The New iMac will be a sealed unit like the rMPB. Soldered RAM, specialized SSD, no optical drive. Basically no reason to open it because of zero expansion capabilities. Two models, both 21.5 inches, with the retina iMac being the new high end model. No more giant honking monitors. Same resolution as the 27 inch in the same physical space as the 21.5 inch.
Same with the mini. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the New Mac Mini is the same size as the appleTV.
You're assuming a next generation panel must conform to an existing size. I don't agree with this at all. I don't think they'll even bother hitting quite the dpi of the 15". They wouldn't be tied to any specific size if it requires a major design overhaul either way. Actually I'd expect in such a situation they might make basic reference designs for multiple sizes. Design work often involves a lot of projects that never make it to market. This is not unique to Apple or any other company. It's the nature of the work. They could solder ram, but no one has shown any real advantage that could be implemented today. A couple people mentioned future engineering reference specs involved soldered ram for signal integrity. In terms of performance, the Air and rMBP don't have greater performance from this. Soldering the chips horizontally also takes up a larger amount of space on the board. The ODD isn't really a restriction on the imac, so you won't get more space if it's removed. The will have to work around this. All of this becomes an issue if you're trying to pack so much into a 21.5" form factor when placement is already tight at 27". Concerns were raised over the chin too. I'd have to look at one again, but I recall the design deriving a portion of its airflow from vents in the chin. The mini also becomes hot and noisy as it is. Trying to shrink it further without significantly cooler components would not yield a great machine. Beyond that it doesn't really bring anything to the user. At its current size there are virtually no placement restrictions. It fits anywhere, so you gain very little beyond a gimmicky design.
I get the impression that some of you just want to feel like you're providing information regarding Apple's direction. The statement doesn't really have much to say about engineering. It's much like when several people on here suggested that usb3 was unnecessary when we have thunderbolt. If Apple really didn't want to use usb3, they could have neglected to write drivers. It should have been obvious to anyone that given its inclusion in the updated chipsets, they wouldn't really go this route.
It's much like when several people on here suggested that usb3 was unnecessary when we have thunderbolt. If Apple really didn't want to use usb3, they could have neglected to write drivers. It should have been obvious to anyone that given its inclusion in the updated chipsets, they wouldn't really go this route.
Agreed. Because who wouldn't want to spend $50 on the cable alone...
My wife does photography. She will edit over a thousand raw pictures in most cases. How do you suggest she get those pictures to her client without an optical drive? Upload the huge files to Dropbox and have the client download them from there? Maybe get a thumb drive and give that to them? I guess that's an option- but for now, Optical drives are the most cost effective and fastest way to get those out.
1000 raw is around 25GB-35GB...so a 50GB Blu-ray. But that's an external drive anyway so what do you lose if the internal superdrive goes away? The ability to burn 5 DVDs really slowly on the internal drive?
If she's doing this every day she's going to want an external drive anyway because burning 1 blu-ray is so much better than a bunch of DVDs. Even burning DVDs is much better because the drives are faster and more robust (well, the non-cheapo ones anyway). Heck, I burned out my internal doing this once...
If she's not doing this every day then attaching an external drive is no big deal when she needs it.
I have grandparents and parents. They want to see my kid's sports game I recorded. Do I upload that movie to dropbox and have them download it from there? How about get a thumb drive, transfer it to their iTunes, erase my thumb drive, and then show them how to stream it via Apple TV? I'm all game for that, but a DVD sure does make it easier for the majority of the population.
Also, isn't the whole point of the iMac to reduce desk clutter and keep everything you need in one super tidy unit? If you have to then start adding a plethora of external drives that will mess up your desk in no time.
RAID 10 NAS. Slower than a drive via TB/eSATA but typically fast enough for mass storage.
For a work disk a 512GB SSD is now $400 and reasonably sized.
The New iMac will be a sealed unit like the rMPB. Soldered RAM, specialized SSD, no optical drive. Basically no reason to open it because of zero expansion capabilities. Two models, both 21.5 inches, with the retina iMac being the new high end model. No more giant honking monitors. Same resolution as the 27 inch in the same physical space as the 21.5 inch.
Same with the mini. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the New Mac Mini is the same size as the appleTV.
I really hope none of that proves true, lol.
If I had to guess, I would say they would do something similar to rMBP if there is indeed a new iMac model. Spec bump the existing models, and then introduce a new "next gen" iMac alongside them. Also, I have a hard time seeing the "next gen" iMac released as a 21.5 screen. Especially alongside bigger, although not retina, iMacs.
