Apple Looking to Launch Lower-Cost iMac in 2014

Removing the DVD is one of the best moves Apple made with the iMac.

I've had one sing January and love it, not missed the DVD. And the few occasional times I've needed one, like installing software I just shared one on the LAN. No DVD makes the iMac quieter, cooler and more reliable. If you really can't live without it then buy the external and let it collect dust. I was planning on getting a BluRay burner but 9 months in I have no need for that either.

FYI you can't have the 2012 iMac as they don't have DVD, you much have the 2011 bought in 2012.

ETA - the iMac without LCD thats a good idea, lets call it the Mac Mini, oh wait they already have that!
 
It's so strange that the base iMac doesn't sell well, despite they introduced many funny improvements on it in the last years:

2011: all iMacs with a not replaceable hard drive
2012: all 21" with not replaceable ram/drive, only 2,5" laptop 5400rpm drives
2013: base 21" model with Intel Iris Pro graphics

and the price went up, for a 0,5" thinner DESKTOP computer!

with these iMacs, mac mini which is a laptop without the screen, and the coming 4999$ mini mac pro, i think Apple desktop line is dead. Better for me learning Windows 8 and save a lot of money.
 
Make the Dam thing with a removable back so that people can change/upgrade/increase the drives and or the graphics card etc this welded shut design is ridiculous its a Desktop not a Laptop/iPad i'm sure they would sell more with a flexible design, the thin thing went to far on the last iMac in my opinion.
 
Lancer said:
No DVD makes the iMac quieter, cooler and more reliable.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how no DVD drive makes it quieter or cooler? I can just about buy more reliable, in the sense that it is one less component to fail over time.
 
fat jez said:
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how no DVD drive makes it quieter or cooler? I can just about buy more reliable, in the sense that it is one less component to fail over time.
Click to expand...

No spinning DVD. I can tell you the 2012 is a quite machine, noisiest part is when the HDD spins up, or one of my external drives comes to life.

Cooler because without the DVD they can better manage the air flow inside.

And yes much easier to take back an external DVD when/if it fails, instead of the whole iMac.
 
How about form factor of the 2009 iMac? If I'm staring at the front and not moving it for years, I don't really care if the display is 1/4" thick.
 
iMacs are a hard sell as it is, the fact they went up in price recently by $150 AUD with the recent 'upgrade' hasn't helped. People laugh at the lack of a DVD drive.

Apple need to pull their heads out of their asses and make a PC for the people.
 
In Australia the prices are a joke to get a late 2013 27" imac with i7 processor, 16gb ram , 3tb fusion and 780m it would set you back 3,569.00. I got mine on discount for 3.190.00. however a couple of months back I got quoted for a late 2012 with the same setup for $2,950. 00 with discount talk about inflation.
 
PC People complained when Apple dropped the floppy with the original iMac, in time PCs dropped them too. I bet it won't be too long before they go in AIO PCs, might take longer for towers where BluRay will become the norm.

But really the average person doesn't use them anymore. And if you're into movies you're more likely gonna have a bigger LCD TV and BluRay setup anyway.

I agree the prices here in AU are high but with the recent fall in the AUD it's not as bad as it could have been. PCs are no better.
 
What they're likely gonna do is release a Retina iMac next year at WWDC (last Mac model not having a retina display), and then offer a non-retina iMac for cheap.
 
Make it *thicker*, get a *desktop class CPU* inside and use *dedicated High-End gfx*.

Maybe this will make me buy one. Matter of fact: I'm too lazy to dig myself into hackintoshing, so I'll stick with my old comp right now. Sooner or later I guess I'll find myself with a hackintosh as Apple won't give me what I want.

Thing is: I don't need a MacPro for my computing purposes - but I also don't need a glorified laptop spec AIO. Having lost 5 iMacs to display issues I tell you I'd rather throw away a monitor and get a new one than getting a new machine all the time.
 
I'm glad the iMac isn't selling, it's such a daft machine from a design standpoint. The only people buying all-in-ones these days are your grandparents.
 
Lancer said:
PC People complained when Apple dropped the floppy with the original iMac, in time PCs dropped them too. I bet it won't be too long before they go in AIO PCs, might take longer for towers where BluRay will become the norm.

