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iMac sept 12 release?

commad said:
I disagree. I haven't done the research, but I am willing to bet that Apple hasn't released a brand new product towards the end of a Back To School offer that included that product.
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It is doubtful that Apple "intended" for the iMac to slide into September. As reported elsewhere that new 27" screen process is screwed up. It is doubtful that Apple "intended" to slide into WWDC with no Mac updates either. Santa Claus elves don't make Macs, Apple's component suppliers do. Sometimes things don't happen on the timeline intended.

The real business question is whether to "sit" on delayed iMacs longer, just to get out of some artificially, self imposed window like the "back to school" sale. That's silly. Part suppliers faced with a new technical challenge causing a delay is one thing. Delaying the iMac further just to temporarily pimp out slightly higher, but still mid double digit profit margins, is myopic and just greedy.

If there is something holding it up till after the period is that Apple would feel the need to be "consistent" and release new 24 and 27 models at the same time instead of a half the line-up now and the other half in 3-4 weeks announcement.
 
comatory said:
People think, even if a product is announced, the availability is often delayed, even Apple has usually sth like "Available from ..." so even if they were worried about B2S promo (as they're not, see Deconstruct's post), they'll just be selling them in stores in the next month, taking pre-orders at most.
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Apple hasn't done that for Macs in years (month like gaps between announce and ship). They do that with iPhone and somewhat with iPad because the initial demand surges are so high. But these are macs. Apple sells as many iPhones in about a month as they sell Macs (all models) all year. There are entirely two different situations in terms of scope and expectations.

Apple can do anything they want. Including reversing policy on announcing Macs when they can ship them. But for relatively mature products (have been released for more than several years) it doesn't make alot of sense to do.

I know the PC industry in general does it wholesale. Tons of new Windows 8 focused machines announced over last several weeks that want actually get into customer's hands for over a month. But look how well the general PC industry is doing financial health wise also. Not all the great. It is a fundamentally flawed policy.

most of the people who buy iMac think they have the newest iMac and that's it. If new one comes out week later, they don't know about it because desktops get rarely mentioned in mainstream press.
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There is no quantitative evidence to back that up. While there are some bumps to Macs sold in quarter where new models come out the numbers don't crater to zero in the non release months. Last year during Oct-Dec quarter Mac sales were very high with only a minor speed bump on the MBP's and nothing on the desktops.
 
AlphaMF said:
What iss the diff between releasing right up to Back to school or towards the end of back to school ?

Apple jsut refreshed their entire "campus-friendly" line before back to school. According to your logic, they are basically losing even more money doing that.

Apple launches upgrades and add campaigns not for you and me (guaranteed apple buyers) but for college kids that might chose something different than apple, and in that sense, the newer their products and the better the offer, the higher the sales numbers.

The Back to school is just a gimmick anyway, its such a small % discount, and since its from apple store, they are actually boosting App sales and getting publicity worth equal or more than the discount, its win/win for them. Pairing new macs with Back to School is a major benefit "business" wise. If Apple is not releasing the iMac it's either because they see no future in the product OR they are having productions problems. A lot of data suggests the latter.
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Your right, the refresh was BEFORE the back to school offer, not on the heels of it. My logic is NOT that you can't ever have a promotion corresponding with a new product. That's the idea, it needs to correspond. Releasing right now wouldn't correspond with the current offer, it would overshadow it and lessen it.

You can give away day old bagels for half price. You don't have to give away the fresh bagels half price. People love the day old bagels because they are cheap. People love the fresh bagels because they are fresh. You don't have to have the same offer for both at the same time.

P.S. that "gimmick" sells A LOT of computers.
 
commad said:
Your right, the refresh was BEFORE the back to school offer, not on the heels of it. My logic is NOT that you can't ever have a promotion corresponding with a new product. That's the idea, it needs to correspond. Releasing right now wouldn't correspond with the current offer, it would overshadow it and lessen it.

You can give away day old bagels for half price. You don't have to give away the fresh bagels half price. People love the day old bagels because they are cheap. People love the fresh bagels because they are fresh. You don't have to have the same offer for both at the same time.

P.S. that "gimmick" sells A LOT of computers.
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The general public do not buy fresh bagels (new iMacs) just because they are fresh (new). They buy them when they are really hungry, then they go and see what kind of bagels are out there. If there is a bagel at one stand that happens to be day old, and same price as a fresh bagel they wont buy the day old... ever...

If apple releases iMac now, they would be selling fresh bagels at a better pricepoint. I can't see how it can negatively impact them. If having a discount right after a launch doesn't lose money, why would launching a product at the end of the discount lose money ? And how would BTS get overshadowed? People wont just forget that the new Computer is cheap and not just new.

