When to expect the 2012 iMac: May 8th, 2012

We will see Ivy Bridge, AMD Graphic updates, 1TB drives as basic order, and possibly USB 3.0 as a sideline feature.

The one change that I guarantee will happen is a bumped resolution. The 27" display will definitely see a bump if not both the 21.5" and 27".

It won't be 'retina' display technology but it will differentiate the 27" model from its rivals once again.

Nothing spectacular in this revision to warrant upgrading from 2011 iMacs.

If Apple hold release until Mountain Lion then it would not surprise me at all to see 27" Retina level displays with support off the shelf. A complete Mac revision held at a media event in June/July announcing Retina Display, All new Mac Pro, Ivy bridge equipped Mini's and Macbook Air like Macbook Pros.

Does the media event announcing a completely updated Mac line not seem the most likely this late in the game? Ivy bridge chips for Air not being available until June n'all.

Is it gone be "silent" refresh or BIG launch party/event??
If it takes 2 months to get 2012 model, I´m gonna order next week 2011 model....

iMac release before MobileMe expiration

The new iMac had BETTER be released before the end of June! I'm waiting for it to be released before upgrading as I am forced to upgrade to keep my MobileMe email address.
My MBP running 10.6 cannot upgrade to 10.7, which I need in order to move to iCloud! MobileMe's end date is June 30 and if the new iMac isn't out by then I will be one very unhappy camper.

jgbiggs said:

Latest form the rumor mill, looks like June or July....

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...acs_with_core_i5_i7_cpus_in_june_or_july.html

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This article is confusing to me because I've read other reports that state Intel's new mobile processors (articles have implied this includes laptops as well) are the ones that suffered a delay in the supply chain, and that only the desktop version of the chips will maintain the same estimated release date in April.

However, this report states that the laptop lines will be refreshed before the desktop line.

I don't understand, why would Apple postpone a desktop release even further, when there have been no known delays, just to have it follow the macbook pro release - which in turn would tack on additional months since Apple usually spaces out it's new product releases as part of their marketing technique.

The iMac has been overdue for an update to the point where you would assume they would pump out the iMacs as soon as their specs are available, and assuming the mobile delay is true, that would still allow Apple to maintain its product release gap without wasting time on technology that will become progressively obsolete the more time they sit on it.

I would take the details of this article with a grain of salt.

This is my luck - I am ready to buy a new iMac, and that time happens to coincide with the longest refresh wait in the history of the iMac. (Well at least in the last 5 that show up on the mac buyer's guide). It's all good though, I need a bit of time to save some money.

I know the feeling, same thing happened last year when I waited for the macbook pro. Apple is not predictable enough, which is good overall but waits are bogus.

I am also waiting to upgrade but as I have not upgraded my iMac in nearly 6 years now I am thinking it may not be worth waiting until July or even June for that matter.

My current iMac runs and does what I need it to do but can be slow when I try to do anything that requires more CPU. I play games regularly (wow) and my settings nearly on the minimum just to get 20fps (when I am lucky). With only a 17in display at the moment any upgrade would be a massive boost when considering what I currently have.

So tempted to just upgrade now and bite the bullet.

cgehrke said:

I am also waiting to upgrade but as I have not upgraded my iMac in nearly 6 years now I am thinking it may not be worth waiting until July or even June for that matter.

So tempted to just upgrade now and bite the bullet.

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I would say:
If you've waited 6 years, what's another 2 months?
If you plan to keep the new one this long, why not make sure it's on the freshest hardware?

I'm still kicking myself for getting this 2007 iMac in March 2008, 35 days before the refresh. And a refresh wasn't even really due when the 2008's came out, so waiting never crossed my mind.

All Taken said:

We will see Ivy Bridge, AMD Graphic updates, 1TB drives as basic order, and possibly USB 3.0 as a sideline feature.

The one change that I guarantee will happen is a bumped resolution. The 27" display will definitely see a bump if not both the 21.5" and 27".

It won't be 'retina' display technology but it will differentiate the 27" model from its rivals once again.

Nothing spectacular in this revision to warrant upgrading from 2011 iMacs.

