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New iMac Deliveries to Be Delayed Until Early Next Year?

I just love that its been a month since apple has allowed customers to buy a desktop and it may now be several months till they allow desktops to be purchased

Post Jobs era indeed
 
I am kind of relieved that I'm not considering an upgrade on this cycle for all the following reasons...

It's a REV A, the smart money is to generally avoid REV A's as they often have "issues" which get ironed out on the next revision. The whole REV A thing is compounded by the fact that they have obviously had manufacturing problems and are perfecting new techniques: Firstly we heard it was laminating the screen to the LCD array and now (if this rumour is to be believed) the actual welding of the chassis. Also, it will be interesting to see how the new arrangement of parts works especially regarding heat dissipation - many people are rightly excited about the 680MX GPU upgrade, especially with a view to gaming, however driving that card hard is going to skyrocket temperatures in that enclosed chassis.

The other issue I have is I can see a far shorter life cycle for this iMac, The design is now in the bag but Apple will be keen to tweak the design / engineering / Production process relatively quickly to resolve any real world issues the design throws up. With Haswell being available in around six months time they'll likely chuck those in with the possibility of the latest GPU and, my guess, better storage configurations - I'd guess by late 3rd quarter early 4th quarter 2013 (it's like the iPad 3 all over again😉)

It's a tricky one for those who have been waiting for this iMac release and if you need the computer then you just have to go for it - let's face it when that new shiny machine first gets switched on in your house or work we all know that feeling.
 
Aidan5806 said:
So you would blame Tim, who is one man, for the faults of the many at Foxconn, who he has no direct influence over?
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Well, Tim Cook is the CEO. So he is indeed to blame for anything that goes wrong. Either for not making sure that things work out at Foxconn (if that's the problem), or for not hiring a person who makes sure that things work out at Foxconn. That's why he is paid a huge salary.
 
Oh no.

I wont buy an iMac — but I really want to buy a new, redesigned Thunderbolt Display (as thin as the new iMac).
I guess the wait for that will be excrusiating.
 
If this is true, it may be the last straw for me and I may be open to looking at Windows for the first time in 18 years. I suspect this might be true of other Mac users who are frustrated with the slow speed of updates to the line.

I desperately need a new desktop, and have waited for the iMac to be updated. But if I need to purchase and have to choose, I refuse to pay for an iMac (can you even buy one now?) that is completely outdated but still significantly more than other desktops. And as pointed out, if the new iMac is released in a couple more months it's already somewhat dated.

Perhaps if Apple would sell the current line at a deep discount - which I know they will never consider - I'd be willing to buy early 2011 specs today. But not for a measly $100 or $200 off the premium for a new iMac.

I hope this report is bogus, but given it's unlikely Apple would release the iMac with the Thanksgiving holiday next week, it sure looks like "November" is slipping away.
 
Don't really understand the "why did they make it thinner??" complaints.

This is the iMac I've been waiting for. Significantly better graphics choices, fusion drive, and a less reflective screen. The fact that the machine is thinner and lighter and more aesthetically attractive is just icing on the cake.

Most of making the machine thinner just comes from not having a giant piece of glass over the display, so what could they have gained by keeping the old design? They were never going to put a desktop gpu in the thing, and for most consumers (like myself) the optical drive is a complete waste.
 
Apple's current disaster area: product cycles and supply chains.

Good luck with MacRumors buying guide! It's not going to be as easy as it once was with predictable shipping cycles!
 
Scrap the .... and release it with 4k touch screen.

The poster before had an observation, why make it so thin, to make it like a tablet for your table top, like people were talking about Apple releasing last year.
 
Dionte said:
Up goes the demand. If they don't have that many more people will want them.
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I'm not sure that is the case. Yeah, the diehard Apple fans will wait and buy, but Apple has created a growth monster on Wall Street. A lot of potential growth is people like me who bought their first iPhone a few years ago and suddenly have a houseful of iPhones/iPads. Now that it's time to replace some household computers, I'm wondering if it's time to go Mac as well.

