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Lower-Priced 23-Inch iMac and 11-Inch iPad Models Rumored to Launch in Second Half of 2020
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Well to be fair, the current crop of iPad Pros can do so much more than the original ones. Mouse, keyboard, Apple Pencil support, specs, etc make the experience a lot more dynamic. I get the whole progression of inflation of goods, but Apple really has a good competitor to Surface devices relative to where they were years ago w/ productivity.
I normally buy iPads on sale, rather than paying regular price. I paid about like $200 or $220 for my iPad 6th gen, can't recall. Although the processor is a bit older and the RAM is underwhelming, it's a really optimized device and meets my needs. I really enjoy using it for media consumption mainly. I use a Surface Go for any productivity due to x86 programs.
With the recent Apple jacking of prices and out of date specs...I'll await the new iMac and see if Apple can offer a value proposition.
But I'm going dual Mac/PC. The recent Mac Pro move after a wait of 6 years....yeeesh. 6k for a tower. I recall when Apple offered value towers. I can get a Ryzen and a better gpu for much less. They should have offered a Enthusiast class version of the Mac Pro...
Still, I'm excited by an actual iMac rumour. It won't stop me going dual Mac/PC workstation.
Azrael.
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Just get the cheapest internal SSD as boot.
Buy external SSDs for far, far less for Apps and Data.
Azrael.
But you already don't need a notch for FaceID on iPad - it fits perfectly in the bezel. Unless they're thinking of making the feel thinner, which I think would be a mistake - it's just right as it is, giving you just enough to hold without bothering the screen.
I don't see why Apple can't have a rotate mechanism. Even Dell and BenQ can do it on modestly priced monitors.
I think Apple have/had a blue cog (plastic) that fails on the limited adjustability of the iMac.
But I'm with you on the design cues from the Pro Display. Lose those Bezels.
Azrael.
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4k screens are now dirt cheap. Anything less pulls your eyes out of your sockets.
APU. Sure. If they went with AMD's new Ryzen 4000 8 core with superior iG. Maybe they will. There were ref's to AMD cpus in a recent Mac OS leak?
They could do with two models below £1000.
Azrael.
iMacs just last just so long. Too reliable and runs fast for years and years. If my 5 year old iMac wasn't so reliable and fast I would upgrade this year.
It does. 256 SSDs are crumbs. The Radeon 580 is modestly priced entry low gpu. 24 inch monitors of the 4k variety are now much cheaper. What's that? A few hundred in parts for Apple?
This is hardly cutting edge specs.
They've milked the 21 inch supply chain long enough. Crikey, they've probably stopped making them in the supply chain...and maybe that's why, for the price differential, they might as well lose the bezel and put the bigger screen in the alu' body.
Historically, it wasn't that long ago Apple had two iMacs under the £1k mark. It used to be Apple's affordable computer.
Azrael.
I hear what you're saying. I don't see with a 32 inch model they can't really go to town on spec. Now IVe has gone it doesn't have to be flat as paper. Make it thicker put superior cooling in.
All they have to do is trim the iMac Pro bevels, lose the xeon/mb and include the latest 8 core Intel as standard. I don't see the silver iMac staying.
We're over due some superior Radeon 5700XT graphics. It's been out ages. 8 core standard. 16 gig of ram standard. 32 inch screen. I don't see why we can't have that for £2500.
With the borrowed iMac Pro cooling and some holes drilled in the back for better cooling.
Azrael.
My thoughts on a new screen size for iMac are in other threads - I won't repeat them here at length (yet).
A 23" iMac achieved by reducing the bezels of the existing 21.5" display doesn't sound very logical. That implies Apple would large re-use the existing form factor (which accommodates hard drives) instead of designing something completely new.
Easier perhaps to bump the storage on these existing machines and keep hard drives in the supply chain for a little while longer - especially in these times?
As I have calculated before, a 4.6k 24" 219ppi 'Retina' panel could be a 'cheaper' 27" 5k model.
If you look at Apple's direction on the iPad and iPhone they have base models with 'Pro' models sitting atop them. For iPads they have a middle model iPad Air that sits between the budget models and the Pro iPads.
I call iMac Air with all SSD and not 'cheaper' at all
A 32" Retina iMac would have a 6k panel the size of the Apple Pro Display XDR... (unlikely in my opinion).
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They could just flat out price cut the existing 21.5" models or spec jump the lineup by discontinuing the non Retina display and then cutting the price of the other two models. It would make a nice gap for 2 SKUs under a 27".
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That's not Retina though. They'll keep the 219ppi so a 23" could be around 4.6K
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Cheaper than a 27"- maybe
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As I argued in another thread, a new 'iMac Air' configuration with a 24" 4.6K panel at 219PPI allows Apple to start these machines with 256Gb or 512Gb SSD and no HDD. No confusion from traditional 21.5" or 27" buyers over storage quality.
Let's arguably say it apes the Pro Display XDR in design language, even better if there's a RAM access door.
Who's buying one?
Me. If Apple give me what I want. I'm the consumer.
32 inch iMac pro (current iMac renamed) with 6k display. Possible. With the less exotic stuff stripped out of the display. £1500-£2500.
24 inch iMac Air. £999-£1399. Depending on spec.
Basically 4k and 6k. Yes please. The Pro Display is the design language. No reason Apple couldn't consolidate the Manufacturing costs by going down that route.
Conceptually, I'm fine with that.
Azrael.
