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Is there a possibility, that we could see AMD CPUs in these new/refreshed Macs? ;)

No :)

The fact that both iMac and Mac mini get mentioned for the update is a sign that the Coffee Lake CPUs are being excised from Apple's slate. I think the CFL CPUs must be due for discontinuation within a couple of years.

The successor CPU is still in flux.

Comet Lake S runs hot compared to Coffee Lake because Intel seem to be chasing higher clock speeds as well as increased core counts to combat the threat of AMD's Ryzen CPUs. Apple would need to account for the increased heat from this generation (and subsequent ones) by accounting for it in the redesign but fitting these CPUs into an existing Mac mini without throttling could be a challenge.

Of course, Apple might use the Comet Lake S in a larger cased Mini (Cube) but by the time you've specced that up then HD630 graphics looks remarkably under specced for the money and in any case, making mini users add eGPU seems remarkably poor value for money.

Comet Lake H (as used in the 16" MacBook Pro class Mac) would allow Apple to continue using a BGA mount CPU in the iMac while keeping CPU temps down and crucially fitting into the existing Mac mini case. This could be seen as a downward step in performance but Apple could mitigate this by creating a whole different SKU (eg 24/25" iMac).
 
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Thats pretty much all you need. Its the same architecture so going to AMD cpus is not a problem.
ARM will require some coding but AMD is fine.
Thats the difference. Apple doesn't need to do much to switch to AMD. And at this point they should as Intel is messed up


Source....and no, a few lines of text hidden in some file is not code.





Oh...that's where stickies (App) went. ;)
 
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You can license either ARM's ISA, or ARM's cores. Apple does the former.
And, Apple is quite clearly an ARM licensee... the kind of thing you’d need to be in order to make your own products from it. Is there any documentation that defines Apple as an AMD technology licensee?
 
Comet Lake H (as used in the 16" MacBook Pro class Mac) would allow Apple to continue using a BGA mount CPU in the iMac while keeping CPU temps down and crucially fitting into the existing Mac mini case. This could be seen as a downward step in performance but Apple could mitigate this by creating a whole different SKU (eg 24/25" iMac).
It would be foolish for Apple to not go with AMD Ryzen 5 4600H and/or 4800H processors vs Comet Lake-H since the former performs better and runs cooler

 
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Unless you're a gamer. A "Mac Mini Pro" could potentially make for a great gaming-oriented Mac

OK, but why would the type of gamer who wants a tower not just buy a Windows gaming PC from Razor or Alienware, or just build and/or mod their own?

And why would Apple cater to this niche?

And why would more games suddenly appear?

Like, that's a whole lot of assumptions about something that hasn't really changed in twenty years.
 
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And, Apple is quite clearly an ARM licensee... the kind of thing you’d need to be in order to make your own products from it. Is there any documentation that defines Apple as an AMD technology licensee?
Of course not, because they are not, and they would also need a license from Intel, and they don’t have that either.
 
Or x86-64 which is created and owned by AMD

Yes and no. Yes, AMD owns x86-64, but they only do so due to a cross-licensing agreement — x86-64 builds on x86 significantly enough that they had to make an agreement with Intel. Effectively, Apple would have to talk to both AMD and Intel.

(And they don't really want/care to. There's already ARM.)
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Comet Lake H (as used in the 16" MacBook Pro class Mac) would allow Apple to continue using a BGA mount CPU in the iMac while keeping CPU temps down and crucially fitting into the existing Mac mini case. This could be seen as a downward step in performance but Apple could mitigate this by creating a whole different SKU (eg 24/25" iMac).

Huh? Are you discussing the iMac, the Mac mini, or both?

The iMac currently has up to 95W CPUs (-S), whereas the Mac mini is only 65W (-B, a variant of -H).
 
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Ive never had an iMac before would love a 27 inch redesigned imac that comes in space grey has 512SSD as the first option, touchbar keyboard, mouse all in space grey Id buy it on the spot for me that would be enough :)
 
In 2020, a tower is not something most people want or need.
Unless you're a gamer. A "Mac Mini Pro" could potentially make for a great gaming-oriented Mac.

Apple hasn't been interested in even a mediocre gaming-oriented Mac, much less a great one. :p

(And yes, I recall the rumor about Apple launching a "gaming computer" at WWDC this year.)
 
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OK, but why would the type of gamer who wants a tower not just buy a Windows gaming PC from Razor or Alienware, or just build and/or mod their own?

Because they want to use MacOS

And why would Apple cater to this niche?

The PC gaming niche is a bigger market than the entire Mac.

And why would more games suddenly appear?

Like, that's a whole lot of assumptions about something that hasn't really changed in twenty years.

