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iMac With M2 and M2 Pro Chips Could Arrive Soon, Says Latest Conflicting Rumor
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If you can get a Mini at a reduced price, the same would apply. The Mini’s footprint is pretty minuscule, and you can get a very good monitor that’s affordable these days.
I’m not saying iMacs aren’t good, they’re just a bit expensive for a desktop that has a 6 year software lifespan. I’m dealing with this now on my 2017 iMac. If I had a Mini, I could just pay 1/2 of what a new iMac would cost and have a similar experience. The Mini obsoleted the iMac for my usage.
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The original Japanese post is just more empty ponderings based on slow BTO deliveries, the very observation that many of us (here) have already made. Somehow, though, because that post is in Japanese it seems to have more gravitas?
Sure, Apple might spring an iMac on us any moment now... but if Apple wanted to put an M2 inside an iMac they could have done that a year ago.
Sure, Apple might spring an iMac on us any moment now... but if Apple wanted to put an M2 inside an iMac they could have done that a year ago.
How do you know the M1 iMac has a 6-year software lifespan? It wouldn't surprise me at all to see M1 machines get a full 10 years of macOS releases.
I've had plenty of Mac minis. I've lost count! The screen, pixel-density and scaling on the M1 iMac is basically impossible to beat. I have 4K LG monitors as well. The iMac is a more pleasing visual experience for me, compared to Mac mini + 4K 27" monitor.
I'm struggling by on an old intel Mac with a Fusion Drive 
. I really really don't want to buy an M1, but I can't hold out much longer. Any update to the iMac at this point would be nice.
. I really really don't want to buy an M1, but I can't hold out much longer. Any update to the iMac at this point would be nice.
I believe this summarizes the situation perfectly.
Allow me to add one more. The alternative 5K monitors from LG and Samsung either have issues with build quality or are not as inexpensive as hoped.
Why would Apple increase the lifespan? It’s not like my 2017 iMac isn’t capable of running a newly released version of MacOS. It’s an upgrade ploy, always has been at Apple. I’ve lost count of how many perfectly good Apple products go obsolete due to planned obsolescence.
The break from Intel has afforded them new roadmap and security features under Apple Silicon. Most iPads/iPhones get 6-7 years of support, and Apple's full-on computers could expect support for longer as their upgrade cycle is longer than phones.
Seriously interested in this , got 3 x minis m1/m2 pro attached to big 4k tvs but it just ain't the same experience as iMac
Looking forward to what they produce !!
Looking forward to what they produce !!
A low hanging fruit solution to iMac's appeal is to enable video input via USB-C. Voila! You've got your MacBook or your work laptop a great external display. A truly an all-in-one
What a terrible take. Guess what other form factor is AIO whose monitor will outlive the CPU? The MacBooks.
3nm is still expensive and in short supply while offering nothing needed for low(er) end desktop computers.
So maybe they do something similar to the iPhone where the only "Pro" lineup gets the latest chip while the normal/consumer product stay a generation behind (maybe even with a cut down version of the chip).
This would mean that we would see M3Pro/Max chips long before a base M3.
(just a wild guess).
If this is true, it means the M3 is still a long time away for all Macs and iPads.
LOL. You really didn't think this through very well, did you?
A very solid case can be made for laptops and the need for mobility. People that travel for work, people that WFH but only certain days, the list goes on.
Very little case can be made for the benefits of, as an example, an iMac versus a Mini and a separate monitor.
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It's never been so difficult for me to buy my next Mac as these days. Only bad compromises or very expensive solutions. Mac mini is adequately powered, but RAM and SSD upgrades are super expensive. Non-Apple 4K monitors are affordable, but the picture quality is sub-par when you compare it to the 2017 5K iMac I'm using right now. Yes, the Studio Display is nice, but I can't afford that right now.
I'm still mostly satisfied with my 5K iMac. But due to the transition to M-Series processors I'm not sure it's wise to hold on to it much longer.
I'm still mostly satisfied with my 5K iMac. But due to the transition to M-Series processors I'm not sure it's wise to hold on to it much longer.
