I am right here with both of you. It's not even a large space... people forget the Entire computer is in that thing. It's not a winblows box and screen, it's an elegant, sleek, very personal computer. I would welcome a new design but I would never say the current iMac is ugly in any way, shape, or form. I think the problem is that when one gets so much of a good thing, one starts to expect even better things to be wow-ed by. Apple consistently puts out phenomenal products so of course people try to find the one thing wrong in order to look forward to the next best thing. Just my two cents
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Not only are expectations very high (sometimes unrealistically so), but I think when any one design is out for more than a year people want to see it change. People get bored very easily. I too welcome a new design because I'm sure if they are going to do a major overhaul, it's going to be for good reason and to accomodate new, innovative Apple technology that we all crave (as opposed to change for the sake of change). That said, the current design is still awesome and I wish I had one, but my MacBook should last me at least a couple more years. I'm currently a sophomore in college and plan to get a desktop Mac (likely an iMac) my last semester as a senior. I can't even imagine the amazing offerings we'll have from Apple by then!
Even if it was just £200 cheaper, I'm sure people wouldn't mind paying an extra £100 for a 20" machine.
While normally, I'd agree with you, after seeing how everyone went ape-shit when Apple dropped the $499 Mac Mini from the line up, I think we'd have people bitch about being "forced" to pay $100 more for their iMacs. Even though the Mini got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a faster Intel processor, bigger HDD and more RAM, people still complained. So yeah, I'm willing to bet if Apple drops the 17" iMac and lowers the 20" price to $100 above the old 17" price, people will grumble and moan.
Of course, I'd sort of like to see the 17" iMac stay and only keep one Mini, but make it like the Mac Pro where you just BTO the way you want. You'd have a cheaper processor option and the ability to choose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in, and whether or not you got a Combo or SuperDrive. Give it a stock 60 GB HDD and 512 MB RAM (with upgrades offered BTO of course).
Well, if they get rid of the "chin", probably some 3rd party will provide some for people,
who miss them so badly. Probably that said 3rd party will call this product the "iSticky chin".
best
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gandalf the Semi-Coherent
I love the chin. For two reasons:
1. I have JBL Encounter? speakers, and the chin places the screen high enough so that the speakers don't block any of the screen real estate.
2. It's a great place to hang yellow sticky notes on occasion.
If they decide to remove the chin, all I care is that the screen is at the same height as before. Or that the new form factor allows some adjustment of the screen up and down. That would be most welcome.
I really doubt multi-touch will appear in their desktop lines (such as they are) before they are more common in their mobile line..."iTablet" and MBPs.
Probably the first appearance on the desktop will be in a specialized ACD much like the Cintiq that incorporates both MT and stylus operation.
When I see "industrial" I think "more Mac Pro like" tho' metal is getting "dated" perhaps.
OK, but where, exactly, is the "fat" in the current design that Ives is supposedly being charged with removing?
1. The 17" iMac was designed for a G5. In moving from G5 to less-heat Intel, the cooling is clearly less complicated. Altho if they put two Core 2 Duo chips in it, it will minimize this gain.
2. The 20" and 24" iMacs have extra space inside. It seems they kept the 17" proportions, including the chin, for aesthetic reasons, so if the 17" is going away, the 20" and 24" versions can definitely shrink.
...even if new iMacs are using the latest Intel chipset, I don't recall reading about radical reductions in power consumption/heat... radically downsized? Don't buy it.
Very good point. I believe that the hard drive and the cd/dvd drive makes the most heat, so unless Apple is going to do the laptop parts in a desktop strategy, I don't think they save much space.
I hope you can replace the hard drive without taking the case apart. That would be nice...
Whereas the original iMac G5 provided easy access by simply turning 3 screws and lifting off the back cover, the latest iMacs are a huge step back in serviceability. Apple wants to make spiffy looking iMacs and they don't give a damn about serviceability. They are like used car salesmaen. All they care about is ringing up the cash register. If there are any problems, they want to just dump all the service issues on the technicians.
Thinner body, reduced chin (though a form of chin will still remain, it denotes a 'machine' as opposed to simply a display), smarter pedestal, latest Intel chips (which aren't that exciting), maybe low power quad for the high end, maybe some flash for boot state saving, available in black as well a white etc..... Not rocket science really.
It's possible that they'll move some of the components back to the base (like the sunflower iMac, but not such a large base) in order to lose the chin. I'm not sure how they would do this exactly, but that would be one possibility they'll have looked at in the redesign.
