Apple's delay in shipping the 27-inch iMac may have more to do with the sheer volume of sales than any problems with the graphics chips, according to numbers from market research firm NPD.
(Credit:
Apple)
Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, told CNET on Monday that for October and November, Mac desktop sales were up 74 percent over the same period last year. While NPD did not break the numbers down by desktop model, it's clear the iMac is a top seller.
In fact, the 27-inch iMac appears to be selling so well, it could account for the shipping delay that Apple apologized for on Sunday.
"It's not surprising Apple would be having problems supplying them [iMacs]," said Baker. "I can't imagine in their wildest dreams they would have thought they would sell like this."
Reports over the weekend suggested Apple was delaying shipments of the 27-inch iMac due to reported problems with the graphics card. While those issues remain, it may not be the root cause of the delay.
The surge in Mac sales was not limited to the 27-inch model. Baker said that the 21.5-inch iMac and the Mac mini are also doing very well.
Piper Jaffray financial analyst Gene Munster estimated in a research note to clients on Monday that Apple could sell 2.9 million to 3 million Macs for the current quarter, according to a report on AppleInsider. Munster cautioned that approximately 50 percent of all Mac sales for the quarter happen in December, so that number could change.
Mac notebooks saw a 5 percent increase for October and November, while iPod sales were down 11 percent year-over-year for the same time period.
On this week's Digital City, we discuss Google's rumored new phone; get to the bottom of the current iMac shipping delays, and go over the best games you can play on a Netbook (all after Dan had to get up at 5am to shoot a local news TV segment on his favorite holiday games).
Then, things take a turn for the weird with a solid gold PlayStation 3, rumored to be under Jay-Z's Xmas tree; and a surprising NYC find -- a Mario-themed pizza place that is calling out for a visit from the ghost of intellectual property lawyers past (see below).
Related links:
>>Is Google making a phone?
>>Top 20 Netbook games
>>Top 5 Holiday Game Picks (CW11 morning News)
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Spotted on Houston street in NYC.
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Apple products have topped the list of the most popular computers sold in U.S retail in October, an analyst for market research firm NPD Group told CNET on Friday.
(Credit:
Apple)
The recently introduced 21-inch iMac was the top-selling desktop for the month, Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, said in an interview. Apple's high-end iMac 27-inch model took the No. 3 spot in the desktop category, he said.
"Apple gets a bounce whenever they come out with new computers," Baker said. "For the most part, October was a down month on the Windows side because [PC manufacturers] were working through inventory before the Windows 7 launch."
The company also took the top spot in the notebook category in October, with the $1,199 MacBook Pro, Baker said. Overall, Apple took 4 out of the top 10 positions for notebooks in U.S. retail for the month, according to Baker. In addition to the top-seeded MacBook Pro, Apple also secured the 8, 9, and 10 positions.
"[The $1,199 MacBook Pro has] always been a great seller," Baker said. "It's priced pretty aggressively for Apple, but to some extent, it also benefited from the same slowdown on the Windows side."
NPD has not released an official report on the sales data, and Baker declined to give CNET a rundown of the other computers in NPD's top-10 lists for desktop and notebook retail sales in the United States in October. It is important to note that while the NPD data includes online and retail stores, it does not factor in direct sales.
Sales of computers in October were obviously very good for Apple, but Baker doesn't feel that the so-called "halo effect" from the iPhone or iPod is what is driving sales. Rather, he points to the overall consumer experience.
"Over past few years, Apple has continued to gain share in the market, and there are a lot of ways to explain that," Baker said. "It could be the stores, the computers themselves, the iPod, or iPhone. I think it's a combination of all those things."
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(Credit:
CNET)
Last month we blogged about a bug marring Flash playback on the latest 27-inch Apple iMacs. Users on several Web sites, including the Apple Discussion Threads, noticed a problem with the Flash player that caused choppy audio and video playback, but it appears that the newest Mac OS X v10.6.2 update fixes the issue that was apparently caused by a conflict with the Airport driver.
According to Apple, the update "addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on." Since our own 27-inch iMac also experienced slow Flash streaming and intermittent sound hiccups with the AirPort turned on, we downloaded the 10.6.2 update and left it to sleep overnight.
Prior to the update, the Flash Player consumed 114.4 percent of system resources, but 24 hours after the update we're happy to report 26.8 percent usage in the activity monitor and smooth performance across all popular streaming video Web sites like YouTube, Hulu, etc.
Much thanks to the Apple Forums and Apple itself for quickly addressing the needs of its community. If you haven't updated yet, simply choose Software Update from the Apple menu to install OS X v10.6.2.
(Credit:
CNET)
After reading Engadget's report citing recent complaints about Flash video playback mucking up system resources on the latest 27-inch Apple iMacs, we decided to test out the claims using our own system. Users on the Apple Discussion threads noticed a bug in the Flash Player that bogs down CPU processes, resulting in choppy audio and video playback.