But if they don't have anything to sell or issues getting things to market, I'll move on to something else. Those potential lost 'new' sales over the holiday have to be tough to swallow. Unlike phones, most people don't buy new computers/laptops every 1-2 years. Not having a key item in stock for the holidays is a gigantic issue for any company.

As someone said earlier, limited iPhone 5 production, iMac production issues, the Maps fiasco, the Podcast app fiasco, the lukewarm reception to the Mini and iOS6 hint at a bigger issue that can't be dismissed by pointing to short term sales.

Apple's recent growth was fueled by building exceptional products. There seems to be a slow erosion of that foundation. While the diehards will always be loyal, the sustainability of Apple's success relies on winning and keeping a more fickle and demanding general customer base.
 
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gmanist1000 said:
Because it's Tim's fault that the welding process is causing problems.
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I suspect that it is some other problem, stir welding techniques have been perfected for years. It was initially used to join aircraft skins, the first application was on the Eclipse Jet (now defunct). The process delayed introduction of the aircraft by about a year but once perfected it was very fast and very reliable.

I guess time will only tell...
 
realeric said:
I don't understand why desktop Macs should be thinner? 😕
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Same reason LCD TVs have gotten thinner through the years - aesthetics. And that is a huge component of Apple's success. It's know for its design as much as its OSes. People here complain daily when Apple only updates internals of a product and not the case. If you hang here you've read the postss. So its a bit disingenuous to say you don't understand why the iMac design had to be updated to look 2013.

That said, this is another huge fail on Tim Cook's chart. Jobs would not have announced a shipping time frame for a major product he wasn't 95% sure would be a GO. Tim Cook even acknowledged product would be constrained.

Why launch a constrained inventory product in peak selling season. It doesn't make sense. You want to sell as much as possible. The common sense thing would be to do one last speed bump and push out the new iMac in the spring when the manufacturing process has been perfected.
 
and of course a Mac Pro lineup that's slower than a Mac mini
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Is this true?

Also, are the old/current iMacs still available to but from Apple? If not, delay or not, I'm amazed Apple risked killing one model before the other one was available to ship.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Same reason LCD TVs have gotten thinner through the years - aesthetics. And that is a huge component of Apple's success. It's know for its design as much as its OSes. People here complain daily when Apple only updates internals of a product and not the case. If you hang here you've read the postss. So its a bit disingenuous to say you don't understand why the iMac design had to be updated to look 2013.

That said, this is another huge fail on Tim Cook's chart. Jobs would not have announced a shipping time frame for a major product he wasn't 95% sure would be a GO. Tim Cook even acknowledged product would be constrained.

Why launch a constrained inventory product in peak selling season. It doesn't make sense. You want to sell as much as possible. The common sense thing would be to do one last speed bump and push out the new iMac in the spring when the manufacturing process has been perfected.
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The only thing that's a fail is another "Steve wouldn't have blah blah blah" post. 🙄 if I remember correctly we saw a white iPhone 4 at 2010 WWDC yet it wasn't available until 2011. That was under Steve's watch.
 
Apple can't get a simple 27"-display right ? C'mon.

Why the hell did they choose such a process ? What's the point of laminating an LCD-panel to glass if the rest of the world produces top-notch displays of the same size without any problems and those Apple displays are still way beyond all usability and ergonomics guidelines. Wait another 2 months just to get a glossy display ?

Their current desktop lineup is a mess. Unbelievable.
 
madrag said:
May not be the main reason, but I bet it is one of the reasons.

Also this is a rumours site, it is expectable to comment/discuss on rumours and generate more rumours.
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But it's not rumors anymore. It's pure FUD. So without knowing any facts people here have made up their own facts that manufacturing issues because of a silly desire for thinness is causing delays. 🙄
 
Not too miffed about the delay except it means I'll have to wait longer to see the next iteration of the Thunderbolt/ACD.
 
iVoid said:
If they really wanted the display to be thin, then put the computer into the stand and just let the thin screen float in air. Like the old swing arm lamp iMac. 🙂
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I have an even better idea. How about if you put all the innards in a case and hide it under the desk..then you could just have a lovely slim monitor on top.
 
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