance.
Here's an article from AnandTech that shows the inadequacies of AMD's newest mid-range GPUs:
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3023
Fruition @ Aug 7th 2007 4:35PM
Since when does AMD make GPU's? If you're going to bash a company, please make sure you say the right one so you don't tarnish AMD's good name.
Josh @ Aug 7th 2007 4:42PM
AMD owns ATI, so yes, AMD now makes GPUs.
Mr Khan @ Aug 7th 2007 4:44PM
AMD bought ATI sometime last year
Personally, i've always felt ATI was better for the integrated machines (like Macs and the consoles), but Nvidia is better for a good gaming PC
tobin92 @ Aug 8th 2007 12:58AM
I hope Jobs realizes the 2600 XT will chock at 1680x1050 at any new game.
Iulius @ Aug 7th 2007 4:23PM
You can't get caught up in the "how are you going to upgrade that thing" debate, because to *way* more people than not, it doesn't matter.
The Joystiq crowd isn't terribly hard-core, I'm sure, but even here the tweaker/non-tweaker ratio is terribly skewed away from how people really use their computers.
Building a computer from off-the-shelf parts is nothing terribly complicated. Yet, most people would prefer to buy a system already configured, built and working. I'd be surprised if more than 5% of the computers out there ever even get RAM upgrades. The person above who mentioned his(her?) laptop is dead on. I personally prefer being able to take my machine with me. When it starts to feel slow, I do what I can for it, maybe (maybe!) get some new RAM, but in the end, upgrading is more effort (and cost) than I want to deal with when a new computer can be had for $1500.
Anyway, this may not be the machine for this crowd, but don't make the mistake of thinking it is worthless just because it ain't for you.
Chris New @ Aug 7th 2007 4:17PM
It's a beautiful piece of industrial design. The keyboard is awesome. 0.33" thick.
h8rain @ Aug 7th 2007 4:28PM
Most people who will probably buy an iMac will use it in OSX, not windows. Since OSX does not use DX10, its less than stellar performance for DX10 will not be a big deal to those people.
Remember the iMac is designed to be a simple sleek machine. NOT A HARDCORE GAMING MACHINE!!!!!! It is designed to look good, not take up a lot of space, and be simple enough for your grandma to use, but powerful enough for a more advanced user. If it is not powerful enough, then you step up to the Mac Pro.
It really pisses me off when people totally miss the point of a damn product, like when people get all pissy about how big a truck might be, and say people should buy a small Civic instead. What they don't realize is the pickup is aimed for people who need to HAUL crap, not the single person that commutes 50 miles a day.
Another rant of mine is the Apple is overpriced remarks. Find another PC that is as small, integrated screen, and has the same specs for the same price. A Dell OptiPlex 745 Ultra Small Form Factor with similar specs (EXCEPT the Dell has integrated Intel GMA graphics), and the LCD that can hold the PC behind is only 17", and that is $1,260. So to everyone that says they are overprice, just piss off. And if you come back with well I can build a tower and a 20" screen for less, I will track you down and beat the $hit out of you, because just like I said before you are missing the F-ing point of the machine......
Korova @ Aug 7th 2007 5:42PM
h8rain 1
people who piss him off 0
TWiNKiE @ Aug 7th 2007 5:51PM
My sister is still asking me how to put music on her iPod from iTunes. She bought it in February.
Theta @ Aug 7th 2007 6:44PM
Geee, DX 10 doesn't matter, which is why the Radeon are being set standard in the line, right? I wonder where the mac-tards like you who repeatedly downplayed windows were when Apple made the compatibility for the OS a feature for the mac? Oh, you're busy saying how "most people don't use it", which is of course why Apple made it an integral feature. Good job.
And contrary to your self-righteous rant, most people already know what the target market of a mac is. I love how outraged you are when somebody has the nerves to point out any kind of flaw in your product of choice. Right, it's not enough that you can like the product, but since the product isn't supposed to be a graphics powerhouse, then it automatically makes it immune to any mention of it as a shortcoming, give me a fucking break. Anyone who's taken Marketing 101 can spot you as the textbook brand loyalist a mile away.
I actually did build quite the powerful tower for around $1,200. Are you going to track me down and beat the shit out of me now? Yeah, keep talking macho on the internet, little boy.
To Syco: It's not really sensible to account the full retail price of the OS into the cost of the system. There's a lot more cost involved when you're talking about vending a physical item through a retail channel. You're effectively eliminating much of the logistics and marketing costs of selling a separate physical product when you're including the software pre-installed on a machine. There are obviously more complexities to that equation, but at the end of the day the costs do not directly translate between pre-installed software and its retail version.
Seroth @ Aug 7th 2007 8:25PM
I don't like the look of the new iMacs. That black border around the screen is just...it doesn't sit well with me.
But the keyboard. Hell yeah, I want one of those.
ogvor @ Aug 7th 2007 6:24PM
This isn't the first DirectX 10 card in a Mac. The MacBook Pro I bought a couple months ago was upgraded to the GeForce 8600M GT which supports DX10. They also come with 2 gigs standard so when booted into windows, it's a very good gaming laptop.
Burnt Meatloaf @ Aug 8th 2007 7:07AM
Yes, but you are an idiot with STYLE!
Everybody knows that if you take bog-standard PC hardware and put it into a nice box, it's not a PC anymore -- it's a work of solid awesome that puts evil, nasty PC-based hardware to shame and deserves a cult following.
The Amiga was the last great custom computer. These days, everything is just a PC with a different marketing campaign. Even custom PowerPC systems are just PC hardware, really.
ogvor @ Aug 8th 2007 12:22PM
You try finding a custom gaming laptop for $1700 (educational discount + free ipod nano which I sold)
2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo Processor
2 Gigs of Ram
128 MB GeForce 8600M GT with DirectX 10
and it has the new LED Backlight display so it's battery life is on average more than 3:00 hours, or 1:30 when gaming.
And also, I didn't buy it for gaming I'd wanted a Mac for video editing. but it just so happens when booted into windows it can play Titan Quest and Half Life 2 great.
Poisoned Al @ Aug 7th 2007 6:36PM
If you bought a Mac for gaming, you are ether:
a) Someone who has no idea about computers or games and bought a Mac because you read in a magazine Apple products are trendy, or it's colour matches your curtains.
b) One of those insufferable Apple fanboys that crow about how much PC's crash and die a little inside every time their beloved Mac farts that flashing red bar in their face.
Ether way you badly need to throw yourself in front of a bus. You're stealing oxygen away from people more deserving.
chenry @ Aug 7th 2007 8:32PM
c) you realised that through boot camp you could run windows and play PC Games