If you're right then I will be buying a refurb iMac with the 8800GS after the price drops.
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New iMacs Shipping January 2009?
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Why on earth is everyone complaining about not having bluray on macs!? Why would you need super high def on something that is 20"? Everyone chill out, BluRay is stupid on a desktop and it's not gonna happen.... just move on!
As for a redesign I really don't know what they could change. Sure the overall design has been the same since the G5 but there's nothing wrong with the way it looks now. I could see them adding an LED backlight, Nvidia chipsets, mini display port, more memory, faster processors, maybe even a quad core in the top line, but that's about it. There isn't much else to update. It looks great and fits in with the macbooks and macbook pros as well as the LED display so nothing needs to change yet. Apple has pretty much finished it's "looks" transition, from plastic to aluminum with shiny black accents, now's not really the time to change to something else.
Oh and possibly solid state drives??
As for a redesign I really don't know what they could change. Sure the overall design has been the same since the G5 but there's nothing wrong with the way it looks now. I could see them adding an LED backlight, Nvidia chipsets, mini display port, more memory, faster processors, maybe even a quad core in the top line, but that's about it. There isn't much else to update. It looks great and fits in with the macbooks and macbook pros as well as the LED display so nothing needs to change yet. Apple has pretty much finished it's "looks" transition, from plastic to aluminum with shiny black accents, now's not really the time to change to something else.
Oh and possibly solid state drives??
No, it's not. Blu-ray isn't even stupid on a laptop. Watching Blu-ray movies on a screen with a resolution lower than 1920x1200 is stupid. Being able to burn Blu-ray disks for data on a desktop or laptop is not stupid at all.
And silly me, I forgot an SSD option in my specs.
I wish that we could see something like this iMac with a see through screen. It is obviously fake and would never happen, but that would be a cool design for the future. This is what the actual 20-in iMac that is coming out should have:
-2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-2GB memory
-320GB HD
-NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 256MB memory
-$1099
-2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-2GB memory
-320GB HD
-NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 256MB memory
-$1099
Attachments
Hmm...
....A 30" iMac would be purchased by professionals instead of the Mac Pro.
Well if these "professionals" exist, they certainly didn't need a Mac Pro if a larger iMac fit the bill. You are talking about a system that uses a single dual-core processor, 4GB max RAM, and weak (laptop) GPUs versus a full-size dual-socket quad-core Xeon platform capable of ~64GB of RAM, and a Quadro GPU.
Not only are the current Nehalem/i7s desktop CPUs, they are the high-end quad-core "bloomfield" versions that use the X58 with quickpath. I think it's highly unlikely an iMac will see a Nehalem chip before H2 2009 (which is sad..
)Thankfully you are not Apple's product manager. HD movie playback is a function of a Blu-ray drive, but just as/more importantly would burning capability for video pros, HD consumer cams, not to mention large data backups/transfers...
SSDs are usually much more important in a laptop than a desktop considering there are no power issues and you can get fast 10K RPM drives (and RAID setups). However, the iMac is an exception with laptop components, so i guess it is possible... The real issue is that Apple is using craptasticly slow SSDs...
You do know that FW800 is completely backwards compatible with FW400 don't you? You do know that FW400<->FW800 cables are cheap and plentiful don't you? You do know that a FW400 port is totally unnecessary and redundant don't you? You do know this, right?
I think what he intended to say is that the new iMacs (perhaps the lower end model at least) may not have FireWire (That is, if Apple follows it's current trend.)
There's an outside change 65w small form factor quad cores could find themselves in the next group of iMacs. Apple already uses a 55w hybrid design chips in revision B aluminum iMacs. For its audience, the iMac offers a reasonably power machine in a compact, elegant, and quiet package. The perfect family computer. Using mobile parts helps Apple achieve this. The problem here is not the design of the iMac, its that Apple's current design philosophy expects to you use it in roles that the all in one form factor is not well suited for.
Easiest way to make more money is to either move forward the upgrade cycle with less memory and a smaller hard drive or make the user pay $200 for an upgrade that costs Apple $15.
Not only are the current Nehalem/i7s desktop CPUs, they are the high-end quad-core "bloomfield" versions that use the X58 with quickpath. I think it's highly unlikely an iMac will see a Nehalem chip before H2 2009 (which is sad..
