27-inch iMac torn into tiny bits for the greater good

You've seen the outside of what the new iMacs look like, but do you know what's inside them? If you guessed "lots of tiny components," you win! The folks at iFixit are always on the bleeding edge when it comes to taking big things and turning them into series of smaller things, and they don't disappoint us here. No real surprises, just a few notes, like the external display won't be able to be powered without the integral one being on as well, that the lack of a Blu-ray drive is described as a "bag of hurt," and that "the SuperDrive just doesn't seem so super anymore." Like we said, no surprises, but lots of fun pics.

[Chip Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:04PM]

LOL at all the iZombies. There is no functional difference between a desktop and an all-in-one. The other differences are minimal bordering on non-existent. Performance-wise, the systems I put together are IDENTICAL. If you jackasses really think saving a few square inches of desk space is really worth an extra $700, then you deserve to get ripped off.

[jarek Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:51PM]

Chip, I dislike Apple as much as the next Thinkpad user, but honestly, look for a 27" IPS LCD and get back to us.

This isn't some Apple hand-waving BS for once. 27" 109 dpi H-IPS is worth more than a Acer TN screen.

[Liquidmark Posted Oct 22nd 2009 9:42PM]

Wow...

First off, Price of mobility components > price of desktop components.

Secondly, Price of LED backlit IPS panel Display >>> Crappy TN panel

Way to make an uninformed comparison chip.

[M C Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:54PM]

AS everyone has already pointed out, this is a rediculouse comparison. The screen alone would likely sell for at least $800, if an alternative were available.

I have been critical of Apple's pricing for a long time, but I have to say, the new product line, especially with the i7 option actually seems reasonable (given that at least a 20% premium is expected for smaller components and Apple systems.).

[Marc B Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:54PM]

This is a really nice looking piece of equipment with lots of options at not unreasonable price points. At this stage though, Apple should offer Blue Ray authoring options to future proof a machine this expensive with limited upgrade options.

[n1hmrd Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:31AM]

Very Very Good work we need lots more macs torn into pieces thxs very much!

[DMNblaid Posted Oct 22nd 2009 11:05AM]

Sadly, Even though this Apple is very high res, Apple is and will probably always be guilty of having terrible response times, likely a standard refresh rate and standard contrast ratio. I have never seen a large format display made by apple with a faster than 16ms response and i do not think that they improved it much for this model since I can not seem to find the true specs on apples site. Just apple bragging about their resolution

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 11:14AM]

I know it's not "exactly" so, but it looks as if Apple simply engineers the layouts as if it was to be a laptop/notebook and then places the screen on top of it...thus, the engineering behind iMac development...

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 11:36AM]

I'm interested to see what issues they have with heat. I'd love one of these but if it sounds like an aircon unit in the corner of the room it's a non-starter (talking about a quad core machine).

[Dragngt Posted Oct 22nd 2009 9:44PM]

Wonderful! Almost perfect! I can't wait to see that thing in person.

[DMNblaid Posted Oct 23rd 2009 2:09AM]

But hey, have fun with your thousands of diffused colors, Crappy viewing angles and fuzzy picture quality. People that buy these iMacs will enjoy MILLIONS of colors superior viewing angles and razor sharp picture quality in the meantime.

I did not actually take the time to check the monitors he picked. But I have yet to see true specs on the screen except for it is back lit with LED and that it is high resolution. Having super high res means nothing if you do not have things like high contrast ratio, fast response time, and fast refresh rate. I can only imagine that the contrast ratio is at the very least average which would be a huge upgrade to their imacs that were not back lit with LED because previous imacs had garbage contrast and garbage response time.

Also this is not 8-bit anymore. You would impress me if you found a monitor with less than 1 million colors.

[Liquidmark Posted Oct 22nd 2009 9:59PM]

Chip, you don't get it. There are different factors that go into manufacturing All In One computers and desktop computers. You can't look at an All In One or laptop and call it overpriced compared to a desktop homebrew PC.

For starters, with OEM computers, you have to pay for them to make it for you. Then you have to factor in the cost of parts as well as R&D. Mobility components cost much more than desktop components. On top of that, Apple had to spend millions in R&D when designing their hardware.

You can't compare two totally different things and then call one of them overpriced. That is stupid beyond belief.

You talk of a price difference, but the display difference could EASILY fill that gap.

This iMac has a far FAR better display than the ones you picked. IPS displays are NOT cheap.

But hey, have fun with your thousands of diffused colors, Crappy viewing angles and fuzzy picture quality. People that buy these iMacs will enjoy MILLIONS of colors superior viewing angles and razor sharp picture quality in the meantime.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:11PM]

One other thing: he picked a crap case and low end green drives. Apple uses the highest end, fastest, quietest hard drives. The one in my 2007 Aluminum iMac was a Hitachi. The computer was completely silent, then I swapped the disks and now it makes a bit of noise. The hard drive is the only part that makes any noise at all, and that's only because I dropped in a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB drive.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 23rd 2009 2:21AM]

The simple fact that this iMac's display is made by LG is a true testament of just how low quality this computer really is...no wonder Steve Jobs' decided not to offer Blu-Ray with this computer. By the same token, there is no point to give this iMac an HDMI either, the highly reflective glass display is not ready for the advanced video technologies. One can easily find a better looking display made by Samsung or Sony.

[jsmrekar Posted Oct 24th 2009 6:07PM]

for $20, you can get a MDP-HDMI adapter.

Also, it can run as a monitor instead of just a computer.