GTSC (hah! love the name) :: you have some excellent feedback there. :thumbs up:
However, I am afraid the chin will be gone. Chin is old skool, IMHO (not that I am a product design expert, but I sense Apple Design will do away with it, they view the chin as old school and it makes the screen look smaller and not as wide as sexy shiny widescreen LCDs/ HDTVs etc.
I agree, I think Apple wants us to think of the iMac as a Home Theater computer.
With that said, my guess is the new iMac will be...
1) Black
2) Chinless
3) Have full height stereo speaker grills on the two sides of the screen.
Whereas the original iMac G5 provided easy access by simply turning 3 screws and lifting off the back cover, the latest iMacs are a huge step back in serviceability. Apple wants to make spiffy looking iMacs and they don't give a damn about serviceability. They are like used car salesmaen. All they care about is ringing up the cash register. If there are any problems, they want to just dump all the service issues on the technicians.
In order to get the intel transition done in a timely fashion, Apple outsourced much of the design of the iMac CoreDuo to intel. The iMac G5 was all done in house, hense the difference in design. My guess is that this revision might be done in house again and will clean up the insides to meet Apple's high stadards.
All this talk of a new imac design is good and all but im a little worried about when this is supposed to happen. I intend to buy an imac for university but was thinking about when i would do it. I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to wait until i actually go to uni in october and use the HE discount they get to buy the £799 machine at a discounted price. Now i found out the £799 17'' model may even completely go or have massively nerfed specs. I really hope this doesnt happen before i go uni- i suppose i could get a larger 20'' model using the discount and not loose out that much. It's slightly frustrating though.
I agree, I think Apple wants us to think of the iMac as a Home Theater computer.
With that said, my guess is the new iMac will be...
1) Black
2) Chinless
3) Have full height stereo speaker grills on the two sides of the screen.
Do you really want to use the crappy built-in speakers for a home theater?
I've had my iMac since December and have hardly noticed the chin. I'm too busy staring at the actual screen.
What I would like is the capacity to outfit it with 2 hard drives for use with Time Machine. I don't want to have to fuss with an external hard drive for this functionality.
If we're going with a wish list, I'd like a Blu-Ray Drive installed and an Apple Remote with fuller function set.
Do you really want to use the crappy built-in speakers for a home theater?
I've had my iMac since December and have hardly noticed the chin. I'm too busy staring at the actual screen.
What I would like is the capacity to outfit it with 2 hard drives for use with Time Machine. I don't want to have to fuss with an external hard drive for this functionality.
If we're going with a wish list, I'd like a Blu-Ray Drive installed and an Apple Remote with fuller function set.
I like the dual HDDs idea.
I think the small remote is good for most people as I think it's seldom used. However, I think Apple should offer a full featured remote, with multi-device functionality as a separate and upgrade option.
I feel that Blu-ray has one the war, but I don't think that Blu-ray/DVD players/burners in an iMac is prudent at this point. I believe that we'll see it as an option in the Mac Pro first, then well see as an option in the larger iMac, and then a default in Mac Pros, and finally a defualt in the iMacs.
It's possible that they'll move some of the components back to the base (like the sunflower iMac, but not such a large base) in order to lose the chin. I'm not sure how they would do this exactly, but that would be one possibility they'll have looked at in the redesign.
The Macbook Pro is only 15" and it has pretty much the same components so it should actually be quite easy for a 20".
Quote:
Originally Posted by brentobrento
to the poster who thought it could be pulled off and used like a tablet. i highly doubt this, if the 17 inch is being ruled out, i don't want to carry a 24 inch screen around the house for fun.
Sure but what if you could lie it down at an angle like an architect's desk? This would make it just like those movies that were posted on the internet about multi-touch screens. This would be a godsend for creative pros now that CS3 is coming. Can you imagine the people who do CG painting for a living - some of their work in Photoshop is incredible, but they will be spending hundreds on the latest wacoms. If the iMac hits a low enough price point, this would be a major hit with them. It's also better as you get much more accurate hand eye coordination.
I have been expecting a redesign + speed bump since last September. I no longer care for Apple's Pro tower line because iMacs are so well-designed and functional with just enough power and speed.
I wouldn't expect touch-screen macs anytime soon. The technology might be there, but they need the software and market demand to catch up to it. Besides, touch-screen interactivity will force end-users to change their ways of working. So by forcing techonology on people who aren't ready for it, might actually be a bad thing.
