Forbes reports on a new research note from Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair suggesting that Apple may bring some aspects of its rumored television set to the iMac with a revision in the first half of next year.

Blair envisions the company pushing the largest screen sizes of the iMac toward the TV market by integrating Apple TV and iCloud features into a slimmer all-in-one PC with TV capabilities.

“We think this makes sense because while we typically think about the newest TV’s hanging on the wall in large form factors, Apple could effectively start with what they already have on the manufacturing line and slowly push their offering from 27 inches and scale up from there to 32 inches and then move on to the 42, 50 and 55 inch market,” he writes. “In short, we believe the initial Apple TV is their iMac computer that can function as a TV, over the iCloud platform.”

While the full context of the claim is not included in the Forbes report, the claim is referred to as "speculation" on Blair's part and no specific evidence to support it is offered.


Apple had previous offered its "Front Row" software for OS X, providing users with a full-screen media display to allow easy access to content while interacting with their Mac via the remote control previously included with most Macs. Front Row debuted on the iMac in 2005 and made its way throughout Apple's Mac lines, but was gradually phased out until it was completely removed in OS X Lion.

Apple is said to be developing a television set product featuring Siri-powered voice input, with a release rumored for late 2012 or 2013. An iMac offering some of that television functionality could bridge the gap to the dedicated television set, with the 21.5-inch and 27-inch screens on the iMac suitable for smaller-scale television settings.

As noted by AppleInsider, shipping estimates for build-to-order iMac models equipped with 2 TB hard drives have slipped to a significant 5-7 week timeframe, suggesting that hard drive shortages caused by massive flooding in Thailand over the past several months may be catching up with Apple.


Curiously, Mac Pro models configured with 2 TB drives do not show the same delays, with those build-to-order configurations shipping in just 3-5 business days. The 2 TB drive on the iMac is the only drive affected, as the standard 1 TB drive and configurable 256 GB solid state drive do not significantly boost build times. That 2 TB drive is available as a build-to-order option on the high-end 21.5-inch iMac and on both base models of the 27-inch iMac.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the potential impact of the Thailand flooding on Apple's business during the company's October earnings conference call. Cook noted that there would undoubtedly be an industry-wide shortage of hard disk drives that would primarily affect Apple in its Mac business, but that there had yet to be a full assessment of the impact or an estimated timeline for recovery. He also declined to offer any specific information on the expected impact to Apple, noting only that any such impact was figured into the company's blockbuster revenue guidance of $37 billion for the holiday quarter.

Apple today released a series of firmware updates for its 2011 Mac lineup, addressing several issues to increase the stability of the systems. But the iMac EFI Update 1.7 goes a bit further, bringing the Lion Internet Recovery feature to the current generation of iMac models. The iMac update also specifically addresses several Thunderbolt performance issues.

About iMac EFI Update 1.7

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection and includes fixes that resolve issues with Apple Thunderbolt Display compatibility and Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance on iMac (early 2011) models.

Internet Recovery launched as part of OS X Lion in July, allowing users to easily install the operating system on a blank hard drive, a feature that is handy for users who are replacing their hard drives or for whom the recovery partition included on their Lion system becomes inaccessible. Internet Recovery functions by adding a minimal bootable install onto a machine's firmware to allow it to connect the Internet and download the full Lion operating system for installation.


Internet Recovery initially debuted on the MacBook Air and Mac mini models that were released alongside OS X Lion, but was extended to the Early 2011 MacBook Pro line last month. With the addition of the iMac, all of Apple's current Mac models with the exception of the Mac Pro are now capable of accessing Lion Internet Recovery. The Mac Pro has not been updated since mid-2010, and delays in Intel's chip production appear to have pushed any refresh into next year.

In addition to the iMac EFI firmware update released today, Apple also pushed out MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.3 for Early 2011 models, MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.2 for Mid 2011 models, and Mac mini EFI Firmware Update 1.4 for Mid 2011 models.

Apple today released iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0, a new firmware update to address issues which could cause users' machines to freeze up.

About iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0

This firmware update fixes a graphics issue that may cause an iMac to hang under certain conditions.

Do not shut off the power on your iMac during this update. Loss of power could result in your iMac failing to start up.

