iMac 2020 what to expect?

[TheIntruder]

The development of the iPod may reflect a smaller, more agile, and less risk averse company, but that timeline wouldn't have been possible without the foundations provided by Pixo and PortalPlayer, preceded by the acquisition and transformation of SoundJam into iTunes.

Times change, and companies evolve.

I'm old enough to remember when HP and IBM were at the peak of their powers, on the cutting edge of innovation, and living icons. Contrast that to what they are today.

Apple may lose the spotlight to another company just as it stole it from those two, as well as Sony, the once leader and innovator Jobs sought to emulate. Sony had some hard times and has stabilized itself, but the leading "S" company now hails from Korea.

Apple is now 43 years old and like people, has settled comfortably into middle age, fatter, a bit slower, and more conservative. It has built a solid retirement cushion, and can afford to enjoy the success, but it, too will age; the only question is how gracefully it will do so.

 

[xgman]

My guess would be by October-December 2020 or early 2021.

I'd be open to upgrading my 2012 iMac if the next iMac will feature a 32" display at 6K or 8K resolution.

The only probable semi realistic part of your post would be the 21 guess.

 

[dapa0s]

I actually think the new iMacs and especially the iMac Pro will come out in the next two months.

 

[chscag]

iMac refresh has been around 18 months or more. I agree with new iMacs around early 2021. But who knows what Apple will do?

 

[Hexley]

I actually think the new iMacs and especially the iMac Pro will come out in the next two months.

I have a feeling the iMac Pro may be discontinued. It was created as stop gap until the Mac Pro came out.

 

[dapa0s]

I doubt it... It's only going to happen if they put the iMac Pro internals in the iMac, which I don't see happening, it's not really Apple's MO. There is still a market for the iMac Pro - it's actually the perfect stepping stone between the iMac and the Mac Pro.

That all being said, I'm almost certain we'll see new iMacs in the next two months.

 

[CWallace]

I have a feeling the iMac Pro may be discontinued. It was created as stop gap until the Mac Pro came out.

I think it was originally created to replace the Mac Pro, but regardless of the reason it was created, it does appeal to software developers and podcast/audio producers based on the number of them I have heard who all use one and those people are also on record that they find the power (and consequently, the expense) of the 2019 Mac Pro to be too high and would therefore continue to buy iMac Pros.

So assuming the W-2xxx series and Navi GPUs are more or less "drop-in upgrades" and Apple does not have to do extensive engineering work, I see no reason why we would not see an updated model around WWDC this year.

 

[sublunar]

I think it was originally created to replace the Mac Pro, but regardless of the reason it was created, it does appeal to software developers and podcast/audio producers based on the number of them I have heard who all use one and those people are also on record that they find the power (and consequently, the expense) of the 2019 Mac Pro to be too high and would therefore continue to buy iMac Pros.

So assuming the W-2xxx series and Navi GPUs are more or less "drop-in upgrades" and Apple does not have to do extensive engineering work, I see no reason why we would not see an updated model around WWDC this year.

A drop in upgrade for the 27" iMac Pro would be a low cost engineering upgrade. If they amend the starting specs it could even eliminate the traditional iMac 27" spec if Apple did something with the 21.5" to extend the appeal upwards to fill the gap.

I bet software developers and podcast producers would jump on a Mac mini Pro with those innards though as a 27" 5k panel may not be top of their list of needs.

If there's a redesign on the cards, I wonder if it might become even more popular with an upscale pro audience if Apple actually got rid of the microphone array and webcam on a refreshed iMac Pro and instead allowed people to purchase their own better specified external equipment if they needed such facilities. It might allow for reduced bezels at the top of the display.

An iMac Pro microphone array may be pointless if they are intending to allow custom (noisier) fan curves for people who wish to cane their Macs. It may also point to redesigns making future fan replacement and RAM replacement easier. Certainly in a 'pro' model.

In fact wouldn't the Apple assumption that the 32" 6k HDR assumes professionals will be utilising VESA mounts (yes, instead of the $1000 stand) point to a situation where those professionals/prosumers with less deep pockets could be instead pointed towards a Mac mini pro plus 4k 24"-25" HDR display option which equally doesn't have webcam and microphones? Or they could choose a cheaper monitor which does have a webcam if that's their bag.