Not to mention the heat........they'd be going from a 45w part to a 130w part. The Core i7s are far and away hotter than anything the iMacs have ever had. It's got to be more than even the G5s. Then again apparently you can dissipate 280w with this thing, so maybe they could work something out:
I found something that managed to give me some hope of a Quad-MBP/iMac. Take a look:
LinkAppleInsider :eek: said:
Running with that a bit:
LinkAppleInsider :eek: again... :eek: said:
How different are the iMac/Mac Mini chips from the notebook chips? If they both are mobile, couldn't they be placed in a MBP? This would give something for a Rev. B update before WWDC 09.
BTW Tallest - your posts have been really informative for me. I now know more about processers and spec updates than I had ever wanted. The plus is that I'm better at predicting specs.
Well, the powerbooks/macbook pros held the same design for a lot longer than that!
I agree i'd be nice, but i can't see it happening - the aluminium design came out not long ago and i don't know what they could change really.
iMacs seem likely... although it says new, does that mean just processor bumps or something else? Or don't we know?
The Alu design came out in August 07. Not sure they will replace the design so soon.
32", Blu-ray, 4870-X2 vid and 8GB of memory, please. Ready to buy.
4870 X2?? bwahaha You don't want that pile of garbage.
Meet the GTX 295.
Check out this leaked design of the new iMac
I found online that I am showing everyoneAttachments
Well, I paid over $300 for a run of the mill Sony DVD player back in the 2001 time frame (I'm still using it, in fact!)
BUT... a couple reasons why Blu-Ray adoption will be slower than DVD. First, DVD offered monumental gains over VHS. Many of us had been waiting patiently for something better. The average Joe is just going to see Blu-Ray as a "different kind of DVD" just like many can't even tell they're watching an HD broadcast.
Second, retailers didn't seem to push Blu-Ray very hard this holiday season, and with the economy the way it is, people may be inclined to spend their money on something entirely new as opposed to replacing one disc player with another.
I can actually see "online" rentals on demand partially replacing DVDs. I think the technology may be good enough at some point soon to duplicate DVD quality. Thankfully, Blu-ray does have other benefits, such as dramatically increased data storage capacity, which should help its adoption in the PC industry.
Will resemble the new 24" LED CD
My guesses...
The black dust-collecting back of the current iMac will be replaced with clean all aluminum block like the new 24" CD with a dark-grey Apple logo on the back. LED Backlighting is obvious.
I guess the chin will go too. A smaller Apple logo will be placed on a black bezel, just like the 24" LED CD.
The usual change of ports, usual processor bump-up. Usual nVidia graphics similar to Macbook Pro.
They might bring down prices, provide a single 20" configuration and multiple 24" configurations.
I want free upgrade licenses to Snow Leopard.
I don't expect blue-ray even if I want one.
A new mighty-mouse is still a dream. They have made so many advances to the trackpad that they might introduce a new pointing device for the iMac with more gestures. No, they will not be backward compatible.
My guesses...
The black dust-collecting back of the current iMac will be replaced with clean all aluminum block like the new 24" CD with a dark-grey Apple logo on the back. LED Backlighting is obvious.
I guess the chin will go too. A smaller Apple logo will be placed on a black bezel, just like the 24" LED CD.
The usual change of ports, usual processor bump-up. Usual nVidia graphics similar to Macbook Pro.
They might bring down prices, provide a single 20" configuration and multiple 24" configurations.
I want free upgrade licenses to Snow Leopard.
I don't expect blue-ray even if I want one.
A new mighty-mouse is still a dream. They have made so many advances to the trackpad that they might introduce a new pointing device for the iMac with more gestures. No, they will not be backward compatible.
You'll only get Snow Leopard if it:
A. Ships at MacWorld (not happening) and therefore the new computers would have it preinstalled.
B. ... That's it. If new iMacs are announced at MacWorld and Snow Leopard is announced to ship in June, you won't get a free upgrade.
Professionals need more than just a pretty design and a big price tag. A 30" iMac Pro would have the same drawbacks as the 20" and 24" iMacs. Processor performance, storage space, memory capacity, and video card performance would all be lacking compared to a tower workstation. The main difference is that while consumers would be willing to stand for it, professionals who depend on their hardware to make a living would tell Apple where to go. A 30" iMac would be another cube. Really cool looking, but the professionals would continue to buy much more capable tower machines and the consumers who drool over it, couldn't afford it.
I think Apple will surprise us all an go totally retro on the design:
beige box
SCSI ports
8MB RAM
No way I would ever use 8MB of ram I would settle for 4 and I have never buy a mac without SCSI ports! I bet the price will go below $1000 and they will drop the 2.4 and make 2.6 standered.