Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

stiligFox said:
So long as they are powerful enough to play http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/ then ill be happy :)
Click to expand...

Lol, you're following that as well ;).

I hope both 21 and 27 are released at the same time, I've dug myself into a whole with this bs waiting and let tech dictate my life. But I've come too far, June element would be very unhappy with oct element if he caved and but a BTO 27 at the current price point.

I'm also curious now to know if the improvements are going to be useless for me, but at the expense of other key features. "Unlimited powerrrrrrrrr" ... A thinner design worries me in that regard.

My blundering would have been saved had they have updated the Mac pro's with some love and future proofed them a bit more. Bought 2007 power pc tower and 2008 intel chips released. Which is fine, but I don't want to be phased out like that again.

PC isn't an option, all my purchased software (video editing/compositing) is for Mac....

All that personal first world crap said, happy to at least see a rumour!
 
Two things I really don't need in the new iMac:

1. Thinner translating into the it becoming even more of a desk bound laptop (ie. no ODD, more lower powered mobile components, weaker graphics processing, fewer ports)
2. More expensive

I might have to suck it up and by a refurbished 2011 iMac, though I wanted USB3. Well, at least we got news, even if it isn't all good.
 
I really hope that we're not just going to see "a rMBP in a box" - the mention of the extreme thinness worries me.

The 650M in the rMBP is awful - hopefully whatever they come up with will be able to handle a full desktop CPU and at the very least be able to manage a 680M in the high power model.

Keep it as cool and quiet as my 2006 (that is now desperately long in the tooth)and with at least the option for a 680M and I'll be buying right away.
 
Why does a desktop computer like an iMac need to made thinner? Apples obsession with thinness is becoming unhealthy. Who wouldn't mind the iphone5 to be thicker, same old thickness, but with more battery life.
 
HOMBRESINIESTRO said:
Any chance of a 3840×2160 display?

What if Appel introduced a retina iMac at 21.5" with a new form factor, i.e. thinner, without optical drive and ssd-only drives at a high price.

All the other iMac models would keep the same current form factor and better specs.

That would be parallel to what they did with the MBP. Those who want to live on the cutting edge will have to bleed on the optical drive and disc space.
Click to expand...

With the information out there in the public domain it doesn't seem likely there will be 4K resolution on an iMac this year. That said we are right on the edge of it pushing in to the mainstream. Prices would have to go up a lot for Apple to maintain the same profits though. There is a 28" 3840x2160 panel in production, but due to lack of demand it is very expensive to produce. Apple can of course change demand, but enough to take it from $40,000-$50,000 displays and in to a $2,000 iMac? Time will tell.
 
Last edited:
I dont fully understand the complete assembly of the imac but would laminating the screen to the front glass prevent the dust issue that is getting under there?

I hope when they say more expensive they dont mean a price like the 15 inch retina macbook pro. cause thats more then im willing to pay.
 
Rogifan said:
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.
Click to expand...

Don't follow your logic. An ipad is a portable device, so heavier, thicker updates might be a fair grievance. This is a desktop that sits on a desk and moves once or twice in its lifetime.
 
haruhiko said:
iMac's specs have never been "serious". If Apple wants it to be a serious desktop computer, they can even make it into a tower. A tower doesn't collapse your desk too. iMac has always been about form over function.
Click to expand...

I think the word "serious" is to vague for me to argue over, I would say I do "serious" business report writing on my iMac (I have to have VMWare and Windows for proprietary software and website, photo editing, Office suite, Acrobat Pro, and at least 12 browsing tabs open at once. all this does use all of my 4gigs of ram) I've made a living on my mac for 8 years (and counting), but I could see someone's point if they were saying that I'm not doing serious computational work such as rendering, video, or photography.

I think the point, that I agree with, and I believe I've read over and over with respect to the iMac is that the incremental gain that I (and others?) will receive from having and iMac that is 1/4 to 1/2 inch thinner is essentially ZERO.

In addition to the obvious chipset and ram improvements I'd like to see 2 HD options instead of CD/DVD drive. desktop-level graphics options.
 
Vantage Point said:
Why does a desktop computer like an iMac need to made thinner? Apples obsession with thinness is becoming unhealthy. Who wouldn't mind the iphone5 to be thicker, same old thickness, but with more battery life.
Click to expand...

I would way rather have the iPhone 5 at current thickness and current battery life. I love the way it makes my 4 feel obsolete when i pick it up. Honestly LTE and the new form factor are the biggest improvements for me.

I agree with the iMac issue personally, since its not a mobile, but the majority of customers just want to buy something that knocks their pc-bound friends' socks off when they come to visit, which a super thin desktop is sure to do.
 
How About - -

A genius at an Apple store last week told me that he thought the new iMacs would be thinner - jives with the latest rumor. He also speculated it would have no CD Drive - not good in my opinion. I have many old cd/dvds which would be impossible to use without an external drive.

