Leaked iMac parts suggest Apple set to release new model with thinner design

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A picture out of the Far East shows what is claimed to be the logic board and internal components for a new, thinner iMac set to be released by Apple in the near future.

The image and purported details about a redesigned iMac were posted to Chinese site WeiPhone.com, showing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas, fans, and a hard drive. Kyle Wiens of iFixit told MacRumors that the pictured components could plausibly be from a future iMac, as they show a number of similarities to the current iMac models.

The new iMac will reportedly be considerably thinner than the current model, and the new shell design is said to be curved like a water droplet, rather than squared off.

iMac


The report also reaffirmed earlier claims that the new iMac display will be attached to the protective cover glass, allowing the all-in-one desktop to be even thinner.

Inventory of iMac desktops has been constrained at third-party resellers for some time now. Limited stock of hardware through resellers is often one of the first signs that Apple is drawing down inventory ahead of a product refresh.

Apple could unveil a new iMac as soon as this month, as the company is expected to hold a media event on Oct. 23 to unveil a new, smaller iPad with a 7.85-inch display. That event could present an opportunity for Apple to show off a redesigned iMac, as well as a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

iMac


While the new iMac is expected to be redesigned, reports have suggested that the desktop will not receive a high-resolution Retina display. Apple is allegedly set to release a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display that will join the 15-inch model, but Retina-caliber displays are apparently not yet available for 21.5-inch and 27-inch screens.

It's possible that if the iMac lineup is refreshed, the 21.5-inch model could become available first, with the 27-inch model to follow soon after. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities first reported in August that the new screen lamination process for the redesigned iMac is apparently more difficult with the 27-inch model, which could lead to it launching weeks after the 21.5-inch option.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 139


    THERE we go. There's the story.


     


    I really don't want to get excited for this, as great as it is to hear about. I want a redesign, sure, but "so thin you can barely see it" doesn't fly on a DESKTOP.

  • Reply 2 of 139
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    Really the concept of thinner when it comes to a device just doesn't fly with me.  You can only get so thin.  Too thin is not good.  My god you would have to literally put weights in it so it would be stable.

  • Reply 3 of 139
    I don't see redesigned iMacs or Mac Pros presented at the same event as a smaller iPad. I say the iPad event will be on the 23rd and an iMac/Mac Pro event will be held in early 2013, closer to when they are ready to be shipped.

    Cook mentioned new Macs coming in early 2013; Apple wouldn't announce them so far ahead of the ship date, nor would they muddy a big pre-holiday iPad event with Mac announcements.
  • Reply 4 of 139
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member


    What's with the obsession with thinness?  I can see making laptops thinner & lighter for easier portability but this is getting a little ridiculous!

  • Reply 5 of 139
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Carthusia View Post



    nor would they muddy a big pre-holiday iPad event with Mac announcements.


     


    Umm hello? iMacs haven't been updated in over a year.  They are WAY past needing an update.  The chips have been available for like 6 months now.  So Apple should update the iMacs ASAP.

  • Reply 6 of 139

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    THERE we go. There's the story.


     


    I really don't want to get excited for this, as great as it is to hear about. I want a redesign, sure, but "so thin you can barely see it" doesn't fly on a DESKTOP.



    I want the iMac to be as thin as possible without losing functionality. Apple wants to lose weight and volume on all their products if they can do so while gaining, or at least not losing, functionality. It's simply more profitable to do so.


     


    Also, maybe it's just me, but iMacs and Mac Pros are really heavy and look positively chunky. 

  • Reply 7 of 139


    Thinner means less volume, means you can ship more product in a smaller amount of space, especially by sea and land. I believe airfreight pricing takes into account both weight and volume. Nonetheless, all other things being equal, reducing thinness and/or weight will increase profits.


     


    A smaller volume per product also means Apple can stock more products in retail stores with less square footage; that means a lot when your stores have some of the highest per-square-foot costs in virtually any retail market. I remember reading an analysis concluding that by product volume (square centimeter or something like that) Apple reaps the greatest profits among any major corporation. This is in addition to some of the highest profits on a per-square-retail-foot basis. An extra percentage point of gross profit here and there really adds up. Operationally, Apple can capture those profits while other companies tend to leave that money on the table.


