Testing the 27 "iMac" Thunderbolt - part III

Intel also provides the chipset of the iMac, a Z68 Series 6, replacing the P67 which had experienced numerous problems in the launch of the platform Sandy Bridge (SATA performance degradation). This chipset manages Smart Response, a new technology to use a SSD (up to 64 GB) as a cache for the hard drive, like the hybrid discs as the Seagate Momentus XT. Apple does not use this function: the SSD and hard drive of the iMac appear as two completely separate volumes. They are both connected to SATA III, allowing them to express themselves to their full potential.

The potential for the SSD is 240 Mb / s maximum throughput of 160 Mb / s of average flow. It's good but not dazzling, especially the hard drive of 1TB provided by Apple (a Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM SATA III and 32 MB cache) is doing very well. The high density of its platters, SATA III interface and 32 MB cache allow it to reach speeds of around 120 Mb / s, with a fine linearity over large files.

Overall more efficient, the SSD, arranged in housing behind the SuperDrive, takes advantage of two areas: its access time and noise level. Fast, fast, fast, these are the three adjectives to describe what DSS quick fix on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, it is also on the iMac. While the scratch disk and is sometimes responsible for a certain delay, the SSD can boot the machine in a few seconds (12-14), forget the color wheel of death, and fluid in general operations, all in a royal silence accentuated by the presence of discrete fans.

(Cont.)

Testing the 27 "iMac" Thunderbolt - part II

The presence of two Thunderbolt ports used to connect the iMac 27 "to two external displays. You'll have no problem to connect two Apple Cinema Display 27": Use two mini-Display Port cable (same connector as the Thunderbolt), and any ... work of 81 inches diagonally. If you use a screen of another brand or a former Apple screen, you will need an adapter: your adapter VGA, DVI, HDMI to Mini Display Port working perfectly. The only problem will come from screens 30 "you should use a dual-link adapter, an active housing costing hundreds of Euros.

Otherwise, the ports are used to little Thunderbolt: devices using this new standard, although promising, will not arrive until mid-summer. Intended primarily for professionals, promises to be cost prohibitive and limited uses for the moment, the interest of this new connector is limited to the general public.

This is not the case for other race horses of the new iMac. The processor is an Intel Core i7-2600, the fastest second-generation Core i7. It has four physical cores, identified as eight logical cores (hyperthreading) clocked at 3.4 GHz. When an application does not use all cores but needs power, the processor can disable cores dynamically to increase the frequency of the remaining cores: it can go up to 3.8 GHz on a heart (Turbo Boost). With all reasonable thermal envelopes in this range, 95 W is worth mention (32 nm etching).

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Testing the 27 "iMac" Thunderbolt

Sandy Bridge processors, connectivity Thunderbolt, SSD are the elements that we begin to know well, together or separately, on many Mac. Put everything in a single iMac, and you get a real bomb.

The configuration we are testing today is the top of the line iMac: Screen 27 "of course, 4 GB of RAM DDR3 1333 MHz, an Intel Core i7 Quad 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon graphics card HD 6970M with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, hard drive 1 TB and 256 GB SSD could obviously put more RAM, disk drive 2 TB or the graphics card to 2GB, but as it stands, this configuration costs a whopping € 2699 - € 300 more than the Mac Pro "basic".

This iMac is first ... yes, an iMac. The problems therefore remain the same: a screen can be a bit too bright, an SD card reader a little too close to the SuperDrive ... This new generation, however, offers many small innovations: the webcam is now able to shoot HD 720p (even if the quality is more than average) while the USB 2.0 ports (4) FireWire 800 are joined by Thunderbolt ports. Also, the drives are now connected via SATA III (theoretical maximum of 6 Gb / s, the SuperDrive is in SATA II), and the WiFi card is connected to three antennas, which allows to use the iMac 2011 WiFi 802.11n three channels at 450 Mb / s.

(Cont.)

Apple wants serial number to Install Mac OS X Lion

To install Mac OS X Lion, it is imperative to be connected to the Internet. It was unclear why Apple was keen to see that the Mac is online. With DP4, Apple is no longer hidden. If you need to reinstall for one reason or another the system and you are offline, the following message appears.

For some reason, Apple apparently wants to get the serial number of your computer so you can restore it. This behavior if it were to be confirmed in the final version of Leo is relatively new, at least for the client version. Apple has long used a system of serial numbers for Mac OS X Server.

Finally, as one can understand the discipline need to be connected to install Leo, as it can be difficult in the case of a restore. You do not always choose when your Mac crashes. And this can occur miles away from a connection to the net.

On reflection, it is not impossible that such verification takes place through Find my Mac to ensure that the computer in question has not been stolen.

Final Cut Pro X is not perfect Part.II

Another weakness pointed YakYakYak by this time, the fact that this new version is less able to communicate with other software on the market. It was so far strength of the solution from Apple. Some have already begun to exploit the breach; this is the case of Pro Export FCP that will export the AAF or OMF projects from Final Cut Pro X to the Pro Tools software.

We recently criticized the implementation of the Lion in full screen mode with Final Cut Pro X is the same? It is impossible to use the second monitor. It is too bad.

The list of accusations made in Final Cut Pro X is as long as a day without bread. Apple will address gaps through updates in a more or less near future, as support for multiple cameras. Contrary to what she was doing until now, Apple is committed to providing frequent updates and important software. The Apple brand is expected to propose one to two updates per year, while the renewal cycle was 18 months ago.


If Larry Jordan readily emphasizes the fact that Final Cut Pro 7 is not dead and still has a bright future (two to coexist is also not easy and requires a little planning as the Apple says this note), to him, Apple is right.

For all its faults, this new version meets the objectives that Apple had set. The performances are with go. The management of the 64 bits according to him should also solve many problems in everyday life.


With this release, Final Cut Pro does what it has to be done in the background and lets you work. The new interface, new editing tools or the keyboard shortcuts are generally very useful as long as you want to get used to.

Larry Jordan summed up the situation in one sentence: "If you're looking for speed and high quality image, you have a new love in your life." But love thrives on patience as much as desire.

And it may take a little time to make Final Cut Pro X forget his teething.