But really the average person doesn't use them anymore. And if you're into movies you're more likely gonna have a bigger LCD TV and BluRay setup anyway.

I agree the prices here in AU are high but with the recent fall in the AUD it's not as bad as it could have been. PCs are no better.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, but you're dead wrong.

EVERY time I sell an iMac or go to sell an iMac, the comment is - "Oh, that DOESN'T come with a DVD drive??...that sucks".

The 'average buyer' thinks the exact opposite to what you're saying.

It's all well and good to try and explain the world is moving away from optical media. But the cruxt of it is -

a) In Australia, our internet isn't fast enough for proper downloadable digital delivery.

b) The exclusion of a SuperDrive is REALLY only a means to drive sales to the MAS. Thinner AIO desktop computers? Nobody cares.

c) People want a ****ing DVD player / writer.

Simple.
 
We've seen this happen already...

So it's going to have a plastic back, previous-gen internals and it'll be $100 less?
What an amazing bargain! I mean, imagine if you are a basic user, you would SAVE an incredible 5% discount from the real iMac! :rolleyes:

Apple has already seen that this works, so they may as well do it again...
 
thousands of posts already spent on dvd drivers removed, form over function, usb3 ports delayed, etc. etc.
My 2 cents:
periodical price increment in the same years where we see desktop pc sales dropping, no surprise that they're not flying off the shelves.
What does the normal user get? A slimmer computer (nobody asked for) that is more expensive to produce, useless pro ports that are good only for a very small portion of buyers, some fundamental features (for the large mass of normal users) removed i.e. optical drive, late adoption of largely used ports (usb 3.0 docet), no user upgradeable devices that are not intended to last a few years more (given the higher price requested) and an entry price raised year to year not comparable with other vendors (you may argue that others' products are crap, but the dollars requested are of the same colour).
Unless Apple is thinking that we are changing our iMacs every two years like we do with phones or tablets...no matter what they release, but unfortunately this is not the case
 
The Bad Guy said:
Sorry mate, but you're dead wrong.

EVERY time I sell an iMac or go to sell an iMac, the comment is - "Oh, that DOESN'T come with a DVD drive??...that sucks".

The 'average buyer' thinks the exact opposite to what you're saying.

It's all well and good to try and explain the world is moving away from optical media. But the cruxt of it is -

a) In Australia, our internet isn't fast enough for proper downloadable digital delivery.

b) The exclusion of a SuperDrive is REALLY only a means to drive sales to the MAS. Thinner AIO desktop computers? Nobody cares.

c) People want a ****ing DVD player / writer.

Simple.
Click to expand...

I have to wholeheartedly agree with you.

Even though I personally never use and discs, I still find it really annoying that the iMac lacks a DVD drive - I mean seriously, they couldn't make it 0.0001mm thicker to include the drive?! (and it is hard recommending it to people, because so many of them need, or at least want a DVD drive in their computer)

Classic form over function right there :/
 
A company that produces computers to satisfy their shareholders and not their customers is following the wrong path and in the long run will end like Apple of the early 90s. Everything proprietary, much more expensive, lower-speced than the competition and on an island.

Hear this, Tim Cook ?
 
I've said all along the recent turn around in Mac sales is due to price points being too high, not the iPad.

They began to decline when Apple introduced retina screens, bumping the prices by a few hundred £/$. They need to reshuffle the line up, quickly, and get the price points back to pre-retina levels.
 
CausticPuppy said:
People should read some reviews before they spout off nonsense like this.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7399/...3-review-iris-pro-driving-an-accurate-display
Click to expand...

And how is it a nonsense?

I read the review thoroughly and yeah .. in a sentence, the base 21.5" iMac performs like a low end iMac just as Apple wants it to be.

Iris Pro graphic seems a bit shabby, just as expected. Fall short immediately compared to 750M or even 650M once you prop up the settings on a PC game.

I don't see anything special about it. Feels like $1299 Apple product (for an Apple computer, that's cheap)and that's all. So, what's your point?
 
Let's see. Keep revising models so they are thinner, strip out parts that were previously internal, make it non upgradeable and barely repairable ... and charge more.

If only they had kept the practicality of the older imac, with some dimensional savings, instead of making it resemble an ipad on a stand.
 
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