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.
Who buys specs? Some perhaps, but this is not the market for the iMac. Can you get a 20" or 24" laptop...?
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.*
How come every time Apple refreshes the iMac or Mini a bunch of people seem to forget that Apple has been using laptop parts in these machines since like forever? They begin to clamor for the latest and greatest desktop CPUs and GPUs, as if that were even a remote possibility.
Pro tip: not going to happen. Sorry. Just not Apple's thing, for better or worse. They've made a choice: laptop parts are "fast enough" for most people, and such parts allow them to emphasize the form factors that they want to build. Yes, I know those aren't the form factors some of you want, that doesn't necessarily mean Apple is wrong or crazy-- see also their recent market share gains.
It is true the that i7 mobile part just launched, so I guess there might be an outside chance that Apple will use it. Myself, wouldn't count on it.
Dual core? I think most users were hoping of Core i7 based machines...
Agreed, no i5 or i7 800 series chips means iMac == FAIL
Most desktops by January and early Spring will be taking advantage of the i5 for its pricing alone, let alone its power that blows away all current Core 2 Quads, let alone Core 2 Duos. If Apple doesn't adopt i5s this time around, their desktops will be two technology generations behind everything else in the marketplace. Let's see their marketing people work around that disadvantage. Given their release cycle, Dell, HP, etc... could be on second generation i5s before Apple refreshes the iMac again.
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.
does apple still use integrated intel graphics? i thought they used nvidia 9400M on the low end, 9600 in the mid and a few nvidia/ati parts on the high end
Apple really needs to put in quad core chips in this new line up. But I have a feeling that we will be waiting for that a little longer... who knows though. I like and at the same-time dislike Apples constant form over function aesthetics..I totally admire the slim design of the macbooks, and iMac lines, but dammit people want power too. But they just can't squeeze hotter running chips into their casings. It would defeat there designs.
Now with this Grand central tech... the doors have opened up hopefully for more than 2 cores in all of their HW.
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.
ok, I've been noticing a recurrent tendency lately in AI articles to imply knowledge of something, but not actually spell it out, so that those of us who aren't avidly drooling over every rumor have to guess at what you are talking about. This is a freakin' news site, not a game show or puzzlebox. stop wasting our time with tantalizing bits of fluff -- if you know something, say it. if you suspect something, say it and provide appropriate caveats. if you suspect something and don't have enough evidence/credibility to spell it out, don't imply it either -- it's like having a 4-yo girl teasing me about having ice cream!
You're all formally invited to my iMac Launch Party. I'm working on a video now. I need one black guy, one older woman, a hottie, and a nerd. It's important to show that being hip crosses all ethnic and socioeconomic lines.
I'd like to see the following:
My 24" iMac is in a 28" enclosure. I hope Apple gets to the gold standard of a super thin monitor just hanging there in space, with no 'edge.'
Put a desktop chip in there, if possible. Better graphics card. Much better speakers.
I actually hope they don't have Blue-Ray. We need to move towards solid state anyhow. No moving parts. Steve Jobs can continue to encourage the industry to move towards fatter pipes so we can stream this stuff. Or get it to fit on new, higher capacity SD cards.
Speaking of SD, put a slot right on the side of the monitor, under the CD slot.
Aesthetically, make it thinner, lighter, with cables, keys, mouse, etc. that blend with the display.
ok, I've been noticing a recurrent tendency lately in AI articles to imply knowledge of something, but not actually spell it out, so that those of us who aren't avidly drooling over every rumor have to guess at what you are talking about. This is a freakin' news site, not a game show or puzzlebox. stop wasting our time with tantalizing bits of fluff -- if you know something, say it. if you suspect something, say it and provide appropriate caveats. if you suspect something and don't have enough evidence/credibility to spell it out, don't imply it either -- it's like having a 4-yo girl teasing me about having ice cream!
I think instead of a mouse it will get a small glass (mousepad) plate like the laptops to maneuver around.
