AppleInsider has learned that Apple's popular line of iMac personal computers are about to undergo a substantial facelift that will showcase striking new industrial designs aimed at leaving both competitors and onlookers smitten.
People familiar with the matter say the Cupertino-based Mac maker has called upon its award-winning design chief Jonathan Ive and his team to cut the fat from the the current iMac line and outfit a pair of new Core 2 Duo-based models in a form factor that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings.
For Apple, the impending iMac makeover will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit its flagship all-in-one consumer desktop line in nearly three years. The last eye candy to accompany an iMac update came back in August of 2004, when the company retired its "sunflower" iMac G4 design while introducing the portrait-style iMac G5.
With the burden of a major architectural transition to Intel chips weighing on its shoulders, Apple in 2006 elected to reuse the the iMac G5 design for its first Intel-based iMac offerings. At the time, the objective was to push an Intel version of its top-selling desktop into market as quickly as possible and get the ball rolling on the next chapter in Apple computing.*
As part of an industry-wide shift away from desktops and towards high-powered portables, Apple's industrial design prowess in 2006 was largely reserved for its notebook lines, which saw cutting-edge design revisions replace aging form factors at both the consumer and professional ends. In turn, those designs and compelling Intel-based underpinnings helped the firm sell nearly 3 million MacBook and MacBook Pros during the 2006 fiscal year, boosting its share of the U.S. notebook market to over 10 percent.
Apple has no plans to relent in its assault on the notebook sector in 2007 and has arranged to boost it 15-inch MacBook Pro models with more vivid L.E.D.-backlit display panels later this Spring and followup with a tiny flash-enabled ultra portable model sometime thereafter. But while 2006 was clearly the year of notebooks for the Mac maker, the electronics firm now has its sights set on high-definition digital media and plans to bring the iMac along for the ride.
It's likely for these reasons that the firm's entry-level 17-inch iMac model will reportedly become the subject of considerable neglect. People familiar with the matter are confident that the forthcoming iMac redesign will grace only the 20- and 24-inch models, which are outfitted with widescreen displays comparable to smaller living room television sets. The 17-inch iMac, those people say, will enter a state of limbo that could ultimately phase it out of the lineup entirely, condemning it to the same fate as the 12-inch PowerBook.
Apple's current line of iMac personal computers includes 17-, 20- and 24-inch models.
Apple's move to strike the 17-inch model from its next-generation iMac line raises a number of questions about the company's plans for education and the upcoming 2007 educational buying season. A barebones 17-inch iMac has been outfitted to fill the role of the company's primary desktop offering for educational institutions ever since the eMac hit the chopping block last spring. It retails for just $899, or about 10 percent less than the 17-inch model available to the general public.*
Going forward, Apple may choose to keep a revision of the 17-inch iMac afloat specifically for education sales. Alternatively, another scenario would see the Mac maker adhere to some aggressive cost scrubbing measures in order to deliver a version of its new 20-inch offering that would sell for considerably less than the $1399 currently quoted for a 20-inch model on the Apple educational online store.*
Also uncertain is precisely when Apple intends to drop the new iMac line into market. It appears, however, the systems are tracking as hardware-side complements to the company's next-generation Leopard operating system release which, based purely on conjecture, may not be ready until May at best.
In the meantime, indications that Apple could be ready to unleash new hardware offerings as early as next month have already turned heads in international markets, where a shortage of iMacs and other Mac systems in Europe were recently met by unusual iMac price cuts at some big-box Canadian resellers. There's also been a buzz State-side, where sources at some of the largest online retailers have passed on the word that Mac inventories could be constrained early next month ahead of major product refreshes.
