Apple's iMac overhaul tracking for mid-to-late summer

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Apple Inc.'s hotly anticipated iPhone device will have a few weeks to bask in the limelight before the electronics maker returns focus to its Mac business with a pair of redesigned iMacs positioned to catch the tail end of the educational buying season.



People familiar with plans for the next-generation consumer desktops say Apple hopes to unveil the new systems sometime between the latter half of July and mid-August -- a timeframe well suited to garner sales from higher-education individuals and back-to-school shoppers in general. Those same people add that the Cupertino-based Mac maker may also have a few smaller surprises in store for fans of its Mac line around the same time.



As was reported exclusively by AppleInsider in March, Apple engineers have been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.



Omitted from the makeover will be Apple's 17-inch iMac model, people familiar with the project have said. The entry-level offering will reportedly become the subject of considerable neglect, and may eventually meet the same fate as the firm's now defunct 12-inch PowerBook and soon-to-be sacrificed Mac mini.



Earlier this month, the Internet was rife with unsubstantiated rumors that Apple would use its developer conference (last week) to introduce new iMacs clad in "brushed metal" enclosures. AppleInsider, however, advised against those claims, explaining that the company would instead use the annual gathering to focus on Mac OS X Leopard, third-party iPhone development, and its software strategy in general.



While Apple's current iMac line remains in relatively good availability, supplies should begin to constrain in the weeks ahead, especially through high-level dealers. The company continues to fill new orders for existing models, but checks within the supply chain indicate that it is doing so through smaller volume shipments.



Apple last updated its iMac line in September, when it upgraded each model with Core 2 Duo mobile processors and introduced a 24-inch model to the family.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 171
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Alright... I'm willing to wait another couple of months to buy a new iMac. Confirmed!
  • Reply 2 of 171
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    As was reported exclusively by AppleInsider in March, Apple engineers have been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.



    Why do I have this bad feeling that they are going to sacrifice the 3.5HDD for 2.5HDD in order to get the display as thin as possible. This would be the final component that keeps this desktop from being made out of all laptop parts..



    I know the 2.5 drives are making big improvements in capacity and are available in 7200RPM models but they still trail 3.5 drives in terms of performance and cost. I have been patiently waiting for new iMacs but this would kill it for me. The only saving grace would be if they offered eSata so I could run the OS from an external drive. I hope my gut is wrong, do we really need the iMac to be thinner than it already is?
  • Reply 3 of 171
    The 500+GB HD units are already causing considerable delays in the iMacs if you customize a configuration that includes them. I'm not sure what could cause this, but I'm sure it's related to the current iMac's impending EOL, since if it were going to be around for more than a month Apple surely wouldn't be allowing a 2-3 week delay for a 750GB hard drive configuration.



    edit: Also, it is my belief that the Mac Pro will get an update before the iMac, if only to get 2GB of RAM in the standard configuration (so as to equal the MacBook Pro's current offerings), since the iMac may also be getting 2GB of RAM standard in its higher-end models, with 1GB standard in the lower end to equal the MacBook.
  • Reply 4 of 171
    Well my 800MHz G4 is beginning to show it's age. Just about time to upgrade I guess. It's been a good 5 years. Can't wait to see what these new iMacs look like.
  • Reply 5 of 171
    fraklincfraklinc Posts: 244member
    all i really will like is to included LED screens, on the new models which sound, like alot, with LED prices over the roof right now
  • Reply 6 of 171
    I REALLY hope there is a quad core version of the iMac offered. Maybe in the 24" version??? \ Especially since Leopard will have more multi-thread capabilities. I don't want to have to shell out the cash for a MacPro.
  • Reply 7 of 171
    If a thinner iMac is the goal then my hopes of an iMac that can house (2) 3.5" drives sounds like a distant dream. Easy user access and (2) 3.5" bays would mean a lot more to me in an iMac than a thinner design. It is already very thin. (2) drives would be great with Time Machine coming out soon too.



    Randy at www.MacSeven.com
  • Reply 8 of 171
    The new iMac nneds to have the following:



    Higher Res Screens (possibly LED)

    More memory as standard

    New design

    Santa Rosa



    And needs...

    better iSight (leopard)

    To stick with 3.5"HDD

    Superdrives throughout (why do apple still ship combos?)
  • Reply 9 of 171
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Can we say coolio?
  • Reply 10 of 171
    Groan! I was hoping not to have to wait that long....Also the potential of 2.5 inch drives would suck.
  • Reply 11 of 171
    Annoyed to say the least, however I was always saying I would buy either mac pro or imac, whichever was updated first, and was always kinda hoping that would be the mac pro



    When abouts are these intel price cuts scheduled for, mid july?
  • Reply 12 of 171
    tsvissertsvisser Posts: 36member
    i have mixed feelings on going down to 2.5" drives. i could appreciate the industrial design aspects of such a move. is there any way that Santa Rosa's hybrid / flash memory capabilities help pick up the slack, or is the status of SR and flash sort of on the downturn? i have heard that lots of Intel partners are not so hot on that feature of SR.



    if they did move down to 2.5" drives, it would be nice if it could hold dual 2.5" drives, so that the user could choose what configuration, concat, RAID, or independent volumes... when thinking green, the power draw and heat of the larger 3.5" drives is considerable. having an eSATA port would seem like a must. i think that direct attached storage is becoming somewhat replaced by NAS to some extent for many people's storage needs.
  • Reply 13 of 171
    vtprinzvtprinz Posts: 25member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by The Vapour View Post


    Groan! I was hoping not to have to wait that long....Also the potential of 2.5 inch drives would suck.



    Is the thickness all that different between 2.5" and 3.5" HDD's? If only a couple millimeters, I dont' see it being a necessary change just to make the enclosure thinner, as it's already, what, 2x or 2.5x thicker than a 3.5" HDD? (going off of memory here)
  • Reply 14 of 171
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by superlatic_uk View Post


    Annoyed to say the least, however I was always saying I would buy either mac pro or power mac, whichever was updated first, and was always kinda hoping that would be the powermac.



    When abouts are these intel price cuts scheduled for, mid july?



    The Power Mac probably won't be updated for a long time.
  • Reply 15 of 171
    aquamacaquamac Posts: 585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by juggernaut30 View Post


    I REALLY hope there is a quad core version of the iMac offered. Maybe in the 24" version??? \ Especially since Leopard will have more multi-thread capabilities. I don't want to have to shell out the cash for a MacPro.



    So you want Mac Pro speed in a 24" iMac with a lower price than a Mac Pro. hummm

    Me too
  • Reply 16 of 171
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by psychodoughboy View Post


    The Power Mac probably won't be updated for a long time.



    pardon my french was hoping the mac pro would be updated first
  • Reply 17 of 171
    shanmugamshanmugam Posts: 1,200member
    Some news is better than NO News!
  • Reply 18 of 171
    xflarexflare Posts: 199member
    WOW..... nearly a whole year will have passed before the iMac is updated. Very poor.
  • Reply 19 of 171
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member




    Everyone seems to assume new iMacs will have a pedestal base just like the current iMacs. It could have a pedestal base that contains components, like hard drives.
  • Reply 20 of 171
    I can deal with the end of July. If this starts creeping to far into August, I will have wondered why I just didn't suck it up and buy one 3 weeks ago.
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