The 27-inch Apple iMac Review (2011)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 27, 2011 2:30 AM ESTFaceTime HD
Like the new MacBook Pros, the new iMac ships with a 1280 x 720 video/still camera mounted in the top bezel of the display. The FaceTime experience is pretty similar to what we saw on the MacBook Pro. The 720p video is encoded in real time (using Quick Sync) and sent at up to 2Mbps to its recipient. Image quality is pretty good assuming you have a well lit room and that you have the upload bandwidth to spare:
Photo Booth ships with the system and continues to capture at 640 x 480 by default. It's clear that Apple needs to do a better job of aligning updates to its software with its hardware release schedule.
Network Performance
Like the new 2011 MacBook Pros, the new iMac has an 802.11n WiFi adapter that supports up to three spatial streams. While Broadcom is responsible for the MacBook Pro hardware, Atheros provides WiFi in the iMac (at least for the 21.5-inch model).
As Brian correctly pointed out in our MacBook Pro review, Apple's Time Capsule and Airport Extreme have supported three spatial streams for a while - they just haven't had any clients that could use all three.
Each stream is good for up to 150Mbps, which brings the max negotiated speed of the new iMac up to 450Mbps:
In practice you get far less than that of course:
| 802.11n Network Performance Comparison | ||||
| 27-inch iMac (Mid 2011) | 15-inch MacBook Pro (Early 2011) | |||
| Peak Network Transfer Speed | 150Mbps | 133Mbps | ||
Not as tuned for low power consumption the new iMac actually achieves higher throughput than the MacBook Pro connected to the same Apple Time Capsule.
Range is also improved compared to the MacBook Pro's 3x3 implementation. I saw more APs available on the iMac, which isn't too surprising:
iMac WiFi  |
MacBook Pro WiFi  |
The benefits of better range and higher throughput are less important on a desktop, unless you're one of those people who carries your iMac to coffee shops (in which case, yay?).
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joe_dude - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
But the thing's essentially a 3-year old PC. Why the heck would I want to pay more to downgrade?Of course Macs hold their resell value... it's not for gaming, so even a 5 year old Mac seem pretty fast using regular apps.
Even if it can be used as just a monitor, who the heck wants the extra dead weight? All-in-ones will always be a compromise. The point of having a desktop PC is *not* to compromise. Otherwise, a laptop can do the job.
Kristian Vättö - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
Good luck finding a Sandy Bridge CPU and AMD 6000-series graphics in a 3-year-old PC.A LOT fits between regular apps and gaming. Photo, music and video editing are the first that come to my mind. For some people, Macs are the preferred option due to Logic and Final Cut. When you don't have the $ for Mac Pro, iMac is your best option. In the end, iMac is far more powerful than MBPs or other laptops.
Sure, AIO form factor has its downsides but it's pretty clear that Apple has never been interested on enthusiasts. For an Average Joe, iMac is a brilliant machine, which explains why it sells so well too.
joe_dude - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
Don't be hoodwinked. Any 3-year old SLI rig would beat the pants off this thing. Remember, it's a _mobile_ CPU with a _mobile_ GPU; a laptop pretending to be a desktop.Any middle-of-the-road SFF/ITX machine with a Radeon 6850 would beat the pants off this thing. This thing is all about form over function. Save the money and get a 30" Dell monitor instead.
Kristian Vättö - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
I would like to know where you can find a 3.4GHz quad core mobile CPU. The CPUs are standard desktop parts and i7-2600 is actually one of the fastest CPUs that is available today.Your 3-year-old SLI rig beat or come close in GPU performance but the iMac would run circles around it in CPU bound tests. If you talk about performance, then you must include every area, not just gaming and graphics tests. Or then specify that you are only talking about gaming performance.
iMac's value isn't that bad when you consider the value of the screen. 30" monitor will cost you at least 1000$ so that leaves you another 1000$ for the actual computer. Sure, that is more than enough to get the similar components but the iMac won't end up being more than ~200$ more expensive (which is pretty good when talking about Apple).
Nobody is forcing you to buy an iMac so that is why I don't get why you are complaining. Clearly, there are people who want one, even if it is a compromise. You can stick with your PC if that is what you prefer.
joe_dude - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
Ah yes, you're right on the CPU. For some reason I thought the dual channel 1155 socket meant it was a mobile CPU.The Dell version of the 27" can be had ~$800. Of course, retail price is ~$1000, and Apple wouldn't charge less, of course.
The 3.4 GHz i7 option costs extra (is it really $500???), so we're talking a ~$1700 PC (sans monitor). We're talking a full out i7 SLI rig vs. a weaksauce iMac for that price.
I'm a gamer, but not crazy enough to spend that on an all-in-one!
Kristian Vättö - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
I think you should really check your facts before you post. The i7 option in iMac is 200$, not 500$. Sure, it is still overpriced but BTOs in general are. The iMac can also be had for less when you look at resellers like MacMall so IMO, the only fair comparison is to look at retail prices.For 1200$, you can build a nice PC but definitely not an SLI system (unless you go with lower-end GPUs, though that kills the idea of SLI IMO).
If we wanted to be fair, we should compare the iMac to an OEM PC, not self-built one. Why? Because you are paying for the labor and service in the iMac as well. That is why OEM PCs cost more than the ones you build on your own. I know the joy of building your own computer is unbeatable and I love it too but when comparing things, you have to understand where the costs come from. It's a whole new question whether it is worth it for you to pay the extra for service etc.
I'm not trying to sell you an iMac but to make you understand where the costs come from and in the end, why the iMac isn't that bad value. For gamers, the iMac is and will always be a very compromised system.
donnyg - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
As SmithJ mentioned, a i7 computer with PCIe 16x/4x is only around $750 USD and that's including a GPU.You can easily get 2x HD6950x/6970s which do much better in that resolution anyway because of the VRAM requirements.
KoolAidMan1 - Sunday, May 29, 2011 - link
Throw in the same 2560x1440 IPS display and you're adding at least another $1000 to the whole package. Then there's operating system and the bundled software, and the fact that all-in-ones from any PC builder costs more than a standard ATX based PC.Given everything involved, the iMacs are actually a pretty good deal. Really fast, amazing display, tiny footprint, and silent. I still build my own PCs and I'll never give that up, but I love having it plugged into my iMac as a display and using both.
smithj - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
My shop runs iMacs because they're just so good with size and noise - we're really damned pleased that we've ditched the old noisy workstations and they're fast enough for what we want to do!But he's kind of right. For a consumer, iMacs aren't the best of value. A small mATX computer with an i7 2600 (what 99% of people going to do with an i7 I don't know) and an AMD HD 5850 only costs around $700, and this isn't even looking around. Throw in a 27" Ultrasharp or ACD and your whole computer is going to cost only $1500-1700.
They're popular because they're:
- Small
- Amazing looking
- Perform well enough
- Quiet
- Covered by the best consumer warranty in the market
- Good out of the box, no extra work required
Its got nothing to go with specs, most people who buy them frankly don't care about the specs. $500-700 extra to pay for a generally weaker computer is a bit annoying but I'm getting old and frankly the warranty service, ease of use, and lack of noise is loved by all.
smithj - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
We can't edit post. The point I'm making is that in a price/spec game, the iMacs are nowhere near as good as DIY PCs but there are some things that can't be directly put in a small HTML table.Apple to this day seems to be one of the few companies, if not the only, who understands this important factor.