No iMac in 2012, what would that mean for Apple?

[BruceiD]

So I have been thinking about what it would mean for Apple if they don't release a 2012 iMac for the past few days.

Apple is a company, so their main target it to make profit.
If they don't release an iMac about now that means that they would have to wait until Haswell processors.

If they release an iMac now with Ivy Bridge, they could hype everyone with the ivy bridge iMac (and make them sell very good) and then they would introduce 2013 iMacs also later on next year with Haswell processors, so in 2 years they would increase the sales on the iMac instead of once (if they release an iMac in 2013 only).

If I were Tim Cook, I'd give the current iMac a spec upgrade (since most pro users don't give a damn about an updated design) and work on a 2013 redesign and increase the sales twice.

How do you guys feel about this?

 

[davidgnomo]

So I have been thinking about what it would mean for Apple if they don't release a 2012 iMac for the past few days.

Apple is a company, so their main target it to make profit.
If they don't release an iMac about now that means that they would have to wait until Haswell processors.

If they release an iMac now with Ivy Bridge, they could hype everyone with the ivy bridge iMac (and make them sell very good) and then they would introduce 2013 iMacs also later on next year with Haswell processors, so in 2 years they would increase the sales on the iMac instead of once (if they release an iMac in 2013 only).

If I were Tim Cook, I'd give the current iMac a spec upgrade (since most pro users don't give a damn about an updated design) and work on a 2013 redesign and increase the sales twice.

How do you guys feel about this?

Maybe Tim would too, but actually can't ... your reasoning is not bad, but there's a lot we don't know in Apple decision making that influences the final decision ... who knows ...

 

[forty2j]

If they don't release an iMac about now that means that they would have to wait until Haswell processors.

Not so. Intel is presently expecting Haswell in April. Which means it's more likely to be around July. In the extremely unlikely event that they don't release an Ivy Bridge iMac until February, they still could reasonably do Haswell iMacs in October/November '13.

But really I encourage you to wait until the end of October '12 to begin the 2013 speculation. By that time we'll either have the new models, or the Kuo report will have been proven wrong (or perhaps, new information released).

 

[HurryKayne]

Waiting for Haswell it sounds like a suicide IMO ( mine)but..if Apple won't release any Imacs or minis maybe a February...January Event will gonna occur..
the question is...COOK WHAT ARE YOU DOING LETS DOUBLE TALK A BIT...please..

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Waiting for Haswell and maybe Retina too sounds entirely plausible to me. This is at least as plausible as any other rumors about iMacs that I read here if not more so. Apple might think it better to hold off and deliver a more dramatic upgrade than what they could reasonably do now.

There is also the issue of what Apple already has on its plate currently to deal with, namely an upcoming iPhone launch and the real need to compete on the 7" tablet front where a LOT more revenue is at stake. As such I am not surprised really to see the iMac on the back burner for now. It isn't like the machines are not selling well - they are.

 

[MacMilligan]

If you really think about it, the iMac doesn't need an upgrade at the moment. Going from a 2600 to a 3770 is only a 8-10% increase in performance. Ivy didn't bring massive performance, but power savings (about 25%.) The MacBook Pros benefited greatly because of the consumption savings, but the iMac doesn't require cutting power usage nearly as much as notebooks.

The few other upgrades such as USB 3.0 would be great, but they are secondary to most Apple buyers. The screen is still the highest end screen on the market besides professional screens. Overall, the current iMac is still very capable.

The hard part is mental, paying full price for ~1.5 year old gear. I think changing the options such as including a cheaper SSD or making 8GB of RAM standard would be more beneficial than a full upgrade to Ivy.

With that said, I am looking forward to the next iMac as much as you guys as well and am holding out

I'm skipping Ivy on my PC (2500k OCed to 4.4GHz) and I'm an enthusiast, so most Apple consumers probably don't care either way

 

[rawdawg]

For what it's worth, it would absolutely mean loosing a 25 year loyal customer and professional user.


Edit: ....wait a minute... are we really talking about waiting for another release a year down the line. Hell, let's wait until 2015 and see what's out then.

 

[GoCubsGo]

For what it's worth, it would absolutely mean loosing a 25 year loyal customer and professional user.

The shame is I doubt they care.

 

[rawdawg]

The shame is I doubt they care.

I'm absolutely positive you are correct... Another defining reason this company is now what I thought of Microsoft in the 90's.

 

[ixodes]

Apple is in a position that is a bit dangerous depending on what side you're on.

On their side it's as though they can do no wrong. Even if they did, their unique, highly tolerant user base would look the other way and continue to advocate, excuse, and buy in huge quantities.

Then there's Apple's financial position. Having more money than is imaginable, they can buy their way back. That's what is dangerous. It's hard to relate to the market when just about everything they do turns to gold.

If they win the legal case against Samsung & the ruling includes Apples demand to lock out Samsung, preventing them from selling certain products, that's a very dangerous precedent.

They've already wielded so much influence so as to cause Microsoft to change their entire well established business plan for Windows. Now App Centric to mirror Apple, they become another retail focused company. Not to suggest they've ignored the massive enterprise business they conduct, but it has affected them. With a milk toast CEO, Microsoft has slipped to a lower level than most of us expected.

The bottom line is it's essential to have competition from a few vibrant, innovative companies. If Apple becomes much more dominant. Even the hardcore Apple proponents will find a monopoly is a bad thing.

