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I'm definitely nay-saying the buttonless trackpad

tapping is horrid and prone to accidental clicks

Can't say I've ever had accidental clicks. It seems smart enough to not let a little brush cause a click. Besides I'm sure they will improve it if they remove the clicking.
 
Cheaper 20" iMac could replace Mac Mini, with new design 24" and 28" models replacing current models. Could launch at WWDC to target education and back to school sales.

Not a bad idea. They could make it dual core too I guess. I just hope they don't release a plastic iMac. We're past plastic Apple, please don't bring it back in more than just the 5c.

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How would this make it less expensive?

Huh? Aren't Apple's chips like 20 dollars to them? Instead of 200+ for intel ones? It won't happen though.
 
Haha low-cost? Reminds me of how low-cost iPhone 5c is. But colours would be nice, of course.
 
It seems to me that Apple is starting to work on making everything have a low cost equivalent. If I remember correctly Steve Jobs once said that he doesn't want to have a low cost version that cuts corners. He wants to have a full featured experience that you might not be able to get in the lower cost.
 
Just a couple of observations...

The "buttonless" trackpad refered to most likely refers to a new design that omits the physical button actuator assembly, allowing the trackpad unit itself to become considerably thinner (relative to current thickness of course). It is highly unlikely that the end user experience will change at all. Everyone will still have the option for click to click, as well as tap to click. The click will be triggered by a pressure sensor instead of a spring loaded physical actuator - that's all, so nobody needs to get their panties in a bunch over it.

The fanless design will include air movement structures within the base that naturally move air efficiently according to temperature chsnges within the enclosure. The machine will most likely use a y-series Broadwell chip that is already designed to be fanless, and is the follow-up to the y-series Haswell chip that is already available. It will provide gains in battery life with only very modest performance improvements over the current MBA line, but most likely with the top end Broadwell integrated graphics so this will improve.

My only major concern is the connectivity the machine will have. This may be the first laptop without standard USB. We may find ourselves in a situation where the new 3.1 micro USB connector is used, or even several lightning connector ports requiring an adapter, as well as possibly a new MagSafe standard (though now that I think about it, MagSafe 2 is pretty thin)...and what about Thunderbolt?? The base of this machine is going to most likely be as thin as an iPad Air, with the screen flip up being considerably thinner than that.

It is going to be a work of industrial and technological art, and I have no worries about the performance of the machine, but I hope the connectivity is not further sacrificed than on the already slightly limited 11" Air...
 
I want to know more about this cheaper iMac.

A 20", glassless (yay!), 4x USB3, no display out, no Thunderbolt, bargain basement i5-4570R, nouveau eMac would be a killer at the right price.
 
Cheaper for them to manufacture but not really cheaper to buy.

edit -- I think I may have misread your comment.

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Apple didn't chase the low end in this case. They just replaced the iPhone 5 with something cheaper to produce that offered something they never offered before.

People were expecting something different :/

He was clearly being sarcastic


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I think the 5C didn't do as well as expected because it wasn't really that affordable and there was an expectation that it would be. The name didn't help that expectation.

low price = iPhone 5c = fail
 
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The fanless design will include air movement structures within the base that naturally move air efficiently according to temperature chsnges within the enclosure. The machine will most likely use a y-series Broadwell chip that is already designed to be fabless,....


I agree. I think what many people fail to understand is that a fan blowing heat out of a computer is basically blowing battery power out the exhaust vents. The energy to heat all that air is totally wasted and comes from a battery.

A computer with now fan is using a higher fraction of the battery power for computing. Think in terms of compute power per battery re-charge. You really do not want to use up 1/2 the battery power to heat the air.
 
Neat.. So apple can do a lower cost iMac, reason ??

people may not be able to afford a iMac, but they can afford a Macbook pro Retina?.

I don't see that logic.... $1,299 seems ok

Make the iMac Retina, and Apple will probable in in Gold.
 
No. I bet they place a temperature sensor on the CPU and adjust the clock speed so the temperature never goes over some limit. Do you really think they would let it self destruct?

Exactly. Like Apple would just release something like a fanless computer without testing it at high loads. :rolleyes:
 
I'm joining in on the not having a button bandwagon, I personally hate having tap to click on.

Infact, on my MBA recently its decided that once in a while when I do tap, its a click, and thats annoying in itself! I think its one of the few things that should not go on a laptop.

Also, no fan - Prepare for kids buying this laptop, running hardcore games and wondering why their machines melted inside.

However a low cost iMac interests me, how would it be done and what would it (not) have?

How on earth do you drag files if you don't have a button?
 
Leaked picture of the low end iMac:

Image

I'd be happy if they brought back some colour to the iMac. Absolutely loved my original colour iMac and still love the design today. 20" plastic coloured iMac would be very popular IMO. Save aluminium design for the more pro focused bigger screen versions.
 
I'm laughing so much at people thinking Apple will just remove the fan and not check it or optimise it for the heat just letting their machines burn with heavy use, assuming no one will try to push it to the edge. It wouldn't be any different than removing the fan on the current MacBooks guys. Of course they are doing a whole new redesign with that in mind.

However, I would prefer it being a mm thicker than losing a button. The physical response I think is essential especially if you are highlighting or dragging files, drawing with the trackpad etc. Benefit vs. Drawback is just not worth it. (thinner vs no physical clicking)
 
No fan?

Im not sure how that would handle in real world use. Does the surface have a fan. If no, then i guess its likely that the next air might have no fan.
 
I like the physical response of a trackpad with a button.

I would have said the same thing until I got a macbook pro a couple of years back and now pretty much only use tap to click. Actually pressing a button now feels kind of clumsy to me. However on the Dell and HP laptops at work tap to click and multi-touch is so poorly implemented that I have to turn it off and use the buttons. Apple's track pad technology is miles ahead of anything any other manufacturer is producing so if anyone can make this work well its Apple.
 
Everyone needs to stop freaking about the buttonless trackpad. It will still click. Apple wouldn't be dumb enough to remove the click.

https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/21/buttonless-trackpad-patent/
 
Not kuonna happen

With display technology advances the past two or three years, Apple could just include larger displays in existing MBAs. The 11-inch model should be able to easily house a 12-inch screen, maybe larger. It would have at least 1440 × 900 (16:10) pixels, more likely 1600 × 900 (16:9) or more. That’s around basic “Retina” quality, since laptop screens are viewed from farer away than handheld devices like phones and tablets.

A 11.6-inch or 12.1-inch screen with the pixel size of the 15-inch MBP could have 2240 × 1260 or 2280 × 1280 pixels (16:9), which are both unusual values.

As for a cheaper iMac, I thought the iMac was introduced as the entry level line of desktop computers. They won’t make it considerably cheaper, but – as usual – update its specs to reflect the existing price point.
 
How on earth do you drag files if you don't have a button?

There is no longer need to drag files or anything else. It's all about swiping and magic. "Dragging" is so 1990's. Do you drag your behind? No, you swipe it gently using four finger gesture. It's magical.
 
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