iMac sept 12 release?

[Franatix]

Now I like the rest of you am getting pretty frustrated about this whole iMac 2012 thing. Im starting uni mid September, and I wanted to get a iMac which could be used as a personal studio whilst i'm there. I have been waiting since April to get my hands on a new iMac and its now starting to get insanely frustrating. Have been sat on a sum of money for the thing to be released any day for far too long now.

I might just bite the bullet and get the 2011 iMac. (I will of course wait until the day before i leave to do this, just incase).

I do not expect this from Apple. They used to be on the ball with getting updated machines out.

 

[edry.hilario]

I thought that the keynote would be about the iPhone. The iMac probably won't see a huge update until 2013.

why would it be 2013 ?? nothing points out to that

 

[xgman]

They used to be on the ball with getting updated machines out.

key words "used to". Those days are clearly over. From a business point of view, it is hard to argue against that. They could drop the entire mac line with maybe the macbook pros as an exception, and move forward and continue to expect large profits. Might make some of us angry (very angry), but probably wouldn't effect the bottom line much for Apple. They simply have discovered a more profitable market in iStuff.

 

[iMcLovin]

key words "used to". Those days are clearly over. From a business point of view, it is hard to argue against that. They could drop the entire mac line with maybe the macbook pros as an exception, and move forward and continue to expect large profits. Might make some of us angry (very angry), but probably wouldn't effect the bottom line much for Apple. They simply have discovered a more profitable market in iStuff.

This is true but not in the long term. If apple don't deliver a complete experience of computer to iPads and phones they will loose profit over time. It's the same as if they would ditch the Macs when the iPod took off...it would break the totallity. If apple went out today and said they are ditching all macs except the air, I would start planning my transition to other non apple products...

 

[gnrredphoenix]

If apple went out today and said they are ditching all macs except the air, I would start planning my transition to other non apple products...

I agree 100%. Theres no way Apple would drop their mac line anytime soon. Despite clearly moving toward being a mobile company, if they dropped their base computers I along with so many others, would try to make moves away from apple devices entirely.

 

[forty2j]

key words "used to". Those days are clearly over. From a business point of view, it is hard to argue against that.

Where do people get this impression? If you actually look back at Apple's hardware releases, they're far from clockwork.

Here's some notable recent extended waits, excluding stuff we're still waiting for:
2010 MBA: 499 days
2011 iPods: 398 days
2011 iPhone: 467 days
2010 Mac Pro: 511 days
2009 Mini: 574 days

Here's some older ones:
2004 iMac: 30 months
2006 iMac: 31 months
2008 Mac Pro: 31 months

Since 1999 or so it seems that the only product with any kind of regular release schedule is the professional notebook (Powerbook / MBP).

 

[Occamsrazr]

If apple went out today and said they are ditching all macs except the air, I would start planning my transition to other non apple products...

Exactly. The only reason I stick with outdated iPhone over the Galaxy SIII is because of the complete data continuity that I get between my desktop and mobile devices when I use apple products.

If apple breaks that continuity and I have to use M$ computer, then I would drop iPhone in the amount of time it takes me to drive to best buy and purchase the S3.

Apple's whole value add is their "universe". As long as you stay in their universe and don't try to use a competitor's product inside of it, everything works flawlessly. Once you try to sync an iphone with a windows computer, or try to connect an android phone to an iMac, things start to break down.

If Apple were to force people to use a competitor's product inside their universe, it would be the dumbest move of all time. I can't believe they would do that... Once I've broken the Apple continuity, why should I have any Apple products at all?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The iPhone is dumb and expensive on its own. Same with the iMac.... Put everything together and its worth the apple markup and more.

 

[macnerd93]

There's not going to be an event for the iMac ever again. Period. There hasn't been an event where they mention the iMac for ages.

thats because they haven't given it a major overhaul in several years.

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Now I like the rest of you am getting pretty frustrated about this whole iMac 2012 thing. Im starting uni mid September, and I wanted to get a iMac which could be used as a personal studio whilst i'm there. I have been waiting since April to get my hands on a new iMac and its now starting to get insanely frustrating. Have been sat on a sum of money for the thing to be released any day for far too long now.

I might just bite the bullet and get the 2011 iMac. (I will of course wait until the day before i leave to do this, just incase).

I do not expect this from Apple. They used to be on the ball with getting updated machines out.

Just get it now LOL. If you wait for the next thing to come out in the tech world you'll always be waiting. It still gonna perform awesomely the current models. Frankly I'm gonna try and snap up one of the 2011 models from KRCS who's offering quite a significant education discount compared to Apple's own. I don't want a retina iMac, Even if the next model isn't retina which I'm confident it won't be, there is always that chance though. The waste of resources to drive a retina display would be insane

 

[Mike Valmike]

Just get it now LOL. If you wait for the next thing to come out in the tech world you'll always be waiting. It still gonna perform awesomely the current models.

