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

[gnasher729]

I do hope these new Apple Silicon macs can support Windows Bootcamp.

They support Intel VMs. Which is a much more practical solution than Bootcamp, because you can run MacOS and Windows at the same time.
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Personally I think Apple will be developing custom silicon for the Mac. Why would they use the same ones they use in the phones and tablets? Maybe instead of the A series of chips it will be the B series of chips? Based on a very similar instruction set, but with desktop and laptop class specs.

Using the same silicon is _exactly_ why Apple is doing this. The iPad chips are faster than most laptops.

I'd expect the first round to come with 3 fast cores (iPad-like) and 6 fast cores, so they can replace everything from 2 to 8 cores with faster chips, with only the top end iMac Pro and Mac Pro left.

 

[Putzytart]

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.

Didn’t Tim say there were more intel products coming at the end? At the very least, it seems like there’s a chance

I suspect the new intel machines will just be spec bumps for the higher end machines that will take longer to roll out ARM into. Like the 27 iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro and maybe the 16 MBP. The ARM roll out is going to take two years from the first machine at the end of this year, so of course they will need to keep updating intel machines until the end of 2022. I suspect that the Mac Pro will be the last.

Can't wait to see benchmarks of these dev kit machines....will be interesting

 

[sfwalter]

ame time.

They support Intel VMs. Which is a much more practical solution than Bootcamp, because you can run MacOS and Windows at the same time.
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Using the same silicon is _exactly_ why Apple is doing this. The iPad chips are faster than most laptops.

I'd expect the first round to come with 3 fast cores (iPad-like) and 6 fast cores, so they can replace everything from 2 to 8 cores with faster chips, with only the top end iMac Pro and Mac Pro left.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how Parallels on Apple Silicon will work. A Windows and Windows apps will need to be converted to ARM instruction sets. The easiest option for Parallels on Mac would use the ARM version of Windows. However, the ARM version of Windows doesn't run a lot of existing Windows software. The other option is that is uses the JIT (just in time) compiler which they talked about WWDC.

If they use the JIT that will slow things down.

 

[dirkske]

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.

Same here. Bought the base iMac mid 2011 for 1.149 EUR. Added RAM and an SSD some 5 years ago. 9 Years later it still is my daily computer and it’s a joy to work on.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Not a single comment about Apple releasing a new Intel iMac in Q3, but following up with an Apple Silicon iMac in Q4?

No theories about which one would 24” inches or 27” or 30-32”?
You disappoint me.

if Apple releases an Arm Mac so shortly after upgrading any Intel Mac, it is gong to be fast.

 

[Serrafemme]

While I would certainly prefer an all ARM iMac lineup this fall, maybe they could do a tiered release of a redesigned iMac.

A lower cost ARM build with chip-aside upgrades for those that just want something to use that looks nice. A middle build Intel with upgrades to let the BootCamp crowd ride off into the sunset but still have the redesign. Then a high-end ARM build to rein in the diehards that want to drop the most money and secure longer support life for their system.

Then when they next refresh go all ARM. It’s not ideal but it would fulfill Tim’s Intel statement and still provide us with an ARM iMac sooner than 2021.

 

[VPRunner]

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

I as well. I need to upgrade from my 2008 MBP. It’s great but slow as molasses.

 

[gnasher729]

I'm trying to wrap my head around how Parallels on Apple Silicon will work. A Windows and Windows apps will need to be converted to ARM instruction sets. The easiest option for Parallels on Mac would use the ARM version of Windows. However, the ARM version of Windows doesn't run a lot of existing Windows software. The other option is that is uses the JIT (just in time) compiler which they talked about WWDC.

If they use the JIT that will slow things down.

The ARM version of Windows would be useless for anyone; there are no apps for it.

Just-In-Time compiler is exactly the thing to do. Apple has the whole LLVM compiler built into the OS anyway, so taking Intel code and translating it as needed is no problem. That's what they do today with graphics code, or with JavaScript (which has an interpreter, a very fast compiler, a fast compiler, and a fully optimising compiler using LLVM).
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Just a silly thought, but wouldn't it be technically very easy just to have an external box over tb3 with a graphics card slot that could run Windows for you? Basically an eGPU box but with an x86 chip in too? You could buy that and run your windows "virtually" without compromise, and a few drivers to pass the screen display / input / sound / ssd storage over?

