Le Big Mac

As you probably know already, Apple refreshed it's desktop range after a LONG 1 1/2 year period of minor hardware changes, and they do not disappoint. Not in the least. In fact, I gasped out loud when I saw this unveiled by Peter Schiller at the event. This thing looked as if it had been sent back in time from the future, the razor thin edge and the brushed aluminium body makes you subconsciously reach for your credit card.

The Design

Apple has always been a company that values the aesthetics and design of a product over how many feature's  it could be crammed with. This is one of the reasons why they have been successful, the products look astonishing.
Imagine walking down an aisle at any electronics store looking at bulky, boxlike machines with an assortment of colorful stickers on them shouting out random specifications in bold letters, and then you see a 27" iMac in all it's razor thin brushed aluminium glory,  resting on a wooden table. It is intriguing , people gravitate towards them and want to use them. In the process, many people are floored instantaneously and would probably buy it just for the aesthetic value it lends to a room, unlike regular desktops which people try to tuck away discreetly in some corner so that nobody notices the mass of unruly wires sticking out.
Verdict - I think a picture is worth a thousand words. Just look at the thing, It is gorgeous !!

Display

The new iMac comes in two screen configurations-

1. A 21.5-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology sporting a 1920-by-1080 resolution.
2. A 27-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology having 2560-by-1440 resolution. 

While these are not retina display's, they are both high quality in terms of the technology behind them. Both of them receive an anti-glare treatment which supposedly reduces glare by a huge amount. Besides, configuring a retina display for a desktop form factor would be both impractical and forbiddingly expensive at this moment.

Technical Specifications

The iMac is available in 4 price points with varying specifications as follows:

1. $1299
   This will get you a 21.5" display.
   Processor - A 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) with 6MB L3 cache.
   Memory - An 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory, which is expandable to 16GB.
   Storage- A 1 TB HDD (5400 rpm).
   Graphics - An NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory. Good for video editing, and less graphics intensive games.
   I/O - All the models have 2 thunderblot ports, a headphone jack, 4 USB 3.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort output with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI. Unfortunately no HDMI support and there is NO OPTICAL DRIVE. You can buy an external Optical Drive separately, but, lets face it, who uses Optical discs these days.
2. $1499
   This will get you a 21.5" display.
   Processor - A 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache. This can be configured online upto a 3.1Ghz quad core i7.
   Memory - An 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory, which is expandable to 16GB.
   Storage- A 1 TB HDD (5400 rpm). Configurable online to a 1TB HDD fusion drive. 
   Graphics - An NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory. Better graphics performance than the $1299 model.
   I/O - Same as base model.
3. $1799
   This will get you a 27" display.
   Processor - A 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache.
   Memory - An 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory, which is expandable to 16 or 32 GB.
   Storage- A 1 TB HDD (7200 rpm). Configurable online to a 1TB/3TB fusion drive or a 768 GB SSD ( SSD is a solid state drive. It is much more faster than the traditional Hard Disk Drive. It is the same memory used on your smartphones& tablets.) 
   Graphics - An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory. Very good for video editing and quite good in handing graphics intensive games.
   I/O - Same as base model.
4. $1999
   This will get you a 27" display.
   Processor - A 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache. This can be configured online upto a beastly 3.4Ghz quad core i7.
   Memory - An 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory, which is expandable to 16 or 32 GB.
   Storage- A 1 TB HDD (7200 rpm). Configurable online to a 1TB/3TB fusion drive or a 768 GB SSD ( SSD is a solid state drive. It is much more faster than the traditional Hard Disk Drive. It is the same memory used on your smartphones& tablets.) 
   Graphics - An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory. Configurable to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This should be able to provide epic graphics performance. Ideal if you are a pro video editor, also should be capable of handling the most graphically demanding games (like Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2) at high-ultra settings.
   I/O - Same as base model.

Compromises 

Apple's design choices often result in certain compromises, and the new iMac does have a bold design going for it. However, Apple has left no stone unturned when it comes to the core CPU hardware. They have included discrete GPU's  and have strapped all models with quad core 3rd gen Intel processors. That is some pretty heavy duty performance we are looking at. Now, this is not a viable option if you are into hardcore PC Gaming,  but Apple Desktops have never been gamer friendly. EVER.

On the topic of compromises, the Optical Drive. The Optical disc is at a weird juncture at the moment. While a large percentage of people have switched to USB storage options, CD's, DVD's and Blu Ray Discs are still the main form of PHYSICAL content available today. So, it really depends whether you buy your music, movies etc on a disc from the neighborhood store or directly from some online store like iTunes, or perhaps you like to stream your content. The fact, however, remains is that optical drives are becoming obsolete and inefficient. But, if your work really depended on the use of optical discs, an external drive is your solution. It is by no means perfect, but it is manageable.

The 'New' Fusion Drive

Apple has announced a third storage option in addition to the SSD & HDD. It is what they term a 'Fusion Drive', which combines functionality of both an SSD and a HDD. While this may seem very similar to 'Hybrid Drives' already available on the market, there are a couple of significant differences.
The 'Fusion Drive' is the 'fusion' of two type's of storage drives - You have the traditional hard disc drive (HDD), which has got tonnes of storage (there are 3TB models available) but which stutters a lot when it come's to the speed in which memory read/write operation's are carried out .(This is because of the moving component's present in the device). You also have the newer, faster Solid State Drive (SSD's). SSD's are more compact than HDD's, they also perform read/write operations many times faster.  This increases speed and life-span exponentially. The problem with SSD's are that they are very expensive to manufacture. Hence, if you want a 1TB SSD, you would have to pay through your nose to get it.
The Fusion Drive (or a hybrid drive) presents a solution to the above problems by taking the best of both worlds. Your OS and all the applications  that you use the most shall be added to the Flash (SSD) memory, and other applications and media files that require large amounts of storage space shall be stored on the HDD. It is a basic caching operation. The only difference between Apple's Fusion Drive and a regular Hybrid Drive is that the OS is present on the SSD (in case of Apple's Fusion Drive). This should result in better performance, and, Apple's general policy of closely knitting its hardware and software prompts me to say that this could be the most viable hybrid drive option out there.

So, there you have it folks, the new iMac. Take a bow Apple, I believe you have delivered a beautiful and strong product. Good Job. As I mentioned earlier, Apple products are not made with specifications in mind. They are made with an intention of providing a tight, controlled end to end user experience. You will only understand this if you regularly use an Apple computer. I can attest to this, I am a die hard gaming enthusiast, what I look for in a computer is top of the line hardware, assembled to give high performance. The products that end up meeting my requirements are bulky, heavy and cumbersome to use.
Then I had the chance of using  a Macbook Air for a while, I was instantly captivated. Sure, the OS took some getting used to, but after a couple of weeks even the thought of returning to my Window's machine was depressing. They are also some of the most reliable and easy to use machines out there. No slouches when it comes to performance either.Sure they are not gaming machines, but, when it comes to content creation (Video editing, recording studio work, live mixing, photo editing), Apple is the way to go.

So, will you buy the new iMac? Should you buy the new iMac?
The fact is that I would advise anyone without a bank vault filled with spare gold brick's to THINK about this investment. Yes, ask yourself, are you buying the iMac for pure eye candy reasons or do you have a purpose for it?
There is no right answer, but I would definitely recommend this to people who are stuck with an outdated machine and want a new, reliable, top of the line, all-in-one, drool-worthy entertainment hub for their family. Also great for the professional content creation type's out there.

Or, if everything else fails and you just need that something to show off in your living room in addition to your hi-fi sound system.... I would say think about it, but you have probably pre-ordered it anyway.

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