The update weighs in at 482 KB and requires OS X Lion. Apple does not specify exactly which iMac models require the update, so users should run Software Update to see if the download appears for their specific machines.

Discussion forums on Apple's site and elsewhere have been filling with numerous reports of freezing issues on iMac models under OS X Lion. It is unclear if this update is designed to target the exact issues being reported in those complaints, but it seems reasonable to speculate that Apple is indeed looking to solve at least some of those problems.

AMD today announced the launch of its new Radeon HD 6990M mobile graphics processor, calling it the world's fastest single mobile GPU with up to 25% greater performance than NVIDIA's just-announced GeForce 580M.

While Apple typically uses middle-of-the-road GPUs in even its high-end MacBook Pro models in order to meet the requirements of the thin enclosure and thus will not be considering adopting the new Radeon HD 6990M for the notebook line, the company does also use AMD's mobile GPUs in its iMac line, where it has adopted a number of mobile components in order to save space within the desktop machine's sleek all-in-one design.

Apple currently offers AMD's previous top-end mobile GPU, the Radeon HD 6970M, in the highest-level configurations of its 27-inch iMac line, suggesting that Apple may be planning to adopt the Radeon HD 6990M in its next iMac update. AMD in fact specifically touts the improved performance of the Radeon HD 6990M over the 6970M.

The AMD Radeon HD 6990M also represents a significant upgrade from AMD's current gaming notebook graphics solution, the AMD Radeon HD 6970M, raising the bar from both a performance and image quality perspective.

Apple of course just released updated iMacs a little over two months ago, and the company is thus unlikely to refresh the lineup again until late this year or early next year. Of course, depending on how AMD's future GPU development cycle meshes with Apple's iMac update cycle, even newer GPUs could be available for the next iMac, with the Radeon HD 6990M perhaps sliding down into the mid-range iMac models.

Apple's latest edition of the iMac is finally shipping with the build-to-order 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 and 256GB Solid State Drive option installed. As with any new Apple product, benchmarks and speedtests are beginning to trickle out, and the conclusion from Macworld is that this is the fastest Mac they've ever tested.

Last month, Macworld benchmarked the highest standard configuration 27" iMac Core i5 3.1GHz with standard hard drive installed. It scored 227 on Speedmark 6.5, roughly 16 percent faster than the old model -- but still quite a bit slower than a Mac Pro 3.33GHz Xeon 6-core, which scored a 263 on the same test.

Now, after a month-long delay, Apple is finally shipping BTO 3.4GHz Core i7 iMacs with a 256GB SSD option. This top-of-the-line iMac, the 27" 3.4GHz Core i7 w/SSD has been declared the fastest Mac that Macworld has ever tested.


The video above was sent in by a reader. He filmed it on his 27" 3.4GHz Core i7, 16GB of RAM and the 256GB SSD option. He opens all the standard applications that come with the iMac simultaneously (though with Front Row and Dashboard deselected, because they're both full-screen apps) as a quick demo of the speed of his new SSD iMac.

Macworld's testing puts the 3.4GHz i7 w/SSD at 298 on the Speedmark 6.5 test, well clear of the Mac Pro 3.33GHz Xeon 6-core's comparatively pokey 263. It also beat the Mac Pro in file duplication, Zip file compress and uncompress, iTunes encoding, and iMovie and iPhoto importing tests.

It's important to note, however, that for massively parallel tasks like Handbrake encoding, Cinebench, Mathematica, and GeekBench benchmarks the Mac Pro still outperforms the iMac because it has more cores, especially with Hyper-Threading. But, for individual application tests like encoding an MP3, importing a movie to iMovie, or importing photos to iPhoto, the iMac beats all.



Of course, the brand new iMac might be faster than the current generation Mac Pro, but the Mac Pro hasn't been updated since last July. New Mac Pros are expected sometime soon, presumably with Thunderbolt support and a rumored narrower, rackmountable enclosure.

Apple today released iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0, a firmware update to addresses graphics issues on the company's latest iMac models.

About iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0

This firmware update fixes an issue that in rare cases may cause an iMac to hang during startup or waking from sleep.

