Comments

1. #1

   duh

   DUH! the iMac is a consumer machine the mac pro, hence the name is a PRO machine. Most consumers don’t need that stuff.

   Thanks for the useless blog post Mr. obvious.

2. #2

   Nick Danforth → nickdanforth.blogspot.com

   Thanks Glenn ;-)

3. #3

   Jordan Chark → jordanchark.com

   Nice post, Glenn. Those are the exact reasons why I’m waiting to save up a couple more bucks and grab myself a Mac pro.

4. #4

   Andrew Harrison → andrew.harrison.org

   :) trying to justify your purchase, Glenn?

   I too am underwhelmed by this update. I’m going to wait until I see it in person, but at the moment I am not a fan of the Anodised Alu + Black Plastic.

   I think the Anodised Alu looks fantastic with the white [like on the Cinema Displays and the Macbook Pro/Mac Pro and its preipherals.

   I also can't believe they kept the same ugly chin that's been on there since the introduction of the iMac G5. I personally would have preferred that they fatten it up a bit rather than slim it down, and get rid of the chin, and just leave a 5mm alu bezel around the 20mm shiny black bezel that hugs the screen.

   I'm happy with my Macbook Pro though. It's still gorgeous. I'm going to purchase a 23" [or equivalent] Cinema Display when the line is refreshed, which hopefully isn’t too far away.

   I do like the new wireless keyboard though as an option for a htpc. Not such a fan of it as an everyday keyboard, but I think i’d have to try it first.

   I’m seriously considering spending money I don’t really want to spend on an old-model Mac mini and one of the new BT keyboards and hooking it up to the bravia.

5. #5

   Greg

   Great post. I would love to have a Mac Pro, but the allure of an all-in-one machine still compels me to lean towards the iMac. I am not a much power user, but am planning on upgrading to a more powerful machine.

   Of course if I had $4000 in my pocket, I would definitely get a Mac Pro.

6. #6

   Jeremy → jeremyfriedland.com

   So true, hence why I have a long debate ahead of me, since my powerbook just isn’t cutting it anymore!

7. #7

   Tiger!

   Fair comments but you know its like comparing apples (no pun) with oranges to even try argue the Pro is better than the imac or vice versa. I have a new macbook pro on the way, I have an iMac and a Powermac and my partner has a Mac Pro and I can see the benefits and downsides each unit has to offer but to try and argue one over the other is no small or simple task.

   Your conclusion regarding life-cycle is a completely silly and ill-founded but its an opinion and that’s fair enough!

   The new iMacs are fantastic and I think I’d be disappointed if (hypotehtically) I bought a Mac pro and a 23″ display for word processing and web surfing and blogging when I could have one of these new hot things (the imac that is).

8. #8

   Caitlyn Imburgo → www.alwaysg5.com

   Wow, Glenn, you do have some good points. I kinda had the feeling you or anyone else who recently bought a Mac would be a little disappointed at first. I know how that is. The first new computer to come out after your Mac purchase always makes you think. But you have some good points here. You made a good choice with your Mac Pro. :)

9. #9

   Jenn Vargas → forever-digital.net

   My roommate has the old iMac and I’m definitely not a fan of being stuck with a machine that you can’t do anything to! While it’s great in saving desk space and things, it’s far too limiting for anything I’d like to do with it. I’m still debating whether or not I’m up for paying for such a gigantic machine despite its practically endless lifespan.

   The other issue I’m having with Pro vs. iMac is power consumption. Since I’m going to be paying my own electrical bills now, I’m definitely more concerned.

   I think overall the key difference between the two is expandability. If you want a machine for someone who doesn’t really need all that much except for web browsing and word processing, iMac is the way to go.

   Thanks for the article, Glenn. Helping in the decision making :)

10. #10

    Dustin → web.mac.com/dustin.cook/iweb/D-Money/Home.html

    I agree with Andrew Harrison. It seems like you’re trying to justify the purchase you made, rather than make any real points. Most people that read this blog already know about the points you made.

    Cheers

11. #11

    Shawn Blanc → shawnblanc.net

    Not only is the Mac Pro a computer for the long haul, there’s something in the air when you say it. Sort-of like Mufasa.

    Dugg.

