Headless iMac? Is it time for one?

scottscott
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
After reading the MacWorld link in <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002805"; target="_blank">this</a> thread it got me thinking about what Apple would need to make inroads into the corporate world. Some of the predictions are that Apple will make inroads because of Microsoft?s ham handed moves with software license.



It got me thinking about what corporate customers would buy to replace their PeeCees. iMac PowerMacs I can't see it. They want cheap swappable boxes. Apple doesn't provide that.



So ... ????



Headless iMac? Cheap thin small swappable fixable box. Stick it under the desk and hook it up to whatever mouse, keyboard and monitor happens to be there.



Is it time?



Am I crazy?



I can't see Apple making any real inroads to corporate sales with what they offer now.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    quickquick Posts: 227member
    This has been discussed so many times here at AI. Is it worth doing it all over again?
  • Reply 2 of 46
    stagflation stevestagflation steve Posts: 294member
    Why Not?



    I can't get Jerry Springer on local TV anymore
  • Reply 3 of 46
    t'hain esh kelcht'hain esh kelch Posts: 1,274member
    iCube!
  • Reply 4 of 46
    quickquick Posts: 227member
    [quote]Originally posted by Stagflation Steve:

    <strong>Why Not?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think this kind of machine makes a lot of sense. But I'm tired of reading the same arguments over and over again. The same goes with having cheaper Macs. Yes, it would be nice. No one will reject it when it's here. But it has been talked about so may times.
  • Reply 5 of 46
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Has it? Sorry if I don't dig into the the 12th page of every flamewar here at FH
  • Reply 6 of 46
    spiffsterspiffster Posts: 327member
    I'd support a consumer version of the Powermac. Thats pretty much what would be. Not exactly iMac parts, but a eMac motherboard, with maybe a better video card, repackaged in a miniTower box. Low enough not to steal powermac sales, but not too low that nobody would buy it. And the CRT iMac whould get a nice price drop.
  • Reply 6 of 46
    quickquick Posts: 227member
    [quote]Originally posted by Scott:

    <strong>Has it? Sorry if I don't dig into the the 12th page of every flamewar here at FH </strong><hr></blockquote>



    You must have spent too much time in Fire-Side-Chat Flamewars.
  • Reply 8 of 46
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Yea maybe but I do read FH all the time. Don't care to rage on about if the 970 can be called a G5 or if only Mot parts can be called G5 or if the 7447(?) can be called a G5 even thought it's only a G4.





    Anyway why not a single proc G4 with a passable graphics card with VGA/DVI out in a smallish box?
  • Reply 9 of 46
    lemon bon bonlemon bon bon Posts: 2,383member
    Same old arguments. Aren't they all.



    Still, "iCube!"?



    Yes please. 1 gig 'Gobo' processor, Geforce 2 Mx nominal other specs. Priced to go at £499 inc VAT. I'd buy. I wouldn't expect huge expandability on a machine with that price. I've got 21 inch Monitors and 19 inchers. I don't need another monitor. I just need another Mac. Apple would have the killer machine.



    Lots of the chrome grill and unnecessary plastic skirt in the cube's design were probably costly in terms of materials/case design. Look at Nintendo's Gamecube. £149 inc VAT? Wow. Why don't Apple produce a sub £500 computer. We haven't really had one in the UK since the Amiga (ah...the Amiga...) Apple have show with the iPod that they CAN make a sub-£500 device.



    I can't believe they can dish out bare/harddrive/128megs of ram/Integrated/32megs GeforceMx graphics and a 1 gig processor sans Monitor in a cheap white/enamel plastic case for £399. Edu' customers/skin flints like me would be bending over backwards for it. Apple need a killer/critical mass switcher machine to get people in the stores and get them walking out with a 'sod it, it's only £399' machine. I CAN gamble on Apple cheaply!'



    It's the one of the gaps in Apple's 'less rigid than it was but still rigid' hardware line up/strategy.



    iCube, along with other stuff, cheaper low-end tower, drive the low-end flat screen iMac down by a hundred or so. It's a beauty...but alot of money for a machine you can't upgrade cpu/graphics card on. And a slow bus that will look ancient when the 970 hits town.



    There's not alot wrong with Apple these days. They doing alot right. That doesn't mean they're perfect.



    It's funny. 2003, the Macs will be a bit more of the same for the 1st half. After that. Quantum leap for Macs. 970. Amazing m/board bandwidth. iMacs set to inherent G4s from 1.4-1.8 gig. Then Rio set ups after that. If, like me, you've been waiting years to upgrade...it looks like you're in the home straight.



    If you want a machine...looks like the iBook in bang fer buck. A nice machine for £1,100. Decent graphics card with 800mhz G3. Not bad. Not brilliant. But decent. The one at £850 is amazing for an Apple laptop.