Do not shut off the power on your iMac during this update. Loss of power could result in your iMac failing to start up.

Apple has also posted a support document noting that the update addresses issues arising as a white screen during startup or vertical lines on the screen while in use.

In certain circumstances, your iMac (Mid 2011) may become unresponsive on startup, with a white or gray background on the display. You may also notice vertical lines on the display while using your iMac.

iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0 weighs in at 699 KB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.7.

Hard drive from Early 2011 iMac (Source: iFixit)
As noted by Other World Computing, Apple has implemented a new temperature sensor system on its latest iMac models that significantly hampers the ability of users to replace their original hard drives in the case of failure or a desire to upgrade. Without the custom 7-pin hard drive cable and proprietary firmware included on stock hard drives in the new machines, the new iMacs' fans spin to full speed and the machines fail to pass the Apple Hardware Test.

For the main 3.5" SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself. From our testing, we've found that removing this drive from the system, or even from that bay itself, causes the machine's hard drive fans to spin at maximum speed and replacing the drive with any non-Apple original drive will result in the iMac failing the Apple Hardware Test (AHT).

As the report notes, the change does mean that anyone seeking to replace the hard drive in a new iMac will have to go through Apple, limiting options and increasing costs.

It is not a matter of "if" but rather a matter of "when" your hard drive is going to fail. We preach this all the time in regards to having a proper backup strategy in place to prepare from when that failure happens. But it seems now, that when that happens to the main drive on your iMac, you're left with two options - buy a new drive from Apple and have them install it via one of their Authorized Service Centers, or enjoy the rather large Apple logoed paperweight on your desk. Want a 3.5" drive larger than 2TB? Too bad - Apple doesn't offer them.

Apple has not officially supported do-it-yourself hard drive replacements on the iMac for many years, but many users have still elected to take on the task themselves or have others not specifically authorized by Apple perform the swap for them.

Last week, we noted that Apple's new iMac models utilize Intel's latest Z68 chipset, a component that Intel had yet to even publicly introduce at the time of the iMac's debut. The chipset has been highly anticipated for its ability to support SSD caching, a software technology that pairs a small solid state drive (SSD) with a conventional hard drive to significantly improve performance in a manner virtually invisible to the user.

While Apple's new Z68-based iMac does not currently support SSD caching, now officially known as Smart Response Technology (SRT), it actually goes further in offering the option of a secondary 240 GB SSD to directly host the user's operating system and applications, leaving the conventional hard drive for media and other data. But with reports just prior to the most recent MacBook Pro refresh in late February incorrectly claiming that the updated models would offer the option of a small secondary SSD to essentially perform SRT functionality, there has been significant interest in the possibility of Apple adopting Intel's solution.

With Intel's embargo on Z68 information having lifted earlier today, AnandTech has posted a thorough review of the chipset and the SSD caching feature. On a basic level, the report notes that Z68 is the chipset Intel should have launched for its Sandy Bridge platform earlier this year, overcoming a number of limitations related to overclocking and graphics options.

Intel's Z68 should have been the one and only high end launch chipset offered with Sandy Bridge. It enables all of the configurations we could possibly want with Sandy Bridge and does so without making any sacrifices. Users should be able to overclock their CPU and use integrated graphics if they'd like. While Z68 gives us pretty much exactly what we asked for, it is troubling that we even had to ask for it in the first place.

But the most anticipated feature of Z68 is its support for Intel's SRT SSD caching, and AnandTech takes a close look at the technology. With support currently available for Windows 7, it allows users to dedicate up to 64 GB of SSD space for caching purposes.

With Intel's RST 10.5 drivers and a spare SSD installed (from any manufacturer) you can choose to use up to 64GB of the SSD as a cache for all accesses to the hard drive. Any space above 64GB is left untouched for you to use as a separate drive letter.

Intel limited the maximum cache size to 64GB as it saw little benefit in internal tests to making the cache larger than that. Admittedly after a certain size you're better off just keeping your frequently used applications on the SSD itself and manually storing everything else on a hard drive.

That latter scenario is of course what Apple has chosen to do in the iMac with the secondary 256 GB SSD, although the company could certainly seek to utilize SRT on future systems as an alternative to the $600 price premium the larger SSD requires.