We visited several sites with heavy streaming video content like Hulu, YouTube, and the Break Media Network, and experienced similar issues: popping sounds and jerky video rendering the content unwatchable on several accounts. Like many of the users in the Apple thread, we called up the Activity Monitor and saw that the Flash Player demanded a surprising 114.4 percent of the iMac's CPU processes.
We were able to temporarily fix the problem by putting the computer to sleep and waking it up, but some people are speculating that a hardware malfunction could be to blame. We've also tried to contact Apple for official word, but our messages have been as yet unreturned.
If you're experiencing similar problems, we'd like to hear about it--leave a comment and let us know the issue and what you did to fix it.
(Credit:
Matthew Fitzgerald)
Apple's new iMac all-in-one desktops impressed us, especially the massive 27-inch model we reviewed this week. But we're left wondering what happened to the rumored Blu-ray drive option. Playing HD optical disc content on that big 2,560x1,440 screen seems like a no-brainer, so we set out to see if we could successfully hook up an external Blu-ray drive.
First we connected a USB-powered external BD-ROM drive from HP to the new 27-inch iMac. The iMac's OSX 10.61 operating system allowed us to explore the file structure of the Blu-ray disc, but there's no official Blu-ray software available for Mac, so we were unable to actually play it.
Our next step was to create a Boot Camp partition so we could install Windows, an operating system compatible with most Blu-ray playback software. In this case we installed Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit, along with Cyberlink Power DVD9. After creating the partition and installing Windows, we ran the boot camp software on the Mac OS X Install DVD, another necessary step that allows Windows to identify our hardware.
Finally we loaded in a Blu-ray disc into the slot-loading external drive. Through Cyberlink, it played back well, at least at first glance. The picture looked as crisp as we' d expect from a BD disc, and definitely seemed much sharper than a DVD. To delve a little deeper we also checked out some specific video quality tests along with CNET HDTV reviewer David Katzmaier.
First we checked a helicopter flyover of the Intrepid from "I Am Legend" and it was clear the setup couldn't properly handle the 1080p/24 content--we saw the halting, stuttering motion in the conning tower and the wings of the airplane, for example.
The next thing we looked at was picture quality using the test patterns on the FPD Benchmark Software for Professional Blu-ray disc. Overall it was good; during the motion blur test it performed poorly, with the onscreen test patterns (letters, numbers, etc,) hard to make out. But this problem can be caused by a number of sources--Windows Vista running on Mac hardware, the USB Blu-ray drive, the Cyberlink Power DVD9 software or all the above. Suffice it to say that average users probably wouldn't notice these issues if they weren't looking for them.
In the end, Blu-ray is still a distant dream for iMac owners, but if you absolutely, completely need to have this feature, it is technically possible--even if the results aren't perfect.
Note: If you're wondering about the Apple Magic Mouse in the photo above--we did get it to work in Vista--but just the basic, not the "magic" finger gestures.
Read the 27-inch Apple iMac review.
Apple's new Magic Mouse
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)At first glance, Apple's new Magic Mouse might change your thoughts about love at first sight. The curvature of the soft white shell paired with the speckled silver underbelly is enough to make any Applehead salivate, but we warn prospective buyers to head out to your local Apple Store before taking the plunge, because you might be disappointed.
The first issue we raise with the Magic Mouse is its size and shape. While there's no way anyone can dispute its simple hotness, we struggled through a difficult learning curve due to its uniformly narrow profile that sits too low for comfort. It might be because we're so used to the Logitech MX 1100 cradling each of our fingers with a designated resting point, while the Apple Magic Mouse just feels like a chunk of finely carved polycarbonate.
Next, we also had a problem with the multitouch functionality. Specifically, we felt awkward and unnatural sliding our middle and index fingers across the flat surface of the shell to navigate through several Web pages. Even worse, if you don't have a uniform grip on the sides of the mouse with your thumb, ring, and pinky fingers, the shell can easily get away from your hand--this is why a touch surface with no hard buttons just doesn't make sense on a mouse. Although Apple's instructions tell you otherwise, we did find it easier to use our middle and ring finger to swipe from left to right.
Finally, the Apple mousing preferences don't allow you to reassign the action that happens when you swipe. We'd love to be able to direct the mouse to open a program or advance a track in iTunes with a simple finger gesture, but as it stands, the custom preferences for the Magic Mouse only include check boxes to turn off the secondary click, momentum scrolling, and screen zoom, as well as options to alter tracking, scrolling, and double-click speed.
Want to hear more? Check out our full review of the Apple Magic Mouse.
Man, that's a nice screen. We're tempted to end here, because on the shelf next to any other all in one, the $1,699 iMac and its 27-inch, wide-screen, LED-backlit display might be all shoppers need to see. The updated specs sound great, but in terms of pure screen real estate, no other all in one on the market right now can compete with the new higher-end iMacs.
Apple's new $1,699 iMac and its imposing 27-inch wide-screen LCD.
