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When will the iMac be refreshed?

  • September/October Event

  • November/December Event

  • March/April Event

  • WWDC 2019


Results are only viewable after voting.

gusping

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2012
1,813
1,947
I think we'll get one OR the other of your wishes on the next refresh. If they improve the cooling it'll be with the iMac Pro's cooling system. If they redesign they'll probably dumb it down and reduce the cooling capabilities even more in order to make it smaller. Either way we're losing the upgradeable RAM.
I’ll take non upgradeable ram for a new design or better cooling. Can’t stand the design and the temps are insane.
 
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tomscott1988

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2009
707
674
UK
Although ready for a refresh you can hardly call it a bad design... still the best looking computer you can buy.

None of the windows machines can touch it unless you think this look good

Dell-XPS-27-04.jpg
 

sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,068
1,405
It did seem fairly unlikely that the Mac team would release an iMac half a year after the iMac Pro and as they work on the Mac Pro and Mac Mini, but I figured that maybe they could’ve just done a cpu refresh and thrown a touchbar keyboard with touch id into the box and called it a day. But since there were few rumors indicating as such, I am not too shocked that they didnt release one today, I just wonder: will they hold off mac mini, mac pro, and imac all for one event next spring? I feel like they’d wanna release some new macs before Mojave releases. Perhaps we could see some macs at a september event? Although that seems strange as the september event will definitely have the new iphone and perhaps even a new ipad pro. So I’m beginning to feel as if the spring event or wwdc next year is very likely to be the next refesh.

September is the iPhone iOS event, October is the near traditional event for Macs, and Apple might want to wait till macOS Mojave is out before releasing the 2018 Macs. Modular Mac Pro is due next year and I'd imagine that WWDC is the place that they would drop (or at least announce) that.

As for a touchbar keyboard I would have thought there would be technical/security reasons for not including touch ID on a (bluetooth wireless) keyboard even with the contentiously expensive Touch Bar OLED. You might expect a Touch Bar wireless keyboard but how would it perform when not directly connected to the Mac and not a mandatory purchase as with the MacBook Pros? Just how many people would elect to have a touch bar if it cost $299 on a wireless keyboard? Would there even be enough bandwidth in a Bluetooth connection to send the graphics required?

It makes more logical sense for an iMac to have FaceID but then surely the iMac Pro should have had that from day one as a brilliant product differentiator?

In any case, with the 6 core Coffee Lake CPUs fully available now I imagine that Apple will have to have something in mind for the iMac even if it's as simple as adopting the iMac Pro internals for cooling certain models (eg the 95w i7) for example.

While the Coffee Lake CPUs are available already there's been nothing overtly confirmed about the GPU for the standard iMac which is largely expected to be a minor bump of the AMD Radeon Pro 500 series with an X suffix. I doubt they'd be waiting on a VEGA GPU, but could they be waiting on Xeon CPUs or (more likely) the release of macOS Mojave?

It might be acceptable to wait till October to launch the 2018 iMac if it were to come with FaceID, iMac Pro internals, more remotely Apple could consider widening the iMac Pro line by introducing the forthcoming Xeon E CPUs into a lower entry level iMac Pro, leaving the 6 Core i5 with the iMac.
 

mreg376

macrumors 65816
Mar 23, 2008
1,220
403
Brooklyn, NY
It would make sense to sell old stock on "sale" before announcing new models. So I would bet is more likely to see new computers after back to school since beginning of the school is sort of "forced sale" for those who have no computer and start their studies. You simply put need a computer, you can't wait until next release.
Haha, I've never seen Apple have a sale, unless you are counting Best Buy's $50-200 discounts on certain base models.
Although ready for a refresh you can hardly call it a bad design... still the best looking computer you can buy.

None of the windows machines can touch it unless you think this look good

Dell-XPS-27-04.jpg

I fully agree. Time for an iMac design change? Yes. Does the current iMac look bad, NO. That Dell looks ridiculous. A big chin and with six round pimples to make sure you see it.
 

Internet Enzyme

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 21, 2016
999
1,794
September is the iPhone iOS event, October is the near traditional event for Macs, and Apple might want to wait till macOS Mojave is out before releasing the 2018 Macs. Modular Mac Pro is due next year and I'd imagine that WWDC is the place that they would drop (or at least announce) that.