You mean buying a PC? Sure, no problem. Except for a MacBook that you want to carry around with you.
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Interesting... given they’ve confirmed there’s a new Rosetta coming, does that mean they might go straight to Apple Silicon instead of more new Intel-based products? I wonder how fluid the situation is and if they’ve changed roadmap recently?

They have ARM chips with three fast cores right now, they are in the iPad Pro. They will have ARM chips with six or eight fast cores very soon. They will be an improvement on all Macs with no more than 8 cores. Above that, I assume the sales numbers will be not very high, so having something to replace a 28 core Mac Pro is probably a bit out.
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Incompatibility with every app and Windows. Not just now with apps that won't be ported over, Apple will have some kind of emulation to limp along the transition.

Limping along, doing 100 metres in less than 10 seconds.
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So if that iMac display is accurate are we now going to have to suffer with rounded corners when viewing standard 16:9 video? I'm already having to deal with that nonsense on my iPad when I watch videos in picture in picture view.

You seem to think that ARM chips can't display graphics without rounded corners?

 

[david.olstein]

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

27"? How about an iMac Pro with a 32" display?

 

[incoherent_1]

At first, I thought those vents on the side were a DVD drive and nearly fell out of my chair.

 

[VotingforSnoopy16]

So much for the breathless rumors and youtube videos describing the new iMacs that were to be announced...

Really, dropped the ball on that one. I like the design of XDR display, but since it's the price of a new car, and I really don't need it, it would be overkill. I just wanted a redesigned iMac that could kick some butt. Acer announces their hardware today, sorry Apple I have to look. An announcement on a new iMac isn't that hard, I'm getting tired of waiting.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Too small. Make it a 32" and I'm down.

 

[Bob Br]

Same here. Bought the base iMac mid 2011 for 1.149 EUR. Added RAM and an SSD some 5 years ago. 9 Years later it still is my daily computer and it’s a joy to work on.

I'm still using my late 2012 27” iMac. It's maxed out on the cpu, gpu and RAM. I also added a 1TB SSD, an 8TB HDD, and I swapped out the Airport Card with a current one for ac WiFi. It all works flawlessly since I did those upgrades over a year ago and its very fast for the things I do on it. It also hosts my local streaming library with the huge HDD I installed. Easily the best computer I have ever owned.
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Really, dropped the ball on that one. I like the design of XDR display, but since it's the price of a new car, and I really don't need it, it would be overkill. I just wanted a redesigned iMac that could kick some butt. Acer announces their hardware today, sorry Apple I have to look. An announcement on a new iMac isn't that hard, I'm getting tired of waiting.

Where do you get a new car for $6000?
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At first, I thought those vents on the side were a DVD drive and nearly fell out of my chair.

Why?

I use a slim CD size Sony Blu-Ray burner on my iMac when I need to use discs. I have had it for many years now and it runs flawlessly.
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The ARM version of Windows would be useless for anyone; there are no apps for it.

Just-In-Time compiler is exactly the thing to do. Apple has the whole LLVM compiler built into the OS anyway, so taking Intel code and translating it as needed is no problem. That's what they do today with graphics code, or with JavaScript (which has an interpreter, a very fast compiler, a fast compiler, and a fully optimising compiler using LLVM).
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You mean buying a PC? Sure, no problem. Except for a MacBook that you want to carry around with you.
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They have ARM chips with three fast cores right now, they are in the iPad Pro. They will have ARM chips with six or eight fast cores very soon. They will be an improvement on all Macs with no more than 8 cores. Above that, I assume the sales numbers will be not very high, so having something to replace a 28 core Mac Pro is probably a bit out.
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Limping along, doing 100 metres in less than 10 seconds.
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You seem to think that ARM chips can't display graphics without rounded corners?

What do "ARM chips" have to do with anything I said???

Read more carefully what I actually wrote.
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I as well. I need to upgrade from my 2008 MBP. It’s great but slow as molasses.

