Computerworld: Apple’s new iMac looks great, even faster; in a month of testing, it never crashed

Friday, July 1, 2011 · 12:25 pm · 31 Comments

“The new iMac still looks great, and it’s even faster,”Michael deAgonia reports for Computerworld. “Apple left unchanged the minimalist aluminum-and-glass design while switching to Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics chips and adding the new Thunderbolt port for high-speed connections with peripherals.”

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“All of the changes Apple made to the lineup match the company’s past practice of beefing up hardware while leaving prices intact, yielding a thoroughly modern all-in-one computer, with a sharp, bright screen that’s perfect for editing movies, organizing/editing photos, watching streaming video or making your own presentations,” deAgonia reports. “Best of all, the iMacs come with Apple’s iLife suite of apps — iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, iDVD and iWeb. I still haven’t found any software quite as intuitive — or as easy to use — on the Windows side that beats the iLife suite.”

“The best way to describe the benefits of Thunderbolt is to compare its theoretical speed with current standards: USB 2.0 tops out at 480Mbps, FireWire 800 tops out at 800Mbps, USB 3.0 hits 5Gbps and Thunderbolt maxxes out at a theoretical 10,240Mbps, or 10Gbps. For every connection, there are two bidirectional channels that carry data over a 10Gbps pipe — each way — which means you can transfer a lot of data fast,” deAgonia reports. “You can connect a wide variety of peripherals to a Thunderbolt port, from hard drives to displays, daisy-chaining up to six peripherals per port. In fact, it’s possible to take a 27-in. iMac and flank it with two 30-in. displays, streaming multiple 1080p hi-def videos from connected RAID enclosures, without hiccups in the data stream.”

deAgonia reports, “Thunderbolt performance aside, this iMac performs very well under everyday, and even extenuating, circumstances. In a month’s worth of use, the iMac I tested never crashed… Apple has delivered a solid update to what was already a popular and successful line. The Sandy Bridge chips add a speed boost, Thunderbolt offers the promise of peripheral heaven in a few months, and the iMac design itself remains current. It’s equally at home in the boardroom or the living room, and the range of sizes, prices and build-to-order options means it should be easy for most buyers to get exactly the machine they want.”

Much more in the full review – recommended – here.

View the original article here