Agreed, no i5 or i7 800 series chips means iMac == FAIL
Most desktops by January and early Spring will be taking advantage of the i5 for its pricing alone, let alone its power that blows away all current Core 2 Quads, let alone Core 2 Duos. If Apple doesn't adopt i5s this time around, their desktops will be two technology generations behind everything else in the marketplace. Let's see their marketing people work around that disadvantage. Given their release cycle, Dell, HP, etc... could be on second generation i5s before Apple refreshes the iMac again.
Yeah. Like that. What part of "Apple doesn't put desktop parts into their iMacs" are you not getting?
Look at the relative growth of desktop machines vs. laptops and tell me that people are rejecting laptop level power. Just because internet tech nerds obsess over dick waving contests and who's got the latest generation tech doesn't mean the average buyer does.
The average buyer checks out a machine and makes a judgement based on a variety of factors-- price, looks, ease of use, apparent quality, etc.
For a lot of people, an all in one machine that looks great and does everything they want it to in a snappy fashion is exactly what they want. They have no idea and could care less where the innards fall within Intel's lineup. It's been a while since pretty much any system sold (excepting netbooks) didn't have plenty of power to do what most people do with their computers.
A lot of the proud owners of PCs with i7 desktop parts will be running Office, email, internet, iTunes, and maybe some light photo editing software, all of which will are already going as fast as they can.
Yeah. Like that. What part of "Apple doesn't put desktop parts into their iMacs" are you not getting?
Look at the relative growth of desktop machines vs. laptops and tell me that people are rejecting laptop level power. Just because internet tech nerds obsess over dick waving contests and who's got the latest generation tech doesn't mean the average buyer does.
The average buyer checks out a machine and makes a judgement based on a variety of factors-- price, looks, ease of use, apparent quality, etc.
For a lot of people, an all in one machine that looks great and does everything they want it to in a snappy fashion is exactly what they want. They have no idea and could care less where the innards fall within Intel's lineup. It's been a while since pretty much any system sold (excepting netbooks) didn't have plenty of power to do what most people do with their computers.
A lot of the proud owners of PCs with i7 desktop parts will be running Office, email, internet, iTunes, and maybe some light photo editing software, all of which will are already going as fast as they can.
Not all the parts are laptops parts. Hard drive? graphics? Please don't generalize.
I fully expect the recently announced mobile i7 chips. Reviews have already been done so it's entirely feasible that they have been in production already. Sure it'll probably be the top-tier model, but what else would you expect?
And some better graphics options, too. At least their last iMac line-up ditched the Intel "GPUs". I assume that Open CL will be standard across the line to take advantage of this new SL feature and h.264 encode/decode will be hardware accelerated.
I'll keep hoping for eSATA or an ExpressCard slot, but not holding my breath. They pulled the card slots from their last laptop revision and I don't think any of their systems have eSATA built-in.
User-upgradeable hard drive would be nice. But fat chance on that, too. Or maybe one of them OCZ Colossus drives BTO for me.
I hope the 20" comes with VESA mounting capability. I want to put one on the kitchen counter but it needs to fit under the upper cabinet. Right now my white 20" with no VESA adapter does not fit where I want it because it is a little too tall. the 24" mount is VESA compatible but it is way too big for my purpose.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything but for the life of me I can't think of any reason to put a computer on a kitchen counter where it might come into contact with water. Please explain, I'm dying of curiosity here.
Comments
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.
Who buys specs? Some perhaps, but this is not the market for the iMac. Can you get a 20" or 24" laptop...?
a new family of iMacs sporting classier enclosures
the systems are expected to come clad in a thinner industrial design, one of those people added
This has to mean that disgusting black eye-lined racoon is finally gone!!!!!!! Rejoice!!!!
Mac OS X will eventually ship on them, as Apple phases out the optical drive eventually.
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.*
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
That is not a marketing decision. That is an inventory management decision.