I'm thinking about getting the new Air. Yeah not the fastest but one thing I like is that the display is an sRGB gamut display. The expanded displays you see on most every other Apple product often look strange to me. Dull overall, is one quality. That's why I returned my iPad mini 5 and I kept using my iPad mini 4, after installing a new battery. The Air would do everything I need it to do when I need to be portable. I would get it with 16GB of RAM but keep the base cpu. With my government discount it would still be around $1000.

 

[johnnytravels]

Maybe with the redesign and Thunderbolt 3 they could actually bring back being able to use the iMac as an external display (I think they called it Target Display Mode). Would really love to see that and probably get one of those then...

 

[johngordon]

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 sure, after all the stuff about the switch to ARM, how seemless it might be, and especially how existing apps would run on ARM machines.... combined with the new iMac rumours....

It seemed inconceivable that they would announce a redesigned iMac with Intel. Set up perfectly for the One More Thing of a redesigned iMac running on ARM... even if it wouldn't be available until later in the year....

And then... nothing.
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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.

I think it would make sense to have larger displays, with smaller bezels and similar overall footprints.

 

[cheese01]

It seemed inconceivable that they would announce a redesigned iMac with Intel. Set up perfectly for the One More Thing of a redesigned iMac running on ARM... even if it wouldn't be available until later in the year....

Someone earlier suggested there'd be a One More Thing hardware announcement of either an ARM iMac or MacBook Pro, but it was canned due to COVID-caused production delays. Seems very plausible to me.

 

[alexandr]

Where’s my 14inch ARMbook Pro 😭

let's hope that's what they mean by the "future 13-inch"

 

[Xavier]

If this is true, and a 27" or similar size version is released at the end of the year, I will buy immediately!

 

[m1barron]

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 have a 2011 27" i7, 32 gb ram, 1tb SSD. Yes, Great Machine. Too bad Apple has long abandoned this model for OS upgrades, Three years and TWO major versions ago. It does not play well with my new iOS devices.

 

[Tarantularock]

Maybe with the redesign and Thunderbolt 3 they could actually bring back being able to use the iMac as an external display (I think they called it Target Display Mode). Would really love to see that and probably get one of those then...

Yep - if it can use sidecar app (which it should work flawlessly). yes, this is what I’ve been waiting for. New Arm iMac screen for the office and a wireless display available for my work laptop.

 

[windowsblowsass]

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.

The A14z does not currently exist (outside of rumors) so I’m not sure how your making a definitive statement on the matter.
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5 years too late on a redesign.

I can understand 7-8 years between Mac Pro design changes (even 10 at a stretch), but 10 years for a consumer-oriented product? That’s crazy!

The MacBook Pro went through 3-4 generations with significant design changes in that time. Why did Apple ignore the desktops so much?

Demand

 

[TheKDub]

I as well. I need to upgrade from my 2008 MBP. It’s great but slow as molasses.

I feel like I got unlucky - especially if an ARM 13" MBP is coming out in less than 6 months! After 7 years on my late 2013 MBP, I felt that it was time to upgrade and I just received my 2020 13" MBP. I already gave away my 2013 13" MBP so I can't really return my 2020.

I know that my 2020 MBP will be supported for another few years, but I was enjoying the fact that I was able to get full support for 7+ years on my 2013 MBP. I hope (but am doubting right now) that any 2023-2024 MacOS will run on Intel Macs.

 

[Idec50]

This new iMac, the Apple CPU, and Big Sur will all be completely silly unless this machine has a touchscreen.

They really think people want to run iPhone apps on their Mac without a touchscreen? There is no way.

And just like that -> macOS merges with ipadOS. Notice how similar those names are?

 

[Rychiar]

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.

You’re lucky. I don’t know anyone who still has a functioning 2010. I traded up when the 2013 came out, that was by far the best mac I ever owned and a huge speed boost from the 2010.. meanwhile the 2017 and 2019 haven’t impressed me

 

[Edward Taggart]

Interestingly enough the Worlds fastest computer announced today is the Japanese Fugaku Supercomputer which is running on ARM processors...