Kuo: 24-Inch iMac With New Design to Launch in Fourth Quarter of 2020

[MacRumors]

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 MacRumors.

Earlier this week, Kuo claimed that this redesigned iMac will be one of Apple's first two Mac models with a custom Arm-based processor, with the other being a future 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Following years of rumors, Apple today confirmed its plans to switch to its own processors for its Macs, promising "incredible" performance and features. Apple said that it plans to release its first Mac with custom silicon by the end of 2020, and it expects to transition its entire Mac lineup away from Intel processors within around two years.

In the meantime, Kuo expects Apple to refresh its existing Intel-based iMac in the third quarter of 2020, which encompasses July through September. It is unclear if this model will feature a new design. Apple last redesigned the iMac in 2012.

A last-minute rumor suggested that Apple was going to unveil its redesigned iMac at WWDC, but the keynote did not include any specific hardware announcements.

Article Link: Kuo: 24-Inch iMac With New Design to Launch in Fourth Quarter of 2020

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Hope this is correct!

 

[Dreamail]

Previous WWDC keynotes were always 2 hours and a bit.
This year they also reserved a 2 hour slot.
And they had the advantage of prerecording the entire presentation, so they could perfectly time it.

Yet this year's keynote was only 1:48:00. 12 minutes short of 2 hours. 12 minutes of unused space.

Does look like a last-minute scrap of a "One More Thing..." presentation.

 

[fokmik]

The big question is, for me at least, if Apple has a reason to ditch amd for dGpu....no matter how powerful A chips and their iGpu are...still cant match those 120W and up dGpu...and based on rumours apple is not making any stand alone gpu's. And since Amd let apple full access to their Gpu silicon, i dont see any reasons to remove that from upcoming big imacs and from the 16" Mbp... I bet the A chips will be significant better vs Intel cpu+igpu for the smaller Macbook airs and for the smaller macbook pro, but for the larger macs, they still, and we still need those dGpu

 

[nfl46]

I guess I’ll be upgrading my 2019 13-inch MBP (base) during Christmas. I will hold on to the butterfly keyboard until then.

 

[dredlew]

I hope there will be a 27” option as well. I might consider that.

 

[anthony13]

I just really want one iteration of this design with an intel chip. PLEASE APPLE.

 

[Kagio]

Where’s my 14inch ARMbook Pro ?

 

[gugy]

I'm very curious about the Apple silicon chips. I would love to see a MBP 16” first with it but definitely would go with an iMac. The PS/LR/FCP demos we're impressive.

 

[farewelwilliams]

with magic mouse 2 featuring a lightning port

 

[gagaliya]

Bought my 27 imac after the redesign in 2010. 10 years later, it still works flawlessly, no slowdown, no issues, just as fast. Incredible for a computer...best money I ever spent.

 

[CausticSoda]

I just really want one iteration of this design with an intel chip. PLEASE APPLE.

Not a chance! I would think it'll be ARM for all new Macs like this, and ARM for upgrades for existing Macs as soon as they can roll it out. It could have quite an effect on Mac sales for the next two years if people wait for ARM. For example, I was thinking of upgrading my MacBook Air next year, pretty much for the hell of it to be honest, but I'll certainly wait for ARM now as that is obviously the future of Mac hardware and software.
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Too much to hope they might release a 27" version as a monitor, I suppose?

 

[PowerGala]

I hope there will be a 27” option as well. I might consider that.

If they're bumping up the size of the 21.5 to 24, maybe they'll do the same with the 27 inch to 32? I've really grown accustomed to the larger size with my docked MacBook Pro.

I hope the mini makes the jump with the first round of new Macs as well. They're already making a developer version of the mini.

 

[malkovich87]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

 

[Cathode]

Previous WWDC keynotes were always 2 hours and a bit.
This year they also reserved a 2 hour slot.
And they had the advantage of prerecording the entire presentation, so they could perfectly time it.

Yet this year's keynote was only 1:48:00. 12 minutes short of 2 hours. 12 minutes of unused space.

Does look like a last-minute scrap of a "One More Thing..." presentation.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the manufacturing issues related to COVID led to them scrapping the announcement.

 

[TrenttonY]

Which will be the first Apple ARM Processor.

Apple will have the talking point that the orginal iMac revelutionized the industry and Apple, and this new iMac will do the same.

 

[pipis2010]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

I don't know if it will matter in the end, since Apple can optimize the hell out of their CPU's and their OS, achieving much better results against AMD/Intel in specific software scenarios. Maybe, in general, their CPU's won't be as powerful as Intel/AMD, but it also depends on the kind of usage scenarios we are talking about.

But, Apple being Apple and knowing their mistakes in the past, I am pretty sure we are in for a big surprise! I, personally, feel that they will take the industry by storm and will make ARM a great competitor for Intel/AMD and even start seeing more ARM computers from other manufacturers as well Competition is ALWAYS good!

