Next Apple iMacs with "Striking New Industrial Design"?

[peharri]

Bigger not always better

I like the idea of a removable, portable, touchscreen... but not a 24" one!

I'd rather there was an iPhone Lite (let's call it..., I don't know, an iPod?) which interfaces well to the iMac. That's the kind of size I see touchscreens working well, slightly bigger than that perhaps, but not 24".

I would like the screen on the iMac to be completely optional, and like others have said here, I'd like more expansion capabilities. Actually, what I'd like is for the Mac mini to be available in a form approaching the power of the higher end of the iMacs.

 

[EagerDragon]

I still like the sun flower design (iMac G4) better because I could move it in any direction. Maybe it will lose the big chin and be easier to position. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. Hope better graphics too.

 

[EagerDragon]

The iMac is Steve's "baby". Expect it to be "insanely great" (literally) in visual appeal, features, hardware and software.

C2Q
Santa Rosa
10.5 (.0)
Media Center features
iPhone integration features
Distributed computing.

Rocketman

4 Gig memory, better graphics and user servisable?

 

[steve_hill4]

I can imagine something similar to the current iMac design with a longer chin and no base as such, the whole thing would hold itself and stand on a slight angle. think of the original iMac (that also had no stand), but with a TFT display. the back would go straight down, slightly cylindrical in shape and the front would be on a light angle. I'll try to photoshop somthing up.

All I can think of from that description is:

which to me is okay for a PC, but Fugly™ for a Mac.

Although watch the launch of the G4 and Jobs says he considered what eventually ended up as the G5, but cast it aside because the optical drive works better horizontal. So lets make the screen flat and vertical and the computer horizontal. To me, perhaps the G5/Intel Core iMac, less of a chin but transform the stand into the optical drive. Might even be nice to have a card reader and a usb port there, but hang on, that sounds hideous too. I like the current design and will leave any design changes to Apple, they'll do a better job than me.

 

[DrFrankTM]

Minis can get some large-screen love too...

The Mini is hooked up to a cinema display because Apple doesn't make consumer displays anymore. I don't think too many of the Mini owners can afford to spend $700 on a monitor.

Why? I have a Dell 2407 attached to my Mini and that's probably the way every Mini should be. A 24-inch screen is even cheaper now than it was when I bought mine, so I don't see anything wrong with that combination.

What do people use their computers for? Text editing, chat, email, web surfing... Those are all things that involve a lot of text. With a higher-res screen, you can show more text at the same time which increases your productivity (and enjoyment) tremendously. I don't do anything 3D on my Mini, so the machine's fine for me even though I run a significant number of apps at the same time. It's fast enough to show full HD, so I'm not sure why I should attach it to a ****** little screen.

Yes, eventually, I'll "graduate" to a Mac Pro, but for now, the Mini is great for me as it is for many users. Just because we're not movie-makers doesn't mean we have no use for "pro" monitors though. 1920x1200 is REALLY nice to have independently of what you choose to do with it.

 

[steve_hill4]

Could this solve the dirty-fingers-on-screen problem?

One large sheet of aluminium which folds under itself at the bottom. The profile looks like the letter 'L' on the mac keyboard.

Sorry about the handwriting

Nice. Kind of similar to:

I would generally prefer a proper touchscreen though. Smearing of fingerprints on the screen only really occur if you go glossy, use something closer to the current iMac display and Matte MBP and you're there. I just tapped away on my MBP screen and it felt uber-nice, but a little too flexible and thin to really feel comfortable for long spells of usage.

 

[agenda893]

New iMac

this is what I think it will look like:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=428415015&size=o

 

[kromekat]

http://www.kromekat.nildram.co.uk/imac.html

If it looks like this, I'll be wanting royalties Steve!

Adam

 

[Clive At Five]

Doesn't iTV already provide all of that - putting a tuner in the iMac just makes it a better server for iTV.

TV's idea of throughput is from Mac via wireless, out through HDMI. There's no "signal in" anywhere else.

-Clive

 

[Clive At Five]

http://www.kromekat.nildram.co.uk/imac.html

If it looks like this, I'll be wanting royalties Steve!

Adam

Creative.

I was thinking, too, that a clear acryllic base would be a nice touch. You know what they say about great minds...

...yeah, they work at Apple.

-Clive

 

[Clive At Five]

this is what I think it will look like:

Modified iPhone?

With a traditional aluminum stand?

I like the rounded edges of the silvery screen, but you're merging two different phases of Apple design. The crappy leg has to go!

-Clive

 

[OwlsAndApples]

*friendly acknowledgment of dodgy sketch*

I just tapped away on my MBP screen and it felt uber-nice, but a little too flexible and thin to really feel comfortable for long spells of usage.

Really? Anyone who touches my IMac screen gets a quick slap of the wrist

Btw I think i'll nick 'uber-nice'...sounds like a german washing up powder...

 

[OdduWon]

i belive it to be so...

