How often does Apple update/release iMacs?

Cogi said:

Im getting ready to buy a fully upgraded 27" iMac in 2-3 weeks.

I just wanted know if Apple would update it anytime soon. Also do you think they will release a completely new one with a different design anytime soon or is the current design here to stay?

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Looking over the last few years - Apple has typically released new iMacs in the fall.

Cogi said:

Im getting ready to buy a fully upgraded 27" iMac in 2-3 weeks.

I just wanted know if Apple would update it anytime soon. Also do you think they will release a completely new one with a different design anytime soon or is the current design here to stay?

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The iMac will probably not be updated until September/October. And I doubt we'd see a redesign this year, the current design is only a year and a half old.

There won't be a new design. New iMac will most likely arrive late this year.
I predict Apple will put in the refreshed Haswell with slightly better performance/power consumption, Thunderbolt 2 ports and maybe Nvidia's new 800-series GPU with lower power consumption. I think 2014 iMac will most likely be a minor one.

Yeah this years update will be a very minor one. Sticking with Haswell and the 800m series which will be rebranded 700m series. The 880m is a 780m with a slightly higher clock speed and 8 GB of VRAM.

Though with only getting a Haswell refresh, Apple may quietly update the iMac to those chips to bridge the gap to Broadwell.

Either way it won't bring a noticeable difference in performance.

Truthfulie said:

There won't be a new design. New iMac will most likely arrive late this year.
I predict Apple will put in the refreshed Haswell with slightly better performance/power consumption, Thunderbolt 2 ports and maybe Nvidia's new 800-series GPU with lower power consumption. I think 2014 iMac will most likely be a minor one.

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As specs conern. I guess you're right! 2014 iMac update will happen in Q2 2014 but Broadwell iMac may be announced in Q1 2015.

Based on the Buyer's Guide here


Apple doesn't refresh the iMac for some time, seems to be in the 280 day range, and given that we're only in around 159 days it still may be some time before an update comes.

maflynn said:

Based on the Buyer's Guide here
View attachment 463191

Apple doesn't refresh the iMac for some time, seems to be in the 280 day range, and given that we're only in around 159 days it still may be some time before an update comes.

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I think this year around it will be a bit less than 280. Because the gpu and cpu of this years upgrade will be out pretty soon. SO I suspect those will be the only new features in the next imac and no point waiting until the hardware is 6 months old. So Im guessing we will see a refresh around summer time.

iMcLovin said:

I think this year around it will be a bit less than 280. Because the gpu and cpu of this years upgrade will be out pretty soon. SO I suspect those will be the only new features in the next imac and no point waiting until the hardware is 6 months old. So Im guessing we will see a refresh around summer time.

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I've the same opinion. BUT, Broadwell iMac may be announced in Q1 2015. Do you agree?

ioannis2005gr said:

I've the same opinion. BUT, Broadwell iMac may be announced in Q1 2015. Do you agree?

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could be lets hope they shorten the update rate

iMcLovin said:

I think this year around it will be a bit less than 280. Because the gpu and cpu of this years upgrade will be out pretty soon. SO I suspect those will be the only new features in the next imac and no point waiting until the hardware is 6 months old. So Im guessing we will see a refresh around summer time.

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What CPU and GPU upgrades do you expect in the near future?

Haswell +100Mhz and 800m

businezguy said:

What CPU and GPU upgrades do you expect in the near future?

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As others have mentioned, the Intel Haswell chipset will be getting a refresh, which will basically just be a 100 MHz more on all chips. Furthermore, Nvidia will be rolling out "new" 800m series GPU's which will be rebranded 700m series cards (680MX was of the same architecture as 700m cards too), but again, with a higher clock rate. Performance will be around 12% on GPU, and 7-10% on CPU if my calculations are correct. Nvidia may release an 880MX later on, which would then be running on the Maxwell architecture (Hoping!).

casperes1996 said:

As others have mentioned, the Intel Haswell chipset will be getting a refresh, which will basically just be a 100 MHz more on all chips. Furthermore, Nvidia will be rolling out "new" 800m series GPU's which will be rebranded 700m series cards (680MX was of the same architecture as 700m cards too), but again, with a higher clock rate. Performance will be around 12% on GPU, and 7-10% on CPU if my calculations are correct. Nvidia may release an 880MX later on, which would then be running on the Maxwell architecture (Hoping!).

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THe 8gb vram on the 880 MX, even if its the same card as the 780mx is still also a nice upgrade, for those of us that use After effects. So its a welcomming upgrade.

Both the new intel cpu and the nvidia gpu will come out 2nd quarter of 2014, so I assume apple will plan to release a new imac with only those upgrades around the same time. I see no reason for them not to. Usually when they wait to update is when they have bigger plans, like new design or whatever. I can´t see what else they can possibly have in plans for this update, so it will be a silent incremental upgrade. But Ill buy it, its enough of an upgrade to be a decent difference from the late 2012 imac.