STOP pushing this irrelevant and fallacious argument. Nobody is talking about waiting perpetually. Everyone is talking about wanting an iMac refresh because the 2011 model is a TERRIBLE value at MSRP now that it's August 2012. It's an economic decision as much, or more than, a performance decision. It has now been the longest time between iMac refreshes ever. It's fair to say nobody makes purchasing plans assuming they will be waiting longer than anyone has ever waited before for a new release.

Business users with an immediate need don't care about refresh cycles as they have to deploy assets on the spot. Gamers may talk about what they want on refresh cycles but the reality is they are more likely than not to be using PCs anyway. The rest of us just want to have a Mac that will be a reasonable economic decision at purchase and have a useful lifetime that is as long as it can reasonably be in terms of future OS compatibility. Right now the 2011 iMac fails those metrics unless you get a smoking refurb deal or something where you are out, at most, 75%-80% or so of MSRP. Because that's what the 2011 iMac is worth right now.

 

[iMcLovin]

thats because they haven't given it a major overhaul in several years.

...wrong. Look back please. 2009, complete redesign, new mouse new everything, and NO event. And this is how it always will be, unless they are introducing something new to the iMac which changes it´s markets and what it is meant for (as a TV or whatever) . If the meaning of the iMac is what is is now, a redesign will only get front coverage on the apple website.

 

[TouchMint.com]

They need to keep their computers around for developers since you can only write/submit most ios apps through a mac.

TBH after using a mac for about 18 months I still dont see it. I cant understand the reason why anyone would use a mac for anything other than development. They look nice but spec wise they are 2x the cost of windows PCs and OSX isnt anythign special. sorry =/

 

[BriMercer]

Best Buy

I was in Best Buy on Monday, getting a replacement hard drive for my PC (I haven't yet made the conversion to the Mac). While I was there I stopped at the Apple hardware area and played with an iMac when a salesman came over to answer questions. By way of enticing me to buy he said that they were having a big iMac sale -- $100 off. He said in his history of working at Best Buy, he's never seen such a big sale on iMacs.

I take this to mean they are trying to clear out inventory. That's my hope.

 

[forty2j]

It has now been the longest time between iMac refreshes ever.

I agree with the crux of your post, but this is incorrect. It is the longest time since the Intel changeover though.

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They look nice but spec wise they are 2x the cost of windows PCs

This has been disproven multiple times. You need to be sure:
1) You aren't looking at an outdated model (like the 2011 iMac in August 2012)
2) You are actually comparing spec for spec
3) You are considering build quality
4) You are considering screen quality

It's possible that the available spec, or the build quality, or the screen quality isn't important to you.. but then your statement is "I can get a Windows PC I'm satisfied with for half the cost", not "The iMac is 2x the cost of the equivalent Windows PC".

 

[12dylan34]

TBH after using a mac for about 18 months I still dont see it. I cant understand the reason why anyone would use a mac for anything other than development. They look nice but spec wise they are 2x the cost of windows PCs and OSX isnt anythign special. sorry =/

Well, firstly, it's simply not true that they're twice as expensive. Yes, they're a bit more expensive, but if you sell the machine when you're done with it, that makes up for or exceeds the difference. You can sell most PCs older than a year or so for little to nothing. My 4 year old MacBook Pro still goes for around $400.

Also, some people, including most on this forum, prefer the look, feel, way of doing things of OS X. No other reason than preference, really. To me, Windows feels large and overly complicated. Not because I don't know how to use a computer, but I just don't like how it's designed.

 

[Rebel Hedgehog]

I was in Best Buy on Monday, getting a replacement hard drive for my PC (I haven't yet made the conversion to the Mac). While I was there I stopped at the Apple hardware area and played with an iMac when a salesman came over to answer questions. By way of enticing me to buy he said that they were having a big iMac sale -- $100 off. He said in his history of working at Best Buy, he's never seen such a big sale on iMacs.

I take this to mean they are trying to clear out inventory. That's my hope.

At
Straws
Clutching

 

[iMcLovin]

I was in Best Buy on Monday, getting a replacement hard drive for my PC (I haven't yet made the conversion to the Mac). While I was there I stopped at the Apple hardware area and played with an iMac when a salesman came over to answer questions. By way of enticing me to buy he said that they were having a big iMac sale -- $100 off. He said in his history of working at Best Buy, he's never seen such a big sale on iMacs.

I take this to mean they are trying to clear out inventory. That's my hope.

100$ off, its been like this many places for a long time. Best buy had 100$ even before the summer. I wish it was something to get out of this, but unfortunately its just the same old situation. The macs are selling slow and the stocks are low, as always. And it will not change until we see a new model coming out.

 

[turtlez]

I agree with the crux of your post, but this is incorrect. It is the longest time since the Intel changeover though.

