iMac approaching end of cycle - what's next?

[sixteenbits]

Buyer's guide now says "buy only if you need it" about the iMac, with days since an update at 190 (avg = 221). But is an update really due?

When it does come out, what kind of changes do you think we'll see? 3.06 GHz CPU? Blu-ray RE?

 

[Umbongo]

You need to just use the Intel dates when using the buyers guide, the power PC launches are included which have no relevance. That makes it 275 days average.

While a 3.06GHz processor will be available soon, Apple don't use the model it replaces (2.93GHz). 2.93GHz moves down to replace 2.8GHz though. They could also add newer graphics, but with their delays in updating Macs compared to Intel's launches unless they refresh all the desktops together in the next couple of months I would expect this cycle to be close to a year.

 

[foidulus]

Yeah I wouldn't expect much until at least back to school season in the US, hopefully they will finally add an SSD BTO option.

 

[Hellhammer]

Yeah I wouldn't expect much until at least back to school season in the US, hopefully they will finally add an SSD BTO option.

SSD would require some redesigning of internals as they are mostly 2.5" and iMac uses 3.5" HDs. I doubt Apple will uses SSD unless they can have both, SSD and HD as smaller than 256GB IMO sounds ridiculous.

Buyer's Guide gives you an idea but isn't very accurate. WWDC '10 is a possibility, but next update won't be that significant for high-end at least, low-end should get nice update

 

[duky]

Considering the all-in-one market right now I don't see why Apple would need to do anything to the iMac. The higher-end ones were not shipped until late Nov/early December and were plagued with issues until Jan 2010 when things really started to get resolved so I don't think we're very far into this cycle to be honest. Maybe this is just wishful thinking considering I just bought one but I think Apple would be better off focusing on other products that have not seen updates for some time. The iMac seems to be leading the all-in-one market (not sure why I'd buy any other all-in-one) and the last update was a big one (design changes plus a massive change of internals) so the next update should just be incremental. I'd buy one now if you want one, or wait for back-to-school deals at the end of May. But I don't see a real update to the iMac line until late 2010 and even that will just be a minor refresh