Apple last updated its iMac offerings in September, when it equipped the 17- and 20-inch models with Core 2 Duo processors from Intel and added a dazzling new 24-inch widescreen model atop the line.
alright, i was bored and got on here. after reading the first 2 pages of this thread i was disgusted. now, bear with me as that i did not read the remaining pages yet, i just had to get this outta my system. so if this is a basically a duplicate post, i appologize.
what is an iMac?
its a laptop w/o a keyboard, trackpad, and battery... and the screen is reversed and locked in place
having said that, there is no NEED for the chin of the iMac if they just adapt the current portable designs they employ. how hard could it possibly be to yank the keyboard, trackpad, and battery out of my MacBook Pro 15 inch, flip the monitor over, and lock it into place?
yea, u have to move the speakers a bit and change the dvd drive a bit... with the saved space from the battery, keyboard, and trackpad removal you could easily upgrade to a full sized HDD, and with moving things around a bit, the relatively small power brick could be installed into the case as well.
and duh, the space issues decline with increased screen sizes. since the components are all the same size except for the screen, rearrange them in the different models to be able to optimize space usage. thus the bigger your screen, the thinner the case is overall (to a certain point).
also, i might note that IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME before iMacs (and all computers that share its physical form) become multi-touch tablet pcs. with that aligned interest, the stand that is currently attached to the iMac as a base, that will be little more than a charging & i/o dock for desktop usage.
summary, the new iMacs could easily be equal in size to the MacBook/Pro lines with a stand coming out their rear. and personally, this is what i'd bank on. i dont feel that a touch screen is a big enough market for apple to make standard at this moment, though with CS3 coming out today, it could be considered a very impressive upgrade option for those who wish to employ its use.
yea, u have to move the speakers a bit and change the dvd drive a bit... with the saved space from the battery, keyboard, and trackpad removal you could easily upgrade to a full sized HDD, and with moving things around a bit, the relatively small power brick could be installed into the case as well.
That's a bit of a stretch. The thickness of a "full size" hard drive is 1", which is how thick the entire notebook is. Desktop display panels are thicker than notebook panels, it's cheaper, offers larger sizes and better lit that way, and the shell structure is thicker as well. As long as they are sticking to desktop hard drives and desktop panels, I don't see it getting much thinner than they are now.
I've been waiting for an iMac look refresh for a long time now. I know I'm not the only one that finds it kind of ugly and especially unappealing to a business environment. I just hope that newer, slimmer versions still come with a full size hard drive. I won't even mention a color change.
I work in a business environment that supports many thousands of computers, and I can assure you that the last thing busineses take into account is the 'look' of a computer.
I work in a business environment that supports many thousands of computers, and I can assure you that the last thing busineses take into account is the 'look' of a computer.
True. If looks were important, then IBM and DULL wouldn't sell a single computer
Anyway, there's no way that Apple would use 2.5" hard disks for the iMac. There's no sense in it because physical space and cooling are not major concerns for the model like they are for the Mac Mini. A 3.5" drive would really enlarge the Mini.
I agree, though a second internal drive dedicated to Time Machine may be the only solution for people who won't use external drives or do sufficient backups for various reasons and excuses. Those of us using external drives could find other uses for it or choose not to get one if it were optional (preferably).
Maybe Apple will have more to offer "home" users storage-wise than just the AE's new AirPort Disk that we won't know about until Leopard and Time Machine are released though I kind of doubt it.
---
I dunno... I think the Apple Data Vault will come along with Leopard, and I bet it will fit quite nicely under the new Airport. Remember, the backup drive doesn't have to be fast, it could run on 802.11n in the background. Doing it this way would also allow you to buy one Vault for the whole family or small workplace.
The beauty for Apple would be the simplicity as someone mentioned above, and also the profit margin; the drive inside can be sllloooowww and cheap and the price for the Vault HIGH and Apple. This pisses me off as a long-time Apple addict, but makes me smile as a stockholder...
If Apple or any manufacturer allowed this, then it can kiss standalone LCD sales goodbye.
So if you wanted a monitor of around 23-24", you'd buy a $2,000 iMac instead of a $1,000 monitor just because it could accept video input from another computer?