Look at the development in monitors with built in USB-C docks as launched by HP recently.

This would release the traditional 27" and 21.5" iMacs to be a bit less 'pro' and go even slimmer/lighter or perhaps even be merged into a single 24" 4k model which is effectively a MacBook Pro 16" driving a 4k panel and only offering SSD storage.

The Mac mini then gets a 'pro' make-over which can include GPU options in a nice Cube style case designed to live with 'Pro mode' in as much silence as possible but with design cues from the main 'Pro'. It could also go with K series unlocked mobile i9 CPUs like what is currently offered in the 16" MacBook Pro but with the ability and headroom to actually overclock in a case designed to keep the noise low and cooling adequate while allowing for RAM to be replaced. And could something like this (with built in GPU) be mistaken for Apple going for gamers as per earlier sketchy rumours?

At a stroke that eliminates Intel's domestic desktop Core CPUs from Apple's range - leaving Xeons for the 'Pro' stuff and mobile CPUs for everything else.

 

[CWallace]

I bet software developers and podcast producers would jump on a Mac mini Pro with those innards though as a 27" 5k panel may not be top of their list of needs.

Speaking anecdotally, the "Apple certified" 5K panel is one of the reasons they went with the iMac Pro because they do not like the LG Ultrafine 5K. So unless Apple starts making their own 5K displays again...

If there's a redesign on the cards, I wonder if it might become even more popular with an upscale pro audience if Apple actually got rid of the microphone array and webcam on a refreshed iMac Pro and instead allowed people to purchase their own better specified external equipment if they needed such facilities. It might allow for reduced bezels at the top of the display.

The podcasters all use external microphones, anyway, and the real issue holding back the webcam appears to be the thinness of the upper bezel, not its width. So I would hope Apple thickens the edges a bit so they can put in the iPhone 11/12 front-facing 1080p webcam and FaceID module.

It may also point to redesigns making future fan replacement and RAM replacement easier. Certainly in a 'pro' model.

With the Space Black coloring I am not sure how visible a RAM door would be anyway, so hopefully now that Ive is gone the new team will accept a small RAM door above the ports to allow RAM to be replaced. I also would not mind an adjustable stand, while we're at it, though it does not need to be as nice (much less as expensive) as the Pro Display XDR's.

In fact wouldn't the Apple assumption that the 32" 6k HDR assumes professionals will be utilising VESA mounts (yes, instead of the $1000 stand) point to a situation where those professionals/prosumers with less deep pockets could be instead pointed towards a Mac mini pro plus 4k 24"-25" HDR display option which equally doesn't have webcam and microphones?

I guess it depends on the end-user. The Apple tech podcast crowd I listen to all want an Apple-branded and designed 4K/5K displays as they have used the non-Apple 4K/5K displays and not liked them. The software developers at my work all use 2018 Mac minis and 15" MacBook Pros with Dell 24" QHD and 32" 4K displays and they note they are okay for code, but they would prefer a Retina option.

Look at the development in monitors with built in USB-C docks as launched by HP recently.

Apple would never release a monitor with that bulge on top and let us be honest, if they did, the Internet would savage the s**t out of them for doing so considering all the flack they took for the "notch" on the iPhone.

And yes, I know the Pro Display XDR has that Logitech web cam module that sticks on top, but that is a third-party add-on so it is there if you need it and you can remove it when not in use.

This would release the traditional 27" and 21.5" iMacs to be a bit less 'pro' and go even slimmer/lighter or perhaps even be merged into a single 24" 4k model which is effectively a MacBook Pro 16" driving a 4k panel and only offering SSD storage.

The Mac mini then gets a 'pro' make-over which can include GPU options in a nice Cube style case designed to live with 'Pro mode' in as much silence as possible but with design cues from the main 'Pro'.

