Does the Studio Display prove the iMac chin is unnecessary?

[satchmo]

Firstly, the chin doesn't bother me as much as it does for some, but I'm just curious here.

Other than for branding and marketing reasons, could future iMac's be chin-less?

The new 27" Studio Display is what many had envisioned what an chin-less iMac would have looked like. It has a set of speakers, thunderbolt ports, web camera and even an A13 chip. Who knows, it may even have fans.

What's missing, is the logic board. Looking at the attached photo of the 24" iMac, the logic board is at the bottom where the chin sits. But could it, along with other elements, except the speakers, be shifted up? Looks like there's plenty of room at the top.

Thoughts?

 

[MisterSavage]

The iMac is a full computer with a disk storage, memory, etc. That has to go somewhere.

 

[Arctic Moose]

The exact dimensions aren’t entirely clear from Apple’s spec pages, but the Studio Display appears to be quite a bit thicker than the iMac.

Cooling and the thickness of the display panel could both be potential reasons the logic board needs to be in the chin.

Does the iMac really need to be that thin? I don’t think so, but then again I haven’t built a company worth multiple trillion dollars.

 

[Moonjumper]

It was a choice of thin with chin or thicker and slicker. The chin doesn't look good. The Apple didn't even need it to be thicker all the way to the edge to avoid it, all the computer components could be housed in a central rear block.

 

[wilberforce]

So much for all the threads about how the chin was iconic Apple, and without it it would just look like any other monitor.

Oh wait...

 

[Royksöpp]

Considering that this is all they have to fit into the Studio Display, I would say no.

 

[ptfuzi]

They have to fit a iPhone 11 logic board?

 

[Danfango]

The iMac is a full computer with a disk storage, memory, etc. That has to go somewhere.

Apparently so is the studio display!

Just add bigger SSD of course...

I bet at some point in the distant future someone works out how to install Linux on it.

 

[Moonjumper]

Considering that this is all they have to fit into the Studio Display, I would say no.

View attachment 1974337

The speakers was often thought to be a reason for the chin, but the Studio Display has speakers.

 

[Spock]

I am wondering if the chin has just become something a design choice to keep reminiscent of the previous iMacs going back to 2004. You know, when Apple stopped taking risk with the design.

 

[FSMBP]

I am wondering if the chin has just become something a design choice to keep reminiscent of the previous iMacs going back to 2004. You know, when Apple stopped taking risk with the design.

I think it's their strange-obsession with making thin devices. I get portable devices should be light weight/thin (watches/phones/tablets) as we move them with us.

However, an iMac won't suffer from being 0.25" thicker so they can avoid 'the chin'.

 

[Joe HS]

The iMac is a full computer with a disk storage, memory, etc. That has to go somewhere.

The 24” iMac is smaller in every dimension than the Studio Display, including thickness.

I’m sure they could put an M1 or M1 Pro in it if they really wanted to, after all this is the “full computer” inside the iMac. It’s mostly hollow. The studio display is already actively cooled, too.