Truthfulie said:

There won't be a new design. New iMac will most likely arrive late this year.
I predict Apple will put in the refreshed Haswell with slightly better performance/power consumption, Thunderbolt 2 ports and maybe Nvidia's new 800-series GPU with lower power consumption. I think 2014 iMac will most likely be a minor one.

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As someone with a Late-09 iMac planning to upgrade in a year or so, I guess I'll have to decide between the upgrade in the Fall, or likely a more significant upgrade in 2015...

GPU, not exactly

iMcLovin said:

THe 8gb vram on the 880 MX, even if its the same card as the 780mx is still also a nice upgrade, for those of us that use After effects. So its a welcomming upgrade.

Both the new intel cpu and the nvidia gpu will come out 2nd quarter of 2014, so I assume apple will plan to release a new imac with only those upgrades around the same time. I see no reason for them not to. Usually when they wait to update is when they have bigger plans, like new design or whatever. I can´t see what else they can possibly have in plans for this update, so it will be a silent incremental upgrade. But Ill buy it, its enough of an upgrade to be a decent difference from the late 2012 imac.

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Well, the 780 never had an MX model, only an M model. The X was specifying that it was an under clocked version of the desktop model (680MX). 780m though, was running the GK104 chip, same as the 680MX, and so will the 880M. An 880MX would run GM104 or 107. I don't really see the purpose of 8GB though. I mean even with After Effects, you could impossibly use that much VRAM. If the GPU were like 4x the speed, 8 gigs could be used, but the GPU can't utilize all that memory anyway. If After Effects is trying to push 8 gigs of data on VRAM, Adobe are idiots. I mean, at that point you might as well put the data in system memory, and transfer if to the GPU as needed, as the latency wouldn't be that much bigger, as the 880M is running on a 256-bit interface, with an effective clock of 5000MHz. (Sufficient for between 2-5 gigs. 5 Really pushing the latency).

ioannis2005gr said:

i've the same opinion. But, broadwell imac may be announced in q1 2015. Do you agree?

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q2 2015.

casperes1996 said:

As others have mentioned, the Intel Haswell chipset will be getting a refresh, which will basically just be a 100 MHz more on all chips. Furthermore, Nvidia will be rolling out "new" 800m series GPU's which will be rebranded 700m series cards (680MX was of the same architecture as 700m cards too), but again, with a higher clock rate. Performance will be around 12% on GPU, and 7-10% on CPU if my calculations are correct. Nvidia may release an 880MX later on, which would then be running on the Maxwell architecture (Hoping!).

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So what is the scoop for 800m series this year??? All still staying Keplar based?

Pretty much

Nismo73 said:

So what is the scoop for 800m series this year??? All still staying Keplar based?

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I know for a fact that the high end ones, like 880m will still be Kepler, and still the Kepler GK104 core. As for the other models, they might adopt a slower Maxwell, I'm not quite sure, but I doubt it. The main problem in making Maxwell available on these cards, according to Nvidia, is manufacturing trouble with the 20nm process. The clock speed is increased by 131 MHz. See this article : http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-...d-rebranded-gtx-780m-8-gb-vram-faster-clocks/
Note that the article states the boost clock as 933. This is a typo, and should be 993 MHz.

I'm hoping to see an 880MX later on when 20nm is ready, and I don't think it's that unlikely, but whether Apple would wait for it, or perhaps upgrade to it later on, I don't know.

casperes1996 said:

Well, the 780 never had an MX model, only an M model. The X was specifying that it was an under clocked version of the desktop model (680MX). 780m though, was running the GK104 chip, same as the 680MX, and so will the 880M. An 880MX would run GM104 or 107. I don't really see the purpose of 8GB though. I mean even with After Effects, you could impossibly use that much VRAM. If the GPU were like 4x the speed, 8 gigs could be used, but the GPU can't utilize all that memory anyway. If After Effects is trying to push 8 gigs of data on VRAM, Adobe are idiots. I mean, at that point you might as well put the data in system memory, and transfer if to the GPU as needed, as the latency wouldn't be that much bigger, as the 880M is running on a 256-bit interface, with an effective clock of 5000MHz. (Sufficient for between 2-5 gigs. 5 Really pushing the latency).

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Well, the reason AE is using a lot of VRAM is nothing else than bad code I would think. Any 3d package would run fine with even 2gb. But AE on my imac with a 2gb vram (680MX), the program is out of VRAM when I start it up, if I do as much as have a browser open or opened since I booted the system. So, the only reason I want the VRAM is because I know that AE has crap code and Adobe won´t be fixing it anytime soon.
Im no expert in GPU cards, didnt know what the difference between M and MX was