12. #12

    Chris

    I’d like to see the Mac Pro’s motherboard support 32GB of RAM and 4TB of SATA drives. You can upgrade it to a certain point, but it’s much lower than that :P

13. #13

    Edwin Villanueva → edwinvillanueva.com

    Expandability is definitely the key word here. I’m hoping to purchase a Mac Pro at the end of this year or early next year. It will be my main computer for years to come.

14. #14

    Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com

    I’d like to see the Mac Pro’s motherboard support 32GB of RAM and 4TB of SATA drives. You can upgrade it to a certain point, but it’s much lower than that :P

    The Mac Pro CAN accomodate 32GB of RAM and 4TB worth of SATA drives. Check it out for yourself here: http://www.barefeats.com/octopro7.html

15. #15

    shadownight → thomasgvl.50webs.com

    The iMac is cheaper, sexier, smaller, newer, thinner, lighter, sleeker, slicker, tastier, sweeter, softer, shinier, smoother, and cuter.

    Like it or not, that’s 14 reasons the iMac wins more hearts, mister.

    I just wanted to list as many iMac-related adjectives that finished in -er ;)

16. #16

    Frank Cantu → macrecon.com

    If I had $4000 in my pocket? That’d be my day…

    Even though I’d go ahead and get a Mac Pro over the iMac, right now I’m lucky if I can save up for one of those new iMacs, since I have more than couple of bills stacked up.

17. #17

    robby → www.pownce.com/fiercedeitylink1

    Reasons why iMac is better than Mac Pro:
    -It doesn’t use saintly ECC, FBDIMMs as memory. I would question why Apple includes a

18. #18

    Chris Marshall → chrismarshall.ws

    Am surprised you suggest backing up the Mac Pro to an internal drive rather than an external drive. I would certainly back up to an external drive for extra security. Any form of physicakl damages (fluids, knock, power) that caused an problem with the main drive in the Mac Pro is just as likley to damage the internal back up drive as well.

19. #19

    Samtherocker → www.samcritchlow.co.uk

    You forgot the 5th reason… its more expensive.

20. #20

    Denis

    Well, I think it’s just one reason not to buy iMac and buy Mac Pro - Apple Cinema Display 30″.

    I’ve been using Mac Pro not much time, but I’ve understood that is a great machine.

21. #21

    Gordon R. Vaughan → twitter.com/aeroG

    It seems that folks with Mac Pros are generally quite happy with them.

    At the mid to low end, however, I’ve been disappointed by Apple’s recent offerings and today’s announcements don’t change that.

    Apple really needs a viable sub-$1000 desktop and the Mini isn’t it. It seems they raised the Mini’s price once they realized it wasn’t going to sell briskly, and it’s just not that much cheaper than the iMac once everything’s added in.

    Maybe there’s still more desktop hardware to come, which might explain why they didn’t emphasize the Mini or price it better, if it’s going to be replaced soon, either by another Mini or a cheaper all-in-one Mac.

22. #22

    ob81 → www.ob81.com

    Sounds like you are trying to convince yourself Glenn. :) With the student discount I may be going iMac. That 2.8 C2D should be decent enough.

23. #23

    Paul Stamatiou → paulstamatiou.com

    I don’t really think you can compare the Mac Pro and the iMac; one is in Apple’s professional line while the other is purely average consumer oriented. There is a large price difference as well when you factor in the tower and a display, ~$1000 difference at least.

24. #24

    Andrew Harrison → andrew.harrison.org

    Apple really needs a viable sub-$1000 desktop and the Mini isn’t it.

    I disagree. Jobs said in the Q+A this morning that there are market segments they aren’t interested in pursuing, because at the price point they are at, they’d have to ship sub-par computers, and that’s something they don’t want to do.

    Here’s his [paraphrased by engadget] reply to the question:

    “Goal is to make the best PC in the world, and make something we can recommend to family in friends. There is some stuff in our industry we wouldn’t be proud to ship. We can’t ship junk. Thresholds we just can’t cross. But we want to make the best personal computers in the industry. Our products are usually not premium priced. Price our competitors’ computers, and add in all the extras, we’re competitive. We don’t offer stripped down products. We compare favorably. Thank you very much for coming today.

    Apple don’t want to make a sub-$1000 computer because they wouldn’t be able to make a quality product.

25. #25

    Tom → thesmallwave.com

    You could not possibly be more off base than with this post.

    The new iMac 24″ with a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme, 2 GB memory, ATI 2600HD PRO, 750GB drive, wireless KB/mouse and iWork ‘08 is $2,578 (US). If I price a base Mac Pro with Cinema 23″ display, and update it to 2GB memory, 750GB drive, full wireless cards, wireless KB/mouse and iWork ‘08 it’s $4,213!

