Apple predicted to release new iMacs, MacBooks in weeks

[AppleInsider]

A new report alleges that Apple intends to release new iMacs and MacBooks very soon -- in a matter of weeks -- to refresh its lineup before the holiday season.

Financial publication Barron's said a new report from Wedge Partners claims that Apple will introduce new hardware "in the next several weeks."

The report said that the new iMacs will sport a thinner design with smooth edges. However, the MacBook refresh is said to be "limited."

Also on tap, according to Wedge Partners, are likely price cuts. The company sees the lower prices as a competitive alternative to Windows 7 machines. Wedge Partners predicts that Apple will sell 3 million Macs in the holiday season, riding the wave of price cuts and new products.

More affordable Macs have been rumored for some time. In June, cuts of $100 to $300 were enacted on the 13- to 17-inch unibody aluminum notebooks, which have all been classified as MacBook Pros.

For comparison, in the June quarter, Apple sold 2.6 million Macs, a 4 percent year-over-year increase, and the best-ever June quarter. This quarter, Apple is predicted to sell 2.8 million total Macs.

While new hardware should come as no surprise, AppleInsider has previously heard word of new iMacs and MacBooks. Last month rumors surfaced that the new Imacs would have compelling new features, one of which was said to have long been on Mac users' wish lists, and another that would appeal to the semi-professional audio/video crowd.

AppleInsider also received word that Apple would retain and redesign its line of plastic MacBooks. With only one non-Pro offering in the lineup, Apple is allegedly redesigning the systems with a slimmer, lighter enclosure and restructured internal architecture. Analysts have long believed that cracking the sub-$1,000 notebook market would be a huge boon for Apple.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[BenRoethig]

iMac thinner? Its thinness already causes problems and they want to make it thinner. Right, Ive. The computer is secondary to the case.

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

iMac thinner? Its thinness already causes problems and they want to make it thinner. Right, Ive. The computer is secondary to the case.

I don't know of any widespread problems caused by thinness.

If they can manage it, it should indeed be thinner, lighter, etc.

[lilgto64]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

I don't know of any widespread problems caused by thinness.

If they can manage it, it should indeed be thinner, lighter, etc.

Perhaps the original post was referring to the engineering challenges of packing all the components into a small space - especially when it comes to keeping everything cool - and the balance between the cost of packing everything into the smaller space without compromising structural integrity while keeping the sale price within reason.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

iMac thinner? Its thinness already causes problems and they want to make it thinner. Right, Ive. The computer is secondary to the case.

What are the problems caused by thinness?

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by lilgto64

Perhaps the original post was referring to the engineering challenges of packing all the components into a small space - especially when it comes to keeping everything cool - and the balance between the cost of packing everything into the smaller space without compromising structural integrity while keeping the sale price within reason.

Perhaps keeping cool is related to other things. My wife's new model MacBook is way thinner than the previous one she had and it runs almost stone cold, the previous and thicker one was able to fry eggs ...

[OO9 Lives]

Fantastic. I've been holding off buying a current gen iMac because I feared new models would be released within months. I'll be intrigued to see the new design and new features. When will they officially announce them though? I don't know of any Apple events until early next year.

[Owl]

Or, instead of making it thinner, they could always just install better components, improve components, ect. I think the iMac is thin enough as it is. Lighter would be nice, though, but not light enough to feel cheap.

[Quadra 610]

This should be interesting.

Apple is already on track to beat the Street (again), which makes it 19 out of 20 quarters in a row, I think. I wonder whether it'll be record Mac sales, though. Last quarter was quite impressive.

So Apple is set to refresh Macs again. It makes one wonder why a a few people around these parts think Apple have put Macs on the backburner because they care more about iPhones and iPods. It seems to me that Apple is giving each of its key divisions plenty of attention.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

iMac thinner? Its thinness already causes problems and they want to make it thinner. Right, Ive. The computer is secondary to the case.

Yup, form *rapes* function has been the case for the iMac the past few years. iMac Anorexia is a serious issue! Fight for more curves and voluptuousness... And put in a Radeon 4870 1GB standard. Not going to happen

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

What are the problems caused by thinness?

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

I don't know of any widespread problems caused by thinness.

If they can manage it, it should indeed be thinner, lighter, etc.

1. No desktop-class non-underclocked Core 2 quadcore
2. No desktop-class non-underclocked Corei7
3. No decent desktop-class graphics eg. normal-clocked Radeon 4850 or 4870
4. No BluRay[?]

Hell, if they can put in a Corei7, Radeon 4850 1GB (NOT UNDERCLOCKED) and a 28" screen with BluRay, and make it thinner, well and good, in fact, it would be bl**dy impressive.

