Analyst: iMac and MacBook Updates Coming Within Weeks?

[Buzz Bumble]

*Looks at corners of Aluminium iMac ...

*Checks corners ...

"Yup, they're rounded".

The corners are rounded, but I'm guessing they mean rounding off the front edges of the case slightly (I haven't got one to check if those are rounded on the current model - from memory they are quite sharp).

Define "making more money"
I'm hoping Apple gets the base iMac to $999 and throws in some beefier specs like 4gig ram and a high end dual-core processor or low end quad.

To quote a TV advert here in New Zealand: "You're dreaming, mate." You may as well wish for a 16-core iMac with 18TB Ram for $15, and not forgetting the 50" display.

 

[swagi]

Noooooooo

Please, pretty please, Apple stop making cheaper machines. I want solid hardware and I'm in the market for mid to high-range price. You currently do not deliver to me, as I don't need a Mac Pro.

And stop this 'thinner' thing, will ya. FWIW I just want a new desktop machine that stacks up pretty well compared to current mid range PCs, will last me a little up to 5 years and - hrmpf - uses a real DESKTOP processor and a decent DESKTOP gfx card.

Can't be that hard, or am I wrong?

I don't mind, if the iMac got an inch thicker, as long as it delivers!

 

[Bubba Satori]

I admit, I didn't finish reading before I started replying - but do you explain the differences between a PC and Mac or do you simply go by hardware? If that's the case then I guess it doesn't matter what phone you buy, or what appliance you buy becuase bigger is better right?

Nope. First rule of selling computers is NO GIGGLEHURTZ. Don't talk to the customer about technical specs. Their eyes will glaze over and the sometimes faint to the floor, possibly injuring themselves and my chance for a sale.

You talk to them about what they want to do with their puter and fast it is relative to other computers, but no numbers.

 

[roocka]

Do away with imac already..

Apple needs to get rid of the iMac already and just start manufacturing the dockable tablet that I have seen mockups of.. That would stimulate Apple and it's stock price as everybody who has a current iMac would want one. I know I would..

 

[Bubba Satori]

Please, pretty please, Apple stop making cheaper machines. I want solid hardware and I'm in the market for mid to high-range price. You currently do not deliver to me, as I don't need a Mac Pro.

And stop this 'thinner' thing, will ya. FWIW I just want a new desktop machine that stacks up pretty well compared to current mid range PCs, will last me a little up to 5 years and - hrmpf - uses a real DESKTOP processor and a decent DESKTOP gfx card.

Can't be that hard, or am I wrong?

I don't mind, if the iMac got an inch thicker, as long as it delivers!

They have to stop making less expensive computers because you don't wan't one ? Can't you just not buy the less expensive Mac and leave it for poorly paid schmucks like me ?

Agree with you about the iMac size.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Apple needs to get rid of the iMac already and just start manufacturing the dockable tablet that I have seen mockups of.. That would stimulate Apple and it's stock price as everybody who has a current iMac would want one. I know I would..

You're joking, aren't you ?

 

[MorphingDragon]

There aren't, actually. I wanted one for an HTPC, and no dice.

Play a BD movie? There's no OS X software player. Apple has not licensed the necessary software and patents to do it, and no third party has stepped up to do so yet. Apple has also not implemented some of the necessary DRM and hardware control necessary to get a Blu-ray license (part of the infamous "bag of hurt"). You can easily connect a BD-R drive if all you want is storage, and presumably one day there will be a software player from Apple or a third party.

Still fewer than 5% of PCs ship with Blu-ray drives. It's not really taking off. 4/8GB on optical storage is sufficient for most people; the desire for watching the discs on computers just isn't there.

For the most part, it's a hollow complaint. There are people with legitimate needs for BD authoring, but clearly not enough to make it a serious problem for Apple.

You just said you didn't really want one...

There is one in the PS3.

 

[swagi]

They have to stop making less expensive computers because you don't wan't one ? Can't you just not buy the less expensive Mac and leave it for poorly paid schmucks like me ?

Agree with you about the iMac size.

Nope, That's a misunderstanding. I should phrase out: I don't mind, if they sell cheaper iMacs that suck monkeys balls in my eyes. Yeah, every new OS X user is good.

But I don't see the point in shelling out more than 2k on a 24-incher, that still uses laptop parts and lacks BluRay.