Back to school DOES sell ALOT, but its a gimmick from Apples POV. It costs them nothing and generates a lot of sale, not just from direct buy, but also from App store. Its an age old and genius move.
 
deconstruct60 said:
It is doubtful that Apple "intended" for the iMac to slide into September. As reported elsewhere that new 27" screen process is screwed up. It is doubtful that Apple "intended" to slide into WWDC with no Mac updates either. Santa Claus elves don't make Macs, Apple's component suppliers do. Sometimes things don't happen on the timeline intended.

The real business question is whether to "sit" on delayed iMacs longer, just to get out of some artificially, self imposed window like the "back to school" sale. That's silly. Part suppliers faced with a new technical challenge causing a delay is one thing. Delaying the iMac further just to temporarily pimp out slightly higher, but still mid double digit profit margins, is myopic and just greedy.

If there is something holding it up till after the period is that Apple would feel the need to be "consistent" and release new 24 and 27 models at the same time instead of a half the line-up now and the other half in 3-4 weeks announcement.
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We actually don't really know Apple's intended timeline and/or "screwed up" 27" inch screen process. A lot of this "reporting" is based on rumors.
Yes, the offer is "self imposed", exactly. Apple sets the timeline for these offers and I believe that they work around these dates for a reason. You think these offers are just random and not part of a business calculation??

Like I said before, I would be surprised if you could give evidence of when Apple released new Apple products that were included in the offer, on the heel of that same offer.

Raising these questions makes me "silly"... ummm ok.
 
Holding back the new iMac because of back to school doesn't make sense. That would mean apple avoids their own sales gimmicks. In addition the current iMac is hard to get now so they aren't able to sell much of them anyway.

But still there's no new iMacs today :(
 
deconstruct60 said:
If there is something holding it up till after the period is that Apple would feel the need to be "consistent" and release new 24 and 27 models at the same time instead of a half the line-up now and the other half in 3-4 weeks announcement.
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They may "sell" them on the same day, and have the 27-inch delivered later. It happens fairly often: if I'm not mistaken, the rMBP began with a delivery estimate of 3-4 weeks, which then improved to 2-3 weeks, then to 1-2 weeks. Today I think it's as quick as 3-4 days, probably even less...
 
iMcLovin said:
Holding back the new iMac because of back to school doesn't make sense. That would mean apple avoids their own sales gimmicks. In addition the current iMac is hard to get now so they aren't able to sell much of them anyway.

But still there's no new iMacs today :(
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It makes sense if they have never done it before.
 
commad said:
It makes sense if they have never done it before.
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I actually went looking for one, and couldn't find one as far back as I was willing to look. Which is a long way from never, but it appears to be something that actually plan to avoid.

Which doesn't tell us much about the 2012 iMac, since nothing about its release appears to be planned.
 
Also, for what it's worth, here is the paragraph about returns from the Back To School terms and conditions:

PROCEDURES RELATED TO PRODUCT RETURNS AND EXCHANGES: If a Qualifying Product is returned for any reason and not exchanged for another Qualifying Product required for redemption under this promotion, the Back to School Gift Card must be returned with the Qualifying Product in order to receive a full refund. If the Back to School Gift Card is missing, is not returned, or has been redeemed by depositing its value into any iTunes account (even if no purchases have been made against the value of the Back to School Gift Card), then the full original value of the Back to School Gift Card will be deducted from the exchange or refund of the Qualifying Product.
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To sum up: if you return it and don't replace it with something else that qualifies, you lose the bonus. Therefore a returned iMac is just a returned iMac to them, and given how Apple has a stock turnover of about 5 days, it can't be THAT many machines even if they are _all_ returned.
At worst, they'll just sell them as refurb and still make 80-85% of the original price, which is A LOT considering that they were first introduced 16 months ago (and therefore they cost way less to make than they did at the time.)

Of course, it's best to expect to be disappointed and be pleasantly surprised than to expect something that won't happen and be slammed in the face!
 
I don't want to rule out it being released today until the event is over. It is looking increasingly unlikely though.
 
I think they would have launched new iMacs with the macbooks if they could. If that is true, they should release ASAP after that date. Its not like: "if you miss a certain period of a discount you HAVE to miss the entire discount otherwise you're screwed". I understand most of what you're saying, but it just doesn't line up with the fact they they released the entire macbook lineup just before BTS.

HOWEVER, nope, no iMac today.