I'm also distressed it appears they will stay in the 21 and 27 inch mode. I have a 2008 24 inch iMac. That size is perfect for me. 21 is too small & 27 too large for my desk cubby hole. It looks to me that any upgrade will not be what I want.
 
Piggie said:
Sorry, but this is "Exactly" what is wrong with Apple

If anything should "SHOUT" form over function, making a non mobile desktop computer (that is build for a serious fast task - computing) thinner just for aesthetic reasons, when it makes no difference to the products usefulness is just utterly idiotic.

Are desks collapsing due to the current iMac weight?
Can you get more iMacs on your desk if the shave another few mm off the thickness?
You you sit side on and think, if only the iMac was a bit thinner?
Do you have trouble positioning the iMac on your desk due to it's thickness?

The iMac is "Supposed" to be the General Public's serious computer (not Mac Pro) it's supposed to be technically excellent.

At the moment, due to Apples insistence on form over function it is limited to laptop chip sets as the case is too cramped and will overheat.
Internal components run HOT, yes they are within tolerance, but still hotter than they need to run. And all heat does is shorten the lifespan of electronics.

Some have suggested the constant yellow screen issues that have plagued the iMas for years is down to the heat/cramped conditions the screen has to sit within.

It just seem crazy to make something, technically worse for visual sake, esp when on a desktop the thickness is a non issue.

An iPhone and iPad and iPod all have to be limited technically in what they can do due to practical size and weight limitations, that is obvious.

An iMac should not be deliberately burdened by those limitations.
Do you really want iMacs always constricted to be not as good as they could be? Perhaps, who knows, even glued together to save that extra 0.5mm?
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. But how much do you bet people will praise them for this, and they'll sell out like crazy anyways. And more expensive? It's already too expensive to ask for a desktop.

This is why I built a top-of-the-line PC a few months ago, and I have never looked back. It has high quality parts and an SSD as well as an HDD, and it cost about the same as the base 21.5 inch iMac ($1200). A similarly built iMac would have been around $3500. Oh, and because of the High Air Flow case from Cooler Master, the thing stays pretty darn cool.
 
A thinner iMac makes me happy. It means that the likelihood of a real new Mac Pro next year is that much greater. This new iMac, if this rumor is true, is clearly not ever going to be an iMac Pro. Apple will really have to update the Mac Pro in a big way next year. :D:D
 
Nevzorus said:
Every member here just got a orgasm.
Click to expand...

No. We didn't.

----------
Bigdogfilms said:
Hey Tim, just wondering how thin is thin enough? How lite is lite enough? I buy Apple products because they are of the highest quality on the market. However, as I have noted with the iPhone 5, it is so light it feels cheeply made. It feels like its so fragile that it will crack easily. With the quality issues it has, perhaps it is cheeply made.
Hey Tim, Apple products are the best available. They have presence. Please don't follow the path the other guys have chosen. Lite, thin, plastic and glue? That's the other guys, not Apple.
Click to expand...

No, it's Apple, unfortunately.
 
Clown Boy said:
Lol... fail. Double down on security.
Click to expand...

Did it ever occur to you that Cook may have been referring to doubling down on security during the actual design process, keeping the information from competitors and they couldn't care less about leaks to consumers a couple of weeks before release that serve only to build interest and anticipation?
 
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMAC RUMOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a ligher note current gen iMac sales are now going to drop of a cliff.

1240265992468.jpg
 
GovtLawyer said:
A genius at an Apple store last week told me that he thought the new iMacs would be thinner - jives with the latest rumor. He also speculated it would have no CD Drive - not good in my opinion.
Click to expand...

A genius at an Apple store = someone with no more information than any of us. There's no point in quoting one unless he has an idea that one one else has had.
 
Marketing dept vs Engineering dept

I Have no doubt the new iMacs will look cool, especially with a thinner profile but I am in the same camp that believes thin shouldn't be the design target at all, not for the desktop market!! I'm hoping their success with the iPad, iPhone and MB airs haven't given them the impression that our desktop systems should be subject to the same design constraints because they are completely different categories entirely..

As with the iPhone 5, not a single rational person was complaining about the thickness and if true user experience was a priority they would have focused on a more powerful battery. They essentially solved a problem that didn't exist, and in doing so perpetuated a problem that still does (phone wont last a full day).

I am almost sure they also ditched the DvD drive as well, which would be another mistake as this should be an all-in-one goto device to get things done! If my laptop doesn't have one that's ok but I need to make sure my desktop can handle ANYTHING I need which includes ripping some DVDs when necessary without additional dongles, adapters and external drives getting in the way..
 
About time we saw some tangible evidence of life in the iMac. As can be evidenced by countless threads on this same pages, some stretching to >200 pages of comments, this product is eagerly anticipated by the community and WELL overdue. Although I am not sure I believe all the spec that has been rumoured, get a move on Apple!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back