Apple Looking to Launch Lower-Cost iMac in 2014

[tongxinshe]

I already own hundreds of CDs, some are ripped some are not. I still buy them occasionally when the music isn't available in any other format (and this is still true if your tastes don't run to the mainstream). Also, used CDs are (1) still generally cheaper than digital downloads, and (2) can be ripped to whatever level of compression or uncompressed format that suits your needs.

If you don't rent or buy DVDs anymore it probably means you (1) have mainstream tastes, and (2) don't care if something you really liked can be watched a second or third time. The first is true because very few classic films are available for streaming. It's okay that you presumably don't care about classic films, but it isn't okay to denigrate others who do care. The second is true because streaming availability changes all the time depending on the whims of the rights holders. A series you liked will probably simply vanish one day without notice. I see complaints about this on Netflix all the time. The streaming may be gone but the discs will still be available. So it depends on whether this matters to you.

No opinion about Blu-ray, but it does appear to be the only method of delivering full HD. So I guess it depends on whether that matters to you.

For the old music that you like but cannot find its digital version on the market, you most likely have already own a CD, you should have long ago ripped it into MP3 version.

For the classic movies that the streaming service no longer keep and you happen to like a lot, most of them you can BUY their digital copies somewhere, or, maybe you've already have a DVD of it, just rip it into digital format. The DVD players will soon be as scarce as the VCRs.

Before Blueray discs get cheap enough to compete with digital format, the whole digital market would have long gone to even better quality than Blueray can handle.

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Hahaha...sure I am. That's why the entry level (traditional) MacBook Pro 13" is their best selling unit in the US too.

Now I see what is going on, it's not you are wrong or right, you are simply living in the stone age. MacBook Air has been the best selling Mac since 2010.

 

[IJ Reilly]

For the old music that you like but cannot find its digital version on the market, you most likely have already own a CD, you should have long ago ripped it into MP3 version.

For the classic movies that the streaming service no longer keep and you happen to like a lot, most of them you can BUY their digital copies somewhere, or, maybe you've already have a DVD of it, just rip it into digital format. The DVD players will soon be as scarce as the VCRs.

Before Blueray discs get cheap enough to compete with digital format, the whole digital market would have long gone to even better quality than Blueray can handle.

Oh, really? So nice of you to make these decisions for me, as I am clearly incapable of making them myself.

First, I have ripped a lot of my DVDs, but at a couple hours and couple of gigabytes a piece, this is not a causal activity. Second, if you know of a good source of digital classic movies, please let me know. The ones I have found are still very limited and/or far more expensive than buying the DVD, especially if it can be found used.

 

[Poisonivy326]

Now I see what is going on, it's not you are wrong or right, you are simply living in the stone age. MacBook Air has been the best selling Mac since 2010.

Wasn't aware 2012 and 2013 were the "stone ages."

 

[Arfdog]

Not so. Plenty of people living even on the very edge of major urban areas can't get broadband, at least not from the usual sources at affordable prices. Neither the cable companies nor the phone companies show any interest in serving them, so they are SOL. The U.S. ranks something like 25th in broadband connectivity, behind nearly every nation in Europe, and the speed and quality of the service we do get is generally not as good. Ten years ago we were 6th. Falling further behind is recognized as a growing competitive disadvantage. It is not a problem that is being solved. And even if it was, physical media are not being obsoleted yet, for the reasons I have already enumerated.

Being 25th in an era of massive connectivity is akin to being the 25th slowest Formula 1 car.

Bottom line is, we're connected enough to have services like Netflix, so the ditching of physical media can commence with corresponding speed increases in information distribution.

 

[Arfdog]

Oh, really? So nice of you to make these decisions for me, as I am clearly incapable of making them myself.

First, I have ripped a lot of my DVDs, but at a couple hours and couple of gigabytes a piece, this is not a causal activity. Second, if you know of a good source of digital classic movies, please let me know. The ones I have found are still very limited and/or far more expensive than buying the DVD, especially if it can be found used.

You do realize the data that flows to your computer's OS is the same whether it comes thru your network connection or through a SATA connection right? And one requires much smaller, solid-state, machinery and far fewer machines to accomplish that task.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Being 25th in an era of massive connectivity is akin to being the 25th slowest Formula 1 car.

Bottom line is, we're connected enough to have services like Netflix, so the ditching of physical media can commence with corresponding speed increases in information distribution.

No, it isn't, and it only seems to be enough because you have it.

You do realize the data that flows to your computer's OS is the same whether it comes thru your network connection or through a SATA connection right? And one requires much smaller, solid-state, machinery and far fewer machines to accomplish that task.

Watch out for that submarine!

 

[MacDarcy]

How about just lowering the prices on the current iMacs? Huh? Now there's an idea!

Or making the fusion drive standard. And increasing the size of the SSD from 168gb to at least 256 in the fusion drive setup. Or lowering the prices on the SSD only options. Increasing the ram to 16gb in the base model. Etc etc.