One thing I really like to see on a re-designed iMac is to have the option for wall mount on the 24-in model. I like the idea of centralizing my computing needs with entertainment. Screw HDTV, give me a HD iMac, where I can watch TV, HD DVD, playing my xbox360/PS3... give me the power to multi-task without clutter... this to me would be the ultimate redesign.
"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..."
Does this mean that technicians who have to repair these iMacs would rather strike them with a sledgehammer than waste time with the difficult to service design and overly complicated disassembly procedures? And whose idea was it to place the serial number labels UNDERNEATH the base of the unit, requiring people to turn the iMac upside down to read it?
Comments
I am right here with both of you. It's not even a large space... people forget the Entire computer is in that thing. It's not a winblows box and screen, it's an elegant, sleek, very personal computer. I would welcome a new design but I would never say the current iMac is ugly in any way, shape, or form. I think the problem is that when one gets so much of a good thing, one starts to expect even better things to be wow-ed by. Apple consistently puts out phenomenal products so of course people try to find the one thing wrong in order to look forward to the next best thing. Just my two cents
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Not only are expectations very high (sometimes unrealistically so), but I think when any one design is out for more than a year people want to see it change. People get bored very easily. I too welcome a new design because I'm sure if they are going to do a major overhaul, it's going to be for good reason and to accomodate new, innovative Apple technology that we all crave (as opposed to change for the sake of change). That said, the current design is still awesome and I wish I had one, but my MacBook should last me at least a couple more years. I'm currently a sophomore in college and plan to get a desktop Mac (likely an iMac) my last semester as a senior. I can't even imagine the amazing offerings we'll have from Apple by then!
Even if it was just £200 cheaper, I'm sure people wouldn't mind paying an extra £100 for a 20" machine.
While normally, I'd agree with you, after seeing how everyone went ape-shit when Apple dropped the $499 Mac Mini from the line up, I think we'd have people bitch about being "forced" to pay $100 more for their iMacs. Even though the Mini got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a faster Intel processor, bigger HDD and more RAM, people still complained. So yeah, I'm willing to bet if Apple drops the 17" iMac and lowers the 20" price to $100 above the old 17" price, people will grumble and moan.
Of course, I'd sort of like to see the 17" iMac stay and only keep one Mini, but make it like the Mac Pro where you just BTO the way you want. You'd have a cheaper processor option and the ability to choose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in, and whether or not you got a Combo or SuperDrive. Give it a stock 60 GB HDD and 512 MB RAM (with upgrades offered BTO of course).
Well, if they get rid of the "chin", probably some 3rd party will provide some for people,
who miss them so badly. Probably that said 3rd party will call this product the "iSticky chin".
best
I love the chin. For two reasons:
1. I have JBL Encounter? speakers, and the chin places the screen high enough so that the speakers don't block any of the screen real estate.
2. It's a great place to hang yellow sticky notes on occasion.
If they decide to remove the chin, all I care is that the screen is at the same height as before. Or that the new form factor allows some adjustment of the screen up and down. That would be most welcome.
GTSC
delete
Probably the first appearance on the desktop will be in a specialized ACD much like the Cintiq that incorporates both MT and stylus operation.
When I see "industrial" I think "more Mac Pro like" tho' metal is getting "dated" perhaps.
Vinea
OK, but where, exactly, is the "fat" in the current design that Ives is supposedly being charged with removing?
1. The 17" iMac was designed for a G5. In moving from G5 to less-heat Intel, the cooling is clearly less complicated. Altho if they put two Core 2 Duo chips in it, it will minimize this gain.
2. The 20" and 24" iMacs have extra space inside. It seems they kept the 17" proportions, including the chin, for aesthetic reasons, so if the 17" is going away, the 20" and 24" versions can definitely shrink.
...even if new iMacs are using the latest Intel chipset, I don't recall reading about radical reductions in power consumption/heat... radically downsized? Don't buy it.
Very good point. I believe that the hard drive and the cd/dvd drive makes the most heat, so unless Apple is going to do the laptop parts in a desktop strategy, I don't think they save much space.
I hope you can replace the hard drive without taking the case apart. That would be nice...
Whereas the original iMac G5 provided easy access by simply turning 3 screws and lifting off the back cover, the latest iMacs are a huge step back in serviceability. Apple wants to make spiffy looking iMacs and they don't give a damn about serviceability. They are like used car salesmaen. All they care about is ringing up the cash register. If there are any problems, they want to just dump all the service issues on the technicians.
