Not exactly. Your comparison is the logical equivalent of "My buddy has a peanut allergy. I have seen him have an allergic reaction. I am not going to eat tomatoes because I might have an allergic reaction.
Not really, iMacs of this vintage are known to have these problems. They are not uncommon at all. A more logical comparison would be "I hear that my airline usually has delays, so my odds of being delayed are increased", which I think is fair.
As for those hoping for a redesign, I am a little skeptical. I would think we would have more rumors about said redesign by this point. Just look at the MBP redesign rumors which have been going on for months. You would think that since both iMacs and MBPs will be released relatively around the same time, we would have heard more about a redesigned iMac by now. I don't really mind either way. While it would be great to have a slightly thicker thunderbolt display design (i.e. no chin), I wouldn't mind having the current design one bit.
The Mac mini was redesigned almost two years ago with no rumors leading up to the announcement. Similarly the MBP redesign rumors have been on-going pretty much since Steve Jobs unveiled the current design in October 2008, with a significant picking up in the last two years. People said that the early 2011 models would bring about the design change, and then no change, similarly, the models after that, and here we are with the Late 2011 models and, what do you know, no design change. The previous design lasted six years and only changed because there were drastic practical improvements that were made to solve issues they were having. To my knowledge, that is yet the case with the current design, plus we're barely through year four of the current design, so we have time left.
The iMac on the other hand tends to be given different designs once every three revs and we are currently nearing the end of the refresh cycle for rev #3 of the current design. Plus the current design is riddled with problems. It's safe to say that even if we aren't hearing rumors about it, Apple is at least giving it strong consideration.
Same thing happened to the current Mac Mini though. Absolutely no rumors of a redesign and then...Boom.
Exactly!
Anyone think we'll see an ultra-thin, entry level iMac with intel integrated 4000 series graphics. Literally paper thin and just the screen, so to speak. Would look good and make sense as an entry level iMac for most users (IMO).
A cheaper sub-$1000 iMac with only the Intel Integrated graphics (in this case the Intel HD 4000 coming out with Sandy Bridge) would be a fantastic idea for consumers after an Apple-branded desktop Mac. Ultra-thin, on the other hand would be a poor idea given that, the discrete GPU is only one of the many heat-generating components in an iMac and that, if anything, the machine should be made thicker, not thinner.
2011 Mac Mini is not exactly a redesign. They only eliminate SuperDrive in all model. 2010 Mac Mini server looks exactly the same as all 2011 Mac Mini line, except now mDP port works as Thunderbolt, of course. Other than that, I can't really differ 2010 Mac Mini server vs. regular 2011 Mac Mini, appearance-wise.
I think they were referring to the Mid 2010 redesign. Otherwise, the removal of the optical drive does present a slight design change between the 2010 non-server minis and the 2011 minis, though I agree, save for the Thunderbolt logo on the back-side, the 2011 minis look identical to the 2010 mini server.
Question for the group: once the 2012 release of the new iMac is announced (now June/July) and specs are released, how difficult will it be to get the existing models?
I have a late 2006 edition and am looking to upgrade, but want to see the specs and pricepoints of the new ones before I buy.
Thoughts?
It will be no less difficult to get them if you buy from the Apple Refurbished Mac section of the Apple online store, and they will usually drop that much more in price upon a refresh, so that's never a bad idea (unless you want to max out the hard drive or RAM or GPU or GPU VRAM or something like that, which on an iMac, you might want to do; though you can't customize just-discontinued models either, so that's moot).
As for other retailers, they usually have clearance sales, but they tend to go fast and aren't much to write home about; I'd do the refurbished models over the clearance sales, were it me. Then again, given my aversion to iMacs to begin with, I think I'd probably pass altogether and just stick with a 15" MacBook Pro.