If Apple hold release until Mountain Lion then it would not surprise me at all to see 27" Retina level displays with support off the shelf. A complete Mac revision held at a media event in June/July announcing Retina Display, All new Mac Pro, Ivy bridge equipped Mini's and Macbook Air like Macbook Pros.

Does the media event announcing a completely updated Mac line not seem the most likely this late in the game? Ivy bridge chips for Air not being available until June n'all.

Click to expand...

That one thing I can guarantee will NOT happen is a bump in desktop resolution. The viewable distance of a 27" iMac is probably 1.5-2 Feet away, and for someone with perfect 20/20 vision, that is already "Retina" at 2560x1440.

mzjin said:

That one thing I can guarantee will NOT happen is a bump in desktop resolution. The viewable distance of a 27" iMac is probably 1.5-2 Feet away, and for someone with perfect 20/20 vision, that is already "Retina" at 2560x1440.

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How does this compare to the screen on the late 2006 white 24" iMac?

Oh sorry did I say Retina, I meant HiRes displays It's built into lion and makes sense for Apple to release hardware that takes advantage of it, with Sharp announcing their Retina screens last week.

Honestly, I think it's too soon to see higher resolution than the IPS screens Apple is using, especially at the high end.

That said, we _might_ see clues to it happening if Apple starts introducing some of the GPU technology required to pull off those higher resolutions (i.e. Crossfire GPU support on the iMac or Mac Pro.)

mzjin said:

That one thing I can guarantee will NOT happen is a bump in desktop resolution. The viewable distance of a 27" iMac is probably 1.5-2 Feet away, and for someone with perfect 20/20 vision, that is already "Retina" at 2560x1440.

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At 28" (over 2 feet) the 27" iMac is 89% of the resolution required for Retina according to the article below. I sit at 22" (within your 1.5-2 Feet estimate) from my 24" iMac, so even further from Retina. As you can probably guess, I am looking forward to seeing HiDPI.

http://www.tuaw.com/2012/03/01/retina-display-macs-ipads-and-hidpi-doing-the-math/

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kitsunestudios said:

Honestly, I think it's too soon to see higher resolution than the IPS screens Apple is using, especially at the high end.

That said, we _might_ see clues to it happening if Apple starts introducing some of the GPU technology required to pull off those higher resolutions (i.e. Crossfire GPU support on the iMac or Mac Pro.)

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IGZO may be a possibility for the higher resolution, and it has recently gone into mass production.

Moonjumper said:

At 28" (over 2 feet) the 27" iMac is 89% of the resolution required for Retina according to the article below. I sit at 22" (within your 1.5-2 Feet estimate) from my 24" iMac, so even further from Retina. As you can probably guess, I am looking forward to seeing HiDPI.

http://www.tuaw.com/2012/03/01/retina-display-macs-ipads-and-hidpi-doing-the-math/

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IGZO may be a possibility for the higher resolution, and it has recently gone into mass production.

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Close enough to 100%..

Even the iPad display is Retina enough. I can not resolve pixels at any distance.

The number is not really relevant, it's just resolvability by the human eye. At this point, the iMac, iPad, iPhone are all Retina, even most Macbook Pros.

iFin said:

Is it gone be "silent" refresh or BIG launch party/event??
If it takes 2 months to get 2012 model, I´m gonna order next week 2011 model....

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I have been watching and waiting for the new iMac now for about three months. It will be my first Mac I am a heavy computer user (Not video rendering or scientific stuff) just work on it every day running some pretty hungry software building websites and research. I am sosooo tired of waiting I am on the edge of my seat about to hit the "buy it" key on a
iMac 27"
3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5
$2,899.00

I'll add more memory myself...

another thought, and question is do you think the new upgrade will have a price hike as well?
Just needing a little input here to help me make my mind up...

I'm ready to buy now as well. It's been about 6 years. I am not a power user or gamer. I'm starting to think the new iMac won't be worth the wait - at least for an average joe like me.

I'd like to get the newer iLife software. I'm on version 6 or something.