So if you wanted a monitor of around 23-24", you'd buy a $2,000 iMac instead of a $1,000 monitor just because it could accept video input from another computer?
I don't think so.
No, but over time left over screens from iMacs would stay in use after the computers broke or were retired. This could eventually lead to a decrease in the demand for standalone LCD displays. I doubt it would be dire for the LCD market, but it would be something to consider...
Industrial design usually means something simple, unadorned, functional. also it tends to mean that it is architectural, with bold lines.
The Bauhaus school early in the last century was the first exponent of that. Much design follows that asthetic.
You're thinking of Minimalism.
Industrial design, according to the Industrial Design Society of America, is "the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." Rather than a particular style or ideology, industrial design is an entire field.
Industrial design is essentially product design. Jonathan Ive, for example, is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregmightdothat
You're thinking of Minimalism.
Industrial design, according to the Industrial Design Society of America, is "the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." Rather than a particular style or ideology, industrial design is an entire field.
Wow! I guess my question was a little more involved than I thought. Even though I may not have the definite answer yet, I'm learning something.
Comments
Well, sorrreeee! No need to get all nippy with me, old man... :P
On my G3 Mac, all I get is the build number
AppleInsider has learned that Apple's popular line of iMac personal computers are about to undergo a substantial facelift that will showcase striking new industrial designs aimed at leaving both competitors and onlookers smitten.
People familiar with the matter say the Cupertino-based Mac maker has called upon its award-winning design chief Jonathan Ive and his team to cut the fat from the the current iMac line and outfit a pair of new Core 2 Duo-based models in a form factor that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings.
For Apple, the impending iMac makeover will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit its flagship all-in-one consumer desktop line in nearly three years. The last eye candy to accompany an iMac update came back in August of 2004, when the company retired its "sunflower" iMac G4 design while introducing the portrait-style iMac G5.
With the burden of a major architectural transition to Intel chips weighing on its shoulders, Apple in 2006 elected to reuse the the iMac G5 design for its first Intel-based iMac offerings. At the time, the objective was to push an Intel version of its top-selling desktop into market as quickly as possible and get the ball rolling on the next chapter in Apple computing.*
As part of an industry-wide shift away from desktops and towards high-powered portables, Apple's industrial design prowess in 2006 was largely reserved for its notebook lines, which saw cutting-edge design revisions replace aging form factors at both the consumer and professional ends. In turn, those designs and compelling Intel-based underpinnings helped the firm sell nearly 3 million MacBook and MacBook Pros during the 2006 fiscal year, boosting its share of the U.S. notebook market to over 10 percent.
Apple has no plans to relent in its assault on the notebook sector in 2007 and has arranged to boost it 15-inch MacBook Pro models with more vivid L.E.D.-backlit display panels later this Spring and followup with a tiny flash-enabled ultra portable model sometime thereafter. But while 2006 was clearly the year of notebooks for the Mac maker, the electronics firm now has its sights set on high-definition digital media and plans to bring the iMac along for the ride.
It's likely for these reasons that the firm's entry-level 17-inch iMac model will reportedly become the subject of considerable neglect. People familiar with the matter are confident that the forthcoming iMac redesign will grace only the 20- and 24-inch models, which are outfitted with widescreen displays comparable to smaller living room television sets. The 17-inch iMac, those people say, will enter a state of limbo that could ultimately phase it out of the lineup entirely, condemning it to the same fate as the 12-inch PowerBook.
Apple's current line of iMac personal computers includes 17-, 20- and 24-inch models.
