Apple ready and waiting with redesigned iMac line
Apple as early as this month will begin to fill out its 2009 Mac product line with a new family of iMacs sporting classier enclosures and a few added bells and whistles, AppleInsider has learned.
The new all-in-one, dual-core desktops were finalized earlier in September and have been rolling off the Mac maker's Taiwanese product lines for roughly two weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In addition to more affordable pricing, the systems are expected to come clad in a thinner industrial design, one of those people added. Though details are admittedly limited, it's likely these new enclosures will also take design cues from the Cupertino-based company's relatively new LED-lit Cinema Display offerings.
Aesthetic revisions aside, the late 2009 iMac line should also debut several features previously unavailable to Mac buyers.Â*
People familiar with Apple's thinking have suggested in recent months one of these moves could see the company finally embrace Blu-ray -- a technology once derided by Chief Executive Steve Jobs as a "bag of hurt" from a licensing perspective.Â*
With the costs of such drives remaining relatively high, it's reasonable to presume such capability would fetch an added premium on most models.Â*
Meanwhile, a pair of other associated enhancements -- one believed to be related to audio -- should see this new generation of iMacs become the most versatile ever, according to another group of people who declined to elaborate because they were not authorized to discuss matter in detail.
For its part, AppleInsider believes Apple is primed to extend the capabilities of at least one technology introduced on the Mac platform as recently as last fall.
To make way for these new models, Apple's corporate and educational sales teams this month have reportedly been offering their volume customers instant discounts of $100 to $200 on existing models. Anxious to clear inventories, representatives have allegedly stressed to buyers that these offers would be valid for just one week.
While it remains precisely unclear when Apple plans to take the wraps off its new iMac line, it's been suggested to AppleInsider that an announcement could come anytime between next week and mid-October. Put simply, it's up to marketing to press the "Go" button.Â*
The new all-in-one, dual-core desktops were finalized earlier in September and have been rolling off the Mac maker's Taiwanese product lines for roughly two weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In addition to more affordable pricing, the systems are expected to come clad in a thinner industrial design, one of those people added. Though details are admittedly limited, it's likely these new enclosures will also take design cues from the Cupertino-based company's relatively new LED-lit Cinema Display offerings.
Aesthetic revisions aside, the late 2009 iMac line should also debut several features previously unavailable to Mac buyers.Â*
People familiar with Apple's thinking have suggested in recent months one of these moves could see the company finally embrace Blu-ray -- a technology once derided by Chief Executive Steve Jobs as a "bag of hurt" from a licensing perspective.Â*
With the costs of such drives remaining relatively high, it's reasonable to presume such capability would fetch an added premium on most models.Â*
Meanwhile, a pair of other associated enhancements -- one believed to be related to audio -- should see this new generation of iMacs become the most versatile ever, according to another group of people who declined to elaborate because they were not authorized to discuss matter in detail.
For its part, AppleInsider believes Apple is primed to extend the capabilities of at least one technology introduced on the Mac platform as recently as last fall.
To make way for these new models, Apple's corporate and educational sales teams this month have reportedly been offering their volume customers instant discounts of $100 to $200 on existing models. Anxious to clear inventories, representatives have allegedly stressed to buyers that these offers would be valid for just one week.
While it remains precisely unclear when Apple plans to take the wraps off its new iMac line, it's been suggested to AppleInsider that an announcement could come anytime between next week and mid-October. Put simply, it's up to marketing to press the "Go" button.Â*
Comments
Apple as early as this month will begin to fill out its 2009 Mac product line...
Well they better hurry on up because there's only a week to go.
I hope that would lead to a Software Update for the rest of us, so that we could add either internal or external B-R drives to our own machines. The second slot on my Mac Pro is begging to be filled with one of these.
Can't wait to see the new enclosure.
Let the guessing begin!
No, let the carping, whining, second-guessing, and threats begin. A feature or option that either is or isn't present will cause the usual suspects to declare the new iMac line a D.O.A. deal killer. See the post above this one.
Dual core? I think most users were hoping of Core i7 based machines...
Yup... I cannot crossgrade from a tower to an iMac until they have more than 2 cores...
Shame I cannot afford the towers anymore either. What a pain...
I really they hope they have some quad-cores as BTO options.
Yup... I cannot crossgrade from a tower to an iMac until they have more than 2 cores...
Shame I cannot afford the towers anymore either. What a pain...
I really they hope they have some quad-cores as BTO options.
Indeed but if the rumour that they are thinner is true...will the machines handle the heat?
... according to another group of people who declined to elaborate because they were not authorized to discuss matter in detail.
Very amusing. Like they were authorized to discuss the matter at all.
In addition, I've noticed that Amazon has been out of the high end Mac mini for the last 5 days. It makes me wonder if they've depleted that inventory so the high end Mac mini can be upgraded a bit more to set itself apart.
Yup... I cannot crossgrade from a tower to an iMac until they have more than 2 cores...
Shame I cannot afford the towers anymore either. What a pain...
I really they hope they have some quad-cores as BTO options.
I doubt they will - too much power...
But, anyway, what Apple should do is revamp the MacMini - Mac Pro line with a Single CPU Core i7 / i5 model that can take a decent graphics card
- I'd get one if they did that
- as it is, the iMac just doesn't do it for me, unfortunately.
Blu-Ray
No Intel integrated Graphics chips, except maybe for the cheapest education version.
Better speakers
and.... decent CPU chip, it is getting a bit frustrating that Apple thinks a desktop computer needs a laptop graphics chip and to be thinner than most monitors. This severely limits upgrades and the type of CPU you can put in there.
No, let the carping, whining, second-guessing, and threats begin. A feature or option that either is or isn't present will cause the usual suspects to declare the new iMac line a D.O.A. deal killer. See the post above this one.
That may be, but the iMac is going to be a tougher and tougher (if not just plainly a hard) sell as a desktop when system when there are so many i7 systems out there. It just plain time to move beyond 2 cores as the entry point on the desktop. Otherwise, people are better off buying laptops - at least then you get mobility for an otherwise evenly spec'ed Mac.
It would be nice to see USB 3.0 or a faster version of FireWire -- or at the very least an eSATA port.
I'd like to know who's been talking to Apple about the need for a thinner enclosure. I really can't imagine that the numbers asking for that aren't a slim fraction of the numbers wanting a DESKTOP quad processor and better video card. Some other rumors suggest a 25.5" or 26" screen. Rather have a better processor/video card.
Why not just make a Mac Pro Mini - with a mini aluminum enclosure with the opportunity for owners to make some hardware upgrades instead of being sealed off like most Apple products.
My Windows computer died from hardware failure and I was hoping for a quad core iMac. I may have to get a cheap Windows 7 laptop and wait until next Spring. I hope not....
You'd think Apple would want to exploit Snow Leopard's Grand Central Dispatch and OpenCL with new, capable hardware -- at the consumer level.
1.) iPhone 3Gs- video and speed
2.) 13" MacBook Pro- firewire.
3,) New iMac- blu-ray, new design. matte perhaps or at least less gloss?
That may be, but the iMac is going to be a tougher and tougher (if not just plainly a hard) sell as a desktop when system when there are so many i6 systems out there. It just plain time to move beyond 2 cores as the entry point on the desktop. Otherwise, people are better off buying laptops - at least then you get mobility for an otherwise evenly spec'ed Mac.