The Wide, Wide World of Apple

[MadBurgerMaker]

The 5/5s had a thing with bending too. It isn't the size or thickness, it's the metal.

E:  I don't know if the 5s would kind of pop apart when they bent though like the 6s seem to do.

[DGuller]

Or you know buy a case that won't allow such silliness.

Buying a case for your iPhone is like wearing your gold chains under the shirt.  Yes, your valuable possession will be safer that way, but then what's the point of owning it in the first place?

[Ed Anger]

Track suit guy knows about fashion.

[Liep]

Track suit guy knows about fashion.

He knows about gold chains. And without knowing much about fashion myself I'd say that that is traditionally associated with track suits, so all seems in order here.

[Tonitrus]

Or you know buy a case that won't allow such silliness.

Buying a case for your iPhone is like wearing your gold chains under the shirt.  Yes, your valuable possession will be safer that way, but then what's the point of owning it in the first place?

I don't find your analogy valid.  A smartphone has far more utility than gold chains, and the case doesn't significantly impact that utility.

[Liep]

The new iMac screen has a resolution of 5120 x 2880, which is needed when you edit your 4k movies.

[Duque de Bragança]

The new iMac screen has a resolution of 5120 x 2880, which is needed when you edit your 4k movies.

That's a nice gadget, for now, but the graphic card specs are more important and more interesting, not just for gaming.

[Barrister]

The new iMac screen has a resolution of 5120 x 2880, which is needed when you edit your 4k movies.

That's a nice gadget, for now, but the graphic card specs are more important and more interesting, not just for gaming.

AMD Radeon R9 M290X with 2GB video memory

Quick review said it worked well, but is not powerful enough to run games at that kind of native resolution.

[Grey Fox]

Nothing is. You need 3 Titans to make it work.

[DontSayBanana]

Nothing is. You need 3 Titans to make it work.

So basically, there's maybe ten machines in active use right now that could actually handle that. Only one that comes to mind right away for me is the Large Pixel Collider.

http://lpc.pcgamer.com/

[Grey Fox]

Yes, rendering 4k resolution at 120/140 fps requires insane amount of GPU power at the current technology level.

[Barrister]

Nothing is. You need 3 Titans to make it work.

So basically, there's maybe ten machines in active use right now that could actually handle that. Only one that comes to mind right away for me is the Large Pixel Collider.

http://lpc.pcgamer.com/

Note we're talking about "handling that" for gaming.

The 5k iMac is "meant" for being able to natively edit 4k video, which apparently it can do just fine.

[Monoriu]

My wife is considering getting a replacement for her iMac, and she is interested in the "Retina" display, whatever that means. 

The problem I see is that the Retina display is only available for the 27 inch model.  Her current iMac is 21 inch.  27 is a little bit too large for us.  We may need to replace some furniture for that to work.  Is the Retina display really that good?

Another question is the specifications.  She doesn't play computer games.  It is mainly for ordinary internet, video streaming, very basic photo management, emails, etc.  Should I go for the standard i5, 8G Ram, 2G video memory route?  Or should I upgrade it to i7, 16G Ram, and 4G video card?

As for the harddrive, I think I will insist in getting an SSD for her.  256G sounds too small, while 1TB SSD is too expensive.  512GB sounds right.  What say you?

Also a very fundamental question.  Her iMac is a 2009 model.  She thinks it is too slow.  Will getting the latest model translate to substantial performance improvement?

[Barrister]

My wife is considering getting a replacement for her iMac, and she is interested in the "Retina" display, whatever that means. 

The problem I see is that the Retina display is only available for the 27 inch model.  Her current iMac is 21 inch.  27 is a little bit too large for us.  We may need to replace some furniture for that to work.  Is the Retina display really that good?

Another question is the specifications.  She doesn't play computer games.  It is mainly for ordinary internet, video streaming, very basic photo management, emails, etc.  Should I go for the standard i5, 8G Ram, 2G video memory route?  Or should I upgrade it to i7, 16G Ram, and 4G video card?

As for the harddrive, I think I will insist in getting an SSD for her.  256G sounds too small, while 1TB SSD is too expensive.  512GB sounds right.  What say you?

Also a very fundamental question.  Her iMac is a 2009 model.  She thinks it is too slow.  Will getting the latest model translate to substantial performance improvement?

Mono, as for your last question - I keep debating that.  I have a 2008 Mac Pro.  It still works fine (though after 6 1/2 years I worry something will go on it sooner or later).  But would a new Mac be that much of a difference?

Retina Mac - the reviews are very good.  But it is very expensive.  And it comes down to what your wife uses the Mac for.  You say "very basic photo management" - if she's involved at all in editing or touching up photos, then the 5k resolution might be a help.  But for web surfing, emails, and online videos the 5k resolution won't make any real difference.  It will just mean that text is crisper.

Based on what you described the i5 is probably good enough, though I might be tempted to upgrade if it isn't too expensive.

You're correct to insist on the SSD.  You might want to look at getting the 256GB SSD, but then also get a external spinning HD connected via Thunderbolt of 1-2 TB for storing pictures.

[Monoriu]

Mono, as for your last question - I keep debating that.  I have a 2008 Mac Pro.  It still works fine (though after 6 1/2 years I worry something will go on it sooner or later).  But would a new Mac be that much of a difference?

Retina Mac - the reviews are very good.  But it is very expensive.  And it comes down to what your wife uses the Mac for.  You say "very basic photo management" - if she's involved at all in editing or touching up photos, then the 5k resolution might be a help.  But for web surfing, emails, and online videos the 5k resolution won't make any real difference.  It will just mean that text is crisper.

Based on what you described the i5 is probably good enough, though I might be tempted to upgrade if it isn't too expensive.

You're correct to insist on the SSD.  You might want to look at getting the 256GB SSD, but then also get a external spinning HD connected via Thunderbolt of 1-2 TB for storing pictures.

She has a fair amount of music files, and many of them are in lossless format.  So 256GB SSD is probably too small.  We already have a traditional 3TB harddrive for photos (and another 17TB for anime  ).  She doesn't play games, so my inclination is a 2GB video card and 8GB RAM.  The i7 is an extra US$250.  I think I will go for that, just to make sure that her computer will last another 5 years or so. 

The whole thing is US$3k.  That is her birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, wedding anniversary, new year, Chinese new year, Easter, national day, memorial of HK's return to The Motherland day, mid-autumn festival etc present for the next year