Core i5/7 iMac: Low stock or fixing woes?

I have seen and heard a lot of crazy things about these, but I have to admit that mine came in with broken front panel glass (1" segment on lower left side). I have heard that there have been quite a few of these issues. My guess is that they are tweaking their manufacturing to resolve several issues that have cropped up. Not unusual at all I wouldnt think. When mine shipped from China (I had tracking the day it left) it only took 3 days to get here. I think that they have stopped the assembly line to up their QC.

On the other side of things- I really enjoy the iMac (i5 option). It is zippy and the screen is beautiful. For surfing the web it is really top notch. The fact that I can run two windows open on one screen (8+ tabs) and a 24" monitor watching a movie while ripping DVDs to itunes (using handbrake) and have no slowdown is really nice. Now if I could just get my 5870 to output to it so that I could use it as a primary PC monitor!!!
 
Strangely enough when I ordered my i5 the store was showing 7-10 day shipping, but it shipped in two days and I got it the day after. No idea why though, not that I'm complaining!
 
Things are probally getting a bit tight, so they can't 100% guarantee quicker shipping. They probably had to bum up the specs since coverage wasn't high enough.
 
It may just be demand, since I haven't heard of i5/i7-specific issues. I've got an i5 model and it's been working well (knock on wood!).
 
I bought mine at the Apple Store on Black Friday - Core I5 with 8 gig Ram and love it. I am running Parallels 5.0 with Windows 7 Ultimate and a few other OS's as VM's. It's great. Check out Parallels 5.0. I used to run VMware but really like this better.
 
I ordered my i7 27" iMac from MacMall on 11/21 and it shipped out 12/2 so it was around 8 business days excluding weekends for me.
 
Got mine from my independent dealer yesterday. I asked her how tight supply was, she told me that they cannot keep the i7 version in stock, they fly out the door as soon as they get in. Yesterday morning they had nine and I picked up the second to last one in the store (it was one I'd reserved). Supplies are obviously tight but demand is even worse. Its a rare case when the high end model is actually the one that makes the most economic sense.

They're a dealer that caters to the film and music industries, which may skew their sales into a higher end than what you'd see at a regular Apple Store, but in any case they are selling more of the i5 and i7 machines than anything else.
 
Just an observation:

I can remember when just admitting you owned a mac anywhere on OCP Forum would bring hoots of "Dude, MACS are gay!" (The trolls would always use all caps because they knew it drove mac users crazy) :rolleyes:

When I got my Dual 1.8 G5 in 2003, the anti-mac sentiment here was insane. Now a lot of em own macs. Amazing to see the slow but steady change in attitudes on OCP.:cool:
 
No, the anti-Mac sentiment here is still ridiculous. Set foot in the front page forums and its clear as day. :D
 
Just an observation:

I can remember when just admitting you owned a mac anywhere on OCP Forum would bring hoots of "Dude, MACS are gay!" (The trolls would always use all caps because they knew it drove mac users crazy)

When I got my Dual 1.8 G5 in 2003, the anti-mac sentiment here was insane. Now a lot of em own macs. Amazing to see the slow but steady change in attitudes on
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No, the anti-Mac sentiment here is still ridiculous. Set foot in the front page forums and its clear as day.
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You might be reading into this thread a little too much. As someone who ordered an i7 iMac and is waiting for it to be shipped, I just pointed out the wait on this machine. Followed with the question "why?" Nothing more, nothing less.
 
persisting1 said:
You might be reading into this thread a little too much. As someone who ordered an i7 iMac and is waiting for it to be shipped, I just pointed out the wait on this machine. Followed with the question "why?" Nothing more, nothing less.
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Yeah, but the Mac hate has reduced considerably over the years, now its "acceptable" to own MB/MBPs...
 
450 said:
Yeah, but the Mac hate has reduced considerably over the years, now its "acceptable" to own MB/MBPs...
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Amongst the general public, absolutely. The enthusiast segment, however, still regards Macs somewhat lower than AIDS and somewhat higher than the Black Plague.
 
persisting1 said:
You might be reading into this thread a little too much. As someone who ordered an i7 iMac and is waiting for it to be shipped, I just pointed out the wait on this machine. Followed with the question "why?" Nothing more, nothing less.
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I'm not commenting on your post, I was talking about the general attitude towards Macs on hardware enthusiast sites such as this one. There is a lot of anti-Mac vitriol here, especially on the FP forums.