If they make it thinner and not even manage to put a quadcore in there, that would be very naughty in Apple Design excessively favouring form over decent DESKTOP-CLASS function.

Oh, by the way, isn't Apple supposed to eliminate them bad stuff in LCD screens by now? That is, iMacs and MacBooks have to go LED screen by the end of the year...???

[kotatsu]

I can't imagine why the iMac needs to be any thinner. What are we supposed to do with all that extra air behind the machine now? Fill it with.... I can't think of anything.

Apple should be making it thicker so they can use proper desktop components. Stick an i7 in there and a real GPU.

[Mahoney]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Apple's obsession with thinness is bordering on the pathological. Thinness in a phone is essential. Thinness in a laptop is nice. Thinness in an all-in-one desktop is... not really that important. Being able to run decent CPUs and graphics cards is very, very important. Anorexia is the right term - killing sales in pursuit of losing inches when they are already too thin.

I'd like an all-in-one. I'd like to run OS/X. I like Apple hardware. I'm in the market for a desktop computer. But I'd also like to play a couple of games in Windows (via Bootcamp would be fine) and the iMac is so far behind the curve performance wise it just isn't funny. There are gaming laptops in the wild that destroy it in terms of specs.

Perhaps the people who will be buy it ahead of a PC because of it being yet thinner outweigh the people like me who are very likely to go PC for the performance benefits. But it would surprise me.

[Lorre]

I also hope these come with a keyboard upgrade to make the desktop keyboard on par with the laptop ones, but I'm not holding my breath...

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Mahoney

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Apple's obsession with thinness is bordering on the pathological. Thinness in a phone is essential. Thinness in a laptop is nice. Thinness in an all-in-one desktop is... not really that important. Being able to run decent CPUs and graphics cards is very, very important. Anorexia is the right term - killing sales in pursuit of losing inches when they are already too thin.

I'd like an all-in-one. I'd like to run OS/X. I like Apple hardware. I'm in the market for a desktop computer. But I'd also like to play a couple of games in Windows (via Bootcamp would be fine) and the iMac is so far behind the curve performance wise it just isn't funny. There are gaming laptops in the wild that destroy it in terms of specs.

Perhaps the people who will be buy it ahead of a PC because of it being yet thinner outweigh the people like me who are very likely to go PC for the performance benefits. But it would surprise me.

i thought of a mac mini just because the wife hates "wires" and it would get rid of a lot of them.

the only thing that's keeping me from buying one is the crazy RAM upgrade procedure and a lack of even a laptop GPU in there

[Panu]

I wish that Apple Insider would give more thought to the links they put in articles. Some are very mysterious, some are trivial, and though most are substantive they look arbitrary. Following any of them interrupts the article. Perhaps the links could be put at the bottom of the article? I don't know about anyone else, but I prefer to read the article before I puzzle out where the links go or follow the ones I'm interested in.

[FuturePastNow]

It's a desktop computer, who cares how thin and light it is? Your desk is already not being strained by the weight.

It's a conspiracy by the FedEx guy.

[shadow]

Just to re-itterate the obvious:

1. Apple (or SJ) believes that the customer does not know in terms of technical details what he or she wants. But the customer can make the choise when there are alternatives.
2. Apple sells the whole package - the user experience as a product from the hardware capabilities, hardware desighn, software in terms of functionality and the user interface.

Examples for 1:
If you ask people to tell what they want from hardware, they may want a silent computer with 8 cores, low price, sleek design. This is not possible, so you need to make compromises. Most manufacturers stress on the hardware features and convince the customers that that's what they want. Apple tries to find the best compromise. As far as sales figures and customer satisfaction rates show, they are pretty good at that. Once you use an iMac, you will hate those noisy 4-core PC in your bedroom you thought (or the salesman said) is superior.

Regarding 2:
Apple aligns it's hardware with the software developments. They want to push USB - they make the software and the hardware appropriately. They want to push video chat - they add camera to all macs and develop iChat video feature. They are also able to speed up their computers without upgrading the hardware.

I was not happy with all decisions made by Apple (e.g. glossy screens only)and will not buy every product released by Apple but in general I trust them and believe they will make a good compromise.

[BenRoethig]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Yup, form *rapes* function has been the case for the iMac the past few years. iMac Anorexia is a serious issue! Fight for more curves and voluptuousness... And put in a Radeon 4870 1GB standard. Not going to happen

Its gone from a reliable machine using desktop CPUs that was easily upgradable to one that has heat issues with laptop cpus and even the Apple technicians despise working on them.

