2012 iMac Said to Carry Thinner Design, Alleged Internals Photo Surfaces

[Anuba]

Oh sure, useless...

*resumes watching Alien DVD collection that cost me far less than the collective iTunes versions would have*

I hate asking "Who does that??!" questions like my way of doing things must be the norm for all of humanity, but... I get why people watch movies on laptops and iPads due to the portability/proximity, I get why people watch movies on Mac Minis plugged into TVs or projectors... but what's up with watching movies on iMac? You sit down at your desk with popcorn and watch a movie there? If you watch a movie with friends you pull up more office chairs and huddle around a desk?

Anyway, I used Handbrake to rip my entire DVD collection to my NAS drive a long time ago... bonus material, commentary tracks and all. Having all your movies instantly accessible in Plex sure beats dealing with discs and tapes. I did that for 42 years with 45's and LPs and CDs and DVDs and cassettes and VHS tapes and floppies and DAT tapes. I did my part and I'm free to never fiddle with those pesky things again.

 

[Broseidon]

So, are we guessing that the new iMac will look something similar to a scaled up iPad, in terms of shape, with the curved edges?

Sounds great!

 

[CWallace]

Anyway, I used Handbrake to rip my entire DVD collection to my NAS drive a long time ago...

As do I.

With the ODD in my iMacs.

I'm not familiar with what the transfer rate of a DVD is when it's being ripped, but will it be as high with a portable unit on USB2/USB3 compared to a built-in model on SATA2/3?

Because that would be another inconvenience to have to wait longer to rip a DVD due to a slower data connection.

 

[Neodym]

I wonder what is meant by it being so thin from a side profile that one cannot gauge its thickness. What are we talking here, less than a quarter of an inch?

If so, that would tell me, that there would be no more HDD availability and only SSD for storage. Then the next challenge would be the fans, how thin can they make a fan and still have it dissapaite heat efficiently?

Well - actually the new iMac could be thicker than the current model, just not at the sides. From the text I imagine the new machine being as thin on the sides as - say - the lid of the current rMBP, perhaps a tad thicker to allow for the SD card slot.

The actual computer is then kind of "flanged" to the middle on the back, together with the "voluminous" hard drive, Ram, CPU/GPU and fans. That way you can cool the hot components directly on location and leave the screen alone (in the (r)MacBooks the screen doesn't have a fan as well). Cover it all with a wedge-like back á la MacBook Air, only a little stronger sloped towards the middle, and voilá: The new iMac - thin on the edges and (barely visible) thick around the middle of the back.

At least that's how I would interpret that "teardrop-like" description...

 

[iMouse]

thinner means that they are probably getting rid of the dvd drive. I can understand this move on laptops, but not on a desktop.

Yeah, that was my first thought too. While USB/FireWire/ThunderBolt external drives exist, I'm not really impressed with hanging external peripherals off of my Macs for simple things like optical media.

On the other side of the argument, I can't see Apple not including an optical drive unless this thing is crazy thin like the RMBP. Optical media is on the way out, but it is just still too early to end it on all products across the board.

My biggest concern is that Apple could potentially push models with only Intel integrated graphics. Sorry, I refuse to buy any Mac with only Intel integrated graphics.

 

[Four oF NINE]

I really want it to look like this one
Image


But why the hell would they make them more expensive???

If it looks anything like that, I am so getting one

 

[tWoSour]

Please just release them already! My '06 iMac (original Intel) sounds like a vacuum, and is hanging on for dear life!

 

[Swordylove]

I understand it up to a point. IMO, they reached that point with most of their products a couple of years ago. But now they're becoming like anorexics with body dysmorphia who see disgusting blubber in the mirror when everyone else sees them for the bony stick figure they are, or Michael Jackson who still saw a huge nose even when it had been reduced to a pinhead.

Best comment in the thread.

 

[saxofunk]

The glued on front glass just made it very expensive to break, but also likely points to an improved display (retina?). Hopefully, they don't glue the glass+display assembly to the rest of the machine or it will be impossible to service this machine without a $1000 deductible (the current 27" display is about this much retail replacement). Currently a large part of the iMac's thickness is the display and it's housings, so if they are able to make that whole assembly drastically thinner, there is no reason to keep the rest of the machine thick. If say, the display went from about 1" thick to 1/2" thick, then the whole system would dramatically shrink, without losing any component space.