     


    On another note, remarkably thin devices are just that-remarkable.

  • Reply 8 of 139
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    OK, I don't understand the need to go thin on a stationary desktop device. The thinner they make it, the more likely that it won't be able to use more powerful desktop-class processors.

    And it's not like you'd be mounting it on a wall or anything, so who gives a $&@#? I'd gladly take more firepower in today's frame over making it thinner.
  • Reply 9 of 139


    Originally Posted by Carthusia View Post

    Cook mentioned new Macs coming in early 2013…


     


    No, he said the next Mac Pro would be out early 2013. Nothing about the others. It would be expected that any Mac will be announced when it is shipping.





    Originally Posted by Carthusia View Post


    Also, maybe it's just me, but iMacs and Mac Pros are really heavy and look positively chunky. 



     


    On the iMac, it's definitely just you. On the Mac Pro, that's how it's supposed to be. They can trim it down in height and thickness (no ODDs, etc.), but I want that thing to fit the bill of its demographic.

  • Reply 10 of 139
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    Really the concept of thinner when it comes to a device just doesn't fly with me.  You can only get so thin.  Too thin is not good.  My god you would have to literally put weights in it so it would be stable.





    What are you going to be doing on that desk that will vibrate it enough to worry about a desktop PC being unstable??  ;-)

  • Reply 11 of 139

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DHagan4755 View Post


     


    Umm hello? iMacs haven't been updated in over a year.  They are WAY past needing an update.  The chips have been available for like 6 months now.  So Apple should update the iMacs ASAP.



    Needing an update? Hmm, let me try to wrap my head around that.


     


    You think significant numbers have jumped ship to Windows or Linux because iMacs have not been updated? Declinig PC sales would indicate otherwise. Apple's been focusing on products where they have the greatest demand and most competitive pressure. It just makes sense. Tech geeks and pros may be losing sleep as a result of untimely updates, but smart Apple consumers have not been limping along with systems so old as to be unusable with modern applications. 


     


    To wit: ASAP means "As Soon As Possible" not "immediately". It may not have been possible at the time Ivy Bridge shipped. Who knows? They're a company with priorities beyond one product category seeing declining sales. I understand that lotta people want their Macs before the holidays, but last time I checked Apple Inc's HQ was One Infinite Loop, not One North Pole.

  • Reply 12 of 139
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    I don't like the chin, I hope the iMac loses it.
  • Reply 13 of 139
    zunxzunx Posts: 620member


    Hopefully with matte display option, even if more expensive. No matte option, no purchase. It is a deal breaker because it is a health and productivity issue. Search Google for MacMatte for more information.

  • Reply 14 of 139


    Originally Posted by Carthusia View Post


    …last time I checked Apple Inc's HQ was One Infinite Loop, not One North Pole.



     


    That would explain why they think a 7.85" iPad is more portable than a regular one, though. They're always wearing jackets!


     


    Anyway, it's the same freaking argument at every update, isn't it? : "The currently sold iMac is so pathetically slow that it can't even turn on anymore; I demand a new computer with a processor 10% faster than the last one so that I can not use that processor to its fullest extent at any juncture." 


     


    Yeah, the current iMac is out of date, only because newer chips are being sold. Not physically and not usably. Spectacular machines, and certainly faster than whatever someone is using while waiting for the newer ones. Need now, buy now. If not, wait. Simple.

  • Reply 15 of 139

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    No, he said the next Mac Pro would be out early 2013. Nothing about the others. It would be expected that any Mac will be announced when it is shipping.


     


    On the iMac, it's definitely just you. On the Mac Pro, that's how it's supposed to be. They can trim it down in height and thickness (no ODDs, etc.), but I want that thing to fit the bill of its demographic.



    Isn't it fair to say that updates in Apple's product categories tend to co-occur and that updating Mac Pros and iMacs simultaneously (products, by the way, that might have overlapping hardware components) would just make more sense?  And that if iMacs and Macs are to be updated soon that the early 2013 quarter is the most likely probability? I think so, but who knows. You don't either, yet my reasoning was not unfounded. 


     


    Also unfounded is that it's probably just me. Sure, I left myself open with a personal statement, but you followed with an ad hominem attack, rather than address the thrust of my argument concerning the profit implications of thinner, lighter-weight designs. Did you not notice that "chunky" middle paragraph there?

