MWSF: iMac with Intel processor is up to twice as fast

Macworld ^ | 01/10/2006 | Peter Cohen

[Panerai]

Apple claims its newest iMac, which features Intel’s new Core Duo processor, is twice as fast as its predecessor. Despite the major change under the hood, the iMac remains with the same design and at the same price as before, with systems starting at $1,299.

The new iMac, which starts shipping today, will be Apple’s first computer to feature a CPU built by Intel. Up until now, Apple has used the PowerPC architecture developed in conjunction with Motorola and IBM to drive all of its iMac computers.

On the outside, the iMac G5 looks the same as before — it’s a square, all-in-one design that features either a 17-inch or 20-inch LCD display. But under the hood it’s considerably faster, according to benchmarks that Apple CEO Steve Jobs put up on the screen during his keynote presentation to Macworld Expo attendees in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday.

The system features a built in iSight webcam, 8x “SuperDrive” optical drive capable of burning recordable DVD media, 512MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 2GB, hard drive storage capacity up to 500GB, and ATI Radeon X1600 PCI Express-based graphics with 128MB GDDR3 memory. Also standard is a wireless remote control that is held magnetically to the iMac when not in use — that remote provides you with the ability to control music, pictures and movies using Front Row, an Apple application that’s included on the iMac.

[TXBSAFH]

I have a friend that swears he is going to make what he calls a "Tri Boot system". Linux, win XP, and Mac. I want to play with it when he does.

[Spktyr]

For now, they do not need to be ported, due to Rosetta. Most of the major apps are in the process of being ported and "native" Macx86 versions will be out very shortly.

[July 4th]

Some people on the 'net have done that, with "unauthorized" ports of Mac OS to PC.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Wow! How fast would it be with an AMD CPU under the hood?!Or rather how much faster than with the Intel CPU?

I was duped into that myth once and purchased 8 AMD PCs that were supposed to be faster than the comperable Pentium model. I will never make that mistake again.

[sms]

Say what you want about Apple and the Mac. Until you try it, you just won't understand. I switched some time back. If it wasn't for my company laptop, there would be NO Windows OS in the house. Even my wife wants to buy an iMac after she saw it in the Apple store.

Go ahead an laugh at Mac users. We talk about and laugh at PC Windows users too. :-)

[jpl]

Apple had better hope that Slattery doesn't win his lawsuit (though the consensus seems to be that it's a longshot). Changing MP4 to the ironically named FairPlay wasn't a very nice thing to do. :)

But hey, at least they finally have their Endians lined up a row. Better late than never, I guess!

[antiRepublicrat]

Wow! How fast would it be with an AMD CPU under the hood?!Or rather how much faster than with the Intel CPU?

Slower, for this amount of power consumption. These won't compete with a top-end Athlon FX, but watt-for-watt they are more powerful.

[antiRepublicrat]

I was duped into that myth once and purchased 8 AMD PCs that were supposed to be faster than the comperable Pentium model. I will never make that mistake again.

To AMD's credit, their high-end systems are flat-out faster. Nothing in the Intel lineup can match a 2-way, dual-core Opteron, and the difference gets bigger at 4- and 8-way almost on a logarithmic scale. There's simply no comparison due to AMD's superior dual-core, memory and interconnect architectures. The only thing that runs faster on an Intel is the core, but it's dependent on the rest of the system, so essentially gets starved in high-end installations -- the more processors you have, the worse the problem gets.

[Spktyr]

He's not going to win, because of one thing that's been in iTunes since day one.

On the latest copy of iTunes, the command is as follows:

Windows - Edit:Preferences
Mac - iTunes:Preferences

Then:

Advanced tab:Burning tab:Select "MP3 CD". Then burn a CD (which will be a standard ISO 9660 CD with standard MP3s on it) and you'll be done. Or select "Audio CD" if you have any protected files, then rip it back into iTunes as an MP3.

MP4 isn't AAC/Fairplay, by the way, nor is AAC/Fairplay MP4. That said, either way it's *still* better than WMP.

[Mannaggia l'America]

Had they done this 10-15 years ago, they might have had a shot at remaining a viable competitor in the PC market.

IMHO, it wasn't so much the CPU as it was their insistance on being the sole source of the system hardware (not add-ons, but the system itself).

One of the big reasons the Intel-based IBM-compatible PC took off was competition in the hardware marketplace - initially Compaq, now in modern times, there is Dell, Gateway, etc.

Wintel gets bashed a lot, but the Mac platform seems to get a free pass when it is actually one of the most closed platforms around.

[Diligent]

I use both and I still prefer the power and flexibility of Windows/PCs. But if you are talking security and don't want to (or cannot) deal with the security precautions needed, then you want a Mac. There are other things I like about the Mac, but I will stay with Windows/PCs.

[pageonetoo]

Had they done this 10-15 years ago, they might have had a shot at remaining a viable competitor in the PC market.

They are viable. I own Apple sock that has gained in value steadily, since I bought it a little over two years ago. My little investment has become a very substantial nest egg.

I bought at 13 3/8. It split 2-1. It is trading at 80.86 this afternoon. That is roughly 1200+ % that it has done in those two years.

Now, then what do you say is wrong with them?

[jpl]

Thanks for that info, I didn't realize that. I agree with you that he's not going to win in the end.

[chilepepper]

for $1299 you can put together a system with dual Opterons which will fry the iMAC...

[Element187]

Wow! How fast would it be with an AMD CPU under the hood?!Or rather how much faster than with the Intel CPU?


Both MACs and Intels are too slow for my taste.. I'll stick with my custom built AMD system.

[SlowBoat407]

for $1299 you can put together a system with dual Opterons which will fry the iMAC...

Wow! And it's all in one unit like the iMac, complete with flat screen and runs the Mac OS? You ought to market that! I'll bet you'd clean up!

[Revolting cat!]

Also standard is a wireless remote control that is held magnetically to the iMac when not in use

Remote control? Gee whiz, you can type on your puter while 50 feet away from the screen! Magnets? I wonder if you could apply that to objects to stick on a refrigerator door?

[Element187]

I was duped into that myth once and purchased 8 AMD PCs that were supposed to be faster than the comperable Pentium model. I will never make that mistake again.


sounds like you got jipped by a second rate retailer who pulled the core out and replaced them with slower AMD's .. I have yet to find an Intel system that even compares to the speed of an equally priced AMD system.

[Element187]

Go ahead an laugh at Mac users. We talk about and laugh at PC Windows users too. :-)


And us superior PC-Linux users laugh and point at both the worthless piles of electronics known as macs and pc-windows.

[SmoothTalker]

"for $1299 you can put together a system with dual Opterons which will fry the iMAC..."

And i'm sure the whole unit will be one piece and no more than two inches thick. Form matters. A souped up and lowered Honda Civic might be able to outrun a Mercedes CLS but there isn't a question one one has better design.