 

[turtlez]

Well it would mean that Apple are liars since they said there will be one this year

 

[deconstruct60]

If you really think about it, the iMac doesn't need an upgrade at the moment. Going from a 2600 to a 3770 is only a 8-10% increase in performance. Ivy didn't bring massive performance, but power savings (about 25%.)

First, the vast majority of users don't view computers are wrappers about a CPU. It isn't CPU they are buying. It is whole systems. Even more with Macs.

Second, GPUs have progressed along with the CPUs. As mobile family based the updates will be just as substantive in that case as the it is for laptops.

Third, the vast majority of late 2010 - early 2012 iMac users are not going to update to an updated 2012 iMac. The vast majority of folks moving are moving from something even older. So that is a 8-10% increase on top of the boost the 2011 baseline would have delivered. It is better still and a stronger motivation to move.

There are typically no 1 step of Intel's tick-tock sequence that leads to huge performance jumps. There are excecptions ( e.g., when Intel finally dump front-side bus memory access during the transition to Nehalem ).
Incremental progress is how things progress year over year.

The MacBook Pros benefited greatly because of the consumption savings, but the iMac doesn't require cutting power usage nearly as much as notebooks.

It isn't as extreme, but it isn't like iMacs haven't had problems running within their expanded (relative to laptops ) envelope. Being able to run cooler over a wider range of "normal workload" situations would only help the iMac be a more reliable machine over the long run.

The few other upgrades such as USB 3.0 would be great, but they are secondary to most Apple buyers.

For the iMac price range USB 3.0 is expected. It was common last year in this range on competitors. It is effectively universal now. Likewise, affordable USB 3.0 options exist whereas Thunderbolt is still on early lifecycle ramp up.

The screen is still the highest end screen on the market besides professional screens.

But the maintenance overhead with the current iMac design is extremely high. Design wise how the glass , panel , and rest of the iMac fit together is flawed on many levels.

The don't necessarily need to crank up the resolution but less glare and perhaps a fused glass/panel solution would be a substantive improvement.

There is far more to an iMac than just the clock speed on the CPU package.

 

[MattInOz]

They could switch the Storage Mix while there their.
i Know 64GB SSD and 1TB HD is probably asking to much, but in an office with servers doing the data handling the 64SSD for OS, applications and users home folder is more than enough. The demonstrated speed up from that set-up would make a worthy upgrade, but the current SSD options are a big jump and hard to sell.

In that set up the HD wouldn't do much unless we found a way to pool them together to make a big Timemachine drive.

 

[Doggman]

Well no one really knows what it would mean so while were making crazy speculations this is what I think will happen if theres no new iMac in 2012.

iMac "all-in-one" (garbage design IMO) gets discontinued and they release a true desktop with an aluminum mid tower, thunderbolt display, and a desktop GPU. Often referred to as the xMac

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Well no one really knows what it would mean so while were making crazy speculations this is what I think will happen if theres no new iMac in 2012.

iMac "all-in-one" (garbage design IMO) gets discontinued and they release a true desktop with an aluminum mid tower, thunderbolt display, and a desktop GPU. Often referred to as the xMac

Hmm, this rumor shows promise!

 

[LeandrodaFL]

No what date of the year you pick, there will alsways be someone who want a new product and "cant wait" even if the product has been updated in 6 months.

Apple can pretty much update the imac in 3 years only and that doesnt mean anything, they are not obligated to release every year, simply expected too

 

[Dirtyharry50]

No what date of the year you pick, there will alsways be someone who want a new product and "cant wait" even if the product has been updated in 6 months.

Apple can pretty much update the imac in 3 years only and that doesnt mean anything, they are not obligated to release every year, simply expected too

And this year may mark when they change that expectation.

 

[davidgnomo]

Well it would mean that Apple are liars since they said there will be one this year

As I wrote in another post ... actually NO, they did not ...

 

[BruceiD]

No what date of the year you pick, there will alsways be someone who want a new product and "cant wait" even if the product has been updated in 6 months.

Apple can pretty much update the imac in 3 years only and that doesnt mean anything, they are not obligated to release every year, simply expected too

Yes but as a company they would more money if they released an iMac now and in 1 year.
They could be able to increase the sales just with a spec bump and perhaps a new feature, matte display f.e., without having to redesign the computer now. And then later in 2013 they could release an 'all-new' iMac, increase the sales twice without even having to put much effort into it.

 

[iSayuSay]

That would mean nothing for Apple. You know, new iMac launching news doesn't make an AAPL worth $650 a pop.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Well it would mean that Apple are liars since they said there will be one this year

No they didn't and if I am wrong, prove it.

 

[forty2j]

No they didn't and if I am wrong, prove it.

It's true. They didn't say specifically that there would be a 2012 iMac. What they did do is specifically issue a correction to a statement such that they removed the reference to the iMac and left only Pros and 2013 in the same sentence. This really only leaves 2 plausible interpretations:
1) The new iMac is coming in 2012
2) The iMac line is being discontinued (or at least, won't see an update until 2014 or beyond)

Most of us choose to believe they meant (1).

 

[Puevlo]

Apple are probably changing the iMacs to another type of processor. Like an AMD or ARM processor. This is why there is such a big gap between updates.

 

[forty2j]

Apple are probably changing the iMacs to another type of processor. Like an AMD or ARM processor. This is why there is such a big gap between updates.

A major architecture change would impact developers pretty dramatically and would have been pre-announced at WWDC.

 

[washburn]

So has this been officially the longest time between updates for iMac ever?