*u** what if DirtyHarry gets to be right..... Ill a****ape myself with a torch gun if that happens ;)
 
forty2j said:
I actually went looking for one, and couldn't find one as far back as I was willing to look. Which is a long way from never, but it appears to be something that actually plan to avoid.

Which doesn't tell us much about the 2012 iMac, since nothing about its release appears to be planned.
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Thanks. That's kind of my main point here. Regardless if anyone here believes me or not about it being a smart business decision or not, the history shows that Apple doesn't release new products at the end of these offers.

Deep down I am still wishing for some concrete iMac news, even if we can get some kind of a quote or statement from an Apple rep today that at least gives us some kind of window for a release.
 
guys, dont forget apple is having an event early October this is comfirmed! october is only two weeks away, this is the closest weve ever been to the new imacs they are happening soon so lets not get overly desperate and lose hope because its not happening today. its happening very soon weve waited for months two or three weeks more wont do us any more harm so hold on tight! the imacs are coming
 
edry.hilario said:
guys, dont forget apple is having an event early October this is comfirmed! october is only two weeks away, this is the closest weve ever been to the new imacs they are happening soon so lets not get overly desperate and lose hope because its not happening today. its happening very soon weve waited for months two or three weeks more wont do us any more harm so hold on tight! the imacs are coming
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Source?
 
edry.hilario said:
guys, dont forget apple is having an event early October this is comfirmed! october is only two weeks away, this is the closest weve ever been to the new imacs they are happening soon so lets not get overly desperate and lose hope because its not happening today. its happening very soon weve waited for months two or three weeks more wont do us any more harm so hold on tight! the imacs are coming
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so much waiting, it better be REALLY GREAT
or people will go CRAZY!!
 
edry.hilario said:
guys, dont forget apple is having an event early October this is comfirmed! october is only two weeks away, this is the closest weve ever been to the new imacs they are happening soon so lets not get overly desperate and lose hope because its not happening today. its happening very soon weve waited for months two or three weeks more wont do us any more harm so hold on tight! the imacs are coming
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confirmed rumour, I don't think any invitations have gone out. And the same confirmed rumour had it as an iPad Mini event.
 
Can I just quickly say I love you all ? and that waiting for a computer has never been this much fun as with you guys (even the dream crushers who say it wont come for the next 5 years).

Ive watched this forum more than I worked for the last 4 months... (Im working on a cure for heart attacks) so.... basically... apple is standing in the way of saving mankind by not releasing a new iMac.
 
AlphaMF said:
I think they would have launched new iMacs with the macbooks if they could. If that is true, they should release ASAP after that date. Its not like: "if you miss a certain period of a discount you HAVE to miss the entire discount otherwise you're screwed". I understand most of what you're saying, but it just doesn't line up with the fact they they released the entire macbook lineup just before BTS.

HOWEVER, nope, no iMac today.

*u** what if DirtyHarry gets to be right..... Ill a****ape myself with a torch gun if that happens ;)
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Look, I respect your side of this argument.
Them releasing the Macbook lineup before the offer at least lines up with the offer. Wouldn't you want the offer to have a consistent product throughout? I think that is normal.
I think most companies that do these sort of offers don't switch up the contents of the offer right in the middle of it or towards the end. And I don't think waiting a few more weeks really hurts Apple at all. They are selling a lot of Macs during this offer period and they will sell a lot when the new ones come out.
 
Liquinn said:
Source?
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Gruber speculated, Dalrymple confirmed.

http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/08/23/iphone-5-and-ipad-mini-events/

(If you're not aware, Jim Dalrymple has an inside source at Apple, and confirms or denies rumors at his whim. Not nearly as often as many of us would hope.)

Personally I'm about 50/50 on whether or not they'd talk about iMacs at an iPad Mini event. Would kind of be a weird potpourri event, but it fits slightly better than talking about them at an iPhone event.
 
Liquinn said:
Source?
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http://allthingsd.com/20120825/conf...n-october-after-latest-iphones-september-bow/

i know its talking about the ipad, but if they are introducing new ipods today the only thing left on the schedule is the ipad mini and the ipad mini wont hold an entire event, it not only confirmed but all things d but also confirmed by jim dalrymple that there will be an event in October. We should be seing new imacs either at that event or some point in October im almost certain of that.
 
I've got a new date for you guys...

the BTS program ends in september 21, if apple launch new imac now. lots of people would return their back to school promo imac in the 14 days return window.

so i'm guessing the new date is september 21 + 14 days = oct 5th or it could be oct 9 which falls in tuesday.

wont bet on anything, but if i'm correct I get a cupcake :D
 
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