Personally, I'm hoping for:
- LED-backlit screen
- 2.1 speaker system (like the LED Cinema Display)
- Keyboard with black, backlit keys (wired and wireless)
- Discrete graphics on all models (bit of a wish)
- $100-$200 below current prices
- 30" version on the high-end (I would get it in a heartbeat, but an LED 30" would be expensive as bollocks)
Also, do you think they'll dump the 20" and just go 24" at some point?
Pro tip: not going to happen. Sorry. Just not Apple's thing, for better or worse. They've made a choice: laptop parts are "fast enough" for most people, and such parts allow them to emphasize the form factors that they want to build. Yes, I know those aren't the form factors some of you want, that doesn't necessarily mean Apple is wrong or crazy-- see also their recent market share gains.
It is true the that i7 mobile part just launched, so I guess there might be an outside chance that Apple will use it. Myself, wouldn't count on it.
Dual core? I think most users were hoping of Core i7 based machines...
Agreed, no i5 or i7 800 series chips means iMac == FAIL
Most desktops by January and early Spring will be taking advantage of the i5 for its pricing alone, let alone its power that blows away all current Core 2 Quads, let alone Core 2 Duos. If Apple doesn't adopt i5s this time around, their desktops will be two technology generations behind everything else in the marketplace. Let's see their marketing people work around that disadvantage. Given their release cycle, Dell, HP, etc... could be on second generation i5s before Apple refreshes the iMac again.
First off, most programs still fit nicely on a DVD.
Second you would need a much larger then 24' display for blu ray to be useful, and for that you would need a TV, not an iMac.
Third making iMacs more expensive right now is not a very good move, the economy is not good enough to support a price increase right now.
Therefore if blu ray does come about it would have to be an option for the most expensive iMac in the family. Just my prediction.
Also, do you think they'll dump the 20" and just go 24" at some point?
The logical course of action would be to go with a 24", 27" and 30" Cinema Display lineup.
iMacs would use the first two.
Of course, Apple's logic doesn't always sync up with history or conventional thinking.
I am hoping for
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.
does apple still use integrated intel graphics? i thought they used nvidia 9400M on the low end, 9600 in the mid and a few nvidia/ati parts on the high end
Now with this Grand central tech... the doors have opened up hopefully for more than 2 cores in all of their HW.
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.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
ok, I've been noticing a recurrent tendency lately in AI articles to imply knowledge of something, but not actually spell it out, so that those of us who aren't avidly drooling over every rumor have to guess at what you are talking about. This is a freakin' news site, not a game show or puzzlebox. stop wasting our time with tantalizing bits of fluff -- if you know something, say it. if you suspect something, say it and provide appropriate caveats. if you suspect something and don't have enough evidence/credibility to spell it out, don't imply it either -- it's like having a 4-yo girl teasing me about having ice cream!
I agree with Steve, Blu Ray is expensive and kinda useless on a computer.
First off, most programs still fit nicely on a DVD.
Second you would need a much larger then 24' display for blu ray to be useful, and for that you would need a TV, not an iMac.
Third making iMacs more expensive right now is not a very good move, the economy is not good enough to support a price increase right now.
Therefore if blu ray does come about it would have to be an option for the most expensive iMac in the family. Just my prediction.
Option -that's all we ask. For storage. I'm tired of these hard drives that are supposed to be back up and then die.
I'd like to see the following:
My 24" iMac is in a 28" enclosure. I hope Apple gets to the gold standard of a super thin monitor just hanging there in space, with no 'edge.'
Put a desktop chip in there, if possible. Better graphics card. Much better speakers.
I actually hope they don't have Blue-Ray. We need to move towards solid state anyhow. No moving parts. Steve Jobs can continue to encourage the industry to move towards fatter pipes so we can stream this stuff. Or get it to fit on new, higher capacity SD cards.
Speaking of SD, put a slot right on the side of the monitor, under the CD slot.
Aesthetically, make it thinner, lighter, with cables, keys, mouse, etc. that blend with the display.
