For full review : Artstechnica
The Big Switch has been publicly underway for a mere seven months, and it has borne fruit in the form of a new iMac and laptop, the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is due to hit store shelves at some point in February. The iMac is available now, and we've had a 17" Core Duo iMac up and running at the Ars Orbiting HQ since we were able to get our hands on one.
Conclusion
Apple has a lot riding on the iMac Core Duo and the upcoming MacBook Pro. An architecture switch is no simple matter, and if done poorly, it can be disastrous. Fortunately for Apple, the early indications are very positive.
Rosetta works as advertised, and that itself is good news. While you'll see a performance hit on applications like Photoshop and graphics-intensive games like UT2K4 and Quake will be all but unplayable until Intel-native versions ship, Rosetta is good enough for most uses.
If you make your living with "pro" apps, chances are you're not going to be seriously considering the iMac. Apple says its pro apps such as Shake, Logic, Final Cut Pro, and others will be available in Intel-native versions come March. That will be good news for MacBook Pro owners.
Hopefully other developers are hard at work getting Universal Binary versions of their applications out.
If you can exist solely or primarily in the world of the iApps (e.g., Safari, iLife, and iWork), then the iMac is a wonderful machine for you. Apple has done an outstanding job porting their own apps to the new architecture. All that's left after the Pro apps is the longstanding need to FTFF (fix the f****** Finder).
For US$1,299, the iMac Core Duo is a good buy. You get a 160GB SATA hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, and a 1440x900 17" LCD monitor along with a dual-core CPU. I'm always reluctant to play the cross-platform price comparison game, but I will note that this machine stacks up quite favorably in terms of price and features with Pentium D desktops. (So far, the only Wintel machines with Core Duo CPUs I've seen have been laptops.)
I'd like to see the iMac revert back to being more user-serviceable. It's nice to be able to upgrade your hard drive without having to go through a major ordeal of taking your machine apart. Apple had a good thing with the original iMac G5, and it's a shame they switched back.
Some dislike having all the ports in the back. I don't mind. It keeps the front of the machine looking clean, and it's very easy to pivot the iMac to gain access to the ports in back. Of course, you can always go wireless. I've run my iMac G5 using a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and connected to the home network via 802.11g, and I intend to use the Core Duo in the same way. The display, while not as good of quality as the 20" iMac, is still clean, crisp, and bright.
Front Row seems like a bit of a work in progress. It's a nice application, but as I mentioned in the body of the review, it seems an odd fit with the iMac. I do like the built-in iSight camera, and I'll be glad to have the kids video chat with Grandma and Grandpa on the iMac downstairs instead of climbing all over my lap up in my office.
All in all, the iMac Core Duo is an impressive machine. If the rest of Apple's product line moves to Intel this smoothly, the transition should prove to be a big success.
Pros
The Big Switch has been publicly underway for a mere seven months, and it has borne fruit in the form of a new iMac and laptop, the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is due to hit store shelves at some point in February. The iMac is available now, and we've had a 17" Core Duo iMac up and running at the Ars Orbiting HQ since we were able to get our hands on one.
Conclusion
Apple has a lot riding on the iMac Core Duo and the upcoming MacBook Pro. An architecture switch is no simple matter, and if done poorly, it can be disastrous. Fortunately for Apple, the early indications are very positive.
Rosetta works as advertised, and that itself is good news. While you'll see a performance hit on applications like Photoshop and graphics-intensive games like UT2K4 and Quake will be all but unplayable until Intel-native versions ship, Rosetta is good enough for most uses.
If you make your living with "pro" apps, chances are you're not going to be seriously considering the iMac. Apple says its pro apps such as Shake, Logic, Final Cut Pro, and others will be available in Intel-native versions come March. That will be good news for MacBook Pro owners.
Hopefully other developers are hard at work getting Universal Binary versions of their applications out.
If you can exist solely or primarily in the world of the iApps (e.g., Safari, iLife, and iWork), then the iMac is a wonderful machine for you. Apple has done an outstanding job porting their own apps to the new architecture. All that's left after the Pro apps is the longstanding need to FTFF (fix the f****** Finder).
For US$1,299, the iMac Core Duo is a good buy. You get a 160GB SATA hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, and a 1440x900 17" LCD monitor along with a dual-core CPU. I'm always reluctant to play the cross-platform price comparison game, but I will note that this machine stacks up quite favorably in terms of price and features with Pentium D desktops. (So far, the only Wintel machines with Core Duo CPUs I've seen have been laptops.)
I'd like to see the iMac revert back to being more user-serviceable. It's nice to be able to upgrade your hard drive without having to go through a major ordeal of taking your machine apart. Apple had a good thing with the original iMac G5, and it's a shame they switched back.
Some dislike having all the ports in the back. I don't mind. It keeps the front of the machine looking clean, and it's very easy to pivot the iMac to gain access to the ports in back. Of course, you can always go wireless. I've run my iMac G5 using a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and connected to the home network via 802.11g, and I intend to use the Core Duo in the same way. The display, while not as good of quality as the 20" iMac, is still clean, crisp, and bright.
Front Row seems like a bit of a work in progress. It's a nice application, but as I mentioned in the body of the review, it seems an odd fit with the iMac. I do like the built-in iSight camera, and I'll be glad to have the kids video chat with Grandma and Grandpa on the iMac downstairs instead of climbing all over my lap up in my office.
All in all, the iMac Core Duo is an impressive machine. If the rest of Apple's product line moves to Intel this smoothly, the transition should prove to be a big success.
Pros
- Speed and performance of Intel-native apps
- Rosetta performance
- Built-in iSight
- Value
- Bright, vibrant display
- Finally a decent video card (ATI Radeon X1600) on the consumer Mac
- True dual display support
- Quiet
- Lack of user-serviceability
- Short list of Intel-native applications available at launch
- No support for shared iTunes playlists in Front Row