Apple's move to strike the 17-inch model from its next-generation iMac line raises a number of questions about the company's plans for education and the upcoming 2007 educational buying season. A barebones 17-inch iMac has been outfitted to fill the role of the company's primary desktop offering for educational institutions ever since the eMac hit the chopping block last spring. It retails for just $899, or about 10 percent less than the 17-inch model available to the general public.*
Going forward, Apple may choose to keep a revision of the 17-inch iMac afloat specifically for education sales. Alternatively, another scenario would see the Mac maker adhere to some aggressive cost scrubbing measures in order to deliver a version of its new 20-inch offering that would sell for considerably less than the $1399 currently quoted for a 20-inch model on the Apple educational online store.*
Also uncertain is precisely when Apple intends to drop the new iMac line into market. It appears, however, the systems are tracking as hardware-side complements to the company's next-generation Leopard operating system release which, based purely on conjecture, may not be ready until May at best.
In the meantime, indications that Apple could be ready to unleash new hardware offerings as early as next month have already turned heads in international markets, where a shortage of iMacs and other Mac systems in Europe were recently met by unusual iMac price cuts at some big-box Canadian resellers. There's also been a buzz State-side, where sources at some of the largest online retailers have passed on the word that Mac inventories could be constrained early next month ahead of major product refreshes.
Apple last updated its iMac offerings in September, when it equipped the 17- and 20-inch models with Core 2 Duo processors from Intel and added a dazzling new 24-inch widescreen model atop the line.
************************************************** **********
If the 17" goes out the bottom, the 30" comes in the top
Apple always cycles iMac displays this way. And a new form
factor is precisely what a 30" iMac would need. Oh maGoshh !!!
************************************************** **********
If the 17" goes out the bottom, the 30" comes in the top
Apple always cycles iMac displays this way. And a new form
factor is precisely what a 30" iMac would need. Oh maGoshh !!!
Reasons why I don't see this happening:
what is an iMac?
its a laptop w/o a keyboard, trackpad, and battery... and the screen is reversed and locked in place
having said that, there is no NEED for the chin of the iMac if they just adapt the current portable designs they employ. how hard could it possibly be to yank the keyboard, trackpad, and battery out of my MacBook Pro 15 inch, flip the monitor over, and lock it into place?
yea, u have to move the speakers a bit and change the dvd drive a bit... with the saved space from the battery, keyboard, and trackpad removal you could easily upgrade to a full sized HDD, and with moving things around a bit, the relatively small power brick could be installed into the case as well.
and duh, the space issues decline with increased screen sizes. since the components are all the same size except for the screen, rearrange them in the different models to be able to optimize space usage. thus the bigger your screen, the thinner the case is overall (to a certain point).
also, i might note that IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME before iMacs (and all computers that share its physical form) become multi-touch tablet pcs. with that aligned interest, the stand that is currently attached to the iMac as a base, that will be little more than a charging & i/o dock for desktop usage.
summary, the new iMacs could easily be equal in size to the MacBook/Pro lines with a stand coming out their rear. and personally, this is what i'd bank on. i dont feel that a touch screen is a big enough market for apple to make standard at this moment, though with CS3 coming out today, it could be considered a very impressive upgrade option for those who wish to employ its use.
yea, u have to move the speakers a bit and change the dvd drive a bit... with the saved space from the battery, keyboard, and trackpad removal you could easily upgrade to a full sized HDD, and with moving things around a bit, the relatively small power brick could be installed into the case as well.
That's a bit of a stretch. The thickness of a "full size" hard drive is 1", which is how thick the entire notebook is. Desktop display panels are thicker than notebook panels, it's cheaper, offers larger sizes and better lit that way, and the shell structure is thicker as well. As long as they are sticking to desktop hard drives and desktop panels, I don't see it getting much thinner than they are now.
I've been waiting for an iMac look refresh for a long time now. I know I'm not the only one that finds it kind of ugly and especially unappealing to a business environment. I just hope that newer, slimmer versions still come with a full size hard drive. I won't even mention a color change.
I work in a business environment that supports many thousands of computers, and I can assure you that the last thing busineses take into account is the 'look' of a computer.
I work in a business environment that supports many thousands of computers, and I can assure you that the last thing busineses take into account is the 'look' of a computer.
