I would like to see the case either go back to the thicker aluminum body used in 2009-2012 models or maybe something in the between. To me, it doesn`t matter if the edge of a desktop computer screen is 2,5 cm or 0,5 cm thick. I can understand the importance of making iPhones, iPads and macbooks thinner, since you will be carrying these around. This is not the case of the iMac. What does matter is repairability, upgradeability and airflow. I would also like to see better GPU options.
This would be a great idea. Maybe 1-1.5 cm thickness would be okay. The card reader and a USB port on the side for easy access. Less thermal problems and the possibility to upgrade RAM and SSD modules. I would like to see an iMac that can opened without cutting through glue. Glue is a bad engineering solution... When you open an iMac, you notice that the display cables are very poorly positioned, with the risk of damaging one. With more space you could make a hinge to pull away the display and acesss RAM/SSD. I don't think people want to change CPU. But it is time to fight obsolescence and being able to change/add RAM/SSD would be a great beginning. Maybe they should give 5 years warranty ... But I fear they are anorexic ...
I think an area where iMac could improve vastly is audio quality. When I bought the new iMac four years ago luckily I had the previous thicker aluminium model, so I switched them on side-by-side to test audio quality and while the new iMac was not overly quiet, the speakers sounded noticely more muffled, thanks to the how the chin shape now funnels down gradually to a 5 mm opening. At the very least they could add MBP like grille and have the speakers front firing and allow more air to escape evenly more directly from them. But they need not stop there—they should further improve the speakers themselves, too. The very selling point of an AIO is you should not need to add on speakers. There’s just no reason to have speakers sound more muffled than the previous crisper sounding model. Thinner chin, with more muffled speakers is not my idea of innovation. It’s like a three wheel car that corners better, but can tip over more easily in the process.
It’s design choices like this where, for me, Apple design completely misses the mark. Another example of Apple design missing the mark is weak Lightning cables that break with careful use—frayed cables from bending them at the charger location. This should be the number one design concern for a charging cable. Or Apple EarPod jacks (sold for years and years) with their non-grippy part where they are expected to be pinch-gripped to jack and un-jack. Not even as much as a subtle concave surface shape to add some amount of friction resistance, to ensure easier more comfortable use. It annoyed me so much each time I used them I simply must assume Ive and his team overlooked this glaring design flaw—slippery and straight. Did this not annoy them?
I think an area where iMac could improve vastly is audio quality. When I bought the new iMac four years ago luckily I had the previous thicker aluminium model, so I switched them on side-by-side to test audio quality and while the new iMac was not overly quiet, the speakers sounded noticely more muffled, thanks to the how the chin shape now funnels down gradually to a 5 mm opening. At the very least they could add MBP like grille and have the speakers front firing and allow more air to escape evenly more directly from them. But they need not stop there—they should further improve the speakers themselves, too. The very selling point of an AIO is you should not need to add on speakers. There’s just no reason to have speakers sound more muffled than the previous crisper sounding model. Thinner chin, with more muffled speakers is not my idea of innovation. It’s like a three wheel car that corners better, but can tip over more easily in the process.
It’s design choices like this where, for me, Apple design completely misses the mark. Another example of Apple design missing the mark is weak Lightning cables that break with careful use—frayed cables from bending them at the charger location. This should be the number one design concern for a charging cable. Or Apple EarPod jacks (sold for years and years) with their non-grippy part where they are expected to be pinch-gripped to jack and un-jack. Not even as much as a subtle concave surface shape to add some amount of friction resistance, to ensure easier more comfortable use. It annoyed me so much each time I used them I simply must assume Ive and his team overlooked this glaring design flaw—slippery and straight. Did this not annoy them?
Those exact points have annoyed me for years. Apple has some of the worst cabling out there and when Ive spurts out how great the attention to detail is in every interview, I wish someone would drag him over the coals on the points you raised and many others.
The handling of current lightning cables is dreadful and there are some pretty elegant solutions out there to improve handling and resistance.
Another HUGE iMac problem and one of the common contributing factors to failure is the air inlet that gets blocked easily and in areas of high humidity leads to a slow cooked iMac.
My toilet has an odour removal system but even that comes with a small removable dust filter that can be cleaned very easily.
So Apple Insider is tacitly saying (by not mentioning let alone asking for) that the MBP's "semi-vaunted" Touchbar is a gimmick going no place on the Mac platform as a whole (meaning developers won't be supporting it for long, even the minority who do now)....??