SteveCarriere said:

I'm ready to buy now as well. It's been about 6 years. I am not a power user or gamer. I'm starting to think the new iMac won't be worth the wait - at least for an average joe like me.

I'd like to get the newer iLife software. I'm on version 6 or something.

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Yeah, I dont know if the upgrade will make that much difference in what I do. Dont know if I would even notice it.... besides Ive read some rumors that the new design will be "thinner" Not that Id work mine enough to get it hot but if you already have heat issues and you make it thinner... that doesnt sound good to me...

mzjin said:

Close enough to 100%..

Even the iPad display is Retina enough. I can not resolve pixels at any distance.

The number is not really relevant, it's just resolvability by the human eye. At this point, the iMac, iPad, iPhone are all Retina, even most Macbook Pros.

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The new iPad and iPhones since the 4 have been Retina, but as the link I listed shows, the iMac and MacBook Pros are not. Retina is about resolvability by the human eye. The numbers are a good guide for someone with decent eyesight, so are entirely relevant.

Moonjumper said:

The new iPad and iPhones since the 4 have been Retina, but as the link I listed shows, the iMac and MacBook Pros are not. Retina is about resolvability by the human eye. The numbers are a good guide for someone with decent eyesight, so are entirely relevant.

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Actually, they aren't. The numbers don't take into account the eye's resolution deterioration across a distance, which is immense.

If you actually go to an Apple store, armed with 20/20 vision and sit even 1.5 feet away from a 27" iMac, you'd find yourself unable to resolve pixels.

The reason why Apple made the iPhone and iPad much higher pixel density is because the small physical size creates instances of small unscaleable/unzoomable images, which sometimes necessitates sticking the phone or iPad nearly up to your nose. This is regardless of how sharp or PPI the image is, they are sometimes too small to have adequate focus on at normal viewing distances.

mzjin said:

Actually, they aren't. The numbers don't take into account the eye's resolution deterioration across a distance, which is immense.

If you actually go to an Apple store, armed with 20/20 vision and sit even 1.5 feet away from a 27" iMac, you'd find yourself unable to resolve pixels.

The reason why Apple made the iPhone and iPad much higher pixel density is because the small physical size creates instances of small unscaleable/unzoomable images, which sometimes necessitates sticking the phone or iPad nearly up to your nose. This is regardless of how sharp or PPI the image is, they are sometimes too small to have adequate focus on at normal viewing distances.

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I see pixels.

I use a 24" iMac and can see pixels. I've used a 27" and it is still the same. One of the big issues for me is being able to see the text anti-aliasing. The sharper text I see on the Retina iOS devices is much easier to read, reducing eyestrain as a result.

cocky jeremy said:

I see no reason at all that we won't see USB 3, too.

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agree, USB 3 should be part of the upgrade. Apple prides itself on having the latest ports... umm, usb 3 baby!

forty2j said:

I would say:
If you've waited 6 years, what's another 2 months?
If you plan to keep the new one this long, why not make sure it's on the freshest hardware?

I'm still kicking myself for getting this 2007 iMac in March 2008, 35 days before the refresh. And a refresh wasn't even really due when the 2008's came out, so waiting never crossed my mind.

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Great advice. I would kick myself too even if the upgrade is minor. Would be different if there was an outage and some broke. I can hold out a few more weeks or months if needed.

I am waiting myself, and whereas I can live with the specs of the current model, I am not too impressed with all the horror stories about dust getting in between the backlight and the panel. So hopefully they will have addressed this in the 2102 model.

USB3 would be nice, but I am not expecting it. I think Apple are hell bent on you taking up Thunderbolt as a standard and USB3 support would not help that. The dearth of Thunderbolt devices is a real pain though. I just wish Apple had gone USB3 instead to be honest. TB may be technically superior, but who gives a damn when you can get plenty fast USB3 devices everywhere and hardly any TB ones... and they won't be any faster anyway because the interface is not the limiting factor.

Chippy99 said:

So hopefully they will have addressed this in the 2102 model.

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Well I'm certainly not waiting this long!!

leerichards1 said:

Well I'm certainly not waiting this long!!

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From what I can gather, it's taken that long to get them to sort out the dust problem ;-)