I've been waiting for Apple to put in 2.5" drives in place of the 3.5" factor. It's one of the few things keeping the iMac thicker and heavier. With Thunderbolt on board, they see no reason to have internal capacities over 1TB is my guess. Also, the 2.5" drive could be in addition to an mSATA or the 500MB/s interface that they're using for the rMBP/MBA. This would put the internal storage space maxed out at 768GB SSD + 1TB HDD. Could also point to internal time machine options.

The iMac is made to serve a broad spectrum of users from Facebookers to Gamers to Photo/Video/Audio Prosumers. It has to be the do everything Mac, so I doubt the power will be crippled. The base model will still be little more than a 13" MBP slapped onto a 21.5" screen, but the higher end could be much much more. Since the current maxed out 27" iMac scores a little better than the base model Mac Pro, I'm guessing that is where the horsepower will show. With a retina display 27", a 2GB graphics card, 32GB+ RAM and 500MB/s SSD on board, the thing will be blistering fast, without too much heat.

If there is no need to build a thicker machine, and dropping components allows other parts to get more expensive (SSD, GPU, CPU, TB, Retina), and doing so keeps the price of an improved performance machine closer to the previous price, then of course Apple's going to do it. Look at recent history, the rMBP has almost no extraneous components.

 

[Dr McKay]

I buy Apple products because they are of the highest quality on the market.

Actually for Computers Asus gets that title.

 

[GizmoDVD]

I'd give more credence to that argument if Apple was dropping Blu-ray readers, not DVD readers.

Anyway, you won't convince me otherwise, nor will I convince you otherwise, so... *shrug*

It's clear my next Mac will have the feature set of a "portable" whatever model I buy, so might as well just get a 13" Haswell MacBook Air and hang it off the back of my ATD and recover half my desk.

DVD sales are in the toilets. Retailers are reducing space for them and increasing in other department (tablets and phones).

Just get an external DVD drive. They are pretty cheap.

 

[Cygnus311]

So in other words, no chance of a desktop GPU. lol

 

[gotluck]

Actually for Computers Asus gets that title.

By what metric? Just curious.

I've been very pleased with my wife's Asus laptop and my gpu.

 

[iMouse]

So in other words, no chance of a desktop GPU. lol

Well, there never really was. The laptop GPUs are getting much, much better at competing with the desktop models. Shrinking die sizes and lesser energy consumption are driving higher performance GPUs to the portable arena.

 

[gotluck]

Well, there never really was. The laptop GPUs are getting much, much better at competing with the desktop models. Shrinking die sizes and lesser energy consumption are driving higher performance GPUs to the portable arena.

However they cannot be upgraded and that is the clincher for me.
I'd also argue that desktop cards are faster and have less problems with heat.

 

[koppie644]

Haswell does not boost performance significantly for desktops

for ultrabooks, another story

I'm very happy about the news, but there are some things which are very annoying:
1.) The new iMacs will be more expensive. Okay, it's "new" tech and a new model, but the tech is contemporary and a higher price is not suitable.
2.) If the 27' iMac comes later, for example in November or December, the Haswell upgrade could be happen just 4 month after it. Will it be worth it?

 

[Anuba]

And let's not forget when the 3rd gen iPad came out people complained because it was ever so slightly thicker and heavier. No you can't compare and iPad to a desktop but it seems people whine about things being too thin until Apple releases something thicker and then they whine about that too.

Yes, there's a lot of damned if you do/don't going around, but let's not confuse apples with oranges. iPads and iPhones are mobile products and every ounce and millimeter counts. An iMac is a desktop computer that's likely to spend its entire lifespan sitting on the same desk. Usually pushed up against a wall so that nobody will never even see how thick it is. Why focus on that aspect? It's like making ultralight carbon fibre toilets, the damn thing will be bolted to the bathroom floor anyway. "But it's sooo light!" Mkay great, I'll call you if carrying toilets around with maximum comfort and ease becomes very important to me.

 

[dynafrom]

Well, there never really was. The laptop GPUs are getting much, much better at competing with the desktop models. Shrinking die sizes and lesser energy consumption are driving higher performance GPUs to the portable arena.

Where did you get this idea from? The newest GTX680m is about the equivalent of a 650Ti for desktops. Your kidding right?

 

[Icaras]

I've been calling out 'thinner redesign' all year but there's always a fellow or two who call blasphemy.

This is Apple folks. Apple. Not HP. Not Dell. Not Asus. And certainly not Alienware. Think different.

Even so, they'll engineer some nice specs out of this. Just look no further than the retina MacBook Pro to see how well Apple can pull off a high powered machine in such a tiny chassis.