    So what do I get for that whopping extra $1,650? Aside from upgradability, pretty much nothing.

    - Is it faster? Not unless the app you’re running is specifically taking advantage of quad processors (hint: very few do). Otherwise clock speed rules and the 2.8 will best the 2.66. (This is why the previous iMac 2.33GHz bested a 2.0GHz Mac Pro.)

    - Is video better? No, it’s got a 7300GT card. Of course I could upgrade that, but it’s at least $250 more.

    - Do I have a built-in camera and microphone? Oops. No.

    I’m not slamming the Mac Pro, but buying it as some sort of substitute upgradable iMac makes zero sense. The $1,650 (or more) you save allows you to buy a newer iMac a lot sooner than a new Mac Pro. Put another way, you NEED the longer life cycle of the Pro because you spent that much more on it in the first place. Big deal.

    As for having your backup drives “safe and tight” inside the tower, let me introduce you to my friend Mr. Power Surge over here. Good backups should be to external drives that can be rotated off-site.

    The iMac 24″ is the absolute sweet spot in Apple’s lineup right now. By far. It’s not even close. If you’re getting a mega-Mac Pro with 3GHz, gobs of memory, the $500 or greater video card, 2TB hard drive space, etc, and plan to run Final Cut Pro and other major Pro apps, then of course the iMac is not for you and that’s exactly what the Mac Prod is for. But buying a low-end Mac Pro over a high-end iMac makes little sense today, and will still make little sense tomorrow. Juggle the numbers all you want, but unless you require the Pro’s potential you’re just cheating yourself out of a faster machine and a lot of money.

26. #26

    matthew → www.somefoolwitha.com

    $4000 on Macs?
    How about 2 iMacs and a MacBook? Can I squeeze an iPhone in there too?

27. #27

    Ondra Soukup

    Or none of them is really good. I could live without a laptop and I also couldn’t live with my data spread around 2 computers. What I really love is that I close down the MBP in the morning, put it in my bag, open it 2 hours later in cafe and I can continue doing what I was doing in the morning.
    And no, having to VPN home, do stuff via remote desktop - schizophrenia! I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t organize anything when it’s not a total must, so I’d get lost like this :D

    Currently I run MacBook Pro 15″ (2.2GHz) and virtual desktops. For normal life I have 3, one is for browsing and RSS, other holds all my chat apps (Psi, iChat and Skype). Most of them do tabs so it doesn’t clutter up. Third desktop is the general one I try to keep clean but it often gets really really messed up with 6+ terminal windows. If I need more, say for some development stuff, I add them and try to clean them off when I think I”m finished.
    Virtual desktops are f***ing way to go! With the press of button you have environment for one task and hopefully no overlaying windows.

28. #28

    John

    What an absolutely ridiculous post. Mac Pro and iMac are two entirely different products for two entirely different audiences. Why even start comparing the two?

    This post makes me wonder why I even read this blog..

29. #29

    Jonathan → www.techgeeklife.com

    I’ve just written a rebuttal in my blog, tell me what you think! :)

    http://www.techgeeklife.com

30. #30

    Peter

    Sound to me like you’re just trying to make yourself feel better about spending the extra money.

    The Mac Pro obviously is better. But actually writing and posting that is akin to writing that the sky is blue. Completely obvious, and everyone already knows it.

    What you’re missing is the price difference. The cheapest Mac Pro is $2200. While the cheapest iMac is $1000 less. Also, if you include the MANDATORY external monitor, you’re looking at another $1000 minimum if you go with a Cinema Display. Why would I pay $2000 extra for processing power I don’t need? Unless you’re rendering full HD, you don’t need a Mac Pro.

    Basically, you completely failed to understand the point of the iMac, and it’s completely obvious that this post was more about justifying your own purchase to yourself, rather than providing your readers with substantial content. I really think you should just delete this post, because it was worthless.

31. #31

    Peter

    Also, you comment on adding backup drives is wrong. Anyone who knows anything about backing up data knows that it’s important that the backup drives be external to the computer itself. If you’re going to be buying four new drives, you should be getting something like a Drobo so that you have fully redundant external backups.

    Apple is now offering a RAID card for the Mac Pro’s, but it is an extra $1000. That’s double the price of a Drobo, and then you can’t for instance move your backups off site, or lock them in a safe.