As for a touchbar keyboard I would have thought there would be technical/security reasons for not including touch ID on a (bluetooth wireless) keyboard even with the contentiously expensive Touch Bar OLED. You might expect a Touch Bar wireless keyboard but how would it perform when not directly connected to the Mac and not a mandatory purchase as with the MacBook Pros? Just how many people would elect to have a touch bar if it cost $299 on a wireless keyboard? Would there even be enough bandwidth in a Bluetooth connection to send the graphics required?

It makes more logical sense for an iMac to have FaceID but then surely the iMac Pro should have had that from day one as a brilliant product differentiator?

In any case, with the 6 core Coffee Lake CPUs fully available now I imagine that Apple will have to have something in mind for the iMac even if it's as simple as adopting the iMac Pro internals for cooling certain models (eg the 95w i7) for example.

While the Coffee Lake CPUs are available already there's been nothing overtly confirmed about the GPU for the standard iMac which is largely expected to be a minor bump of the AMD Radeon Pro 500 series with an X suffix. I doubt they'd be waiting on a VEGA GPU, but could they be waiting on Xeon CPUs or (more likely) the release of macOS Mojave?

It might be acceptable to wait till October to launch the 2018 iMac if it were to come with FaceID, iMac Pro internals, more remotely Apple could consider widening the iMac Pro line by introducing the forthcoming Xeon E CPUs into a lower entry level iMac Pro, leaving the 6 Core i5 with the iMac.

See i thought about the bluetooth problems with running an oled display and communicating touch id but I feel as if those hurtles are necessary to come over if the touchbar ever wants to become a real thing. Every single mac needs to come with a touch bar keyboard for it to actually be something in my eyes. Maybe with bluetooth 5 these hurtles can be overcome
[doublepost=1528254941][/doublepost]
I thought maybe they would at least release the non-Pro iMacs with a space gray color, given the availability of the peripherals.

I would bet on end of the year. Either October or possibly December. It'll probably be a silent update. I don't know that they would have an event for it unless the iMac were getting a redesign, which doesn't seem too likely.

Yeah, i think it wouldve been a great marketing opportunity to announce along with dark mode a new space grey color option for all imacs
 

mj_

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2017
1,616
1,281
Austin, TX
It looks to me, ever since Steve Jobs went back to Apple around 20 years ago, they have been designing under the axiom of "people don't know what they want in a computer, so we'll make it for them". These days, that axiom is null, yet Apple still operates under it in many respects.
Actually I believe you're wrong. This axiom is more true than ever these days. The older generation, the ones that are between 35-50 today, grew up in the 80s and 90s with custom-built computers (the early ones even had to be assembled from scratch without any ready-made components), BASIC ROMs, MS-DOS, and Terminal environments. The younger generation did not - they grew up with GUIs, high-quality pre-assembled throw-away computers. I really believe that most users these days couldn't care less about tech specs and details, and I see it every day when out and about. The most common question is "will it get the job done", not "can it be upgraded retroactively". In fact, that is a question I have not been asked in a very long time...
 

Binarymix

macrumors 65816
Nov 1, 2007
1,121
353
I'm betting on a hardware event in July or early August, for MacBooks, iMacs, and iPads.

It wouldn't make sense to release new hardware after the back to school season.

It also wouldn't make sense to release ALL new hardware at the same time right before the Christmas shopping season, Most people cannot afford to splurge like that, and can do it a lot easier 3-4 times throughout the year.
 
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tomscott1988

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2009
707
674
UK
If there were to be an event in July or August we would know about it by now. Invites would have been sent out.

It makes perfect sense to launch all before Christmas... higher sales to show higher statistics. There are very few who will buy all the releases.
 

Binarymix

macrumors 65816
Nov 1, 2007
1,121
353
If there were to be an event in July or August we would know about it by now. Invites would have been sent out.

It makes perfect sense to launch all before Christmas... higher sales to show higher statistics. There are very few who will buy all the releases.
Higher sales for one quarter. I think investors want high sales in every quarter.

And invites were only sent out for the march event 11 days prior.
 