Problem is, Apple is losing the educated mid-range. They don't care, as they sell more cheap machines with high margins. But let me tell you, Darth Ballmer and Windows 7 are heavily teasing me to the dark side with that shiny Core i5 and i7 desktop chips. I still could try and build a hackintosh with that - but honestly I'm getting pretty OS agnostic, as each has their own caveat. (Just for interest sake I was so pissed to have to dig in my user library, just to find my iWeb-data hidden in Library/Application Support after having to delete the whole PPC machine to go back to Tiger, as it's better on PPC than Leopard).

 

[Eidorian]

Nope, That's a misunderstanding. I should phrase out: I don't mind, if they sell cheaper iMacs that suck monkeys balls in my eyes. Yeah, every new OS X user is good.

But I don't see the point in shelling out more than 2k on a 24-incher, that still uses laptop parts and lacks BluRay.

Problem is, Apple is losing the educated mid-range. They don't care, as they sell more cheap machines with high margins. But let me tell you, Darth Ballmer and Windows 7 are heavily teasing me to the dark side with that shiny Core i5 and i7 desktop chips. I still could try and build a hackintosh with that - but honestly I'm getting pretty OS agnostic, as each has their own caveat. (Just for interest sake I was so pissed to have to dig in my user library, just to find my iWeb-data hidden in Library/Application Support after having to delete the whole PPC machine to go back to Tiger, as it's better on PPC than Leopard).

I had to do a double take on your earlier reply myself.

It will be very tiresome for Apple to trot out Penryn (or a MCM of it) one more time at those prices. It's tough when you can get a Core i7 920 or now Core i5/i7 8xx system for much less.

You want the Apple but the hardware is such a turn off. Core 2 makes for fine budget machiens but we're buying Macs here.

 

[Eric S.]

Please, pretty please, Apple stop making cheaper machines. I want solid hardware and I'm in the market for mid to high-range price. You currently do not deliver to me, as I don't need a Mac Pro.

And stop this 'thinner' thing, will ya. FWIW I just want a new desktop machine that stacks up pretty well compared to current mid range PCs, will last me a little up to 5 years and - hrmpf - uses a real DESKTOP processor and a decent DESKTOP gfx card.

Can't be that hard, or am I wrong?

Hear, hear.

Apple Computer Inc -> Apple Inc. was more than just a name change.

 

[iMacmatician]

It will be very tiresome for Apple to trot out Penryn (or a MCM of it) one more time at those prices. It's tough when you can get a Core i7 920 or now Core i5/i7 8xx system for much less.

Totally agreed, but how many people thought the last iMac upgrade would get such a small CPU bump?

Just being pessimistic here…I'm actually a bit more optimistic about Clarksfield now due to coinciding release dates, who knows, maybe there's a small chance the line will have dual-core Penryn and quad-core Clarksfield?

 

[Eidorian]

Totally agreed, but how many people thought the last iMac upgrade would get such a small CPU bump?

Just being pessimistic here…I'm actually a bit more optimistic about Clarksfield now due to coinciding release dates, who knows, maybe there's a small chance the line will have dual-core Penryn and quad-core Clarksfield?

Clarkfield could make a big splash right now. Move budget Core 2 iMac with ION 2 under $999 and place some 45/55W Clarkfield iMacs higher up. Overclock the Extreme one and profit.

 

[Tyr.]

Darth Ballmer and Windows 7 are heavily teasing me to the dark side with that shiny Core i5 and i7 desktop chips.

You're living in the past, the performance race is over. What we have now is the challenge of actually utilizing the power of the components we have by reengineering the software (as Apple is doing with OpenCL and GCD). Now you might be in the top 2% of users who actually need more power but for the other 98% adding more processor power is going to do nothing.

 

[eyehop]

yay, the thinner the better. I'm praying for the OLED feature-jump to happen sooner than later. I don't agree with the desktop hardware oriented folks. Putting engineering efforts into high-perfomance portable-sized components for ultra thin and sleek products, even in the home and office, makes sense, environmentally and otherwise. Power and performance will always improve in the smaller components, if the industry and consumers demand it.

I'm happy to have an 8-core box with fans under my desk at work (doubles as a heater, keeps me warm), but most PC workers are starting to get thin clients, and at home I don't want bulk. Some people still live in the 3-4000 sq ft houses of suburban US, but that is a dying breed. I live where housing is small and premium, and that is the future.