Comments
But Retina has spoiled me. I have it on my 4s and iPad, and there's no way I could go back to the muddy, fuzzy non-Retina screens on anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conrail
The New iMac will be a sealed unit like the rMPB. Soldered RAM, specialized SSD, no optical drive. Basically no reason to open it because of zero expansion capabilities. Two models, both 21.5 inches, with the retina iMac being the new high end model. No more giant honking monitors. Same resolution as the 27 inch in the same physical space as the 21.5 inch.
Same with the mini. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the New Mac Mini is the same size as the appleTV.
You're assuming a next generation panel must conform to an existing size. I don't agree with this at all. I don't think they'll even bother hitting quite the dpi of the 15". They wouldn't be tied to any specific size if it requires a major design overhaul either way. Actually I'd expect in such a situation they might make basic reference designs for multiple sizes. Design work often involves a lot of projects that never make it to market. This is not unique to Apple or any other company. It's the nature of the work. They could solder ram, but no one has shown any real advantage that could be implemented today. A couple people mentioned future engineering reference specs involved soldered ram for signal integrity. In terms of performance, the Air and rMBP don't have greater performance from this. Soldering the chips horizontally also takes up a larger amount of space on the board. The ODD isn't really a restriction on the imac, so you won't get more space if it's removed. The will have to work around this. All of this becomes an issue if you're trying to pack so much into a 21.5" form factor when placement is already tight at 27". Concerns were raised over the chin too. I'd have to look at one again, but I recall the design deriving a portion of its airflow from vents in the chin. The mini also becomes hot and noisy as it is. Trying to shrink it further without significantly cooler components would not yield a great machine. Beyond that it doesn't really bring anything to the user. At its current size there are virtually no placement restrictions. It fits anywhere, so you gain very little beyond a gimmicky design.
I get the impression that some of you just want to feel like you're providing information regarding Apple's direction. The statement doesn't really have much to say about engineering. It's much like when several people on here suggested that usb3 was unnecessary when we have thunderbolt. If Apple really didn't want to use usb3, they could have neglected to write drivers. It should have been obvious to anyone that given its inclusion in the updated chipsets, they wouldn't really go this route.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmm
It's much like when several people on here suggested that usb3 was unnecessary when we have thunderbolt. If Apple really didn't want to use usb3, they could have neglected to write drivers. It should have been obvious to anyone that given its inclusion in the updated chipsets, they wouldn't really go this route.
Agreed. Because who wouldn't want to spend $50 on the cable alone...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
My wife does photography. She will edit over a thousand raw pictures in most cases. How do you suggest she get those pictures to her client without an optical drive? Upload the huge files to Dropbox and have the client download them from there? Maybe get a thumb drive and give that to them? I guess that's an option- but for now, Optical drives are the most cost effective and fastest way to get those out.
1000 raw is around 25GB-35GB...so a 50GB Blu-ray. But that's an external drive anyway so what do you lose if the internal superdrive goes away? The ability to burn 5 DVDs really slowly on the internal drive?
If she's doing this every day she's going to want an external drive anyway because burning 1 blu-ray is so much better than a bunch of DVDs. Even burning DVDs is much better because the drives are faster and more robust (well, the non-cheapo ones anyway). Heck, I burned out my internal doing this once...
If she's not doing this every day then attaching an external drive is no big deal when she needs it.
Meh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
I have grandparents and parents. They want to see my kid's sports game I recorded. Do I upload that movie to dropbox and have them download it from there? How about get a thumb drive, transfer it to their iTunes, erase my thumb drive, and then show them how to stream it via Apple TV? I'm all game for that, but a DVD sure does make it easier for the majority of the population.
iPad + Facebook. Done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kotatsu
Also, isn't the whole point of the iMac to reduce desk clutter and keep everything you need in one super tidy unit? If you have to then start adding a plethora of external drives that will mess up your desk in no time.
RAID 10 NAS. Slower than a drive via TB/eSATA but typically fast enough for mass storage.
For a work disk a 512GB SSD is now $400 and reasonably sized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conrail
The New iMac will be a sealed unit like the rMPB. Soldered RAM, specialized SSD, no optical drive. Basically no reason to open it because of zero expansion capabilities. Two models, both 21.5 inches, with the retina iMac being the new high end model. No more giant honking monitors. Same resolution as the 27 inch in the same physical space as the 21.5 inch.
Same with the mini. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the New Mac Mini is the same size as the appleTV.
I really hope none of that proves true, lol.
If I had to guess, I would say they would do something similar to rMBP if there is indeed a new iMac model. Spec bump the existing models, and then introduce a new "next gen" iMac alongside them. Also, I have a hard time seeing the "next gen" iMac released as a 21.5 screen. Especially alongside bigger, although not retina, iMacs.