Originally Posted by shadow

Examples for 1:
If you ask people to tell what they want from hardware, they may want a silent computer with 8 cores, low price, sleek design. This is not possible, so you need to make compromises. Most manufacturers stress on the hardware features and convince the customers that that's what they want. Apple tries to find the best compromise. As far as sales figures and customer satisfaction rates show, they are pretty good at that. Once you use an iMac, you will hate those noisy 4-core PC in your bedroom you thought (or the salesman said) is superior.

If lackluster and unreliable is the best compromise they can do, they need to hire some new people. Over the last two years, mine has been a great salesmen for those noisy quad cores.

[shadow]

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

It's a desktop computer, who cares how thin and light it is? Your desk is already not being strained by the weight.

It's a conspiracy by the FedEx guy.

I don't care at work.

I do care at home.

I was long-time believer that the tower form-factor is the best (performance, flexibility, you name it) and was kind of "forced" to buy an iMac. I wanted Mac OS and the towers are way too expensive. Now I like the iMac and hate the cables at work.

I understand that sometimes you may have reasons to want a [not-so-expensive] tower but if Apple releases one so many people will never know how good the All-in-one design generally is.

[shadow]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

If lackluster and unreliable is the best compromise they can do, they need to hire some new people. Over the last two years, mine has been a great salesmen for those noisy quad cores.

Check out Apple performance agains the rest of the industry and you will find out that you are an exception, not the rule. Also check out the customer satisfaction rates.

[Zandros]

Okay, wishlisting:

Blu-ray
Arrandale in laptops
Discrete graphics in laptops to make up for the on-die Intel GPU
Clarkfield in iMac
Radeon 5000 series in iMac
Two FW800 ports, please?

[Tauron]

The probably wish they are referring to is BluRay. To me, I could not care less.

[Aquatic]

One thing I noticed about the flat iMacs with the "chin" in a computer lab is several of them had been moved forward and the power cord came out. And the stupid way the cord goes through a hole in the stand made it a pain to plug in. Don't know how to solve that, but they should look into that. Anyone else seen this happen?

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by shadow

Check out Apple performance agains the rest of the industry and you will find out that you are an exception, not the rule. Also check out the customer satisfaction rates.

Agreed.

This thread looks like something you'd see at Winsupersite.

C'mon people, shape up.

The desktop market is DYING. It's in the basement. You honestly think shoving quad cores and big GPUs into iMacs will change anything? You honestly think shoving big specs in the consumer's face will do anything? It's hard enough for the generic box-makers to sell them at lower prices.

Desktops have got to get smaller, thinner, and even more portable. The future is in form and design. The whole "tower" paradigm is getting old, and it shows.

[Frank777]

Apple must be keeping a really tight lid on things if we're a couple weeks away from the long-expected iMac refresh and there are absolutely no details on the machine.

Apple's obsession with the thinness of the iMac will only stop when people stop buying it.

Right now the Mac customer base is being force-fed the iMac or directed toward the laptop line, since the Pro is ridiculously expensive and the Mini is ridiculously underpowered.

If HP or Dell can design a decent customer tower and Windows 7 is well received, things may improve on the Mac desktop side as well. I can't believe I'm actually rooting for Dell to advertise something like the XPS 9000 tower (with Firewire and Adobe CS4) in MacLife and MacWorld, but I can't think of any other way to shake Apple out of its current attitude to desktops.

[4miler]

I'm just hoping this update of the iMac and MacBook Pro will see the matte, anti-glare option coming back to the full range of Macs. If this does not happen, the matte-loving crowd are going to go bananas, as you can see from the 500+ petition comments at the petition site http://macmatte.wordpress.com. I've got a good feeling about this. Apple's already re-introduced matte to the 17" and 15", and now the complete roll out just needs matte to come back to the iMac, and for the 13" as well. Then everything will be as it should be.

[maxmann]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

what are the problems caused by thinness?

my daddy always said you can never be too rich.. Or too thin..

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by maxmann

my daddy always said you can never be too rich.. Or too thin..

Hehe, well said.

[Tauron]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Desktops have got to get smaller, thinner, and even more portable. The future is in form and design. The whole "tower" paradigm is getting old, and it shows.

Correction. The future for apple may be in the form factor. The future for PCs is in eating sh1t and dying so that a worthy company can write an OS that at least works.

[archer75]

I don't care if it's thinner. I want a Corei7 in it before I would feel it's a worthwhile upgrade.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

The desktop market is DYING. It's in the basement. You honestly think shoving quad cores and big GPUs into iMacs will change anything? You honestly think shoving big specs in the consumer's face will do anything? It's hard enough for the generic box-makers to sell them at lower prices.