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Well, I had to sit down when there was an iMac rumour and steady myself. Sure, I choked on my saliva re: lower priced.
Azrael.
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Bought an iMac Pro, 8 Cores, 64 GB for 3.000 today, still in warranty. I can wait
Decent price. Not bad.
Azrael.
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I'd like it to have the ProMotion and 14x.
Azrael.
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Yeah...we'll see. At least we got the Mac Pro. Great. Bar the price.
iMac is 'due.' As in over.
Azrael.
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Ouch. *Cross your fingers it aint so...
Azrael.
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I'd like to see an iPad Pro 16 inch. I'd 'hit that.'
Azrael.
I use a 24" 1080p display. My eyes have not been pulled out of their sockets. Yes, its a bit grainy, but it is tolerable. But lots of people would probably be willing to lose some pixels to save some money (a lesser GPU would be needed as well). APUs look very compelling right now, and yes, AMD APU codenames were mentioned in a Catailina Beta.
Intel and AMD finally have upgrade CPU and GPU parts now so Apple can finally upgrade it, so I believe they will.
Dropping Fusion is going to raise the base prices. I don't care since I always buy the 1TB SSD, anyway, but it could be a barrier for those who need TB+ storage and the price goes up many hundreds of dollars.
I do wish Apple would never have retroactively skimped on the SSD for the 1TB Fusion. 128GB is enough for the OS and the most-often used applications so Fusion is not a bad idea for people who need 1-3TB of storage for things like music or photos that don't really benefit from SSD speeds.
iMac currently uses "desktop" CPUs and SSDs. The only "mobile" part is the GPU.
"4.5K" is just an artifact of maintaining a 219PPI Retina display.
Running a 24" 4K display in HiDPI would provide a 1920x1080 workspace which is acceptable, but it still would not be Retina (at least as Apple defines it). And scaling that up to 27" would put it in "the bad zone" in terms of PPI. And 4K at ~32" is even worse in terms of PPI.
We also need to consider that the rumors say the 2020 iMac Pro will stay with a 27" display, just with miniLED backlighting. Do we really believe Apple would give the "pro" model a 27" display and then go 29-32" on the "non-pro" model?
yeah. But they offer the Mac Mini with disgraceful iG.
(*looks up at the sky, WHYYYYY!!!?? WHYYYYYY!Y!!>!??!??!??)
People who buy an iMac do have need for good graphics. To power that big screen for starters. And Apple's choices generally don't inspire confidence.
The standard entry iMac is a dishonourable fraud compared to the most honoured Bondai iMac that launched at £1099.
The 580 is a £150 gpu. It's not even mainstream. And it's far from high end. Because most of the iG graphics have been pretty crap from Intel, iMac owners do need better iG but they won't get it from Intel. And Apple aint going AMD. So they'll have to use Radeon for most iMacs. And yes, probably some eye wincing 'Iris' iG from INtel.
Sure, I'd like to see them using the Ryzen apus. Doubt it though. I doubt they'll offer the 580. It will be some gimped/sawn off gpu.
I'm hoping that bigger screens means that can offer some better components. But the current line up doesn't inspire confidence.
Azrael.
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I prefered the text on my iMac 24 inch. The 27 inch has done nothing (pre-5k) but squeeze my eyes since I got it.
The Mac Mini iG is crap.
Azrael.
Well then you’ll need one sooner rather than later... be careful... sit on it’s metal backside, not the screen... shattered glass on your backside would be *painful*
24 inch hi-def. Better than the 27 inch display I have. It's neither one thing or another. I definitely noticed the eye pull with smaller interface elements.
My 24 inch iMac was far better than the 27 inch late 2012. I noticed the difference. Especially over extended use.
I used to get eye pull and head aches. It's definitely harder going.
Having seen the 5k imac in stores? It's like an eye bath.
Azrael.
I guess it's subjective, but I think the 23.7" LG 4k Ultrafine sold in Apple stores looks excellent.
UI would look even better at 23" vs. 23.7".
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True, but this iMac is rumored to be 23", not 24". I'd assume Apple had input into the 23.7 4k Ultrafine as well, which is lower resolution and lower PPI than the 21.5" model it replaced.
For the iMac, I really wish they'd drop the Fusion drive, go straight SSD, and gain the T2 chip. That's what every other Mac has done. Add in FaceID, too.
Also wish they'd add TouchBar and TouchID to the keyboards to make them consistent with MacBook Pros.
Something I really wish would do, too, but highly doubt, is make the screen a large touchscreen, ala Microsoft Surface Studio. Possibly make it an option. I would think it would really help graphic professionals.
Also wish they'd add TouchBar and TouchID to the keyboards to make them consistent with MacBook Pros.
Something I really wish would do, too, but highly doubt, is make the screen a large touchscreen, ala Microsoft Surface Studio. Possibly make it an option. I would think it would really help graphic professionals.
They might very well have done so, however Apple was still using the 21.5" Retina / 219PPI display for the iMac even though LG had stopped selling it as an external monitor (in favor of the 23.7" 4K model, which is aimed at the MacBook and Mac Mini families).
That being said, Apple might consider 186PPI "good enough" for Retina now, especially on a lower-price iMac as these rumors claim (so Apple can still call it a "great display", even if it is not as great as the 21.5" display) while keeping the 27" iMac / iMac Pro at 5K and 219PPI.
I have a 4TB external drive that I use to store older projects and other files I don't access too often, and it works great for that. But I would never want to run my OS or software on a spinning hard drive ever again.