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Rev B Intel iMac - What do we expect?

aswitcher

aswitcher

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 8, 2003
5,338
14
Canberra OZ
I think the second rev of the intel iMac will be my next Mac but I wanted to get an idea of what its likely to have by way of upgrades over the Jan 06 release.

1) Out about August 06?
2) New higher res screens like the Mac Book Pros?
3) Conroe Intel chip - 4MB cache and higher speeds?
4) 256MB graphics card for 17" as option.
5) 802.11N for Airport?
6) Out in black
7) Optical audio in
8) Full DVI port &/or HDMI out, with HDCP
9) HDDVD or Bluray drive option
10) Upscaling DVD burner/player?
11) Digital TV tuner
12) iPod like controls on chin of iMac to control sound
13) 512MB ram on logic board - and 2 ram slots
14) Better speakers - surround sound fake like many LCD TVs have now
15) OLED screen on chin to dispaly information like widgets


What do people think?
 
Paris Expo should be the release i would say , faster Airport "N" should be a go

maybe a speed bump and GPU options maybe 20" model and a 23" model (dropping the 17")

a better version of Front Row
 
liketom said:
Paris Expo should be the release i would say , faster Airport "N" should be a go

maybe a speed bump and GPU options maybe 20" model and a 23" model (dropping the 17")

a better version of Front Row
Click to expand...

Yeah I guess Paris would be a good choice.

23" mmm I guess if they go the doenloadable TV thingy that would possible but I figure its going to be quite expensive and now we have screen spanning to LCD TVs its not as importany.

I expect FR update with iLife 07 as a key selling point to all of those who bought intel Macs this year.
 
Sounds like a sweet machine - most of those ideas are believable certainly.

Not sure about the controls / screen on chin though. Wouldn't they damage the clean lines of the iMac?
 
My guesses:

1) Out about August 06?
SEPTEMBER

2) New higher res screens like the Mac Book Pros?
No, the screen resolutions are somewhat a "standard".

3) Conroe Intel chip - 4MB cache and higher speeds?
I hope so, since it should be pin compatible

4) 256MB graphics card for 17" as option.
256MB will be standard

5) 802.11N for Airport?
don't know, don't need it.

6) Out in black
uh..please not!!!!

7) Optical audio in
don't know' don't need

8) Full DVI port &/or HDMI out, with HDCP
don't think so. too much of a change.

9) HDDVD or Bluray drive option
too early

10) Upscaling DVD burner/player?
don't know' don't need

11) Digital TV tuner
don't think so. they could have done it long ago. seems they think it's to early. what tuner, HD, Pal, NTSC??

12) iPod like controls on chin of iMac to control sound
too much of a change for a simple revision.

13) 512MB ram on logic board - and 2 ram slots
don't care

14) Better speakers - surround sound fake like many LCD TVs have now
don't care

15) OLED screen on chin to dispaly information like widgets
too much of a change for a simple revision. don't want and need it anyway.

that's my take on it. but i was also totally wrong when the isight came in.......
 
I think a revision of the imac's form factor would be very exciting in the next year or so.

Its really the only mac that I cant imagine how Apple could change. Maybe take away the controversial chin but what else?

Ive always thought that apple could use the big logo on the macs as a means of some type of status indicator. For powerbooks, where the apple logo lights up you coud have it so that the level of light from top to bottom could act as a gauge to indicate battery life.
 
SamJ said:
I think a revision of the imac's form factor would be very exciting in the next year or so.

Its really the only mac that I cant imagine how Apple could change. Maybe take away the controversial chin but what else?

Ive always thought that apple could use the big logo on the macs as a means of some type of status indicator. For powerbooks, where the apple logo lights up you coud have it so that the level of light from top to bottom could act as a gauge to indicate battery life.
Click to expand...

What chin ?????? and a PVR type Imac would be good for users who don't live in the US of A and don't have access to the itunes TV section - C'mon Apple give the rest of the world a chance or option.
 
liketom said:
maybe a speed bump and GPU options maybe 20" model and a 23" model (dropping the 17")
Click to expand...

No way should they drop the 17". The 20" was too big for the space my iMac goes in. I wouldn't have bought an iMac if the 17" hadn't been available.
 
There's easily room for a third all-in-one, so 17", 20" and 23" should be fine, no need to drop the 17".

Jumping from Yonah to Conroe would be a very welcome move and chucking in a slightly more powerful card like the X1600 Pro or XT would be great. Wouldn't mind a slight price drop either ;)
 
Out In Black

How bout out in Aluminum, and drop the chin? Then I would buy one for sure.
 
I really liked #12, adding iPod style controls for iTunes. It bugs me that to this day Apple still doesn't have direct-action keys for iTunes on its keyboards. I have to switch from whatever app I'm in to iTunes and back every time I want to skip a song. PC's have had this since forever. Like 1973 or something. I could get a 3rd-party keyboard, but then my mac wouldn't be a complete "set", it wouldn't be nearly as good-looking. And yes, that's important to me, aesthetically and "OCD"-wise.
 
My guess is that we won't see anything until Paris...and that we may not even see anything then. This machine is very nicely stacked against its competition, and they won't want to raise the bar for what a low end PowerMac (MacPro) should include at the same time that they are releasing it. I wouldn't be surprise if we see very marginal updates in early summer, or late fall...but I doubt we'll see much to write home about.

However, I like the idea of using the "chin" space for widgets...etc. This is something that Vista is supposed to be including, and it's the only Vista feature that beats Apple in the 'wow' dept.

Specifically, Vista includes support for a second screen with a specific widget setup. The idea is that notebooks could have a screen on the outside that that would display widget type info (battery life, 5 most recent emails, maybe an RSS feed) without ever opening the machine.

I think it would be pretty rad if Apple could use OLED to create a running news ticker across the chin of the iMac based on RSS feeds that you subscribe to...or display the subjects of your recently received emails...

Anyway, while going off topic I'd like to give props to the original poster for a sweet implementation emerging technology.
 
andiwm2003 said:
My guesses:

5) 802.11N for Airport?
don't know, don't need it.

that's my take on it. but i was also totally wrong when the isight came in.......
Click to expand...


Streaming video decent distances and resolution will need something like N. I figure N will definetly come next year to Apple when the standard is ratified but sorta hope they do what they did last time and go ahead before the standard is finalised.
 
Whistleway said:
Apple, Please stop adding all crappy features and reduce the price by $200. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Even with updates the 20" should drop in price, and likely the 17". Always the way from rev a to rev b.
 
I could see Conroe and the 802.11N but I'm not too sure about the Blueray option as of yet.... maybe but it will be a pretty penny for the upgrade. Just my 2 cents
 
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