32. #32

    Joe Jacobs → www.thejoejacobs.com

    The real reason Glenn wrote this post. The new iMacs kick some serious rear end. And they are very well priced. Almost a threat to his buy. Buyer’s remorse a little?

33. #33

    ex-reader

    This made me delete this blog from my feed, it is incredibly biased, and the average insight of the posts on this blog has decreased drastically over the last weeks.

    You are not an experienced mac-user, and you shouldn’t be writing from that perspective.

34. #34

    macintalk design → macintalk.com

    Having recently bought a MacBook Pro, I wondered if I would have gone for the 24″ iMac had it come out a week earlier. Not sure really, I might pick up an iMac as well soon :)

    I was disappointed though that Apple didn’t update the iPods and the Cinema Displays, as I’m in the market for those products and don’t want to buy 2004/2005-era models.

35. #35

    Jon → www.theappleofmyi.com/blog

    Biased post? Possibly, but some well reasoned thoughts IMHO.

    I think it’s price, future proofing and features that make all the difference. I would not want an iMac as my main machine, but would love it in the kitchen (where we have an old G4 imac - still love it!).

    Anyway, pictures here from the 5th Avenues store - http://theappleofmyi.com/blog/?p=1054

36. #36

    Killyp → killyp.deviantart.com

    I agree with you to an extent.

    However, my 350 MHz G3 iMac (getting on 10 years old) is still absolutely brilliant. It runs Tiger beautifully, and still has more upgrade potential (more RAM, bigger HDD).

    Okay, I’m not saying the iMac is as future-proof as the MacPro, because it certainly isn’t. The MacPro really is one beast of a machine, with practically no worthy competition on the market IMO.

    That doesn’t make the iMac any less suited to what it is. When you can accommodate a MacPro, there’s nothing out there which would touch it. A lot of people can’t accommodate or justify a MacPro though. When they never feel the need for ‘more power’ (which you don’t need as OS X progresses, unlike other OSes), they can get by fine with an iMac for years.

    Sure, my iMac isn’t exactly a speed demon, but it actually runs CS2 at an acceptable speed, boots iTunes and runs it quickly enough, and is generally quick enough for day-to-day use and some light photo editing.

    For somebody like me though, Apple really needs to launch something akin to the PowerMac Cube. The MacMini is a completely different machine in concept (let alone technical differences).

    IMO, a machine like this would really help to highlight, but also bridge the differences between the MacPro and the iMac.

37. #37

    Jens Schumacher

    I have saved almost 2,000 euros to buy a low-end Mac Pro. And today, I have ordered the iMac 24″. I will tell you why.
    The only application I have which would benefit from the über-power of a Mac Pro is Aperture. But I don’t need an Aperture super machine for sundays but a computer for every day use, for internet, Photoshop and EyeTV. And I want a screen which is bigger than my current Cinema Display.
    I’m not yet sure whether I will like the black frame and get along with the 350 GB it has. But I’m sure I made the right decision.

    Let’s be honest: No one of us really “needs” a very power consumpting superfast Mac Pro - exept you’re a pro user and need to turn time into money. I’m a student!

    Cheers!

    BTW, my father uses a iMac DV (G3) for not very demanding tasks like email and Word and the machine still performs pretty well. I upgraded it with Airport, Bluetooth, iSight and another 512 MB bar.

38. #38

    Daniel Hollister

    I agree with your analysis, but there’s a couple things I don’t agree with. You make two assumptions — one being that we are buying for very long-term use, and the other being that we have $4000 to spend. Not always the case.

    I might very well purchase one of the new iMacs. At the risk of sounding offensive, I will say that I also do much more intensive work on my Mac than most, as I spend much of my time editing HD video for big studios. But the fact is, it doesn’t take a Mac Pro to do that kind of work anymore. My little 13″ MacBook works quite well as a medium for doing most of my work.

    Sure, it’s going to be a bit slower, but then we get to the next argument — price point. With an iMac starting at barely over $1000 and a 24″ one costing only $1800 (the same price as your monitor costs by itself) we’re talking about a heavy savings.

    And lastly, longevity. I would most certainly buy a Mac Pro now if I needed a machine to last me through the next decade, but I don’t. Many people with the kind of money to buy Macs upgrade often, that’s the demographic Apple targets. I don’t buy a Mac with the intention of it lasting more than a couple years, and in this situation, it makes more sense to purchase an iMac now.

