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Jon Prosser: Apple to Announce iMac Refresh Today Without Redesign
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I remember being with my dad back in 1981? 1982? sometime around then (I was a little kid), buying our Apple IIe for I believe somewhere around $2,000 or so. I was one of the only kids in my class or neighborhood who had a personal computer at home; we actually had several because my dad loved tech/electronic stuff. We had a Commodore 64 (and the one before that, that took cassette tapes before floppy disks came out!—I think a VIC 20?), a Texas Instruments one, Apple II, Apple II+, Apple IIc, and other brands I can’t remember the names of. My love of and dedication to Apple was founded way back then! I was also one of the few kids who didn’t use a typewriter for school projects/papers, instead using WordPerfect on our Apple IIe and our trusty EPSON dot-matrix printer. Ahhh, the 80’s!
RAM on this model is upgradeable though, so having a low starting point and buying third party is the way to go here.
It's been solidly rumoured:
Kuo: 24-Inch iMac With New Design to Launch in Fourth Quarter of 2020
Apple plans to launch a 24-inch iMac with a new design in the fourth quarter of 2020, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a research note obtained by...
www.macrumors.com
Sooo much Meh, but I'm due and need intel to run my cad software and a couple games still. I think I'll skip nano glass, but not sure in i7 or i9. I presume for games the higher clock of the i7 would outweigh the more cores of the i9? thoughts?...... ok so looked up some benchmarks. For my needs looks like no ROI for getting the i9
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Your sentences conflict with each other. If pricing was so ridiculous they would have nobody buying it. Since Apple is "swimming in money," there must be a good number of buyers who think the price fits the product.
Im more excited for Jon Prosser finally getting a prediction right than I am for the actual product. Even blind hen also finds grain apparently. Way to go!
This is how Apple handled the redesign of the iMac and the shift from PowerPC to Intel and will probably do it again with Apple Silicon.
In Aug 2004 Apple released a new design for the iMac (G5).
The next summer Apple announsed the transition from PowerPC to Intel with a two year transition and a Rosetta tool to ease the way (sound familiar?). The first Intel iMac was released January 2006 about 7 months after the transition announcement.
So, why they first made the design shift. I think they wanted to make one major change at a time. So that when the shift to Intel was ready they had a polish design. A new design is a big thing, but the shift of architecture is a major risk if you have problems with your new designs.
I belive that a new design is coming before winter for the smaller model (if the pandemic or the thing with China does not go much worse). Probably it`s the rumored 24`. There migh even be a 2nd update with a mini-led display before the iMac 24` transition to Apple silicon.
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There's no conflict.
The platform and design is ancient, so the profit margins on the iMac have become higher and higher over time. All the major engineering and tooling on this "generation" of iMac was done years ago. That cost has been covered many times over. All Apple is doing now is charging a ridiculous premium for hardware that's very ordinary and commoditized. You don't need to convince a lot of buyers to buy something that profitable to be swimming in money.
A higher-resolution 1080p FaceTime camera???? Can't innovate my a** !!!! Apple did it once again! 
Strongly appreciated and long awaited hardware upgrade. (Seriously).
Strongly appreciated and long awaited hardware upgrade. (Seriously).He has been saying new iMacs are coming next week or soon for months.
I dislike the guy with his cocky attitude. And with his track record I wouldn’t trust anything he says... or with announcements so close to release, really, what is this? Checking over people’s shoulder somehow when they push the “publish news, article, upgrade, etc” button and then annoyingly shout as quick as possible that said news, article or upgrade is incoming?
I read about the new iMac, saw a MaxTech YouTube video on the features, then another on upgrading the RAM, etc yesterday before reading over here to realize that there was a cocky JP “leak” announcement.
Ahh, the never ending MR whining! It's not like Apps there an event to announce a new iMac design. They have been perfectly nonchalant about spec bumps. It's only the YT/Blog universe that treats these as major events. This is actually a pretty big bump in the scheme of spec bumps. No way they were going to roll out a new iMac design with intel and no way the first ARM will be iMac.