I believe Apple haven't put iMac-class CPUs and GPUs into it not because internal marketing analysis shows it would cannibalize sales from iMacs, but because it shows people wouldn't buy it and instead continue to get an iMac because it comes with a top-quality monitor already. AIO is a popular form factor as a desktop for macOS users - the model sells roughly 8 to 1 compared to the Mac mini if not higher. People appear to like the design and having a high-quality large display and the iMac line offers a wide swath of price and power. Reducing those options is just going to reduce sales.

The Mac mini is designed to fill the niches and "edge cases" where people want to use macOS but are constrained on a cost or space issue. It took Apple a long time to come to that realization, but they finally did and upgraded the machine in 2018 to better address those niches.

Yes, I am sure there are markets for such a machine - photography connected to calibrated display comes to mind. However, a significant part of those markets is using MacBook Pros because they're more easily portable. You use the MBP in the field with the built-in display to take the pictures and then bring it back to the office and plug it into the larger calibrated display to do the editing.

 

[iPadified]

They could drop the iMac Pro if they used XE processors (up to 18-cores or is it 22 cores?) and iMac Pro cooling solution in the new iMac. With a redesign, anything is possible and it depends where Apple want to go with a new iMac and at the moment that is unclear. Sleeker office/home machine or a "bigger" general purpose machine?

I think there should be a segment between laptop performance and MP performance and it is there iMac/iMac Pro should be.

 

[xgman]

It's too bad that Apple probably pays little or no attention to these suggestion forum threads...

 

[dapa0s]

I‘m very thankful that they have the good sense not to do that. Not listening to stupid advice from everyone, and especially not from angry nerds online is exactly why Apple makes products that they make.

If people don‘t like, there‘s always Acer, Samsung, Dell, Razer, etc.

People suggesting what Apple needs to do is the equivalent to armchair generals and coaches telling whole armies and sports teams what they need to do.

 

[Wolf1701]

I‘m very thankful that they have the good sense not to do that. Not listening to stupid advice from everyone, and especially not from angry nerds online is exactly why Apple makes products that they make.

Yes! Stupid advice from stupid costumers that are not supposed to have ideas, suggestions or dreams: they are just supposed to pay and shut up.

 

[dapa0s]

Yes! Stupid advice from stupid costumers that are not supposed to have ideas, suggestions or dreams: they are just supposed to pay and shut up.

What gives you the right to have Apple listen to your propositions of design change? You are anonymous, have zero credibility, probably zero knowledge&experience and zero accountability. The only thing you have is a voice on the internet, just like everyone else.

At least write them a letter or go make a Youtube channel. Do you really expect Tim Cook or someone to look around the forums to read what toxic haters think?

Again, no one, literally no one is forcing you to buy Apple. A lot of people (most) that criticise online don‘t even buy Apple products. Buy something else if you hate it, or complain, that‘s fine - just don‘t expect Apple to listen.

 

[Wolf1701]

What gives you the right to have Apple listen to your propositions of design change? You are anonymous, have zero credibility, probably zero knowledge&experience and zero accountability. The only thing you have is a voice on the internet, just like everyone else.

Apple is under no obbligation to listen my (or others) propositions you are right. But I think that a business needs or should want to hear what their customers think. Besides, this is a forum, if we are supposed to be everytime 'yes man' we are in the wrong place, you are absolutely right, we should work in Apple marketing.

I buy Apple products, but I am also so naive to think that they could improve.

 

[Freida]

so you guys think we will have no refresh 1st half of 2020?

 

[jonblatho]

I think it was originally created to replace the Mac Pro

Apple has been abundantly clear that the iMac Pro was not intended to replace the Mac Pro. In fact, right as it was being unveiled, they had people contacting tech bloggers to correct any assumptions along those lines before they took hold (not that they were entirely unreasonable, because they weren’t).

A couple months before the iMac Pro was unveiled at WWDC 2017, Apple invited journalists to a closed-door meeting to reveal their plans to develop a new Mac Pro based on feedback from customers. No way they’d have a turnaround of 2 months between “we plan on developing a new Mac Pro” and what was shown off on stage.