For its part, Intel has released a new "SSD 311" drive checking in at 20 GB and codenamed "Larson Creek". The SSD 311 is specifically designed as a caching SSD for Z68, utilizing high-performance and long-lasting single-level cell (SLC) flash memory and expected to be priced at around $110.

AnandTech goes on to explain the difference between the more secure "enhanced" and faster "maximized" modes for Intel's SSD caching and offers a number of benchmarks for booting and application launching. Overall, SSD caching offers much of the performance improvement of a full SSD solution, but at a fraction of the cost. Consistency is an issue, however, as the technology obviously requires that information be cached in the first place before speed enhancements can be seen. This limits speed improvements for application installation and first-time runs of applications, but frequently-used tasks quickly see significant speed increases.

Intel's Smart Response Technology (SRT) is an interesting addition to the mix. For starters, it's not going to make your high end SSD obsolete. You'll still get better overall performance by grabbing a large (80 - 160GB+) SSD, putting your OS + applications on it, and manually moving all of your large media files to a separate hard drive. What SRT does offer however is a stepping stone to a full blown SSD + HDD setup and a solution that doesn't require end user management. You don't get the same performance as a large dedicated SSD, but you can turn any hard drive into a much higher performing storage device. Paired with a 20GB SLC SSD cache, I could turn a 4-year-old 1TB hard drive into something that was 41% faster than a VelociRaptor.

It of course remains to be seen if Apple will even adopt SSD caching technology as an alternative to pricier standard SSD options, but the company's embracing of the Z68 chipset at least opens the door to the possibility at some point down the road.

Earlier this week, we pointed to initial benchmarks from Macworld for the new 3.1 GHz 27-inch Mac, finding the new system to be about 16% faster than the high-end standard configuration of the previous generation overall.


Now that the machines have been out for a couple of days, Primate Labs has put together an early report collating the results from users submitting Geekbench 2 results. While not all models of the new iMac are represented in the database yet, initial reports from Geekbench point to an approximately 25% increase in performance over the corresponding models from the previous generation and up to a 70% increase over low-end "Wolfdale" Core 2 Duo iMacs from two generations ago.

While the improvements aren't as dramatic as with the Sandy Bridge MacBook Pros, there's a consistent 25% performance improvement between Sandy Bridge and Lynnfield at both the low-end and the high-end of the iMac model range (and over a 70% improvement between Sandy Bridge and Wolfdale). While this update may not tempt Lynnfield iMac owners into upgrading, it's certainly a compelling upgrade for Wolfdale iMac users.

Geekbench 2 focuses on processor and memory performance, offering direct comparisons of raw power in each machine. Other factors such as video cards and data storage devices also affect system speed but are not addressed in Geekbench's benchmarking metrics.

HardMac reports that the new iMac released earlier this week brings support for 450 Mbit/sec Wi-Fi connectivity, adding a third antenna to support the higher speed using multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) standards when connected to a compatible network access point. The iMac joins the latest MacBook Pro in offering the improved connection speeds.

It seems that Apple seeks to standardize this data flow. Thus, the new iMac is also compatible with the 450 Mbits/s. For that, Apple changed their Airport card and also installed 3 antennas (instead of 2 before), something indispensabie to be able simultaneously to use 3 channels of 150 Mbits/s.

In order to take advantage of the increased speeds with compatible base stations such as the latest AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, users must be sure to set the base station's options to use the 5 GHz band and to allow use of wide channels.

Other World Computing reports that the iMac EFI Update 1.6 released yesterday for Apple's new iMacs brings an unadvertised improvement in SATA performance for the internal hard drive bays.

While iMac EFI Update 1.6 is described as including "fixes that improve performance and stability for Thunderbolt," it would also seem that an unadvertised benefit is that it also unlocks the full 6Gb/s, SATA 3.0 capabilities of two of the internal drive bays.

Unfortunately, the optical bay remains at 3Gb/s.

The report notes that Apple also released an EFI update for the current MacBook Pros yesterday, but it is unclear whether that update attempts to address SATA performance issues found in the 17-inch models.