Wags

macrumors 68020
Mar 5, 2006
2,157
1,639
Nebraska, USA
Apple knows current line up is probably good for most average users so not in any hurry. That and only really care about iOS and devices. The retail stores look like they have 15% space for computer hardware.
 

sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,068
1,405
See i thought about the bluetooth problems with running an oled display and communicating touch id but I feel as if those hurtles are necessary to come over if the touchbar ever wants to become a real thing. Every single mac needs to come with a touch bar keyboard for it to actually be something in my eyes. Maybe with bluetooth 5 these hurtles can be overcome
[doublepost=1528254941][/doublepost]

I think it's more security reasons rather than technical bandwidth preventing TouchID on a wireless keyboard. This is why I'd go with FaceID on an iMac - and probably the iMac Pro to start with.
 

Internet Enzyme

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 21, 2016
999
1,794
I think it's more security reasons rather than technical bandwidth preventing TouchID on a wireless keyboard. This is why I'd go with FaceID on an iMac - and probably the iMac Pro to start with.

I guess I just dont see how bluetooth could be that insecure if the signal is encrypted but I admit I know jack about it and will agree that wireless tech is usually less secure than having a secure enclave on the motherboard. Face ID does sound like a fantastic idea for the mac lineup. Shame that we won’t see that functionality until macOS 10.15 and 2019 macs by my estimation
 

fokmik

Suspended
Oct 28, 2016
4,909
4,688
USA
October Event probably is the best month for Apple to give us a sneak peek for the 2019 Mac Pro and Apple displays
So yes, 99% we will have a full event for mac in late 2018, for updated macbooks and imacs. Maybe even the ipads? Since September will be focus for the 2-3 iphones and that new edge to edge apple watch
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
13,740
11,446
I still don't understand why they can't have a new wired keyboard. The keyboard is already thin and unobtrusive; so what if it has a wire? I understand wanting a wireless mouse; the wire can get in the way of finer movement, but I have no problem using a wired keyboard.
The latest version of the wireless Bluetooth keyboard with numeric keypad works as a wired keyboard when plugged in. I assume the smaller version without numeric keypad works the same way.

IOW, you can use it as either a wireless or a wired keyboard. The only downside is that it's pretty damn expensive as a wired keyboard. ;)
 
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sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,068
1,405
I guess I just dont see how bluetooth could be that insecure if the signal is encrypted but I admit I know jack about it and will agree that wireless tech is usually less secure than having a secure enclave on the motherboard. Face ID does sound like a fantastic idea for the mac lineup. Shame that we won’t see that functionality until macOS 10.15 and 2019 macs by my estimation

Why couldn't they put FaceID into a second generation iMac Pro? Especially if FaceID appears in the iPad Pro in September as is being heavily mooted. Apple wouldn't even have to update the existing upper SKUs of the Mac Pro until they are ready.

For me, I'd see an entry level iMac Pro emerging as a second (entry level) SKU with a Xeon E CPU sporting 6 cores, and 12 threads. 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD and VEGA 56. FaceID might be the cherry on top for many and could drive adoption. The trade-off would be just 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports due to the reduced number of PCIe lanes on the Xeon E CPU used.

Apple could put this into a 24" DCI-P3 4k size screen which finally gets rid of the chin (in a similar style to the 10.5" iPad Pro coming on to the scene). They could also use this platform to test HDR screens with 1000 nits brightness using MiniLED technology, for example.
 

pier

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2009
579
950
@EugW has been arguing for months an 8 core iMac will be released this year, but I doubt it. I think we won't see a refresh on the iMac lineup until 2019.

Apple has bigger fish to fry with their laptops and the upcoming Mac Pro.

Of course we all desire more performance, but in truth the current iMac lineup is in great shape in its current state for its intended use. And if one needs more performance there is the iMac Pro.

Edit: 6 core not 8 core!!!
 
Last edited:

Glmnet1

macrumors 6502a
Oct 21, 2017
973
1,093
@EugW has been arguing for months an 8 core iMac will be released this year, but I doubt it. I think we won't see a refresh on the iMac lineup until 2019.

Apple has bigger fish to fry with their laptops and the upcoming Mac Pro.

Of course we all desire more performance, but in truth the current iMac lineup is in great shape in its current state for its intended use. And if one needs more performance there is the iMac Pro.
The adequate Intel chips are 6 core, not 8. They were released a few months ago already and a lot of OEMs are already using them so it's not far-fetched to think Apple will put them in the iMac in 2018. It would actually be quite surprising if they skip this generation.
 
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