    Even more amazing is that Apple can't see their Dell-buster is a winning design in the Cube but iBook spec-ish-sans expensive flat screen monitor. If they can make the iBook for £850 but no decent desktop box for EVEN less?



    Lemon Bon Bon



    [ 01-01-2003: Message edited by: Lemon Bon Bon ]</p>
  • Reply 10 of 46
    quickquick Posts: 227member
    [quote]Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon:

    <strong>Same old arguments. Aren't they all.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>

    Sad but true. Maybe I was looking for something different because it's the first of january today.



    [quote]Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon:

    <strong>If they can make the iBook for £850 but no decent desktop box for EVEN less?</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Good point. But why do I pay the same amount of money for 2 iPods like I do for 1 iBook? Makes no sense to me.
  • Reply 11 of 46
    bigcbigc Posts: 1,224member
    Why not buy an imac, remove the LCD, put together an enclosure for the LCD and sell it. Then sell Headless iMacs. Sounds like a business model to me. No takers? Royalties required.
  • Reply 12 of 46
    @homenow@homenow Posts: 998member
    [quote]Originally posted by Bigc:

    <strong>Why not buy an imac, remove the LCD, put together an enclosure for the LCD and sell it. Then sell Headless iMacs. Sounds like a business model to me. No takers? Royalties required.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    becouse the iMac dosnt offer the features that people want in a headless iMac/consumer tower, and that is the AGP slot and at least 1 PCI slot. Without these they are stuck with the original video card, and limited to the technology available when they bought the computer. No upgrading to USB2 or FW2 when it come out or "tera-eathernet. For a consumer these are the most likely upgrades. Without the video upgrade capabilities it will never work as a seriouse game computer, and at times like these when everyone knows that FW2 is just around the corner that has to make you think twice about a purchase...if you could just add an expansion card you might not wait.
  • Reply 13 of 46
    tkntkn Posts: 224member
    I think the problem is there isn't enought disparity in consumer Mac processors and professional Macs (i.e. iMac vs. PowerMac) to support another option. It would cannabalize PowerMac sales to have G4 processors in a headless design at this time in the graphics market, especially if you could upgrade video cards and such... Better to introduce a low-cost headless G3 below the iMac to replace the old iMac CRT...
  • Reply 14 of 46
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Corporates aren't buying powermacs now (or any macs for that matter) so why worry about it steeling powermac sales? I can't see them buying G3s either.





    I just can't see macs making any inroads at all into any corporate sales with what Apple has now. So ... something new is needed.
  • Reply 15 of 46
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    Instead of having a "headless iMac" there should just be a cheap tower. There's no reason not to have a cheaper expandible computer. I'd definately get one as my next Mac.
  • Reply 16 of 46
    bogiebogie Posts: 407member
    Headless iMac?



    No.
  • Reply 17 of 46
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    What EmAn said. Threads like this exist for one reason: PowerMacs are too expensive. What ever happened to the good ol' lowend PowerMac?
  • Reply 18 of 46
    trailmaster308trailmaster308 Posts: 699member
    Hardware price has about 50% of decision making. The rest comes from application support. I'm not talking about Office, Mail, Adobe whatever. Why everyone jumps up and down about these being on the Mac I don't know. Those apps are just "gimme" apps that don't mean a pile of beans to the corporate market place. Industry specific apps are the problem. And lets face it, besides the design industry and generic office stuff...It just doesn't exist.



    Once all these apps exist then we can all start yelling about making way into the corporate market..but until then there is no argument. -&gt;.



    [ 01-01-2003: Message edited by: trailmaster308 ]</p>
  • Reply 18 of 46
    tkntkn Posts: 224member
    So Apple should cannabalize their sales and profits by releasing an expandable headless Mac at a low price. What you want is a PowerMac at half-price...



    They could take an iMac, cut the head off and call it the Sphere I guess, but then you don't get the expandability...
  • Reply 20 of 46
    lemon bon bonlemon bon bon Posts: 2,383member
    "I just can't see macs making any inroads at all into any corporate sales with what Apple has now. So ... something new is needed."



    I think Apple should shake up their desktop strategy/segments.



    Something 'new' is needed.



    For me, it's a machine under the eMac. 'Headless' iCube Dell buster.



    A 'single' processor Tower under the cost of the low end dual tower. Circa £1000 inc VAT.



    iMacs need to come to have a couple of models over and UNDER the grand mark inc Vat and eMacs slightly lower than they are now. That would be a start.



    And an iBook with Superdrive to bridge the huge gap between the top iBook and low end Powerbook.



    Lemon Bon Bon
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