Apple new iMacs’ “performance has improved, but it’s the new exterior that’s the main talking point. Apple has plumped for a sleek aluminium front and sides, glass for the display cover and black plastic for the reverse cover,” Tech.co.uk reports.
“After mingling with the crowds, the new iMac seems to have struck a good balance with both [home and professional users,]” Tech.co.uk reports.
“The one occasional complaint was the reflectiveness of the new glossy screen. Because it’s made of glass, it can act like a mirror when the display is dark or a uniform colour. Unlike the MacBook Pro, which you can buy with either a matte or glossy option, all iMacs only come with glossy displays, which has irked some,” Tech.co.uk reports. “Our view is that the displays do take some getting used to and a matte option would have been nice. Fortunately the screen is very bright indeed, which goes a long way to combating the reflection.”
“The graphics card is faster than before and has 256MB of dedicated memory on this model iMac (cheaper 128MB option available), which makes the iMac better at handling games and movies,” Tech.co.uk reports. “Gamers take note; this card brings DirectX 10 support to the iMac, bringing cutting-edge, emerging technology to those who want to play Windows-only games on a Mac. Games, movies and graphics tools such as iMovie and Photoshop all fly along on the new iMac.”
Full review, with benchmarks, here.
I use one of these at work…and I’m a systems admin on a Win2003 network They’re awesome.
FIRST!
This is the first I’ve heard of Direct X 10 support from the iMac Graphic card. Is this true?
Oh yeah… the glossy screens are harder to calibrate with my spectrophotometer. Good for the home user who doesn’t care about that…but I can’t get accurate swatches all the time. It helps to turn the lights off just a little bit… or put a homemade hood above the screen. make sure you have the 5000K or 6000K fluorecents if possible.
Spark: Apparently so.
“The 2.0GHz 20-inch iMac includes the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 dedicated video memory, while the 2.4GHz 20-inch model and the 24-inch model offers extreme graphics power with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR3 dedicated video memory.”
http://www.apple.com/imac/technology/graphics.html
And:
“The ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 [and 2600] is a feature-rich upgrade from integrated graphics for an immersive experience with DirectX® 10 gaming and HD video. Connect to big-screen TVs with HDMI and built-in 5.1 surround sound audio to enjoy Blu-ray™ and HD DVD movies. ATI Catalyst™ graphics configuration software is designed for quick setup and stable operation with Windows Vista™.”
http://ati.amd.com/products/Radeonhd2400/index.html
http://ati.amd.com/products/Radeonhd2600/index.html
my new 24″ iMac on it’s way to me. i hope i’ll get it before the weekend
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http://www.barefeats.com/imacal5.html
OSX does not support DirectX does it. I thought DirectX is propriety MS technogy!?
Yes, Fun.
OS X uses OpenGL instead of DirectX.
However, if you’re running Windows XP via Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare on an Intel Mac it helps to have a graphics card that also supports the latest version of DirectX for those that need it for gaming, simulations, etc. that are Windows-only.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL
Is that why there are so many triple X sites for the PC?!
Yes, but only if you run Vista, not XP.
“Yes, but only if you run Vista, not XP.”
Thanks. Good point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX#DirectX_10
(Disclaimer: I don’t use Windows. By choice. I have in the past but I kept getting nauseated and terrible headaches.)
It looks beautiful to me – wish I had 1799!
reads word for word as MacFormat’s review!?!
for god sake people think some will you
it’s direct x 10 compatible card so in windows it’ll support it but not in mac os durr
24″ Duo 2 Extreme iMac Aluminum.
Sweeter then Mom’s Apple Pie.
Believe me, the games that are coming out for DirectX 10 are not going to play too great on a 2600 Pro. This is a low budget card . Read some of the reviews on sites such as Tom’s Hardware Guide, Anandtech or Tech Report. The new games will want to take advantage of the power of cards like the nVidia 8800 series. They will be playable at low resolutions with everything cranked down, but it won’t be long before they won’t be able to handle new games at all, unless you don’t mind 5 fps. I would still like to know why Apple went with ATI when they have the nVidia 8600 in the MacBook Pro. It must be their usual marketing strategy of dumbing down one product to make another one look even better. And the selection for the Mac Pro is truly mediocre when you consider the price of one of these rigs. Oh well, at least the Macs are well equipped in most other aspects of hardware.
My 24 incher arrived three days ago. It is the first Mac I have experienced that takes about 5 seconds to wake up from sleep, a long time in my experience, and it show me a blank blue screen while it does. Odd, considering in every other way it is clearly the fastest Mac I have owned by far.