If you were Jonathan Ive...(thoughts on the coming iMac)

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Imagine that you are Jonathan Ive, you have just finished designing the Sunflower iMac, the pre-orders have so far indicated that it will be a smashing success...but...



Things seem to die down, the hype is gone, Time is on to a new issue, and orders are taking so long to fill that a lot of people are either backing out or not buying because the backlog has killed the hype...not to mention a $100 increase in price.



The eMac and iMac have to be calculated together to make sales totals seem reasonable to Wall Street, and to save Apple Exec embarassment.



Jobs orders Ive to start on a new iMac, this time it is to be an even greater success than the original, to finally recapture that late 90's magic and once again prove to the world that Jobs still has something meaningful to contribute to the consumer desktop market place.



Ive is instructed to make the machine an all in one, probably with the ability for a removeable display...Apple will only sell the iMac with an Apple display attached to it, but the displays can be discarded upon purchase, or give the consumer the ability to upgrade to a larger Apple display. The design is such that ONLY the Apple display will "hook on" to the iMac's design, and while it does not use a proprietary connector, 3rd party displays can be connected and stand aside the new iMac.



Ive comes up with a design that really mimics the ideas behind the iPod and the PowerMac, something that looks sleek yet extraordinarily powerful. The bezel around the screen is almost unnoticeable, the movement of the display remains as good as on iMac 2, the power is equivelant to a 2,000 dollar PowerMac, and the look and feel of the design is breathtaking.



The price is still in question, and as the main detractor from the original, the price is the most scrutinized "feature" of the new iMac. Apple knows it must release something in the "sweet spot" territory for it to compete with potential PC buyers. So Apple will price the iMac at $999, complete with a combo drive and a 1.6 GHz G5, as well as an attached 15'' high res LCD display (much like the PowerBook 15'').



The eMac gets a G4 processor speed upgrade and a price drop, to $699.



Apple puts itself in a position to capture some needed marketshare and some confidence in its user base. This time the iMac does not have to rely on looks alone, to sell it. It's success will rely on it being a solid product for a sensible price, and that's what it should be all about.



Apple needs to take the success formula that it has had with the iPod and apply that to the new iMac.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    There will be no separate, external, attachable, detachable, upgradeable or third party monitor option of any kind with the iMac line, ever.



    Get used to it.
  • Reply 2 of 38
    messiahtoshmessiahtosh Posts: 1,754member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ensign Pulver

    There will be no separate, external, attachable, detachable, upgradeable or third party monitor option of any kind with the iMac line, ever.



    Get used to it.




    Don't be so sure.
  • Reply 3 of 38
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ensign Pulver

    There will be no separate, external, attachable, detachable, upgradeable or third party monitor option of any kind with the iMac line, ever.



    Get used to it.




    Thats why iMac lcd and emac have been selling so poorly, by jamming everything into a all in one you kill performance because of heat issues and you kill upgrades. what do most people want? performance and upgrades and what has Apple taken away from its consumer lines? thats right. more all in one means more failure unless apple decides to give it performance. do that and people can over look upgrades.A 2.0 G5 mated to a 9700 soldered on chip would make for a good Muscular machine but we are expecting a 1.6 G5 mated to the poor FX5200. If i was Ives i would tell jobs we need a consumer machine with a little muscle no more girly guy imac with girly guy performance.
  • Reply 4 of 38
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    I think Apple should patent some sort of easy-install modules for the iMac, similar to the replaceable GPU's in Alienware's laptops.
  • Reply 5 of 38
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    I think Apple should patent some sort of easy-install modules for the iMac, similar to the replaceable GPU's in Alienware's laptops.



    I agree but if people bought upgrades they wouldnt buy new macs. i think this is how Apple looks at things. Did you say Alienware? they got some Great stuff.
  • Reply 6 of 38
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    groan....



    I used to like Alienware...until the relentless torrent of gushing fanboy hype...



