Our research lab in UP Diliman had an order for a MacPro with the 24” LED Cinema Display. This will be used for both image and video processing and number crunching. Everything was all set to send it to the procurement office for posting (public bidding requires us to post it on the government bidding site) until Apple decided to upgrade its iMac line.

The new iMac comes in two sizes, a 21.5” version and a 27” version. Whilst the update seems to be too simple - new form factor (better aluminum enclosure), bigger and better displays (LED-backlit, higher resolution and in-plane switching (IPS) for wider viewing at 178degrees view angle), better graphic cards (ATI Radeon HD 4670 or 4850), support for up to 16GB of RAM, and faster processors (up to 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo) - it just made me pull out my MacPro order to replace it items from Apple’s new Mac line-up.

The MacPro configuration costs around PhP400K. I replaced it with 2 27” iMac running on 8GB RAM and on Intel’s new i7 quad core processor, 2 Mac Minis running Mac OS X Server and a couple of Apple’s updated Airport Extreme Base Stations.

Why replace the most powerful desktop on Apple’s line-up?

The Mac Minis will be used as a four-core compute cluster to run some number crunching and video rendering at less power-demand. Services for the lab will be provided by these two critters.

The 27” iMac will serve as my desktop power-horse (the other one will go the research lab) replacing the 24” LED Cinema Display currently on my table. I use the 13” Macbook Pro to connect to the display but since the new 27” iMac has Target Display Mode, which allows it to accept video-in via the miniDisplayPort, then it is a perfect companion to my 13” Macbook Pro.

What is even better is that the 27” Mac still runs on the background even at Target Disk Mode - which means that I have the full power of the iMac to do my apps on the background (similar to a server) and then have my Macbook Pro control it remotely.

How cool is that? Frankly, this, imho, is the first of its kind. No other manufacturer has anything close to what Apple has done with its 27” iMac. BTW, Target Display Mode only works on the 27” iMac (running Core 2 Duo, i5 or i7).

So, instead of having one person using the MacPro, we have more people using it simultaneously. Sounds like a better plan, right? AM so excited to get this new computer before Christmas.

BTW, did I tell you that the new iMacs are cheaper than the previous models? How Apple was able to do that is also a question that keeps bugging me - they normally price it the same as the previous models. Is Apple reducing their profit margin? I doubt it! Haha.

Wait, did I say that Apple also has a wall mount accessory for the 27”? Yes, pair that with Apple TV and you have a great and powerful entertainment/compute server. :D

Simply a perfect Christmas gift, if you have money to burn! Wonder what my editor has in store for me this Christmas... boss, the 27” i5 iMac will do.