Get it all under $2K, including Apple Care.
ok, I've been noticing a recurrent tendency lately in AI articles to imply knowledge of something, but not actually spell it out, so that those of us who aren't avidly drooling over every rumor have to guess at what you are talking about. This is a freakin' news site, not a game show or puzzlebox. stop wasting our time with tantalizing bits of fluff -- if you know something, say it. if you suspect something, say it and provide appropriate caveats. if you suspect something and don't have enough evidence/credibility to spell it out, don't imply it either -- it's like having a 4-yo girl teasing me about having ice cream!
I think instead of a mouse it will get a small glass (mousepad) plate like the laptops to maneuver around.
Agreed, no i5 or i7 800 series chips means iMac == FAIL
Most desktops by January and early Spring will be taking advantage of the i5 for its pricing alone, let alone its power that blows away all current Core 2 Quads, let alone Core 2 Duos. If Apple doesn't adopt i5s this time around, their desktops will be two technology generations behind everything else in the marketplace. Let's see their marketing people work around that disadvantage. Given their release cycle, Dell, HP, etc... could be on second generation i5s before Apple refreshes the iMac again.
Yeah. Like that. What part of "Apple doesn't put desktop parts into their iMacs" are you not getting?
Look at the relative growth of desktop machines vs. laptops and tell me that people are rejecting laptop level power. Just because internet tech nerds obsess over dick waving contests and who's got the latest generation tech doesn't mean the average buyer does.
The average buyer checks out a machine and makes a judgement based on a variety of factors-- price, looks, ease of use, apparent quality, etc.
For a lot of people, an all in one machine that looks great and does everything they want it to in a snappy fashion is exactly what they want. They have no idea and could care less where the innards fall within Intel's lineup. It's been a while since pretty much any system sold (excepting netbooks) didn't have plenty of power to do what most people do with their computers.
A lot of the proud owners of PCs with i7 desktop parts will be running Office, email, internet, iTunes, and maybe some light photo editing software, all of which will are already going as fast as they can.
Yeah. Like that. What part of "Apple doesn't put desktop parts into their iMacs" are you not getting?
Look at the relative growth of desktop machines vs. laptops and tell me that people are rejecting laptop level power. Just because internet tech nerds obsess over dick waving contests and who's got the latest generation tech doesn't mean the average buyer does.
The average buyer checks out a machine and makes a judgement based on a variety of factors-- price, looks, ease of use, apparent quality, etc.
For a lot of people, an all in one machine that looks great and does everything they want it to in a snappy fashion is exactly what they want. They have no idea and could care less where the innards fall within Intel's lineup. It's been a while since pretty much any system sold (excepting netbooks) didn't have plenty of power to do what most people do with their computers.
A lot of the proud owners of PCs with i7 desktop parts will be running Office, email, internet, iTunes, and maybe some light photo editing software, all of which will are already going as fast as they can.
Not all the parts are laptops parts. Hard drive? graphics? Please don't generalize.
And some better graphics options, too. At least their last iMac line-up ditched the Intel "GPUs". I assume that Open CL will be standard across the line to take advantage of this new SL feature and h.264 encode/decode will be hardware accelerated.
I'll keep hoping for eSATA or an ExpressCard slot, but not holding my breath. They pulled the card slots from their last laptop revision and I don't think any of their systems have eSATA built-in.
User-upgradeable hard drive would be nice. But fat chance on that, too. Or maybe one of them OCZ Colossus drives BTO for me.
I hope the 20" comes with VESA mounting capability. I want to put one on the kitchen counter but it needs to fit under the upper cabinet. Right now my white 20" with no VESA adapter does not fit where I want it because it is a little too tall. the 24" mount is VESA compatible but it is way too big for my purpose.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything but for the life of me I can't think of any reason to put a computer on a kitchen counter where it might come into contact with water. Please explain, I'm dying of curiosity here.
The i7 will prolly be in their higher end iMac. The mobile chips are out.
That's what I though when I read Intel announcement today. iMac first then MB/MBP.