Desktops have got to get smaller, thinner, and even more portable. The future is in form and design. The whole "tower" paradigm is getting old, and it shows.

Desktops have been outsold by laptops for awhile. That doesn't mean desktops are dying anymore than the popularity of the web on the iPhone means than laptop market is dying.

Why would "desktops" even need to become more portable?
If you want portability, you buy a laptop.

[ascii]

I hope they don't lower the cost by getting rid of the Alu case. The iMac used to be plastic if I recall.

[myapplelove]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Hell, if they can (...), Radeon 4850 1GB (NOT UNDERCLOCKED) and a 28" screen with BluRay, and make it thinner, well and good, in fact, it would be bl**dy impressive.

Oh, by the way, isn't Apple supposed to eliminate them bad stuff in LCD screens by now? That is, iMacs and MacBooks have to go LED screen by the end of the year...???

Yeah cause the consumers are lining up crying we can't do a damn thing with these miniscule 24" inches (that can't even fit on most desks) and what about those blue ray drives that no one of us is buying any bd disks to begin with.

a 28" led will set you back about $2000.


The only option which we'll probably will not see is the very, very, very long and much anticipated matte imac.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Frank777

Desktops have been outsold by laptops for awhile. That doesn't mean desktops are dying anymore than the popularity of the web on the iPhone means than laptop market is dying.

Why would "desktops" even need to become more portable?
If you want portability, you buy a laptop.

friend of mine had an emachines PC that died last week after 5 years or so. he's buying a laptop to replace it even though it will probably never leave the house

you can't surf facebook on a desktop on the couch while watching football

[archer75]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

The desktop market is DYING. It's in the basement. You honestly think shoving quad cores and big GPUs into iMacs will change anything? You honestly think shoving big specs in the consumer's face will do anything? It's hard enough for the generic box-makers to sell them at lower prices.

Desktops have got to get smaller, thinner, and even more portable. The future is in form and design. The whole "tower" paradigm is getting old, and it shows.

Dying? Not even close. Maybe less popular. But desktops will never die.

Yes, I do think quad cores and big GPUS in an imac will change everything. I buy based on specs. So this would result in me buying an imac. It's the specs that get things done better and faster. Better gaming performance. No current imac is much faster than my desktop that I built 3 years ago for less money. It's the towers that offer the upgrade options. And they are cheaper to build.
When you start using laptop parts prices go up.

I don't see where a desktop needs to get thinner or lighter. Or portable. You aren't moving it around or taking it with you. That's what laptops are for. And if it were thinner you'd have a harder time getting desktop parts in it. Laptop parts are too limited and too expensive.
Besides, it sits under your desk. Who the hell cares what it looks like?

I'd rather have something I can upgrade easily. My desktop now has lasted me for 3 years with only minor upgrades(ram and video card) and I could keep it going years more. I do own a laptop. I bought a cheap $300 acer. I just needed some for use around the house. Mainly in the kitchen for recipes and emails and such. I did want to get a macbook but it's hard to justify the price when I just needed internet access.

[CdnBook]

Well Intel just announced they're producing 32nm processors now, and some believe they may be available sometime in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the new MacBook Pro's and iMacs will get early dibs at new Arrandale chips the same way the Mac Pro got first dibs at Nehalem. I won't be buying another Apple laptop until they do... rendering/ exporting HD video on a two core (two thread) machine is painfully slow.

Actually, I'm not sure what's been more painful... watching my MacBook Pro creep to a standstill while its exporting video, or watching other laptop brands adopt core 2 quads. A two core (four thread) Arrandale processor would be a big help!... and finally justify the "Pro" in MacBook Pro.

[PaulMJohnson]

One thing is for sure, the article is right that an update to iMac is coming, since I just bought a new iMac, and whenever I buy something Apple, an upgrade is never more than a couple of months away!

Personally I don't understand the drive to ever thinner designs. I like the look of the iMac, and the lack of cables is great, but running laptop components in a desktop seems weird to me.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by al_bundy

friend of mine had an emachines PC that died last week after 5 years or so. he's buying a laptop to replace it even though it will probably never leave the house

you can't surf facebook on a desktop on the couch while watching football

Absolutely. We've got two laptops in our house. Laptops are very popular now due to Wi-Fi and price.

But that doesn't mean there aren't still a lot of people who want desktop machines.
SOHO business owners, for example, value desktops for power, upgrade and security reasons.

[KingOfSomewhereHot]

Originally Posted by kotatsu

I can't imagine why the iMac needs to be any thinner. What are we supposed to do with all that extra air behind the machine now? Fill it with.... I can't think of anything...

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/backpack-imac-shelf-12-08-2009/