    To me, having the top-of-the-line Mac Pro is the same as people that insist on buying the best graphics cards — no games are available yet that can even make use of it, but it’s future-proof. But for the group of us that need a machine right now and will buy another one in a couple years, future proofing is not necessary, and I’d rather save my $4000.

39. #39

    Jon → www.theappleofmyi.com/blog

    Daniel - a very well reasoned post - bang on.

    Jon

40. #40

    Gordon R. Vaughan → twitter.com/aeroG

    “You make two assumptions — one being that we are buying for very long-term use, and the other being that we have $4000 to spend.”

    Yeah, that’s a good point. My first Mac was the original 128K. It was heavily criticized for not being expandable, but I ended up expanding it (to a 2MB Mac Plus) and keeping it longer than any other computer I’ve had.

    Nowadays, though, Macs are a lot cheaper (even Mac Pros, adjusted for inflation) and hardware improvements seem to be coming even faster.

    It just doesn’t make sense to me to keep a computer for many years anymore. Now I’m on a 3-year upgrade cycle, and hope to cut that to two. I buy one of the cheaper Macs (and add a lot of RAM) and then pass it on to one of my kids after 3 years.

    It’s a lot less costly that way, though if money were no object, sure, I’d probably go with a Mac Pro, but still would likely want a new one after 3 or maybe 4 years.

41. #41

    Ian Halliday → www.innovation-station.net

    Daniel - Good points as Jon said.

    Gordon - I’m thinking along the same lines:

    I’m looking to buy a Mac, and have been waiting for the new iMac to come along to make the switch. Whilst the thought of a all-in-one solution used to put me off, this is no longer the case for two reasons:

    1)At the moment I’m using hardwear 5-6 years old (in tech terms) for my design work quite successfully, and whilst things may at times be slow I can work round this. If I’ve made my computers from Uni times pay for themselves I’m not too worried that the iMac might not last me for another decade or so. I’d hope the way things are going I can upgrade when I need to!

    2)At the rate computer hardwear changes, every time I have ‘upgraded’ my PC’s, I have effectively built entire new systems in the same case. I may as well have just bought a new PC. Once the iMac is not enough for work purposes down the line I’ll just replace it and either sell or re-purpose it.

    Whilst I might very well like a Mac Pro sat under my desk, the base level unit without a screen is around $3500 here in the UK (Thanks to the nice apple-in-the-uk-premium), where as the 24″ iMac is in the region of $2300.

    Basically short of winning the lottery I can’t justify a Mac Pro for any of your reasons, and I’d need a hell of a lot more than $4000 to get a complete set up. I think the iMac is an excellent machine, I know a lot of designers who are very happy to use them as their primary work-horse and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on one!

42. #42

    matthew → www.somefoolwitha.com

    … is around $3500 here in the UK (Thanks to the nice apple-in-the-uk-premium)…

    The American store quotes sans-tax, you cant just directly convert from $ to £.

43. #43

    Ian Halliday → www.innovation-station.net

    Matthew - Fair point. I’m aware of that but at the time I didn’t want to fire up the calc to get the ex vat price, but if I had fired up the calc, or indeed just looked on the Apple site, I would have found that a Mac Pro starts at £1445.96 ex Vat, which roughly translates to $2,908.85. Admittedly not far off $600 what I quoted but it’s still a hell of a lot of money!

44. #44

    rusty → www.myownswordsman.blogspot.com

    oh, well, i will agree imac and mac pro target different makerter, suppose not put them together to compare… but still like this blog…

45. #45

    Andrew McPhee

    Valid points Glenn. I used the same reasoning when I had to make the iMac/Mac Pro decision, and I ended up with the Mac Pro. When an iMac is old and slow all you can do is replace it whereas with a Mac Pro you just throw in new bits and it’s good to go for another couple of years.

46. #46

    Glenn Wolsey : Blog Archive : 4 Reasons Why The Mac Pro Rules The | LastJediMaster → lastjedimaster.com/2007/12/15/glenn-wolsey-blog-archive-4-reasons-why-the-mac-pro-rules-the

    [...] Glenn Wolsey : Blog Archive : 4 Reasons Why The Mac Pro Rules The The release of Apple’s new iMac line had me a little disappointed this morning. I was wondering why I hadn’t waited to purchase up one of the new 24″ iMac’s, until I [...]