(Credit: CNET/Sarah Tew)The screen overwhelms the new iMac's other features. The long-desired SD Card slot is of course welcome, but hardly innovative. Adding video input support to the mini DisplayPort jack is also intriguing, but falls a bit flat with the required dongle not included in the box. The new wireless mouse and keyboard have strong design, and the touch-sensitive mouse is intuitive enough as a basic click-and-scroll device. Lateral scrolling and other touch features were less satisfying in our thus far limited hands-on time.
We appreciate Apple's brute force approach to boosting the iMac's performance, but bringing quad-core to this price range might have satisfied the diehards. We imagine the new iMac and its 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo chip will fly past HP's new TouchSmart 600, and possibly also Gateway's new One ZX6810-01. The Core i5 and Core i7 options, though, make the $1,999 iMac very compelling, and they would have been doubly impressive at $1,699. Perhaps the next refresh.
What we don't miss in the new iMac are some of the more trendy all-in-one features. Blu-ray, touch screens, and wall-mounting can all be useful, but they tend to get marketers too focused on our "digital lifestyle." We're glad to see Apple keep the iMac grounded in its computing roots.
We hope to review all four of Apple's new iMac configurations, and we expect the 21.5-inch $1,199 and $1,499 versions will face tougher competition from their Windows counterparts, some of which have larger screens and aggressive pricing and features. On the higher end, the 27-inch iMacs are more difficult to overcome if your competing product is locked in at 24 inches.
Testing is underway on the $1,699 iMac. You can check back with us tomorrow for the full review.
Update (2:30pm PT): We've obtained review samples of the new iMac, MacBook, and Magic Mouse released today. Follow-up coverage--including hands-on impressions and videos--is included below.
First impressions of Apple's new 27-inch iMac [includes video]
Hands-on with the new Apple MacBook [includes video]
Hands-off analysis of Apple's new Mac Minis
First Look: Apple conjures up Magic Mouse with a dose of multi-touch
Apple Time Capsule, Airport Extreme receive small (possibly significant) upgrades
Original story follows.
Apple revamped its desktop and laptop lines Tuesday, dramatically redesigning the iMac all-in-one and MacBook laptop, and also adding a few updates to its Mac Mini line of small-scale desktops. It also introduced a handful of updated peripherals, with a multitouch mouse bringing the most thorough changes.
Apple's redesigned iMac echoes the MacBook Pro.
(Credit: Apple)New iMacs
The biggest news Tuesday will be the new iMacs, which move from aluminum and polycarbon design to aluminum and edge-to-edge glass, mirroring the look of Apple's line of MacBook Pro laptops. The new iMac will come in 21.5 (1,920x1,080) and 27-inch (2,560x1,440) models, each with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Starting price for the 21.5-inch model is $1,199, with the 27-incher beginning at $1,699. Apple will also offer step-up models for each screen size, coming in at $1,499 for the beefier 21.5-inch model, and $1,999 for the higher-end 27-inch iMac.
As for specs, Apple has mostly opted for raw speed over adding more processing cores. All but the $1,999 iMac come with Intel Core 2 Duo chips, but the CPU speed in the lowest model now starts at 3.06GHz. That used to be the fastest chip available in Apple's previous highest-end iMac. The one exception is the $1,999 iMac, which starts with Intel's most recent quad-core chip, the core i5 at 2.66GHz, and upgrade options for that model go all the way to the even faster Core i7 at 2.8GHz.
Other new iMac features are relatively straightforward for the systems themselves. There's no Blu-ray option, as was rumored, but you do get an SD Card slot on all new iMacs. The 27-inch version also lets you use its mini-Display Port input as a video input (via a dongle from Belkin), which means you can use the larger iMac as a second monitor. The GeForce 9400M remains the standard graphics chip, with upgrades available to Radeon HD 4670 and Radeon HD 4870 chips. Storage options go as high as 2TB on the 27-inchers.
13-inch Unibody Polycarbonate MacBook
Apple has also revamped its best-selling laptop, the 13-inch MacBook. The new version retains the white polycarbonate look, as well as the $999 price.
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View the latest prices for Apple iMac (21.5-inch, 3.06Hz Intel Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GeForce 9400M, Fall 2009)
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View the latest prices for Apple iMac (27-inch, 2.66Hz Intel Core i5, ATI Radeon HD 4850, Fall 2009)
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Apple may be ready to introduce a new line of iMac all-in-one desktop computers before the end of year, according to a new report on AppleInsider.
Citing "people familiar" with Apple's plans, AppleInsider said the new iMacs got the go-ahead in early September and have been in production for the past couple of weeks.
(Credit:
Apple)
In addition to a new thinner enclosure, the new iMac line is rumored to possibly include a Blu-ray optical drive. This would mark the first time Apple would include a Blu-ray drive in one of its desktop or portable computers.
Based on previous updates from Apple, it's reasonable to expect the company to also include faster processors, perhaps newer graphics cards, and increased hard drive capacity. Current models feature processors ranging from 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo to 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
Hard drive capacities go from 320GB on the low-end model to 1TB on the high end.
Apple also usually keeps the prices of its updated machines pretty close to the previous ones, although they have reduced prices on occasion. Current prices range from $1,199 to $2,199.