The same whiners will moan if Apple stays with an 8th gen CPU or if they bump it to a 10th gen.
The same whiners will moan if Apple stays with an 8th gen CPU or if they bump it to a 10th gen.
You have to understand that it takes about a year to a year and a half to fully redesign a new computer model (even an established model like an iMac) inside and out, so that means they were working on the G5 iMac in 2002. Three years before the transition was announced — nevermind ready to act on.
Much like how they developed a PPC and an X86 version of OS X before announcing it, apple had a model of the G5 iMac designed around an intel internal — not surprising they kept an internal option open, with Motorola's roadmap starting to look shaky.
Personally, I disagree — I don't think a design change and an architectural change need to done separately for a company of Apple's size, especially the size they are now compared to where they were in the early 2000's. What I do know is how much Apple puts in brand/product recognition, and if they make the jump to redesign something as iconic as the iMac (regardless of how long we have had this design) then they are going to give it all the bells and whistles that are currently available for it and if the final design of a device and the final speck of new technology are within 6 months of each other, they will be incorporated together.
Again, I disagree — I think the MacBook will be first (by end of this year), followed by the Mac Mini and Macbook pro (spring) as that has the smallest gap to jump from the mobile devices (power-conscious, small die size) as they continue to build up power output with less regard for consumption. There will be a summer announcement during WWDC where they will brag about how well the then-current AS models are doing in comparison to not only the general competition but to the last comparable models with Intel. Then they will announce the Desktop versions of AS processors — showing the power gains in comparison to Intel and the already released models with AS when power consumption is not an issue. They will then announce the roadmap for the rest of the computers (with stats on why you should wait) and they will announce the AS iMac for either immediate release, or use WWDC as the platform to announce a late summer/fall release for Back to school, possibly a spec bump to the MacBook then as well. The iMac/Mac Pro will follow fall '21/Spring '22.
I may be wrong about the dates — and with the pandemic, the rollouts could be hindered because who knows what the next 6 months look like — but the model release structure, that I am certain of.
I agree with most of this except "with stats on why you should wait". I am pretty sure that they will not try to cripple sales of intel Macs as long as they are offered. I am sure they will point out ways that they are still viable and better than the competition, while stressing the benefits of AS that will be coming soon. The big gains coming from AS will have more to do with efficiency, portability and platform unification than sheer power (at first) so Apple can string potential buyers along during the transition.
I'm sorry — you may have misunderstood my meaning on the "why you should wait". Much like this dilemma facing many pro users that only had the trashcan mac pro to hold them down, many saw that (and apple's preceding record for updating it) as Apple abdicating the pro user space. I have heard from other pro users, as well being concerned with the switch to AS and more importantly — away from Intel — that the horsepower requirements they have may not be met if they leave Intel. The people who want Intel and are leery of the switch will have the opportunity to get updated iMac/Mac Pros with the latest chips but are worried about what happens next for them after the transition. The "why you should wait" isn't about skipping Intel Mac Pros (those who are concerned about AS will buy them anyway) it's about the long-term why you should wait for an AS Mac Pro and not switch to a windows box for horsepower. I know a lot of illustrators and VFX designers than moved to a PC just because of Nvidia, nevermind Intel. If they can show what a desktop can do next WWDC, that may get people to wait and hold off of a potential switch off the platform for that specific work.
Pros have had doubts about the cost of the Mac Pro to begin with, a move away from Intel on those machines could cast further doubt on the long term of the platform for them if they don't show what that could do for them.
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Gotcha! My problem with any discussion of the "Pro" market is the assumption that all pros are doing content creation. I need Intel because I run lots of very hardware specific apps that require Windows and I run them via Fusion. I am skeptical as to them ever running on AS via any kind of emulation (as opposed to virtualization) because they access hardware. I ran the 2013 trash can until the iMac Pro came out and I never once succumbed to the notion that it was not a beast. In reality it is still nearly equal to my base iMac Pro, though the iMac Pro is likely not as fast as the new iMac, I doubt the iMac will be the quiet workhorse that both of my pro machines have been.