 

[mattwolfmatt]

Wow, thinner, more rounded lines.

This could be the prediction of every apple product for the past 3 years.

 

[alent1234]

You're living in the past, the performance race is over. What we have now is the challenge of actually utilizing the power of the components we have by reengineering the software (as Apple is doing with OpenCL and GCD). Now you might be in the top 2% of users who actually need more power but for the other 98% adding more processor power is going to do nothing.

Most pc's have gpu's that are faster than you find on mac's

 

[LagunaSol]

For me one of the biggest downsides of my iMac is the lack of video in. The fact that Mac gaming is never going to take off is painfully obvious, so let me connect, say, a PS3 to my iMac for some gaming fun while the wife is occupying the TV.

 

[gianly1985]

Most pc's have gpu's that are faster than you find on mac's

Most PCs on the shelfs of an average shop today have an Atom CPU. (at least here in Italy, they try to sell you a netbook in every corner)

I mean, in this dark age of netbooks, nettops, net-stuff, atoms, ions and quarks, you cannot blame Apple on thinking that most users need no more than a 3.06ghz Penryn and an Ati4850. Others have successfully showed that most people need no more than an Atom CPU.

I agree with Tyr., the real challenge now is optimizing all this power.
64bit cpus have been out for ages.
Dual core processor have been out for ages too.
Programmable GPUs have been IDLE for too long.

Time to squeeze all the juice out of these technologies.

Yet, GCD would benefit from 4-core or at least 4-thread CPUs, so I'm hoping for a i5 based iMac too. But if had to choose, I'd prefer to see all my favourite apps optimized for OpenCL/GCD/64bit tomorrow morning.

 

[gianly1985]

For me one of the biggest downsides of my iMac is the lack of video in. The fact that Mac gaming is never going to take off is painfully obvious, so let me connect, say, a PS3 to my iMac for some gaming fun while the wife is occupying the TV.

I agree.
It is a waste not to be able to use such a superb IPS 24" panel with consoles and even PCs.

 

[Tyr.]

Most pc's have gpu's that are faster than you find on mac's

The GPU's in most systems are already overpowered for the job they are doing.

 

[Eidorian]

The GPU's in most systems are already overpowered for the job they are doing.

Why can't we have nice things?

 

[guitarlord]

You meen this one here? LINK
First it has no BluRay,
second also the Ati card shares system RAM,
third No Windows 7 yet,
fourth no connection for digitall DVI-D (VGA to DVI adapter won't work cauz VGA is analog) and most of LCD-screens nowadays use digital DVI-D,
fifth huge plastic casing,
sixth no Dual Link DVI for xxl screens with higher resolutions than 1920x1200,
seventh not a great standard software set,
eighth only analog stereo audio-jacks (MBP has Fiber Optic)
and so on...

First Re read my post. I said for £800. Yes it does have those when you upgrade for that price.
2nd. I didn't say the ATI didn't share the system RAM
3rd there is a free windows 7 upgrade. everyone knows windows 7 release to public isn't out yet
4th it has HDMI out
5th I think plastic casing is fine - or are you prepared to pay the extra £700 for a 15" macbook pro because it is aluminium
6th I don't know what dual link DVI is but i think a 1920 x 1080 screen is enough for me and the option of connecting a external monitor with HDMI.
7th I couldn't care less bout the software set, surely you know there is great free stuff on the net like antivirus, openoffice, GIMP etc.
8th I bet you can;t tell the difference between analogue and digital audio outputs and even if you could you don't have the speakers for it - if you did you would get a pro machine

 

[andrewag]

For me one of the biggest downsides of my iMac is the lack of video in. The fact that Mac gaming is never going to take off is painfully obvious, so let me connect, say, a PS3 to my iMac for some gaming fun while the wife is occupying the TV.

Want to play games? Get an iPod touch ... because iPod gaming is better than PC gaming... *looks to steve*

 

[Tyr.]

Why can't we have nice things?

Haha I'm not saying I wouldn't buy a tricked out machine myself. I guess it's often our geek equivalent of that 20th pair of shoes my girlfriend buys even though I try to convince her she doesn't need them . The fun is in the having, not the utility.

 

[ksolano]

Could we see a Duel GPU setup in high end imacs like the high end macbook pros?