I'm calling bulls**t on this whole iMac rumor. I mean, yes, I believe new iMacs are in the works, but thinner, aluminum, chin-less iMacs are just a minor modification.
This may sound weird but I'd rather have a "thicker" iMac with more style. Just look at the histry of the iMac: First the revolutionary all-in-one egg Mac. They made you say, "How did they do that?!" Then they went to the swivel-neck Mac and again made you say, "How did they do that?!" Then they went to the panel Mac and made you say, "Where did the computer go?! / How did they do that?!" If they were to go to a slimmer, aluminum, chin-less Display Mac, there won't be a "How did they do that" reaction. It'll be more like, "That's it?"
The other part of this is capability: If the iMac keeps getting thinner/smaller, it'll never have more capability than a MacBookPro. Personally, if I am forced to accept the drawback of not being portable, I'd expect a trade-off: more power. That's something that can't come with a slimmer design. While the iMacs of yore were amazingly designed, they were still just one step behind the PowerMac. That's part of what the iMac so astonishing. Today's iMacs are three steps behind the Mac Pro and are only as amazing as the MBP... i.e. not very.
I used to be able to buy an iMac and be a Prosumer. That is no longer true. The iMac needs more power, and I'd be willing to sacrifice thickness for it. It's a desktop anyway! Why are we caring about how small it is?
I WOULD MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO THIS UNDER ONE CIRCUMSTANCE:
If the iMac became a lighter-powered convertable. That's right, a desktop-to-portable unit.
There are two ways I could envision this working:
Option A: Give it a "base station" with a nice GPU, HDD, extra RAM, USB ports (for keyboard, mouse and others), optical bay, and a PSU, all sitting on a nice clear acryllic stand. The display detaches (and becomes multi-touch capable (which would obviously not be viable for a 20-24" screen)), the unit complete with mo-board (using integrated graphics), some RAM, 16GB SSD (enough for OSX and some free space), Wi-Fi, and a battery for a good 5 hours of detached life. A good ol' tablet if you will.
Option B: Just a multi-touch detachable display (again, 17" or less), Wi-Fi, and a battery, loaded with enough guts to act as a "remote desktop" interface to the base station.
Out of the two choices, I'd say a bulkier desktop is more likely but I'd love, love, love to have Option B.
mmmmmmmmm detachable display....
Oh, and by the way, I would hunt down and obliterate Johny Ive if he ruined the iMac's keyboard by making it Chicklet-Style. Seriously, there would be a rampage... and then I would buy a 3rd party keyboard.
-Clive