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This has been disproven multiple times. You need to be sure:
1) You aren't looking at an outdated model (like the 2011 iMac in August 2012)
2) You are actually comparing spec for spec
3) You are considering build quality
4) You are considering screen quality

It's possible that the available spec, or the build quality, or the screen quality isn't important to you.. but then your statement is "I can get a Windows PC I'm satisfied with for half the cost", not "The iMac is 2x the cost of the equivalent Windows PC".

people also overlook the fact that you get os x for free with it and the cost of aluminium and glass is a lot higher than plastic Also it took 1 year of designing to make it work vs 1 week of scribbling some sketches for the next tron plastic toy. Also you get a premium quality mouse and aluminium(again) keyboard.

 

[MightyWhite]

It's not so much my patients running thin but my poor old dell laptops...

I turned it on earlier (as it had turned itself off ripping a bluray overheating... I have to have it upside down to work but my stupid fat cat likes the heat and sat on it when I was not looking.... Bloody cat!!!)

It beeped at me for about 5 mins (the laptop not the cat) in like a high pitch morse code.... I am convinced it was saying something like " in your face... You are stuck with me for now you plank!!!"

Ripping all my films and bluray ready for the new iMac has also made me run out of storage now give or take 30gb so I really need something new to come out soon...

I just hope it does before my dell dies just to spite me and force me to buy old stock or live without a computer for a while.... That would be crazy!!!

 

[xgman]

Where do people get this impression?

You're kidding right? (visit the mac pro forum)

----------

I agree 100%. Theres no way Apple would drop their mac line anytime soon. Despite clearly moving toward being a mobile company, if they dropped their base computers I along with so many others, would try to make moves away from apple devices entirely.

Momentary blip in their bottom line, again, assuming they kept Airs and macbooks. The writing is on the wall. Many still choose not to read it. By the way, I absolutely hate this, but I do get it.

 

[forty2j]

You're kidding right? (visit the mac pro forum)

You misunderstand.

I don't mean, "Where do people get the impression that Apple isn't timely in updates right now?"

I mean, "Where do people get the impression that Apple was EVER timely in updates, and the delays we're seeing now are a new phenomenon?"

 

[TouchMint.com]

Well, firstly, it's simply not true that they're twice as expensive. Yes, they're a bit more expensive, but if you sell the machine when you're done with it, that makes up for or exceeds the difference. You can sell most PCs older than a year or so for little to nothing. My 4 year old MacBook Pro still goes for around $400.

Also, some people, including most on this forum, prefer the look, feel, way of doing things of OS X. No other reason than preference, really. To me, Windows feels large and overly complicated. Not because I don't know how to use a computer, but I just don't like how it's designed.

Your right its not really 2x but maybe around 1.3 - 1.5x as costly part for part.

You are very very right on resale value tho. I plan on selling my gaming pc and mac pro once the new imacs come out and just browsing and the listings on craigslist I can tell I am going to take a big loss on the gaming pc.

 

[Johnf1285]

Your right its not really 2x but maybe around 1.3 - 1.5x as costly part for part.

You are very very right on resale value tho. I plan on selling my gaming pc and mac pro once the new imacs come out and just browsing and the listings on craigslist I can tell I am going to take a big loss on the gaming pc.

I just sold all the components on my gaming pc in preperation for the new iMac. Got sick of wasting time tinkering in a case.

Had an i5 2500k, Asus ROG mobo, intel 510 ssd, ATI 6970, etc. etc.

I took a hit on it all. This is my second go around on taking a hit on PC componenets I think I am done.

All of the macs I've sold retained their value far greater than individual pc components.

 

[ihuman:D]

Your right its not really 2x but maybe around 1.3 - 1.5x as costly part for part.

You are very very right on resale value tho. I plan on selling my gaming pc and mac pro once the new imacs come out and just browsing and the listings on craigslist I can tell I am going to take a big loss on the gaming pc.

Remember the build quality, screen quality, wireless keyboard and mouse and OS X.

 

[macnerd93]

...wrong. Look back please. 2009, complete redesign, new mouse new everything, and NO event. And this is how it always will be, unless they are introducing something new to the iMac which changes it´s markets and what it is meant for (as a TV or whatever) . If the meaning of the iMac is what is is now, a redesign will only get front coverage on the apple website.

it really wasn't a major redesign in 2009 to be honest. I was talking about its transition from the plastic polycarbonate to the Aluminium style in 2007, but even that is really only a materials change. I mean style wise only the back, the aspect ratio of the display and the glass edging changed on the 2009 models. its still the same material and the same concept as the previous gen iMacs.

We've not really seen a major ground breaking different design in 10 years really. When you compare the old iMac G3 to the G4, which to me at least seems worlds apart. The initial design of the current iMacs has pretty much stayed the same since 2004 when the iMac G5 launched.

 

[7709876]

If apple breaks that continuity and I have to use M$ computer, then I would drop iPhone in the amount of time it takes me to drive to best buy and purchase the S3.

M$? Seriously? What sort of fanboyism is that?

Apple are the biggest money sucking company in the world. They are FAR worse in that respect than Microsoft ever was. You only have to look at the way Apple locks you into their eco system.