  • Reply 16 of 139


    Originally Posted by Carthusia View Post

    Isn't it fair to say that updates in Apple's product categories tend to co-occur and that updating Mac Pros and iMacs simultaneously (products, by the way, that might have overlapping hardware components) would just make more sense?


     


    Not really. The iMac and Mac Mini generally get updates at the same time (the iMac more often), while the Mac Pro does its own thing.






    And that if iMacs and Macs are to be updated soon that the early 2013 quarter is the most likely probability?



     


    Given this new rumor, it's entirely possible they'll just give it Ivy Bridge instead of waiting and hoping Intel gives them early Haswell access to make the iMac retina. I think users would appreciate that, too.


     



    …you followed with an ad hominem attack…



     


    Sure I did. image

  • Reply 17 of 139
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member


    I don't understand the hostility going on here regarding the possibility of making the iMac thinner.  If anyone can pull it off, and do it right it would be Apple.



    A thinner iMac means less materials needed and less weight to move around (when one does need to move it).



    I'm all for it so long as Apple does not sacrifice desktop performance for the sake of a thinner design.  It's a total guess, but I think if they are going with a more rounded, teardrop back, that may very well be the end of an integrated CD-Rom drive.  It may also be possible they may go with a full SSD setup and do away with a hard-drive setup which would be a mixed-blessing.  With Thunderbolt, cloud-storage, etc.. it's becoming (slowly) irrelevant to have a big, mechanical hard drive in one's PC.



    I've got an iP4 (soon iP5) and an iPad 3.  I've used a client's retina MBP for a few weeks as well and believe me that Retina displays are the way to go.  While I would like to see a retina option on the new iMacs, the reality is given the size, complexity and (gasp) cost I don't see that happening any time soon and on such a large display, the current displays are pretty darn good, even when placed next to a retina display.  These 27" monitors have to be placed back much farther than a phone or tablet display.  Retina for now I think is more bragging rights than a must-have for the time being.



    I'm waiting for the refresh.  My 2009 Quad i7 is still humming, but I'm ready for a serious jump to more performance.  I already have a friend eagerly waiting to buy my iMac so I'm not in a rush. :)



    Will be very interesting!

  • Reply 18 of 139

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    No, he said the next Mac Pro would be out early 2013. Nothing about the others. It would be expected that any Mac will be announced when it is shipping.


     


    On the iMac, it's definitely just you. On the Mac Pro, that's how it's supposed to be. They can trim it down in height and thickness (no ODDs, etc.), but I want that thing to fit the bill of its demographic.



    My purely intuitive guess is that redesigned iMacs and Mac Pros will lose at least a third of their current volume even if their weight remains unchanged. That they will be faster and more powerful (and hopefully quieter) is a given.

  • Reply 19 of 139
    @ tallest skil

    Actually, he said

    "we didn%u2019t have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro at today%u2019s event, don%u2019t worry as we%u2019re working on something really great for later next year."

    So you can either think Tim Cook sucks at punctuation and he meant "later, next year", OR you can take it to mean "later 2013". But he didn't implicitly say early 2013.

    In fact, if you think MacPros are going to leverage HassleBridge Xeon processors, and come ready with a 27" Retina Display, then I think "Late 2013" is the safer bet...
  • Reply 20 of 139


    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post

    I don't understand the hostility going on here regarding the possibility of making the iMac thinner.  If anyone can pull it off, and do it right it would be Apple.


     


    They're also known for doing it wrong. See most of the Intel iMacs. Laptop chips, anyone? Though I imagine that if they've been waiting all this time for laptop Ivy Bridge chips to further dumb down the iMac for the sake of thickness, digital torches and pitchforks will be carried… 





    Originally Posted by 11thIndian View Post

    So you can either think Tim Cook sucks at punctuation and he meant "later, next year", OR you can take it to mean "later 2013". But he didn't implicitly say early 2013.


     


    Meaning verbal punctuation, leaving it open to much interpretation, yes. But you're right; we're just hopeful.


     


    If they don't plan to update the Mac Pro until Xeon Haswell, they can enjoy being mystified when sales of this model, already two years old, stop existing.

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