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Apple Finally Updates the iMac With Significantly More Powerful CPU and GPU Options (arstechnica.com)
Today, Apple will finally begin taking orders for newly refreshed 21- and 27-inch iMacs. The new versions don't change the basic design or add major new features, but they offer substantially faster configuration options for the CPU and GPU. From a report: The 21.5-inch iMac now has a 6-core, eighth-generation Intel CPU option -- up from a maximum of four cores before. The 27-inch now has six cores as the standard configuration, with an optional upgrade to a 3.6GHz, 9th-gen, 8-core Intel Core i9 CPU that Apple claims will double performance over the previous 27-inch iMac. The base 27-inch model has a 3GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 CPU, with intermediate configurations at 3.1GHz and 3.7GHz (both Core i5). The big news is arguably that both sizes now offer high-end, workstation-class Vega-graphics options for the first time. Apple added a similar upgrade option to the 15-inch MacBook Pro late last year. In this case, the 21.6-inch iMac has an option for the 20-compute-unit version of Vega with 4GB of HBM2 video memory. That's the same as the top-end 15-inch MacBook Pro option.
The 27-inch iMac can now be configured with the Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8GB of HBM2. For reference, the much pricier iMac Pro has Vega 56 and Vega 64 options. Apple claims the Vega 48 will net a 50-percent performance improvement over the Radeon Pro 580, the previous top configuration. Speaking of the previous top configuration, the non-Vega GPU options are the same as what was available yesterday. The only difference is that they now have an "X" affixed to the numbers in their names, per AMD branding conventions -- i.e., Radeon Pro 580X instead of 580. RAM options are the same in terms of volume (up to 32GB for the 21.5-inch and 64GB for the 27-inch), but the DDR4 RAM is slightly faster now, at 2666MHz.
The 27-inch iMac can now be configured with the Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8GB of HBM2. For reference, the much pricier iMac Pro has Vega 56 and Vega 64 options. Apple claims the Vega 48 will net a 50-percent performance improvement over the Radeon Pro 580, the previous top configuration. Speaking of the previous top configuration, the non-Vega GPU options are the same as what was available yesterday. The only difference is that they now have an "X" affixed to the numbers in their names, per AMD branding conventions -- i.e., Radeon Pro 580X instead of 580. RAM options are the same in terms of volume (up to 32GB for the 21.5-inch and 64GB for the 27-inch), but the DDR4 RAM is slightly faster now, at 2666MHz.
for a decent 256 GB from newegg without bulk pricing I expect an SSD. I at least expect a 7200 RPM hard disk. A 5400 RPM drive will hamstring the entire computer, OSX or not. It'll lead to a poor user experience.
This tells me Apple is confident enough in their brand to sell substandard merchandise for a premium.
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What's the price difference between a 240Gb SSD and whatever it is Apple's shoving in this thing? For reference, the street price of a 240Gb SSD is about $30. Is 240Gb too small for an entry level computer? Well, street price for half a terabyte is $70.
Looking at prices, I think we've reached the point where "enough storage" is available in both SSD and spinning disk form for the same minimum amount of money. The price per GB is higher with SSD, but the floor is much, much, lower, which means the cross-over point where SSD and magnetic is now at a level where you're talking usable amounts of storage. For that reason, there's no reason to exclude SSD from an entry level system unless you're trying to punish the customer for buying cheap hardware.
At this stage magnetic discs are what cheapskates like me use to build a 1Tb i5 system for $400, not what a premium computer company should be using in its $1,000 personal computers. The only other legitimate use of them is for building external storage systems you'd make back-ups to, be they USB or NASes.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
In a way, I find a 5400 RPM HDD almost insulting. I can see something like that in a sub-$300 laptop, but for a computer that costs four digits minimum, that is inexcusable. The only good thing is that maybe the HDD can be replaced by a SATA SSD, allowing for some expansion.
As secondary storage, maybe it would be usable. It would be interesting to put in two 3.5" drives and have them run RAID 1 just for Time Machine backups, ensuring that the SSD is well backed up. Bonus points if there is OS protection, so ransomware can't have a field day with the TM drives.