    Say AlienW--- and !BING! Aurora appears like the Great Gazoo....



    funny stuff I suppose...
  • Reply 7 of 38
    i think the imac2 was a great looking computer for a reasonable price. however, when they raised the price $100 during the height of it's demand it turned alot of people off.



    it was also surpassed in performance almost immediately upon delivery.



    using iphoto and imovie on it was a chore.



    i don't have any doubts the new imac will be a nice looking computer but if they have anything less 64mb of ram on the video card, it will be obsolete for anything other then an email machine and word processor machine as soon as it hits the stores.



    design-performance-price



    three out of three would make it another ipod, two out of three will make a moderate success but one out three like the imac2 was will sink the imac line forever.



    chung
  • Reply 8 of 38
    bborofkabborofka Posts: 230member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aurora

    I agree but if people bought upgrades they wouldnt buy new macs. i think this is how Apple looks at things.



    Well, people aren't buying many new Macs as it is. Less than a million per quarter. If their machines were more upgradable/flexible then yeah, maybe people would hold on to them longer, but it'd also might attract more people to the platform to offset that.
  • Reply 9 of 38
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by johnq

    groan....



    I used to like Alienware...until the relentless torrent of gushing fanboy hype...



    Say AlienW--- and !BING! Aurora appears like the Great Gazoo....



    funny stuff I suppose...




    Maybe so but start running UT2004,Far Cry,Doom3 and this brand of machines comes out on top period.Flight simulator .com said its the best. why because all the muscle is there to use no games plus they build the machine to fit the user not the user must fit the machine as in Apples one size fits all iMacs. Its just piss pot poor marketing and selling of machines by Apple that makes people go elsewhere. like i said earlier they arent interested in consumers and its written all over ibook,Emac and imac. everyone has been on purpose crippled with poor options intended not to fit the educated consumer.Gpu &CPU& anything else a consumer may want are crippled down by Apple to try to sell its so called "pro models" This runs off buyers like myself who has an Aurora coming with what I want in it.(6800gt) and my choice of CPU.
  • Reply 10 of 38
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aurora

    Maybe so but start running UT2004,Far Cry,Doom3 and this brand of machines comes out on top period.Flight simulator .com said its the best. why because all the muscle is there to use no games plus they build the machine to fit the user not the user must fit the machine as in Apples one size fits all iMacs. Its just piss pot poor marketing and selling of machines by Apple that makes people go elsewhere. like i said earlier they arent interested in consumers and its written all over ibook,Emac and imac. everyone has been on purpose crippled with poor options intended not to fit the educated consumer.Gpu &CPU& anything else a consumer may want are crippled down by Apple to try to sell its so called "pro models" This runs off buyers like myself who has an Aurora coming with what I want in it.(6800gt) and my choice of CPU.



    Ya see Aurora, what you have to understand is that deep down the boys and girls on this forum actually like Apple and its products. Sure its frustrating now and then when Apple's unique position means that sometimes we can't have all the bells and whistles that the other guys have but in the end its about ease of use, style, intelligence and I guess taste. You actually seem to harbour a dislike of Apple and take it personally when they can't provide a machine for your personal needs. This make your posts very, very, very, very, very, very, very irritating. Have you ever thought that you just might not be cut out for Mac ownership?
  • Reply 11 of 38
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aurora

    This runs off buyers like myself who has an Aurora coming with what I want in it.(6800gt) and my choice of CPU.



    <Pats Aur on the head>That's great, I'm glad for you, really.



    If I want to play games I'll buy a PS2, XBOX, GC and a gaming PC. Oh wait, I did.



    But my Mac does all that I need it to do and more. If serious gaming is missing from the equation, who cares. It runs PS and Maya and Office...I create on a Mac, not consume.



