Apple's iMac overhaul tracking for mid-to-late summer
Apple Inc.'s hotly anticipated iPhone device will have a few weeks to bask in the limelight before the electronics maker returns focus to its Mac business with a pair of redesigned iMacs positioned to catch the tail end of the educational buying season.
People familiar with plans for the next-generation consumer desktops say Apple hopes to unveil the new systems sometime between the latter half of July and mid-August -- a timeframe well suited to garner sales from higher-education individuals and back-to-school shoppers in general. Those same people add that the Cupertino-based Mac maker may also have a few smaller surprises in store for fans of its Mac line around the same time.
As was reported exclusively by AppleInsider in March, Apple engineers have been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.
Omitted from the makeover will be Apple's 17-inch iMac model, people familiar with the project have said. The entry-level offering will reportedly become the subject of considerable neglect, and may eventually meet the same fate as the firm's now defunct 12-inch PowerBook and soon-to-be sacrificed Mac mini.
Earlier this month, the Internet was rife with unsubstantiated rumors that Apple would use its developer conference (last week) to introduce new iMacs clad in "brushed metal" enclosures. AppleInsider, however, advised against those claims, explaining that the company would instead use the annual gathering to focus on Mac OS X Leopard, third-party iPhone development, and its software strategy in general.
While Apple's current iMac line remains in relatively good availability, supplies should begin to constrain in the weeks ahead, especially through high-level dealers. The company continues to fill new orders for existing models, but checks within the supply chain indicate that it is doing so through smaller volume shipments.
Apple last updated its iMac line in September, when it upgraded each model with Core 2 Duo mobile processors and introduced a 24-inch model to the family.
People familiar with plans for the next-generation consumer desktops say Apple hopes to unveil the new systems sometime between the latter half of July and mid-August -- a timeframe well suited to garner sales from higher-education individuals and back-to-school shoppers in general. Those same people add that the Cupertino-based Mac maker may also have a few smaller surprises in store for fans of its Mac line around the same time.
As was reported exclusively by AppleInsider in March, Apple engineers have been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.
Omitted from the makeover will be Apple's 17-inch iMac model, people familiar with the project have said. The entry-level offering will reportedly become the subject of considerable neglect, and may eventually meet the same fate as the firm's now defunct 12-inch PowerBook and soon-to-be sacrificed Mac mini.
Earlier this month, the Internet was rife with unsubstantiated rumors that Apple would use its developer conference (last week) to introduce new iMacs clad in "brushed metal" enclosures. AppleInsider, however, advised against those claims, explaining that the company would instead use the annual gathering to focus on Mac OS X Leopard, third-party iPhone development, and its software strategy in general.
While Apple's current iMac line remains in relatively good availability, supplies should begin to constrain in the weeks ahead, especially through high-level dealers. The company continues to fill new orders for existing models, but checks within the supply chain indicate that it is doing so through smaller volume shipments.
Apple last updated its iMac line in September, when it upgraded each model with Core 2 Duo mobile processors and introduced a 24-inch model to the family.
Comments
As was reported exclusively by AppleInsider in March, Apple engineers have been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.
Why do I have this bad feeling that they are going to sacrifice the 3.5HDD for 2.5HDD in order to get the display as thin as possible. This would be the final component that keeps this desktop from being made out of all laptop parts..
I know the 2.5 drives are making big improvements in capacity and are available in 7200RPM models but they still trail 3.5 drives in terms of performance and cost. I have been patiently waiting for new iMacs but this would kill it for me. The only saving grace would be if they offered eSata so I could run the OS from an external drive. I hope my gut is wrong, do we really need the iMac to be thinner than it already is?
edit: Also, it is my belief that the Mac Pro will get an update before the iMac, if only to get 2GB of RAM in the standard configuration (so as to equal the MacBook Pro's current offerings), since the iMac may also be getting 2GB of RAM standard in its higher-end models, with 1GB standard in the lower end to equal the MacBook.
Randy at www.MacSeven.com
Higher Res Screens (possibly LED)
More memory as standard
New design
Santa Rosa
And needs...
better iSight (leopard)
To stick with 3.5"HDD
Superdrives throughout (why do apple still ship combos?)
When abouts are these intel price cuts scheduled for, mid july?
if they did move down to 2.5" drives, it would be nice if it could hold dual 2.5" drives, so that the user could choose what configuration, concat, RAID, or independent volumes... when thinking green, the power draw and heat of the larger 3.5" drives is considerable. having an eSATA port would seem like a must. i think that direct attached storage is becoming somewhat replaced by NAS to some extent for many people's storage needs.
Groan! I was hoping not to have to wait that long....Also the potential of 2.5 inch drives would suck.
Is the thickness all that different between 2.5" and 3.5" HDD's? If only a couple millimeters, I dont' see it being a necessary change just to make the enclosure thinner, as it's already, what, 2x or 2.5x thicker than a 3.5" HDD? (going off of memory here)
Annoyed to say the least, however I was always saying I would buy either mac pro or power mac, whichever was updated first, and was always kinda hoping that would be the powermac.
When abouts are these intel price cuts scheduled for, mid july?
The Power Mac probably won't be updated for a long time.
I REALLY hope there is a quad core version of the iMac offered. Maybe in the 24" version???
So you want Mac Pro speed in a 24" iMac with a lower price than a Mac Pro. hummm
Me too
The Power Mac probably won't be updated for a long time.
pardon my french
Everyone seems to assume new iMacs will have a pedestal base just like the current iMacs. It could have a pedestal base that contains components, like hard drives.