those that buy an iMac now will be happy for a month or two, but when the new iMac comes out, they'll wish they had waited.
Those of us who are waiting are merely storing away our satisfaction for a few weeks until the new machine gets released.
Nope. Regardless of whether a new imac comes out now or in a year doesn't alter the fact that the current imac i have is suiting my work just awesomely.
I think that for me I seem to use a computer for about 4 years before looking for an update. So I get the best I can now, over the course of 4 years things change, then its update time again. Holding off for more than 6 months as some people have done, especially those that really require an imac, and with the bucks to buy it, seems to be a bit much and I can imagine their frustration of those buyers who value slightly more bang for their buck over having a great computer to work on for months and months.
However if you don't 'really' need an iMac now and already have a suitable setup, then yes, waiting *might* be good, though taking anybody's speculations as to when the iMac might be refreshed, and following the buying advice of anyone in these forums is largely a fool's game. You know as much as they do, and a slight improvement for one person may not hold as much weight for another. If anything, i think the constant encouragement to 'wait' has led many down a path of misery, and misery loves company. These updates are incremental, no matter how much Apple tries to sensationalize them. I really see a difference in performance after a couple of years though.
"dude i've got a pentium 4."
"pff. i've got a pentium 4 TURBO!"
"aah man. your computer's so much better than mine."
Seems a bit ridiculous? same story here.
As another poster said, a maxed out 2011 iMac is likely to outperform the next revision in any event.
little bit of perspective.