Apple\u2019s newly updated iMacs offer faster processors, much-improved graphics and more<\/b>
\nApple\u2019s newly updated iMacshave plenty to offer enterprise and consumer users, not least its faster processors and much-improved graphics performance.
It is interesting to note that Apple chose to announce these new Macs with nothing but a press release, even though they\u2019ve not seen significant update since WWDC 2017.
This likely reflects the importance with which the company sees the launch of its disintermediated video streaming service in March 2019.
Making the decision to release updated iPads and iMacs in the week before launching the service shows the company\u2019s determination not to divert focus from that launch, reflecting the millions of dollars it has spent pulling the service together.
While this makes sense strategically, I can imagine that people involved in the development of both the new Macs and iPads may have quite liked to hold an additional Apple event to launch the new hardware \u2013 it was certainly speculated it might. After all, Mac and iPad sales generated a significant $11+ billion in revenues in Q4 2018.
New Intel processors, faster graphics and other enhancements mean these c.5-millimetre thin iMacs should be extremely capable desktops for handling graphics-intensive tasks like video editing, 3D content development, or graphic design.
Not only do the new iMacs offer Retina displays (4K or 5K, depending on display size), but they now use Radeon Pro Vega graphics and offer up to 14.7 million pixels, 1 billion colours, and 500 nits of brightness.
The iMacs ship with 8GB memory as standard and can support up to 32GB. Interconnects include four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3\/USB-C ports, headphone jack, SDXC card slot, and gigabit ethernet connector.
The big attention is on the processor and graphics enhancements. By the numbers:
Apple\u2019s expanding product range reflects how much it has changed since the four-product vision espoused by Steve Jobs in the late nineties when he rescued the firm.
That company\u2019s core products were all Macs. Today\u2019s company has a variety of product families: Macs, mobile devices, services and wearables alongside a growing stack of software products designed to make all these things work together.
It\u2019s not just Apple that has changed. The needs of its market have also transformed.
The company quite rightly recognizes that the market it serves is much bigger than ever before \u2013 1.4 billion iOS users means hundreds of millions of us now walk around with a computer in our pocket.
However, everybody has different needs and it is reflective of the more disparate requirements of this larger market that Apple now offers a wider range of products differentiated for different needs than before.
The thing is, the needs of enterprise IT are also changing. Many tasks that once needed a PC can now be handled quite capably by an iPad mini, while other tasks that never before existed may need a Mac.
All the same, even within this the need enterprises have for software development and design is growing, not shrinking, and these new iMacs provide the power to handle such tasks \u2013 though enterprises developing next-generation AR and collaboration solutions may need even more horsepower, which I think they\u2019ll meet at WWDC 2019.<\/p>\n