I also wonder about the possibility of the Touchbar feature making it's way over to the iMac. I was pretty interested in it and held off on replacing my keyboard for like 3 months because I was sure that there would be a stand alone magic keyboard with Touchbar for like $249-$299 announced in the Fall last year. When the iMac pro was released in late November and no such keyboard was offered or even hinted at, I went on ahead and got the magic keyboard with Numeric keypad to replace my "regular" magic keyboard. It seems like an oddity that Apple hasn't given us users who need a desktop (or don't need a laptop actually) a way to take advantage of this technology.
So Apple Insider is tacitly saying (by not mentioning let alone asking for) that the MBP's "semi-vaunted" Touchbar is a gimmick going no place on the Mac platform as a whole (meaning developers won't be supporting it for long, even the minority who do now)....??
I also wonder about the possibility of the Touchbar feature making it's way over to the iMac. I was pretty interested in it and held off on replacing my keyboard for like 3 months because I was sure that there would be a stand alone magic keyboard with Touchbar for like $249-$299 announced in the Fall last year. When the iMac pro was released in late November and no such keyboard was offered or even hinted at, I went on ahead and got the magic keyboard with Numeric keypad to replace my "regular" magic keyboard. It seems like an oddity that Apple hasn't given us users who need a desktop (or don't need a laptop actually) a way to take advantage of this technology.
For something like an iMac, it would be nice to have a connected (cabled or WiFi) iPad/iPhone option to replicate (and enhance) the Touchbar idea.
I keep meaning to comment: Thanks for including transcripts of the videos in these articles. In this case, I didn't have the time to watch the video and really appreciated being able to skim the main points by looking at the text. I know you've been doing it for a little while now but it is much appreciated - well done AI.
So Apple Insider is tacitly saying (by not mentioning let alone asking for) that the MBP's "semi-vaunted" Touchbar is a gimmick going no place on the Mac platform as a whole (meaning developers won't be supporting it for long, even the minority who do now)....??
I also wonder about the possibility of the Touchbar feature making it's way over to the iMac. I was pretty interested in it and held off on replacing my keyboard for like 3 months because I was sure that there would be a stand alone magic keyboard with Touchbar for like $249-$299 announced in the Fall last year. When the iMac pro was released in late November and no such keyboard was offered or even hinted at, I went on ahead and got the magic keyboard with Numeric keypad to replace my "regular" magic keyboard. It seems like an oddity that Apple hasn't given us users who need a desktop (or don't need a laptop actually) a way to take advantage of this technology.
I bought a Touch Bar MBP when they were first released in late 2016. It's a fancy piece of technology and having TouchID on a Mac is very useful.
But the rest of it: I don't find it very useful at all. The Touch buttons have some distinct disadvantages compared to a row of physical keys that I think outweigh their benefits (they time out so need a touch just to bring them to life, they move around so you have to think about what you press, you have to look harder because you can't feel them...). The Mac/mouse interface has been sufficiently refined over many years (and apps still have to work well on the majority of Macs without a TB) that I don't find the TB brings any benefit.
I assumed (in 2016) that there were some 'killer' uses of the TB coming that would reveal some new, deep UI thinking from Apple. Those uses have yet to arrive and I've slowly moved into the 'it's a gimmick' school of thought. But TouchID is good!
That would be great, but unfortunately I don't ever see them doing that.
Unfortunately, me either. What a waste of a great display! And, it also means that the iMac just isn't going to do it for me.
This is bothering me as well after seeing many iMacs at the office just standing there, obsolete, because the hardware didn’t suffice anymore while each beautiful display was still very useful but completely worthless.
I mentioned this a while ago on the forum. I said iMacs aren’t ‘green’ at all. Boy people didn’t like me saying that. Apple can claim making ‘green’ computers but that doesn’t include how long you can squeeze the life out of components. A screen typically outlives a GPU and CPU.
Those thin bezels look hideous. Maybe the bezels on the iMac and MBP can be made a bit thinner but I hope to god they don’t look anything like that. Bezels should be symmetrical.
Hard to guess on the chin. When did the iMac Pro come out? Was it a full year ago?
I know time marches on but would I be bummed aesthetically to buy the Pro, then short-time-later the chin is gone?