True. If looks were important, then IBM and DULL wouldn't sell a single computer
Anyway, there's no way that Apple would use 2.5" hard disks for the iMac. There's no sense in it because physical space and cooling are not major concerns for the model like they are for the Mac Mini. A 3.5" drive would really enlarge the Mini.
I agree, though a second internal drive dedicated to Time Machine may be the only solution for people who won't use external drives or do sufficient backups for various reasons and excuses. Those of us using external drives could find other uses for it or choose not to get one if it were optional (preferably).
Maybe Apple will have more to offer "home" users storage-wise than just the AE's new AirPort Disk that we won't know about until Leopard and Time Machine are released though I kind of doubt it.
---
I dunno... I think the Apple Data Vault will come along with Leopard, and I bet it will fit quite nicely under the new Airport. Remember, the backup drive doesn't have to be fast, it could run on 802.11n in the background. Doing it this way would also allow you to buy one Vault for the whole family or small workplace.
The beauty for Apple would be the simplicity as someone mentioned above, and also the profit margin; the drive inside can be sllloooowww and cheap and the price for the Vault HIGH and Apple. This pisses me off as a long-time Apple addict, but makes me smile as a stockholder...
If Apple or any manufacturer allowed this, then it can kiss standalone LCD sales goodbye.
So if you wanted a monitor of around 23-24", you'd buy a $2,000 iMac instead of a $1,000 monitor just because it could accept video input from another computer?
I don't think so.
So if you wanted a monitor of around 23-24", you'd buy a $2,000 iMac instead of a $1,000 monitor just because it could accept video input from another computer?
I don't think so.
No, but over time left over screens from iMacs would stay in use after the computers broke or were retired. This could eventually lead to a decrease in the demand for standalone LCD displays. I doubt it would be dire for the LCD market, but it would be something to consider...
You're serious?
You can also do this at the login screen with the ability to switch between your S/N, date/time, IP address, and network name.
macosxhints.com and then macworld.com had articles on how to change the default using the Terminal, but i can't find it.
You can use Onyx. Great Program!
On my G3 Mac, all I get is the build number
Click twice? I don't know if it works for older computers too....
When I do that to someone they always complain. I then have to apologise. Why should I be different?
Hey, chill, man. I thought that this: =P was understand to show that I was joking....
Anybody post any pictures of what an IMac with an "industrial design" would look like? Not sure I understand the term.
Anybody post any pictures of what an IMac with an "industrial design" would look like? Not sure I understand the term.
Industrial design usually means something simple, unadorned, functional. also it tends to mean that it is architectural, with bold lines.
The Bauhaus school early in the last century was the first exponent of that. Much design follows that asthetic.
Industrial design usually means something simple, unadorned, functional. also it tends to mean that it is architectural, with bold lines.
The Bauhaus school early in the last century was the first exponent of that. Much design follows that asthetic.
So the Mac Pro would fit the category of "industrial design"?
So the Mac Pro would fit the category of "industrial design"?
Very much so, and very well done imho.
Industrial design usually means something simple, unadorned, functional. also it tends to mean that it is architectural, with bold lines.
The Bauhaus school early in the last century was the first exponent of that. Much design follows that asthetic.
You're thinking of Minimalism.
Industrial design, according to the Industrial Design Society of America, is "the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." Rather than a particular style or ideology, industrial design is an entire field.
Anybody post any pictures of what an IMac with an "industrial design" would look like? Not sure I understand the term.
Industrial design is essentially product design. Jonathan Ive, for example, is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple.
Industrial design is essentially product design. Jonathan Ive, for example, is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple.
You're thinking of Minimalism.
Industrial design, according to the Industrial Design Society of America, is "the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." Rather than a particular style or ideology, industrial design is an entire field.
Wow! I guess my question was a little more involved than I thought. Even though I may not have the definite answer yet, I'm learning something.