    :shrug:



  • Reply 12 of 38
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Thats why iam getting an Aurora, because Mac ownership when you like to game is iffy at best. Thats why the wife gets the Quicksilver 1.4 and me the new Aurora. no more will i be able to run it crap anymore. Apple has a sweet OS but its choices for hardware are not sweet. Apple has by sticking with all in ones killed off its consumer lines,its consumer base and more. They didnt get to 3% of new sales because iMac was suited for everyone. they got it because it suited so few. Lets just hope the new model isnt more of the same. Customer is King not Apple, remember that. Build for the customer and they will reward you,build for yourself and the rest is history.
  • Reply 13 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aurora

    Thats why iam getting an Aurora, because Mac ownership when you like to game is iffy at best. Thats why the wife gets the Quicksilver 1.4 and me the new Aurora. no more will i be able to run it crap anymore. Apple has a sweet OS but its choices for hardware are not sweet. Apple has by sticking with all in ones killed off its consumer lines,its consumer base and more. They didnt get to 3% of new sales because iMac was suited for everyone. they got it because it suited so few. Lets just hope the new model isnt more of the same. Customer is King not Apple, remember that. Build for the customer and they will reward you,build for yourself and the rest is history.



    They got to 3% because people dont care about what they own, and it's not Apple's fault that they dont.
  • Reply 14 of 38
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aurora

    Thats why iam getting an Aurora, because Mac ownership when you like to game is iffy at best. Thats why the wife gets the Quicksilver 1.4 and me the new Aurora. no more will i be able to run it crap anymore. Apple has a sweet OS but its choices for hardware are not sweet. Apple has by sticking with all in ones killed off its consumer lines,its consumer base and more. They didnt get to 3% of new sales because iMac was suited for everyone. they got it because it suited so few. Lets just hope the new model isnt more of the same. Customer is King not Apple, remember that. Build for the customer and they will reward you,build for yourself and the rest is history.



    You're obviously a very clever guy. Perhaps you would like to f*&k off and display that intelligence somewhere else.
  • Reply 15 of 38
    If they really didn't care and chose based on eenie-meenie-minie-moe, even by luck of the draw a Mac would come up more than 3%. Obviously it's not that simple.
  • Reply 16 of 38
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by vinney57

    You actually seem to harbour a dislike of Apple and take it personally when they can't provide a machine for your personal needs. This make your posts very, very, very, very, very, very, very irritating. Have you ever thought that you just might not be cut out for Mac ownership?



    Somehow, Aurora squeaks by from being called (and I don't like to use the term loosely) a troll.



    I just know that if I like Coca-Cola and spend all my time on forums.pepsi.com and slam Pepsi, chances are I'd be called a troll.



    Ah well, the Mods are smiling on this Aurora...



    I'm all for argument fodder, so I don't mind it personally.
  • Reply 17 of 38
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OrbitPink

    They got to 3% because people dont care about what they own, and it's not Apple's fault that they dont.



    I disagree, they got there by not offering what the consumer wanted,sure there are people that are clueless but there are plenty of folks who do a little research before making a big purchase such as a computer. Imac was a 1 size fits all approach and it just doesnt work anymore with people doing so many different things with their machines. I actually love Mac but when i see Apple making such bad choices it just kills me as a long time user. If Jobs has to have a all in one fine but they need a consumer tower. PowerMac isnt a consumer tower.
  • Reply 18 of 38
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Most people that get Macs that are upgradeable - don't. We can assume a similar percentage of PC users that give a rats ass about upgradability. Sure, it might be a buzzword on their checklist at purchase time but it isn't an actual issue.
  • Reply 19 of 38
    gamblorgamblor Posts: 446member
    Quote:

    Thats why iMac lcd and emac have been selling so poorly,



    Actually, the eMac sold 180k units last quarter. That's pretty good considering the performance the machine has... Read chunglee's post-- he gets it spot on (pretty good for a first post! ) If Apple can address the $1k-$2k space as well as they've addressed the <$1k space with the eMac, they'll do pretty well.
  • Reply 20 of 38
    The whole concept of the iMac has and always will be an all in one design and despite what some of you wish for, Apple will always make the consumer model an all in one design. Most consumers (not Apple/computer geeks) like the simplicity of the all in one design. The company that I work for just bought 20" iMacs instead of G5s, the reasoning behind this choice was purely aesthetics! Every time I go to the local Apple dealer, people are stroking the imacs... What stops them from buying them is purely the expense of them. If you want expandability, if you want separate CPU/monitor, buy a bloody Powermac the price difference is not huge!



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