We've used the first 27" from 2009 since buying it 2 days after it came out in November. Still going.
We only use it for family photos. 55,000 and counting (yeah I've a got a problem).
Would like to upgrade the 2TB HD to 2TB SSD ($500), and have watched several videos about it, but it's a high risk endeavor (and the full-fan thing).
Someday maybe.
I agree with those that think thinness doesn't matter as much for something that 27" when viewed face-on. I thought the friction-stir-welding for 5mm edges was super-cool, and still do, but wasn't essential. Perhaps their commitment to insanely-great extends to the ENTIRE design, and they can't "turn it off."
For example, you've got a business with 20 staff members. Any one of them can walk up and be instantly logged into their account. That would introduce issues when there are multiple people standing there, but it would be cool.
Same thing for iPhone. Currently, you can only have one face registered, so the wife has to enter the passcode.
A complete iMac redesign would definitely be a shocker. Everyone who bought the iMac Pro would be pissed, lol.
Those thin bezels look hideous. Maybe the bezels on the iMac and MBP can be made a bit thinner but I hope to god they don’t look anything like that. Bezels should be symmetrical.
meh. That image was the work of around 2 rushed minutes in FCPX.
vadimyuryev said: What I want is Face ID with multi-user support. For example, you've got a business with 20 staff members. Any one of them can walk up and be instantly logged into their account.
Steve would have loved that. He gushed over all the machines at NeXT being dumb terminals that could access anyone’s account (from the central server). And sure, a local shared Mac is a bit different, but he likely would have pushed for FaceID to be used in business settings like that, too.
CheeseFreeze said: This is bothering me as well after seeing many iMacs at the office just standing there, obsolete, because the hardware didn’t suffice anymore while each beautiful display was still very useful but completely worthless.
I mentioned this a while ago on the forum. I said iMacs aren’t ‘green’ at all. Boy people didn’t like me saying that. Apple can claim making ‘green’ computers but that doesn’t include how long you can squeeze the life out of components. A screen typically outlives a GPU and CPU.
I didn't think of that aspect. I suppose some places would continue to use them as just monitors after the hardware becomes too old. I'd probably end up selling it or passing it on at that point. Hopefully, aspects of them eventually get recycled.
I more meant in terms it being more useful while it is in use. As it is, unless you *just* use an iMac, you have to have other displays. It's a single-use unit. If you have a laptop, PC, or gaming console, etc. then you can't just plug that into your iMac.
Those thin bezels look hideous. Maybe the bezels on the iMac and MBP can be made a bit thinner but I hope to god they don’t look anything like that. Bezels should be symmetrical.
Yea, I'm not a fan of the bezel-less stuff or going too extreme with it, especially for phones. But yes, I'd like it to be uniform.
Eric_in_CT said: I agree with those that think thinness doesn't matter as much for something that 27" when viewed face-on. I thought the friction-stir-welding for 5mm edges was super-cool, and still do, but wasn't essential. Perhaps their commitment to insanely-great extends to the ENTIRE design, and they can't "turn it off."
Yeah, but it isn't overall insanely great if it sounds like a leaf-blower or the internal components melt. I do sometimes get the impression that the design of these things never makes it to actually having to use it. It's like 'perfect in form' from some principals in Ive's mind, physically and mechanically, and then they build it. But too many of these things lately just aren't good in actual use.
vadimyuryev said: A complete iMac redesign would definitely be a shocker. Everyone who bought the iMac Pro would be pissed, lol.
One would hope the people buying the iMac Pro would be doing so for pro reasons, not because it has some new (cool?) design. That said, ***ALL*** the designs of the entire Mac line should actually work well and not melt internal components or break after a few weeks and stuff like that. I sure hope we don't have to buy the pro models in hopes of getting those qualities (and then not even like on the MBP).
For example, you've got a business with 20 staff members. Any one of them can walk up and be instantly logged into their account. That would introduce issues when there are multiple people standing there, but it would be cool.
A pretty safe prediction that all computers, tablets and phones will work this way within 5 or 6 years.
A great idea! It’ll seem so obvious and enivitable when it happens. And all the more reason why privacy and security in technology is one of the major issues of our times and of paramount importance. But clearly password entry should stick around as an option.