There are many things that Apple can do to make the iMacs more enticing.

 

[OllyW]

A statistic that's quickly being resolved, world-wide, not just the US. Therefore obsoleting physical media.

Having fast broadband does not mean that downloads will automatically take over.

In the UK the take up of high speed broadband connections is one of the highest in the world.

Yet physical sales are still comfortably beating sales of digital downloads, especially when it comes to video.

Recent UK entertainment sales figures for 2012 confirm that although physical sales are slowing, the market overwhelmingly still enjoys buying music, film and video games in the physical form of CD, DVD and Blu-ray compared to digital downloads, contributing to over 75% of market sales.

There's still plenty of life left in the old DVD, even if Apple says otherwise.


http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ma...s-market-reports/cmr12/international/icmr-6.9
http://www.discwizards.com/articles...sus-Physical-CD-DVD-Blu-ray-Sales-UK-2012.htm

 

[SnackeyG]

I just wish that I could get a Mac with great dedicated graphics and large storage while not have it pushing near $3000.

I've wondered for years why there isn't something in-between the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. Or higher/lower end versions of each.

Give me a 3TB HD, quad core CPU, and 780m in the Mini for say $1500 and I'd eat that up.

 

[s2mikey]

How about just lowering the prices on the current iMacs? Huh? Now there's an idea!

Or making the fusion drive standard. And increasing the size of the SSD from 168gb to at least 256 in the fusion drive setup. Or lowering the prices on the SSD only options. Increasing the ram to 16gb in the base model. Etc etc.

There are many things that Apple can do to make the iMacs more enticing.

I agree - its the cost thats the problem and they ought to know that. Its the skimpy hardware base specs that start the problem and then it gets worse as you add RAM and Storage. Ive tried to price out laptops from Apple and it always ends up ugly. I realize they make decent stuff but Ive never had any real problems with any of the windows based laptops Ive owned so saying Apple makes "good stuff" isnt selling me on the high prices. I feel like Im paying for the logo and snob factor. No thanks.

lets see what they do here - Im close to wanting to upgrade one of our home laptops.

 

[tongxinshe]

Image

Wasn't aware 2012 and 2013 were the "stone ages."

Haha, what a logic, using a chart almost not relevant to your argument at all. While nothing official from Apple in this chart, the rMBP and cMBPs are all combined together, especially while rMBP is new and hot. How about looking at this, repeating something Apple officially announced.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...r-becomes-apples-best-selling-notebook/72137/

 

[Poisonivy326]

Haha, what a logic, using a chart almost not relevant to your argument at all. While nothing official from Apple in this chart, the rMBP and cMBPs are all combined together, especially while rMBP is new and hot. How about looking at this, repeating something Apple officially announced.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...r-becomes-apples-best-selling-notebook/72137/

Posting an article almost over two years old is so logical too.

 

[kazmac]

How about just lowering the prices on the current iMacs? Huh? Now there's an idea!

Or making the fusion drive standard. And increasing the size of the SSD from 168gb to at least 256 in the fusion drive setup. Or lowering the prices on the SSD only options. Increasing the ram to 16gb in the base model. Etc etc.

There are many things that Apple can do to make the iMacs more enticing.

Exactly. There's no need to release Macs which have less than the existing base models in order to sell them cheaper.

I just wish that I could get a Mac with great dedicated graphics and large storage while not have it pushing near $3000.

I've wondered for years why there isn't something in-between the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. Or higher/lower end versions of each.

Give me a 3TB HD, quad core CPU, and 780m in the Mini for say $1500 and I'd eat that up.

Amen. I'm over spending $2 grand each time I upgrade just to get decent ram and hard drive in my 21.5" model. The base 21.5" is too bare bones as it is. And whenever I've priced a 27" forget it - it makes my wallet cry. And if I was going to spend that much on a Mac, it wouldn't be on an iMac.

 

[Arfdog]

Having fast broadband does not mean that downloads will automatically take over.

In the UK the take up of high speed broadband connections is one of the highest in the world.

Image

Yet physical sales are still comfortably beating sales of digital downloads, especially when it comes to video.

Image



There's still plenty of life left in the old DVD, even if Apple says otherwise.


http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ma...s-market-reports/cmr12/international/icmr-6.9
http://www.discwizards.com/articles...sus-Physical-CD-DVD-Blu-ray-Sales-UK-2012.htm

""the optical disc formats still reign strong despite a decrease of 17.6% compared to 2011."

That level of year-over-year decline is devastating. Apple saw where the story was headed, as usual under Steve Jobs.

http://www.discwizards.com/articles...sus-Physical-CD-DVD-Blu-ray-Sales-UK-2012.htm

 

[OllyW]

""the optical disc formats still reign strong despite a decrease of 17.6% compared to 2011."