Terpfen put is better than I did. :)
 
i think the better apple products have gotten the less negativity towards them there has been...
 
Terpfen said:
Amongst the general public, absolutely. The enthusiast segment, however, still regards Macs somewhat lower than AIDS and somewhat higher than the Black Plague.
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I do too, still... heck, I regard the iClone errr iPhone the same way :), but I'm going to have to get both the iPhone and a Mac Mini to develop mobile apps for it :eek: . I will say that Apple's products are better than they used to be, but I still regard them poorly due to their price compared to equivalent-function alternatives.
 
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GoldenTiger said:
I do too, still... heck, I regard the iClone errr iPhone the same way :), but I'm going to have to get both the iPhone and a Mac Mini to develop mobile apps for it :eek: . I will say that Apple's products are better than they used to be, but I still regard them poorly due to their price compared to equivalent-function alternatives.
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That Mac Mini is the only poor deal they have in desktops. The Mac Pros are cheaper than identically specced Dell Precision 5500 series workstations and way cheaper than the equivalent HP. The iMac is a ridiculous deal right now, throwing a fast computer onto what would be a ~$1500 27" IPS LCD monitor from Dell, all-in for only $1700. Dell all-in-ones were always overpriced and underspecced compared to the previous gen iMacs, and now they are completely left in the dust even compared to the new $1200 iMac (CPU, GPU, LCD panel, hard drive storage, OS/hardware integration, everything).

If you don't like good displays and are happy with TN panels, then sure, Macs are pricey, but because they are expensive doesn't mean that they are overpriced.

Well, except for the Mini, cramming expensive parts into a tiny case doesn't equal value to me. :)
 
Serpico said:
That Mac Mini is the only poor deal they have in desktops. The Mac Pros are cheaper than identically specced Dell Precision 5500 series workstations and way cheaper than the equivalent HP. The iMac is a ridiculous deal right now, throwing a fast computer onto what would be a ~$1500 27" IPS LCD monitor from Dell, all-in for only $1700. Dell all-in-ones were always overpriced and underspecced compared to the previous gen iMacs, and now they are completely left in the dust even compared to the new $1200 iMac (CPU, GPU, LCD panel, hard drive storage, OS/hardware integration, everything).

If you don't like good displays and are happy with TN panels, then sure, Macs are pricey, but because they are expensive doesn't mean that they are overpriced.

Well, except for the Mini, cramming expensive parts into a tiny case doesn't equal value to me. :)
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I got my 30" Dell 3007WFP-HC monitor (S-IPS panel) for $750 shipped including a 5-year extended warranty from Dell... so the panel wouldn't be anything like $1500 for a 27" one, more like $700-720 if they made one with the same higher pixel-density/etc. (which ups cost) as a 27" I would think, if that... the smaller size does reduce cost as well. An i7 system that matches the iMac's specs + that monitor deal can be built cheaper by quite a bit still. It's an all-in-one which is a pro or con depending on your wants... and that's what would justify the price premium in my opinion if someone wanted one.

They are what they are, but to me they're not a value or something that meets my needs. I am debating what Mac to get still (probably going for the Mini but I might get the lower-end iMac 21.5 or 24" depending, unlikely to get the 27). Hoping I can find a good deal on a smaller iMac at some point, because as you said, the hardware for the Mini is pretty up there relative to the specs (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-mini-MC239LL-Desktop/dp/B002QQ8CC4/).
 
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GoldenTiger said:
I got my 30" Dell 3007WFP-HC monitor (S-IPS panel) for $750 shipped including a 5-year extended warranty from Dell... so the panel wouldn't be anything like $1500 for a 27" one, more like $700-720 if they made one with the same higher pixel-density/etc. (which ups cost) as a 27" I would think, if that... the smaller size does reduce cost as well. An i7 system that matches the iMac's specs + that monitor deal can be built cheaper by quite a bit still.
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This LCD by Dell has the closest tech specs to what is in the 27" iMac, with the main difference being that the 30" Dell isn't LED backlit: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=223-4890

Based on that $1700 price, I think it is fair to guesstimate that a 27" by them would be in the $1400-$1500 range. We will know for sure pretty soon since NEC will be releasing that 27" panel in a new standalone display next year. Based on the price difference between the NEC 2490WUXi and a 24" iMac with the same panel, I don't expect the prices to be too far off.