Chances are that I will hang on to my 16" loaded MBP, but I have been running the new Asus G14 and have been amazed at how much power they have stuffed into a small machine, so I am worries less about having a Mac for work that ever before. It's looking more and more like my best option is to just use a Win10 laptop and get a Magic Keyboard for my iPad Pro for myApple stuff. I carry it any way.
I was only speaking from my own experience withing my discipline — but the argument can be made with respect to any computationally demanding industry.
You are exactly the type of user I was thinking of that will concider buying the Intel versions of the iMac/Mac Pro to meet your requirements before the switch, as well as the users who need to be assured the transition will be beneficial to you down the road. That's why I was saying the last intel models will be the ones that hold you for a while until the software catches up to actually leverage AS with your workflow.
I built an editing suite around that 2013 trashcan mac and it was a phenomenal machine, it's just a shame that ATI didn't hold up their end of the bargain of making better graphics card for that format. Kind of neutered it in the long run, but I thought the design as a whole was a marvel of engineering.
No, Jobs revealed that Apple started to prepare for the shift to Intel over 5 years before. Thats before the release of G4 or G5 models. So, I bet that they had their mind on the Intel shift when they made the roadmap for iMac design.
I belive we would not see so many iMac 24’ leaks if the production was not in the way. The iMac`s last major design update was 13 years ago and there hasn`t been even a minor update since 2012. I can`t see Apple delaying the new design much longer. If any products are released for Back to school promotion (2021) it`s a low budget Macbook or Macbook air. Students use laptops. My wild guess is that they will merge these two products sinse the new prosessors will offer slimmer design. My WILD guess is that they will just slap the new silicon to the 2020 Macbook air and call it ”The New Macbook”. The Macbook pro will get the mini-led screen. The Mac Mini will be one of the first if not the first to be released since it`s already done. They would have a hard time justifying to the investors why they are not selling the transition kit model as a entry level mac from day 1.
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thing is that with things moving towards more symmetry across Mac and iOS, I am trying a move towards a Win10 pc and an ipad pro with MK. The ASUS G14 Brings a level of power to a small platform that has just never been available and makes it really hard to justify using a Mac at work. The ipad lets me access the Apple ecosystem on the road. Carrying these two is proving more productive that just the 16”. As much as i despise 16x9, the G14 is just so good that I can live with ot.
That doesn't change anything here, nor discredit what I said: It was a plan B for if/when Motorola didn't deliver on their own road map. Apple has been working on AS with an eye towards macOS for years, but there is a difference on how this was implemented compared to how that was implemented. Apple saw switching to Intel as a possibility and saw AS on macOS as an inevitability. Steve always said you should control the important parts of your products, and having the processors out of their control forced Apple to be cautious in the early 2000's, they needed a backup plan in case the worst happened — and it did. This transition is different and it isn't going from one supplier to another, it's an external supplier compared to an internal creation. They knew what they were doing and saving the outer redesign for their in-house processor. what they are doing now is not replicating mistakes of the past. They have a better understanding of brand and design recognition.
Just because some form of production is underway doesn't mean the rollout will happen soon — it could be pre-production and they are still working out the kinks. That is standard when something undergoes a major redesign. I see the laptops being first for both back to school (as I said previously) and because they are in the best position to need the least modification of Apple's Silicone in principle (power-conscious, smaller footprint). The Mac mini is a Frankenstein's monster — it's not designed with the chip in mind — and I absolutely expect a redesign. Nothing major, but I expect they have a design already worked out. Again, I think the driver will be brand/design recognition. They waited this long to implement their in-house designs — they can wait for another release so that the look of the products with AS don't look like the ones that don't. Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.