Apple believes in Arcade. It wouldn't work, but the machine would dual boot to Windows.
 
The PC gaming niche is a bigger market than the entire Mac.

Probably, but it's also split up among a zillion competitors, and it's tough for Apple or anyone else to command the margins they are used to given how so much of the gaming market pieces out their own builds.
 
Because they want to use MacOS

…and then play games that don't exist? Seems strange to me.

The PC gaming niche is a bigger market than the entire Mac.

Uh. Source?

Again, we're specifically discussing towers here.

Gaming in general? Pretty big, sure. Gaming that warrants graphics high-end enough that you want an upgradeable tower? Tiny.

Apple believes in Arcade. It wouldn't work, but the machine would dual boot to Windows.

That's why I specifically said "the type of gamer who wants a tower".

Apple Arcade caters to completely different gamers.

It wouldn't work, but the machine would dual boot to Windows.

At which point, again, why buy a Mac at all?

Sounds much smarter to just get a cheap gaming tower plus a MacBook.
 
In 1994 maybe.

In 2020, a tower is not something most people want or need.

It is something people want, they just don't want to spend $6K to get it.
I'm hanging on to my current tower because I will not spend $6K for something that is arguably a peripheral to the audio system it houses.
I have a ProTool setup and I don't need a $6K computer.
A machine with a single PCIe slot solves my issues. Having an i9 makes it a great machine.
 
Probably, but it's also split up among a zillion competitors, and it's tough for Apple or anyone else to command the margins they are used to given how so much of the gaming market pieces out their own builds.

You really think 20 million gaming towers get sold each year? I just don't see that.
 
I know it's almost like you don't have a choice to select SSD 😂😂😂
has NOTHING to do with being ABLE to select and SSD. it's 2020, NOTHING should have a mechanical hard drive in it. At $1299 you should get a 1TB normal SSD. not a 1TB 5400 rpm drive. from there, you should be able to upgrade to MVMe drive.
 
Of course not, because they are not, and they would also need a license from Intel, and they don’t have that either.
Thanks! There goes THAT rumor.
Gaming that warrants graphics high-end enough that you want an upgradeable tower? Tiny.
Taken further, gaming that starts with a Mac, that you must then boot into Windows to run games... infinitesimal compared to the entire Windows gaming market.
 
I just want an iMac to replace my first gen 5K that runs cool enough to not throttle the GPU when gaming or even just running normally in summer, to deliver enough power to use all the USB ports at the same time so I don't have to unplug one of my SSDs to power my iPad or iPhone. Oh, and no more screen retention would be a nice bonus.
 
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We need a redesign for the iMac
Hopefully a new design for the iMac and ...
Do you have something more specific in mind, or just redesign for the sake of redesign? Like would a triangular screen really do it for you?

Personally, I think the current designs work well enough, but they could stand to make the back a little chunkier so they could use desktop-spec components rather the laptop-spec ones (or have they moved away from that now, I haven't paid a lot of attention). And having a door in the back, or on the bottom, to replace the drives/SSDs and RAM would be nice (I recall doing that a ways back for a relative, with an iMac that had a door on the bottom edge - I get the impression that on the current design you have to pop off the screen to get such access - I would not volunteer to help with that).
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It's time for all of Apple's devices to standardize on SSD storage. No more spinning HDD or Fusion Drives.
Just to keep a balance between all things, they'll release an iPod Classic with a spinning hard drive.
 
Do you have something more specific in mind, or just redesign for the sake of redesign? Like would a triangular screen really do it for you?

Personally, I think the current designs work well enough, but they could stand to make the back a little chunkier so they could use desktop-spec components rather the laptop-spec ones (or have they moved away from that now, I haven't paid a lot of attention). And having a door in the back, or on the bottom, to replace the drives/SSDs and RAM would be nice (I recall doing that a ways back for a relative, with an iMac that had a door on the bottom edge - I get the impression that on the current design you have to pop off the screen to get such access - I would not volunteer to help with that).
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Just to keep a balance between all things, they'll release an iPod Classic with a spinning hard drive.
The iMac 21.5" 4K & 27" 5K are using desktop spec CPU's and laptop spec GPU's. The base 21.5" (non-Retina) iMac is still using a laptop CPU with an integrated GPU.
 
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I really hope the Mac Mini gets a GPU on par with what's available in the MacBook Pro line. That's my only beef with the current Mini.
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Of course it is -- because I bought the 2018 model a few months ago. :confused:

I agree that the current GPU is the computer's real weak point. And my eGPU isn't performing as well as I'd hoped.

Also bought a refurbished one 2 months ago. Oh well, it does it's job for what I intended it to be(coding).

I can always sell and take a bit of loss if I really want a new one.
 
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