I think apple will take the iMac in the direction the shuffle went. It will become a product that breaks the conception of where it is to be used/placed. the new imac will become an imac that will mount on anything and be placed in places you wouldn't normally find a computer. Also I believe we are sure to see an update in the remote controller for front row. perhaps the new ipods will have this function built in? Most likely not a multi touch, but may have some mighty mouse like options, The mighty mouse.... Apple, get rid of the scroll ball. it sticks all time. it should be replaced with a touch nub, like a spherical touch pad

 

[guzhogi]

Nice. Kind of similar to:

I would generally prefer a proper touchscreen though. Smearing of fingerprints on the screen only really occur if you go glossy, use something closer to the current iMac display and Matte MBP and you're there. I just tapped away on my MBP screen and it felt uber-nice, but a little too flexible and thin to really feel comfortable for long spells of usage.

I actually have a 20th Century Mac. Pretty cool. Good for playing really old school games. My favorite game of all time was probably "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade". Horrible graphics, low replay value, but that's kinda what made it endearing. The thing w/ it is it needs the display to be in 16 (yes, sixteen!) colors to work and most displays now only go down to 256 or thousands of colors.

 

[mrgreen4242]

I hope they do go to an external PSU (I've been baffled why they haven't yet - seems like an easy way to save space in an already tight area, and to remove some heat from said enclosure).

I'm betting the new iMac looks a lot like the ACD, but with the white iMac/iPod style, and the whole system moves up/down, swivels left/right, and rotates 360 degrees. MXM GPUs with a couple options for either system. A new and improved service hatch on the back to get to the MXM card, RAM, and HDD.

I hope they get smart and switch to consumer displays (TN panels) in the iMac and release a midrange headless Mac (with, more or less, the new iMac guts) for the "semi-pro" market - you buy the box and attach your own expensive LCD to it. Pass the savings on to us in the form of a 19" (same res as the old 17") at $899, 22" (same res as the 20") at $1099.

Keep the 24", maybe introduce a 30" if you insist upon having a top end machine, but would be better to just offer a fully configurable headless unit and sell them an ACD with it, imo.

 

[GodBless]

Count me in as another one hoping to see touch technology in the iMac, as improbable as it may seem. Maybe even just one top of the line " 30th Anniversary" iMac, to show what they can do, get a bunch of press, and to give us something to drool over while prices come down. Unfortunately if I had to guess I'd say the next time we see Multitouch it will be either an iPod or a small tablet, as the costs for a small screen are more tolerable. Just imagine the msrp of a 30 inch HD touch screen iMac, it could only be a special edition product!

No--touch screens are not as expensive as they have been in the past. It certainly is possible for Apple to make a touch screen computer--look here HP already did it and is still doing it.

As far as the cosmetics of the iMac are concerned, I think it's the best looking computer on the market already, bar none. I would much rather see them working on improving the way we interact with and use our computers over just making them thinner, shinier, or in a rainbow of colors.

I fully agree.

Does anyone think touch capabilities could be a "top secret" feature in Leapard? Could they hold back something this important from developers?

Here's a link to thread that I started that deals a little with those questions. A resoultion independant user interface will easily allow for a touch screen computer.

 

[belovedmonster]

I dunno if anyone has said this already (I havent read all the other posts)...

But has anyone thought that maybe the 17 inch will stay around as an eMac, perhaps still being available to general buyers (not just education). That way they aren't losing the 17 inch option entirely but its not holding back a new version of the iMac either.

 

[GodBless]

Well, the problem with your argument is that you are looking at how things are right now. We had touchscreen in cell-phones before iPhone. They were pretty ho-hum. And still iPhone was something really, really different. And really, really great.

Yes, we have computers right now that have touchscreens. And they are pretty ho-hum. What makes you think that IF Apple releases an iMac with touchscreen it will be as boring as current touchscreen-machines are? Was the iPhone as ho-hum as the multitude of touchscreen-phones the preceded it?

And what to do with the touchscreen? Well, maybe Apple is moving in to a whole new UI-paradigm? Maybe they feel that the multitouch-tech in the iPhone could be used in general purpose computers as well? From the top of my head, that touchscreen would be very useful in apps like GarageBand, Logic, Reason, iPhoto, Aperture, Cubase and so forth.

Just because touchscreens are a niche right now, does not mean that it NEEDS to be niche, espesially on Macs.

My views exactly! Great post!

 

[GodBless]

That is a wonderful keyboard idea! I could really use that in a Garageband situation...

This is a good keyboard idea too.

 

[DrGonzo2121]

Striking indeed

hoping for some sort of toutchscreen integration

 

[johnee]

You're all wrong. You need to think... more futuristic, like this:

 

[bartelby]

You're all wrong. You need to think... more futuristic, like this:

View attachment 70556

Nice!

 

[bonafide]

If they release the new iMac at the same time as they release Leopard I'll become a Mac user for sure.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Oh! This makes me happy. I LOVE the iMacs right now. The new ones will obviously look even better. I probably won't buy one (since I bought a MacBook last week), but I'm still happy that they are getting an update. I'm thinking VERY large screens (like the whole front would be a screen) very thin, built in camera, MAYBE leopard, white and black, and very soon to come out! Yay !

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I think they'll use fiber optics or an ambilight-like design which would allow users to create their own colors and change them at will.

smart...i like it!