Apple finally announced that the new iMac models will be shipping. The 21.5-inch model will ship this friday the 30th. Apple announced these machines back in October and stated there will be a November shipping date – cutting it close?

As always there are 2 models of each the 21.5-inch and the 27-inch models. The base model 21.5″ only has 1 upgrade – boosting the RAM from 8GB of RAM to 16GB. Worth the $200? We say yes. The 21.5-inch model doesn’t have user-upgradable RAM so get it done. The high-end 21.5 has the same RAM upgrade but also offers a processor bump from a 2.9Ghz i5 to the 3.1Ghz i7 (think of it like an volkswagen going 29mph vs a ferrari at 31mphs), and a 1TB Fusion drive upgrade. The Fusion drive is Apple’s “new” technology that merges a Solid State Drive (SSD) and a traditional hard drive.
The 27-inch models have many more upgrades including up to 32GB of RAM, a 3TB Fusion drive, and better video cards.

If you got the money you got the party .

In other news Apple has fired the manager responsible for Mapplegate (my own term for Apple Maps debacle – like it?). Richard Williamson, who oversaw the team, has been fired by Senior VP Eddy Cue (according to Bloomberg news).
The new Apple Maps app has caused a bit of contention amongst Apples user base. While the turn-by-turn directions are good, it just isn’t enough for users who found their houses to be in the middle of water according to the flawed software. Good luck to Rich Williamson in all his future endeavors – you may want to invest in a TomTom GPS to figure out how to get to your next interview.