Regardless of the transition, a 2017 iMac could run the latest MacOS just fine. Apple wants us to buy their new products, that’s always their goal. They’re a corporation. There’s no technical or security reason why they shouldn’t be supporting rigs from 2017. Apple Silicon won’t change their business strategy, which is to force people to upgrade on a given timepath.
Yes, but I also think Jobs thought "serious/pro computers" were on the way out. A shrinking niche.
That's why he designed the iPhone and iPad as an appliance, when neither the Newton nor Windows tablets of the time were.
Nonsense. Macs from 2009 already had a useable lifetime of over a decade. An M1 iMac could probably outlive its owner and be passed down through the generations. What should die is the notion of an All-in-One. Nobody calls an iPhone, iPad or MacBook an AIO device. The iMac is just a smartmonitor and the Studio Display is a dumbmonitor. A computer-literate person should not have any more use for a dumbmonitor than for a dumbphone. Smart people buy smart devices.
While it's certainly understandable, the desire for a separate monitor solution if one finds the AIO display choice not to one's liking or needs, that reality in no way has any bearing for those of us in search of AIO solutions...there is no single, universal solution for all users.
What's interesting, and sometimes off-putting, is the insecure attitudes and behaviors of some non-AIO users when this topic arises. It's as though some non-AIO users feel threatened that the very existence of AIOs is somehow a threat to their own personal user choice! LOL
I've made the case elsewhere in this thread how, in looking at my own carbon footprint and how my consumer choices contribute to global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and the mining of natural resources, I do not wish to contribute to excess global production of raw materiel (I used Apple's aluminum housings as an example) nor do I wish to have to provide unnecessary extra local grid electricity to a product (desktop computer) which would be the case with pretty much any non-AIO solution.
FWIW, on a personal user level, I have zero desire, want, or need to, er, go-back-to-the-'90s where one had no other choice but to purchase an ungainly and unwieldy (and, IMO, ofttimes ugly and wasteful) separate box/tower/housing for my desk or floor or shelf where an AIO solution exists (like with my iPhone and MBP, LOL). Methinks Apple actually shot itself in the foot with its 27" iMac user base by going this Studio route, I know they did so with me as such extra-complexity and inelegance and waste of home space along with its larger carbon footprint and superfluous natural-resource squanderings was-and-continues-to-be an instant "no purchase" decision.
As found elsewhere in this thread, my "back-of-a-napkin" idea showing how Apple could easily modularize their M(x) boards and (possibly) provide a solution for both camps by providing users the choice of custom/replaceable monitor/processor solutions that would also be more eco-conscious.
I'm a big subscriber to Job's notions that the folks currently making the decisions in this world are no smarter than the rest of us, and that we all can go out (onto the forums, in this case) and make a dent in the universe. I'm personally cheering on for a 32"/6k and 42"/8K XDR iMac!
Your needs may vary.
You got it all wrong. The only way to justify a Mini + monitor solution is because a large M-series iMac does not yet exist and people don't want to wait. Once people actually have a choice, nobody will want to have everything separate. Just like nobody wants an iPad and its display in two different boxes.
I only bought a 5k iMac in 2017 because Apple didn't offer a decent 2-box solution at the time. The screen is lovely - not being able to use the screen with anything else is awful, and a 27" screen is far to big to reach around when you want to connect stuff. I've switch to a Studio and my preferred choice of dual third-party displays (not quite as high quality as the 5k but all-round far more suited to my needs) and there is no way I'm buying another all-in-one as long as something like the Studio or Mx Pro Mini is available (and the next one of those I buy will most likely end up connected to my current displays). Or maybe some splendid new display will come out next year and I'll be able to switch to it without being forced to buy a new computer.
We can play this anecdotal evidence game forever - some people love the iMac, some people hate it, some people have just moved on to a laptop now that you don't have to choose between performance and mobility. Apple are the ones who have the sales figures and market research so let's look at what they've done: released a 24" M1 iMac which has never seen an update, but over the same period released the M1 Studio & Studio Display, the M2/M2 Pro Mini and updated the Studio to M2. I wonder which way their data points?
When Apple launch the 27" iPhone I should jolly well hope that the display is detachable - I may be fat by my shirt pockets are not *that* big!