That level of year-over-year decline is devastating. Apple saw where the story was headed, as usual under Steve Jobs.

http://www.discwizards.com/articles...sus-Physical-CD-DVD-Blu-ray-Sales-UK-2012.htm

You haven't taken much notice of the figures, as the optical disc still has a 94% of video sales revenue. The 17.6% fall is for all disc formats. It's share is going to carry on dropping but the DVD is not going to disappear overnight.

And if you had quoted the full paragraph instead of cherry picking the last line, it wouldn't have supported your claims quite as well.

It’s almost nine years since the launch of iTunes in the UK, and many predicted the immediate demise of the optical disc in all its glorified formats. However whilst sales of the physical format do continue to decline, interesting to note is 77.3% of the UK market share of all entertainment sales is still dominated by DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray. Yes, that’s not a typo, the optical disc formats still reign strong despite a decrease of 17.6% compared to 2011.

Overall digital sales only increased by 10% in 2012, the rest of the decrease in physical sales was due to a decline in the overall market.

 

[Arfdog]

You haven't taken much notice of the figures, as the optical disc still has a 94% of video sales revenue. The 17.6% fall is for all disc formats. It's share is going to carry on dropping but the DVD is not going to disappear overnight.

And if you had quoted the full paragraph instead of cherry picking the last line, it wouldn't have supported your claims quite as well.



Overall digital sales only increased by 10% in 2012, the rest of the decrease in physical sales was due to a decline in the overall market.

My claim is that physical media is in massive decline and vanishing (though I was wrong about the minority part). Your quote says digital sales increased by 10% and physical sales decreased by 17%. Seems my claim is supported by even your own sources.

I'm confused how anyone can interpret that any other way. Digital media is coming, physical media is out.

 

[tongxinshe]

Posting an article almost over two years old is so logical too.

Apple has never made another official announcement, which indicates that MacBook Air is still the best selling type of all Macs (rMBP and cMBP sure are considered two different types).

 

[s2mikey]

My claim is that physical media is in massive decline and vanishing (though I was wrong about the minority part). Your quote says digital sales increased by 10% and physical sales decreased by 17%. Seems my claim is supported by even your own sources.

I'm confused how anyone can interpret that any other way. Digital media is coming, physical media is out.

Not anytime soon. You really think all of us with extensive blu-ray and DVD libraries are just gonna chuck them out so we can "stream" them in *****ty quality onto a 4 inch phone screen? Really? I can assure you thats not happening anytime soon.

Legacy users actually matter just as much as the knit-cap wearing, Prius-driving Apple doodes.

 

[50voltphantom]

I can tell you as someone whom looked at buying three iMac's this year (21" for two of my kids and a 27" for myself), it was NOT just about the cost! It was about the repairability and design! My wife's 2010 iMac is a thing of beauty; both to look at and to repair/upgrade. I was able to relatively easily upgrade the machine, adding an SSD and more RAM, without paying the extortionate upgrade process for these items from Apple. One look at the glue-based mess that is the new iMac design was enough to turn me off. For goodness sake, the 21" iMac does not even have accessible RAM. Ive's my ass. Rubenstein would shake his head in disgust!

At the end of the day I chose to buy Mac mini's instead. I can only hope Apple rethinks the design of the iMac in the next release.

Nailed it. The fact that you can easily swap drives and max-out the RAM without paying Apple's prices is why I went from an iMac to a mini.

 

[tongxinshe]

Apple has never made another official announcement, which indicates that MacBook Air is still the best selling type of all Macs (rMBP and cMBP sure are considered two different types).

Oh, maybe Apple doesn't really know which model sells best, instead you and your 3rd party "analyst" know it much much better than Apple does, so Apple just today stupidly discontinued its cMBP, which according the real number you cited earlier is the best selling model till now.

 

[stubeeef]

I would buy if they had an optical drive built in and the sd card on the side or front or keyboard.
I hate the new design. I don't give a S how thin the sides are, I hate having to reach around to do everything and no optical drive.

 

[linkgx1]

I have the strangest feeling...that...is why the iPhone/iPad are switching to 64 bit processors. Eventually I can see an ARM based iMac priced @ $799. The possibilities.

 

[MattDSLR]

they will sell fast
go for it mac
now lets see a lower cost mac pro mini with at least two hard drives

 

[JoeyToronto]

Needs to shape up

The iMac compared to other all in one systems is that it doesn't have a few things, for one the stand isn't adjustable, another thing is that you can better specs from Dell XPS 27 for less money, and Dell's stand is adjustable. Dell comes with a Blu Ray drive if you get their higher end model. And Dell's XPS 27 is a touch screen.

A CD/DVD drive isn't a big thing, you can buy an external one for $30 to $50.

I am sure the next iMac, if the Apple people are smart or if Steve Jobs was still around, they would update it with a touch screen and an adjustable stand, better specs and less money. Mac may be more stable of a system and made delicious to the eyes, it's a bit behind in the tech department.

 

[LostSoul80]

A colorful iMac, the iMac C?

Cheaper meaning 100$ less, and in plastic. Yum