Apple Updates Mac Pro, iMac, Cinema Displays, Magic Tracpad

Apple Shows Off Updated Versions of Existing Products, Along with Magic Tracpad

Apple announced updates to its Mac Pro, iMac and Cinema Display product lines.

New Mac Pro Offers Up to 12 Cores

Photos

Mac Pro Product Shot

see larger image

uploaded by Jordan Yerman

The Mac Pro desktop machine can be configured to carry up to 12 working cores at 2.93GHz. The quad- and six-core processors are single-die, which means that L3 cache is shared between the cores.

The quad- and six-core processors will use the Intel Westmere chips. The 12-core Mac Pro, with a claimed 1.3x performance advantage over the 8-core version, does not hit the Apple Store until August. It will definitely not be cheap, but it's also not meant for the casual user.

Upgraded iMacs

The iMac, Apple's flagship desktop computer, gets a bit of a speedbump: faster processors and beefier graphics chips.The 21.5-inch iMac comes with either the ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256MB of dedicated memory) or the ATI Radeon HD 5670(512MB). The 27-inch iMac can support the ATI Radeon HD 5750 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory. This is handy for video editors and gamers.

New 27" Cinema Display

The Apple Cinema Display got an upgrade, taking on some of the Macbook Pro display features, such as built-in webcam and ambient light detector for automatic brightness control. Also, the tangle of cables is replaced with just two: a power supply to plug into the wall, and a three-in-one magsafe/USB/mini display port cable to attach to the laptop. Sound is carried to the display's speakers via the USB port, and the display itself has three additional USB slots.

No pricing was given for the 27" Cinema Display, which ships in September, but the current 24" display is $799, more than double the price of non-Apple displays. Fanboys, video editors and movie fans can fight it out over whether or not it is worth the price.

Magic Tracpad

Finally, the Magic Tracpad. Slightly naff product name, but basically it's an a la carte version of the Macbook Pro tracpad, supporting multitouch inputs on a larger surface area. It's meant as a mouse replacement for the iMac and Mac Pro.