It's an all-in-one which is a pro or con depending on your wants... and that's what would justify the price premium in my opinion if someone wanted one.
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I agree.

They are what they are, but to me they're not a value or something that meets my needs. I am debating what Mac to get still (probably going for the Mini but I might get the lower-end iMac 21.5 or 24" depending, unlikely to get the 27). Hoping I can find a good deal on a smaller iMac at some point, because as you said, the hardware for the Mini is pretty up there relative to the specs (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-mini-MC239LL-Desktop/dp/B002QQ8CC4/).
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In the low end, I wouldn't recommend people get a Mini unless they wanted to run Plex and use it as an HTPC. I think the 21.5 and 24" iMacs offer much more bang for the buck. The 27" IMO represents the best value, but that is if you are taking high end displays into account. If you don't want or need that then there is clearly lower you can go.

PS - Nice price on that 3007WFP-HC, that's about half off!
 
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Mine glitched just once, a few days after purchase, but a reboot cleared the problem and it has not returned so far. This is true for some, however for others a reboot only postpones the problem from returning for a few hours. There is an extremely long thread on this on the Apple support forums. The tech at the Apple store I was at yesterday (to troubleshoot something unrelated) said that he was aware of the issue however their store itself had not seen it nor had any returns or appointments to look into it.

Not sure what the cause is, but what I saw with my eyes looked a lot like what I used to see when a RAMDAC was going bad and having mid-frame sync issues displaying to a CRT. Obviously it's a different, all-digital world now, but I believe something similar to a RAMDAC still exists (just part of the panel electronics now) and led me to think that this is a panel electronics issue.
 
Suck. Selling my Mac Pro today and had planned to get a 27" i7...going to be desktop-less for a while.
 
Getting sorta back onto the topic at hand, has anyone ordered one recently and had it take an inordinately long time to receive their unit?

I just ordered mine on Sunday, and I'm hoping to have it before Christmas. If the two week time is true, then it won't make it.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Getting sorta back onto the topic at hand, has anyone ordered one recently and had it take an inordinately long time to receive their unit?

I just ordered mine on Sunday, and I'm hoping to have it before Christmas. If the two week time is true, then it won't make it.
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I've been waiting for a week. I highly doubt we'll seem them before Christmas.
 
NetJunkie said:
Some people on Mac Rumors are starting to see them ship earlier than the expected date. Never know.
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I think it's highly unlikely at this point. The only iMac's that are having the problem now are the i7 models. I could literally go to the Apple store near me and pick up an i5 one today, but even they told me that the i7's had to be custom ordered and that they could not effect the lead time.

Sorta disappointing. I really want to work on my photo project (now... or sooner than later.)

Edit: Supposedly mine is going to ship on the 29th according to my info on the order update status. In other words, it's going to be more than 2 weeks for me. I won't even get it until after the New Year.
 
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I just picked up a Core i5 because I couldn't wait 2 weeks for the core i7 (work reasons), but it's sort of a poop that there's such a long wait for those 200 bucks is a pretty decent price for the performance upgrade.
 
agent_hamsta said:
I just picked up a Core i5 because I couldn't wait 2 weeks for the core i7 (work reasons), but it's sort of a poop that there's such a long wait for those 200 bucks is a pretty decent price for the performance upgrade.
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I can afford to wait for the extra performance, so it seemed like the best option. I looked at some performance comparisons, and I'll admit that I want the i7 for my brain than I do for additional speed.

Selecter said:
the low end imac looks like a mac mini with a display tacked onto it to me.
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Well the super low end ones are, but after you tack on the faster 3.06 c2d and any graphics card upgrade above the 9400, it's pretty significant. Even still though, I'm looking forward to the 'all-in-in-one' solution.
 
I thought the i5 was just fine performance wise. The i7 is no performance bargain, it's a $100 chip upgrade that Apple charges $200 for. Given how hot the i5 gets, I'm actually somewhat glad I didn't get the i7. I'd rather have that level of compute power in something with more ventilation and room for expansion...
 