 

[Glassed Silver]

New design!?

Image


A price hike could be apple making SSD standard.

Yeha, no more 1 or 2TB option anymore

Move all yer stuff to the iCloud.
Or enjoy those nice Thunderbolt drives that are so cheap now!

/s

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[DMVillain]

I really want it to look like this one
Image


But why the hell would they make them more expensive???

Why? As I sit and look at the front of my 2011 iMac, the front looks just like that. I'm not gonna carry it anywhere, so why make it paper thin?

 

[Khadgar]

The point of an all-in-one is simply to have your computer and monitor in one. That's it. Whether you hook external devices into it or not is your choice. If the point of an all-in-one was to have all probable necessary hardware components in the computer then they'd have a built-in printer, scanner, and DSL/cable modem. Apple simply over time determines what's necessary for a base computer and ships that. People griped about the original iMacs not having a floppy drive and these weird small rectangular ports no one heard of. Today we don't use floppy drives and all computers have USB ports.

I currently have a 2006 Mac Pro (and a couple of iMacs elsewhere). I can't easily upgrade my CPU on my Mac Pro, but it's possible to replace the CPU on an iMac too if you've got the nerve. I can upgrade the video card on my Mac Pro, but the choices are quite slim and not much better than what I have. My main drive is a very small SSD just big enough to house the OS, my programs, and some temporary files on the desktop. I have a second drive for downloads and temporary storage and the third is for a backup of OS X in case things go wrong. I then have a DAS which stores all of my permanent storage. When I upgrade to an iMac the SSD in it will be big enough to take care of the uses of the first two drives. I'll have an external for my OS X backup, and my DAS will work just like it does now. I have two DVD burners in the computer. One came with the computer, and the other one came out of the PC I replaced it with. I can't remember the last time I actually used them. If the new iMac doesn't have a disc drive I'll have an external one somewhere I can plug into the iMac only when I need it. CPU, GPU, storage and the disc drive really are non-issues here. Seriously, we tower users are laughing at your complaints about having to use external storage because despite having all that space inside we still use external components.

Now, what should be an issue and worth discussing is whether Apple will have RAM on the board or maintain user upgrades. It somewhat makes sense to embed RAM on notebooks, but I don't see where it makes sense doing it on a desktop computer. I typically buy computers and upgrade RAM gradually as it becomes more affordable or when I need it. Apple charges exorbitant prices for RAM, and if soldered I'll need to max the RAM out at purchase. That could lead to huge unnecessary upfront costs or could make buying the computer in the first place not worth the extra cost.

But despite my pliantness toward removal of a disc drive I'm firmly in the camp where I don't see where it makes too much sense to make the iMac thinner just for the sake of making it thinner. I've never looked at my iMac and wished it was thinner because most of the time I can't even see how thick it is in the first place. It comes out of the box and is sat on the desk where it's to be used and rarely moved an inch. There's ventillation and heat problems that need solving. I've actually touched an iMac before and nearly scorched my hand because it was too hot. I've had two iMacs burn brown spots into the screen. Those faults are what needs improvement, and it's difficult to see if those problems will be solved with a thinner case.

 

[kyrrebs]

Unless this picture is a complete fake, which I'd like to think it isn't, it means new iMacs are being assembled and we should see more photos emerge imminently!

If we see no further rumors or pictures in the upcoming week, I think we can assume this was a hoax and that no new iMacs are coming.

Fingers crossed this is only the beginning for a rush of iMac-rumors up until release on Oct 23rd, and that it all turns out to be (a dream come) true!

 

[burningrave101]

thinner means that they are probably getting rid of the dvd drive. I can understand this move on laptops, but not on a desktop.

How many hours a day do you think people spend using a dvd drive? If you looked at the numbers I'd be surprised if the average person uses their dvd drive once every couple of weeks. Most everything nowadays is going digital download so very few have a real reason to use a dvd drive on any sort of day to day basis.

And for those that need one you simply go buy an external one for $30 or so. The full size 5.25" desktop DVD and Bluray drives which you can buy an external enclosure for are also much faster and offer better quality reading and burns than the laptop slimline ones used in the iMac.

 

[faroZ06]

"The redesigned iMac is said to be considerably thinner than the current form factor, with the machine's thickness almost impossible to gauge when viewed from the side. The curved rear shell is also said to appear more like a water droplet than the squared-off design seen in the current model."

Wait, doesn't it run hotter if it's thinner? And I'm guessing it's going to be even harder to open than ever before