 

[cheese01]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

AnandTech did a very comprehensive benchmark of the A13 last year, including a comparison between it and Intel's top (at the time) desktop processor, the i9 9900K. The A13's single threaded performance (when actively cooled) was between 4% and 13% slower than the 9900K, depending on the test.

Considering that the A13 was drawing 5-6W, and the i9 draws over 20W per core at full speed, these results are jawdropping. Expect a 20-30% performance increase from the A14 (which Apple has consistently achieved each year), plus higher clocks from desktop-grade power delivery and cooling, and it's entirely reasonable to see a desktop variant of the A14 beating the 10900K (only ~6% faster than the 9900K) by a significant margin.

Exciting times.

EDIT: Graphics performance should be interesting to see. Right now, Apple's mobile graphics are impressive but not industry-leading in the way their mobile CPUs are. That being said, there's nothing to stop them from slapping a PCIe controller onto their desktop silicon and connecting whatever desktop GPU they want.

 

[Jetfire]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

Most likely the A14Z is a proof of concept SOC. The real ones at the official releasee will be much faster. Remember these are early Dev kits just to help to start porting Apps.

 

[wigby]

Previous WWDC keynotes were always 2 hours and a bit.
This year they also reserved a 2 hour slot.
And they had the advantage of prerecording the entire presentation, so they could perfectly time it.

Yet this year's keynote was only 1:48:00. 12 minutes short of 2 hours. 12 minutes of unused space.

Does look like a last-minute scrap of a "One More Thing..." presentation.

If this was a traditional keynote, it would’ve been 2.5 hours due to all of the applause breaks and pauses between segments.

 

[Kalae]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

“A14Z” doesn’t exist (yet?)

The dev kit and the demos today were the A12Z, which is basically a chip from 2018 with an extra gpu core

 

[pipis2010]

Not sure how they'll reach their "incredible performance" goals by the end of the year, though. Right now, the A14Z is dramatically slower than Intel desktop CPUs and graphics performance is nothing compared to (some) dedicated GPUs.

I think you are mistaken, because they did announce MAC-SPECIFIC ARM chips, so we will be seeing differences compared to their mobile chips And we don't really know as of yet the sort of power-performance these "desktop" chips will have, so just be patient But, I wouldn't be surprised if they already have a desktop chip which beats Intel/AMD - don't forget, we don't really know what they have been secretly producing/testing/experimenting all these years, besides their official announcements/product releases - surprises could be in store...

 

[anthony13]

Not a chance! I would think it'll be ARM for all new Macs like this, and ARM for upgrades for existing Macs as soon as they can roll it out. It could have quite an effect on Mac sales for the next two years if people wait for ARM. For example, I was thinking of upgrading my MacBook Air next year, pretty much for the hell of it to be honest, but I'll certainly wait for ARM now as that is obviously the future of Mac hardware and software.
[automerge]1592890506[/automerge]
Too much to hope they might release a 27" version as a monitor, I suppose?

I think you might be surprised, at least i hope you are. While it doesnt make much sense on the surface, the fact is the ARM mac’s wont be competitive with Intel mac’s from jump. I think we’ll see ARM in the lower end products at first. Further, and perhaps more importantly, the professional sector will be slow to release native versions of software for ARM mac’s. That means many design houses and firms will rely on Intel mac’s for years to come.

 

[jasonefmonk]

Bought my 27 imac after the redesign in 2010. 10 years later, it still works flawlessly, no slowdown, no issues, just as fast. Incredible for a computer...best money I ever spent.

I bought a 5K iMac in 2015 and so far feel the same way. It has been the best computer I’ve ever owned. I’ve ran it hard and had planned to continue to do so for another five years.

I very occasionally run Windows via Boot Camp for a few games. They are very dear to me, but so infrequent and not demanding enough to warrant the additional computer. So now I might want to grab the last great Intel iMac to cover my next 10 years of nostalgic PC gaming. It’s a niche dilemma maybe.

 

[cheese01]

I think you might be surprised, at least i hope you are. While it doesnt make much sense on the surface, the fact is the ARM mac’s wont be competitive with Intel mac’s from jump. I think we’ll see ARM in the lower end products at first. Further, and perhaps more importantly, the professional sector will be slow to release native versions of software for ARM mac’s. That means many design houses and firms will rely on Intel mac’s for years to come.

Just curious - what makes you think ARM Macs won't be competitive?
Personally I don't think Apple would announce a full transition unless they had complete confidence they could overtake Intel's offerings across all their products. Going by my rough calculations I'd expect an A14 based iMac to be faster than an Intel iMac, at least in raw performance. Whether or not it's faster in real world use probably depends on how much overhead Rosetta introduces.