NO TOUCHSCREEN
GTSC (hah! love the name) :: you have some excellent feedback there. :thumbs up:
However, I am afraid the chin will be gone. Chin is old skool, IMHO (not that I am a product design expert, but I sense Apple Design will do away with it, they view the chin as old school and it makes the screen look smaller and not as wide as sexy shiny widescreen LCDs/ HDTVs etc.
I agree, I think Apple wants us to think of the iMac as a Home Theater computer.
With that said, my guess is the new iMac will be...
1) Black
2) Chinless
3) Have full height stereo speaker grills on the two sides of the screen.
Whereas the original iMac G5 provided easy access by simply turning 3 screws and lifting off the back cover, the latest iMacs are a huge step back in serviceability. Apple wants to make spiffy looking iMacs and they don't give a damn about serviceability. They are like used car salesmaen. All they care about is ringing up the cash register. If there are any problems, they want to just dump all the service issues on the technicians.
In order to get the intel transition done in a timely fashion, Apple outsourced much of the design of the iMac CoreDuo to intel. The iMac G5 was all done in house, hense the difference in design. My guess is that this revision might be done in house again and will clean up the insides to meet Apple's high stadards.
I agree, I think Apple wants us to think of the iMac as a Home Theater computer.
With that said, my guess is the new iMac will be...
1) Black
2) Chinless
3) Have full height stereo speaker grills on the two sides of the screen.
Do you really want to use the crappy built-in speakers for a home theater?
I've had my iMac since December and have hardly noticed the chin. I'm too busy staring at the actual screen.
What I would like is the capacity to outfit it with 2 hard drives for use with Time Machine. I don't want to have to fuss with an external hard drive for this functionality.
If we're going with a wish list, I'd like a Blu-Ray Drive installed and an Apple Remote with fuller function set.
delete
new design coming.
heck it could just be 'black'. This says nothing.
From what I'm told, the problem with Apple doing that is once you go black you can never go back.
Do you really want to use the crappy built-in speakers for a home theater?
I've had my iMac since December and have hardly noticed the chin. I'm too busy staring at the actual screen.
What I would like is the capacity to outfit it with 2 hard drives for use with Time Machine. I don't want to have to fuss with an external hard drive for this functionality.
If we're going with a wish list, I'd like a Blu-Ray Drive installed and an Apple Remote with fuller function set.
I like the dual HDDs idea.
I think the small remote is good for most people as I think it's seldom used. However, I think Apple should offer a full featured remote, with multi-device functionality as a separate and upgrade option.
I feel that Blu-ray has one the war, but I don't think that Blu-ray/DVD players/burners in an iMac is prudent at this point. I believe that we'll see it as an option in the Mac Pro first, then well see as an option in the larger iMac, and then a default in Mac Pros, and finally a defualt in the iMacs.
Thou
It's possible that they'll move some of the components back to the base (like the sunflower iMac, but not such a large base) in order to lose the chin. I'm not sure how they would do this exactly, but that would be one possibility they'll have looked at in the redesign.
The Macbook Pro is only 15" and it has pretty much the same components so it should actually be quite easy for a 20".
to the poster who thought it could be pulled off and used like a tablet. i highly doubt this, if the 17 inch is being ruled out, i don't want to carry a 24 inch screen around the house for fun.
Sure but what if you could lie it down at an angle like an architect's desk? This would make it just like those movies that were posted on the internet about multi-touch screens. This would be a godsend for creative pros now that CS3 is coming. Can you imagine the people who do CG painting for a living - some of their work in Photoshop is incredible, but they will be spending hundreds on the latest wacoms. If the iMac hits a low enough price point, this would be a major hit with them. It's also better as you get much more accurate hand eye coordination.
I wouldn't expect touch-screen macs anytime soon. The technology might be there, but they need the software and market demand to catch up to it. Besides, touch-screen interactivity will force end-users to change their ways of working. So by forcing techonology on people who aren't ready for it, might actually be a bad thing.
One thing I really like to see on a re-designed iMac is to have the option for wall mount on the 24-in model. I like the idea of centralizing my computing needs with entertainment. Screw HDTV, give me a HD iMac, where I can watch TV, HD DVD, playing my xbox360/PS3... give me the power to multi-task without clutter... this to me would be the ultimate redesign.
Does this mean that technicians who have to repair these iMacs would rather strike them with a sledgehammer than waste time with the difficult to service design and overly complicated disassembly procedures? And whose idea was it to place the serial number labels UNDERNEATH the base of the unit, requiring people to turn the iMac upside down to read it?