Comments
It’s design choices like this where, for me, Apple design completely misses the mark. Another example of Apple design missing the mark is weak Lightning cables that break with careful use—frayed cables from bending them at the charger location. This should be the number one design concern for a charging cable. Or Apple EarPod jacks (sold for years and years) with their non-grippy part where they are expected to be pinch-gripped to jack and un-jack. Not even as much as a subtle concave surface shape to add some amount of friction resistance, to ensure easier more comfortable use. It annoyed me so much each time I used them I simply must assume Ive and his team overlooked this glaring design flaw—slippery and straight. Did this not annoy them?
The handling of current lightning cables is dreadful and there are some pretty elegant solutions out there to improve handling and resistance.
Another HUGE iMac problem and one of the common contributing factors to failure is the air inlet that gets blocked easily and in areas of high humidity leads to a slow cooked iMac.
My toilet has an odour removal system but even that comes with a small removable dust filter that can be cleaned very easily.
Attention to detail Jony!
Thanks for including transcripts of the videos in these articles. In this case, I didn't have the time to watch the video and really appreciated being able to skim the main points by looking at the text. I know you've been doing it for a little while now but it is much appreciated - well done AI.
But the rest of it: I don't find it very useful at all. The Touch buttons have some distinct disadvantages compared to a row of physical keys that I think outweigh their benefits (they time out so need a touch just to bring them to life, they move around so you have to think about what you press, you have to look harder because you can't feel them...). The Mac/mouse interface has been sufficiently refined over many years (and apps still have to work well on the majority of Macs without a TB) that I don't find the TB brings any benefit.
I assumed (in 2016) that there were some 'killer' uses of the TB coming that would reveal some new, deep UI thinking from Apple. Those uses have yet to arrive and I've slowly moved into the 'it's a gimmick' school of thought. But TouchID is good!
I mentioned this a while ago on the forum. I said iMacs aren’t ‘green’ at all. Boy people didn’t like me saying that. Apple can claim making ‘green’ computers but that doesn’t include how long you can squeeze the life out of components. A screen typically outlives a GPU and CPU.
I know time marches on but would I be bummed aesthetically to buy the Pro, then short-time-later the chin is gone?
We've used the first 27" from 2009 since buying it 2 days after it came out in November. Still going.
We only use it for family photos. 55,000 and counting (yeah I've a got a problem).
Would like to upgrade the 2TB HD to 2TB SSD ($500), and have watched several videos about it, but it's a high risk endeavor (and the full-fan thing).
Someday maybe.
I agree with those that think thinness doesn't matter as much for something that 27" when viewed face-on. I thought the friction-stir-welding for 5mm edges was super-cool, and still do, but wasn't essential. Perhaps their commitment to insanely-great extends to the ENTIRE design, and they can't "turn it off."
For example, you've got a business with 20 staff members. Any one of them can walk up and be instantly logged into their account.
That would introduce issues when there are multiple people standing there, but it would be cool.
Same thing for iPhone. Currently, you can only have one face registered, so the wife has to enter the passcode.
A complete iMac redesign would definitely be a shocker. Everyone who bought the iMac Pro would be pissed, lol.
Steve would have loved that. He gushed over all the machines at NeXT being dumb terminals that could access anyone’s account (from the central server). And sure, a local shared Mac is a bit different, but he likely would have pushed for FaceID to be used in business settings like that, too.
I more meant in terms it being more useful while it is in use. As it is, unless you *just* use an iMac, you have to have other displays. It's a single-use unit. If you have a laptop, PC, or gaming console, etc. then you can't just plug that into your iMac.
Yea, I'm not a fan of the bezel-less stuff or going too extreme with it, especially for phones. But yes, I'd like it to be uniform.
Yeah, but it isn't overall insanely great if it sounds like a leaf-blower or the internal components melt.
I do sometimes get the impression that the design of these things never makes it to actually having to use it. It's like 'perfect in form' from some principals in Ive's mind, physically and mechanically, and then they build it. But too many of these things lately just aren't good in actual use.
One would hope the people buying the iMac Pro would be doing so for pro reasons, not because it has some new (cool?) design. That said, ***ALL*** the designs of the entire Mac line should actually work well and not melt internal components or break after a few weeks and stuff like that. I sure hope we don't have to buy the pro models in hopes of getting those qualities (and then not even like on the MBP).
A great idea! It’ll seem so obvious and enivitable when it happens. And all the more reason why privacy and security in technology is one of the major issues of our times and of paramount importance. But clearly password entry should stick around as an option.