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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,283
30,344



imac_27_angle-250x241.jpg
Apple's iMac line is set to receive a significant boost this quarter in the form of a refresh including new processors and improved display quality, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Display improvements are said to arrive in the form of greater color saturation, but Kuo makes no mention of whether Apple is planning to extend Retina display options to the smaller 21.5-inch iMac lineup.
We believe Apple will introduce new iMac models in 3Q15, which are expected to have key selling points such as more powerful processors and much better display quality. We predict the panel will use a LED phosphor material called KSF to notably boost color saturation.
While Apple has released several 27-inch Retina iMac models since last October, the remainder of the iMac lineup has not been updated since September 2013 as Apple has had to wait for Intel to release new desktop processors that could allow for a substantial update. With Broadwell processors starting to trickle out and Skylake right around the corner, it appears Apple will finally be able to offer a substantial upgrade for the entire iMac family.

Kuo believes that an inventory draw-down in the second quarter, the upcoming new iMacs, and promotions such as the current Back to School program will drive strong sequential growth in iMac shipments for the current quarter, perhaps doubling quarter-over-quarter to one million units. The third calendar quarter is typically very strong for Apple's Mac segment with much of the world in the midst of back to school shopping.

Article Link: Apple Expected to Launch New iMacs With Improved Processors and Display Quality This Quarter
 

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040



imac_27_angle-250x241.jpg
Apple's iMac line is set to receive a significant boost this quarter in the form of a refresh including new processors and improved display quality, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Display improvements are said to arrive in the form of greater color saturation, but Kuo makes no mention of whether Apple is planning to extend Retina display options to the smaller 21.5-inch iMac lineup.While Apple has released several 27-inch Retina iMac models since last October, the remainder of the iMac lineup has not been updated since September 2013 as Apple has had to wait for Intel to release new desktop processors that could allow for a substantial update. With Broadwell processors starting to trickle out and Skylake right around the corner, it appears Apple will finally be able to offer a substantial upgrade for the entire iMac family.

Kuo believes that an inventory draw-down in the second quarter, the upcoming new iMacs, and promotions such as the current Back to School program will drive strong sequential growth in iMac shipments for the current quarter, perhaps doubling quarter-over-quarter to one million units. The third calendar quarter is typically very strong for Apple's Mac segment with much of the world in the midst of back to school shopping.

Article Link: Apple Expected to Launch New iMacs With Improved Processors and Display Quality This Quarter

I understand the all-in-one ethos, but when the displays are so gorgeous I wish they would sell them separately alongside Mac minis with upgraded internals (such as quadcore processors and discrete graphics cards). I suppose iMacs with their internals have fairly good longevity, but to me it just seems wrong to tie a gorgeous display to a machine with so many other components that could fail and not be repairable at some point in the not too distant future. Or at least continue offering the iMac, but sell it alongside the iMac's stand-alone display with upgraded Mac minis.

EDIT: I wanted to add that even with Apple's all-in-one ethos, Apple knows customers aren't idiots. Before Bluetooth keyboard and mice, they had to plug those into Apple's all-in-ones. You have to plug the Apple TV into an HDTV. And of course they already sell the Mac mini. So they know customers are capable of taking the one step of plugging a display into a desktop computer.
 

JXShine

macrumors 6502
Jun 11, 2015
386
1,224
maybe they will finally smarten up and put ssd as the default configuration. Oh who am I kidding, apple really needs money, they have to continue with the 5400rpm HDD or else they can't fund their spaceship campus.
 

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,283
1,751
The Netherlands
AMD or nVidia.
Don't really care. AMD usually have better OpenGL performance on OS X, but nVidia seems ahead concerning 3D hardware performance, especially regarding mobile GPUs (which will be built into the iMac).
I currently own the late 2013 iMac with the nVidia 780M which works very pretty well. But I am seriously hoping for something like the 980M.
 

byke

macrumors 6502a
Mar 29, 2007
724
60
LDN. UK
I want an iMac that has a separate (And properly supported) gaming GPU.
So that if I want to boot into windows and play proper games, I can do so without a struggle or overheating due to the iMac being the thinnest yet (sans fan).
 

Icaras

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2008
6,343
3,380
Why a new form factor? You like either spheric or triangular? I hope Ive is clear enough that except from minor changes his work is done with the exterior of the MBP

Because it's been 3 years now since the last design refresh and if you go through Apple's history, they tend to redesign every 3-4 years.
 

Ferazel

macrumors regular
Aug 4, 2010
146
96
I'm hoping for Skylake too. However, these iMacs probably won't have a discrete GPU option except on the high-end 27" again. Apple seems to think that the Intel GPUs are strong enough for most of their users.

The good news is that if they do go back to Nvidia GPUs, Nvidia is actually releasing downloadable drivers that are much more performant than Apple's hyper-safe under performing drivers. (http://barefeats.com/gtx980ti.html) When is Apple going to realize that like Java... packaging GPU drivers with OS versions is a bad idea.

Regardless, this should be a pretty big fall for Apple Products. I wonder if they're going to put some Thunderbolt 3 ports on refreshed models so that there could be a possible external GPU option. That way Apple can remain cheap while allowing users more flexibility for how they use their computers.
 

diddl14

macrumors 65816
Aug 10, 2009
1,102
1,730
New iMac is cool but really waiting for a 65" 4K panel as flat as an iPad Air 2 that hooks up to a new AppleTV with universal tuner (DVB-T/C/S2) and CI+...
 
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