sphinx99 said:
I thought the i5 was just fine performance wise. The i7 is no performance bargain, it's a $100 chip upgrade that Apple charges $200 for. Given how hot the i5 gets, I'm actually somewhat glad I didn't get the i7. I'd rather have that level of compute power in something with more ventilation and room for expansion...
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Well, like I said, the performance gain is there, but I don't think there is such an overwhelming difference. I'm having it just to have it.
As for the heat issue, I'm sure that that was thought out. Similarly, processor choice on a laptop isn't usually made based upon heat. That's a designer issue, it shouldn't be a consumer issue.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Well, like I said, the performance gain is there, but I don't think there is such an overwhelming difference. I'm having it just to have it.
As for the heat issue, I'm sure that that was thought out. Similarly, processor choice on a laptop isn't usually made based upon heat. That's a designer issue, it shouldn't be a consumer issue.
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It's neither. It's a warranty issue, period.
 
sphinx99 said:
It's neither. It's a warranty issue, period.
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Okay... where have you seen reports that there are failures due to heat on the i7 models?
I was merely pointing out that making a consumer decision based on heat doesn't make sense. I wouldn't choose which processor I would pick in a laptop (or any closed design system in this case an iMac) based upon heat, because it is the job of the engineers to properly design devices to deal with the temperature.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Okay... where have you seen reports that there are failures due to heat on the i7 models?
I was merely pointing out that making a consumer decision based on heat doesn't make sense. I wouldn't choose which processor I would pick in a laptop (or any closed design system in this case an iMac) based upon heat, because it is the job of the engineers to properly design devices to deal with the temperature.
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Granted, some such as yourself may choose to put faith entirely into the hands of the design and manufacturing process under the assumption that If It Is Sold Then It Must Have Been Designed Right. That's your choice and I won't take that away from you.

As for me, I've been around the block too many times to pretend there aren't risks when it comes to product purchases and/or that the risk level is completely consistent from one model to the next simply because the designers must all be equally skilled. I've worked with designers for decades; they aren't, and shortcuts always are taken for lower volume products with limited retail visibility. For me, all other factors being equal, it's a foregone conclusion that something generating more heat and causing more materials thermal stress is going to be at higher risk of failure than a baseline. Furthermore, while I can't prove it, I have a strong suspicion that the design of the i5 model more or less is identical to the design of the i7 model so I think all things probably are equal. Yes, it's an assumption, but it's my assumption to make because it's my dollars to spend. So for me, the fact that the i5 already runs so hot plus the high markup ($100) that Apple charges above and beyond part cost to get to the i7, means that I'm going to make a choice based on design decisions.

We'll see who was right in a year or so, because a month or two is not enough time to truly know.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
I think it's highly unlikely at this point. The only iMac's that are having the problem now are the i7 models. I could literally go to the Apple store near me and pick up an i5 one today, but even they told me that the i7's had to be custom ordered and that they could not effect the lead time.
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All i7s are custom order. Even if Apple was shipping them same day you wouldn't find one at the store. They don't do customs at the store.

And well, I saw people post their ETA dates and then get notices of earlier shipment, so... :)

I'm waiting to order my i7 on the friends/family employee deal. They can't do it yet.
 
sphinx99 said:
Granted, some such as yourself may choose to put faith entirely into the hands of the design and manufacturing process under the assumption that If It Is Sold Then It Must Have Been Designed Right. That's your choice and I won't take that away from you.

As for me, I've been around the block too many times to pretend there aren't risks when it comes to product purchases and/or that the risk level is completely consistent from one model to the next simply because the designers must all be equally skilled. I've worked with designers for decades; they aren't, and shortcuts always are taken for lower volume products with limited retail visibility. For me, all other factors being equal, it's a foregone conclusion that something generating more heat and causing more materials thermal stress is going to be at higher risk of failure than a baseline. Furthermore, while I can't prove it, I have a strong suspicion that the design of the i5 model more or less is identical to the design of the i7 model so I think all things probably are equal. Yes, it's an assumption, but it's my assumption to make because it's my dollars to spend. So for me, the fact that the i5 already runs so hot plus the high markup ($100) that Apple charges above and beyond part cost to get to the i7, means that I'm going to make a choice based on design decisions.

We'll see who was right in a year or so, because a month or two is not enough time to truly know.
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Fair enough. We are all out here voting with our dollars. Either way, we're all going to have to look out for cracked glass, defective GPUs, and DOA machines. I'm definitely going to purchase Apple care.

I'll make a post with my experiences sometime in the New Year if anything crops up, and also monitor my temps while doing production work (I'm intending to use it primarily as a Photo editing, and production rig.) I hope to hear your thoughts about your experiences as well in the coming months.
 
At these price points, AppleCare seems like a smart decision. I am glad I got mine.
 
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