 

[xgman]

We are the voices of enthusiastic buyers, and also of complainers and trolls, but where else can you quickly get the pulse of the situation... There is a lot to glean out of these threads nonetheless..

 

[padams35]

so you guys think we will have no refresh 1st half of 2020?

That's right.
First suitable Comet Lake CPUs won't be available until March/April and Apple desktops always seem to lag a quarter or two for final design, testing, inventory build-up, or whatever.

Second iMacs seem to have been put on an 18-month release cycle.

I'd consider a July/August update the earliest plausible, but that's still 2nd-half. A later late 2020 September/October release feels most likely IMHO.

 

[Hexley]

I dont think tere will be a 2020 iMac but a 2021 imac is more probable.

 

[dapa0s]

Apple is under no obbligation to listen my (or others) propositions you are right. But I think that a business needs or should want to hear what their customers think. Besides, this is a forum, if we are supposed to be everytime 'yes man' we are in the wrong place, you are absolutely right, we should work in Apple marketing.

I buy Apple products, but I am also so naive to think that they could improve.

I agree with you, but I think that it's good that Apple has an idiosyncratic policy of not listening to their consumers for the most part.

This thread is proof of something that Apple can improve on - not disclosing when their new refreshes/designs could potentially come out. They leave their costumers, some of which are extremely loyal, completely in the dark, and we have to consult a spiritualist or an ouija board expert just to get a sense of a potential future release. They can surely do better on this part.

I still buy their iPhones every time they come out, but I know when they come out a year in advance since it's on a fixed schedule. Communicating their product releases just a bit more when it comes to desktops would be a world of improvement.

 

[kschendel]

This thread is proof of something that Apple can improve on - not disclosing when their new refreshes/designs could potentially come out. ...

I don't know how Apple are supposed to do that, when Intel hasn't been able to hit a date for a couple years now. Unless they switch to AMD, or fiddle with the GPU side a bit, they are stuck waiting for Intel to actually deliver. What would be the point of announcing a refresh date and then not having the CPU ready?

 

[Wolf1701]

I don't know how Apple are supposed to do that, when Intel hasn't been able to hit a date for a couple years now. Unless they switch to AMD, or fiddle with the GPU side a bit, they are stuck waiting for Intel to actually deliver. What would be the point of announcing a refresh date and then not having the CPU ready?

we are used to think that there could be an upgrade only if a new cpu is there. But there is so many fields that are not cpu related... they could improve thermals, noise, scren size, faceid, T2+ (that make wonders with h265 and already free the cpu from some jobs), gpu, ...

I upgraded from an i4790k (iMac late 2014) to a i9600k (iMac 2019) and I am unimpressed by the cpu progress (I suppose single core is still a thing for my kind of job with the mac).

 

[chrisdazzo]

I'm really hoping for a refresh in the first half of 2020 so I can justify upgrading from my current 21" iMac. Worst case I buy a nice 27" with a six-core processor and an 8GB graphics card - quite a step up from the Intel integrated graphics BS.

It's a shame the 2TB Fusion drives (even 2TB SSDs) aren't available on BTO Macs with 21" displays. Were I a more daring user, I might crack the iMac open myself and replace the HDD with something nice from Crucial or Samsung, but it's been open enough times in the past couple years for covered repairs (mobo, HDD, PSU, graphics... ).

 

[CWallace]

we are used to think that there could be an upgrade only if a new cpu is there. But there is so many fields that are not cpu related... they could improve thermals, noise, scren size, faceid, T2+ (that make wonders with h265 and already free the cpu from some jobs), gpu, ...

1. Apple has improved the GPUs (you can now get Vega 20/48 with the 2019 models).
2. Most, if not all, screens at 32" are 4K which would be a downgrade. If they go 6K with the XDR's resolution, any external monitor you use would resize your windows due to resolution mismatch. The only real option is an 8K 32" display, but those are still very expensive.
3. Thermal improvement would require a new systemboard and would also likely mean the end of user-replaceable RAM (as the most obvious option is to use the iMac Pro's fan design).
4. FaceID requires a case redesign as the current case is too thin at the top to allow for the FaceID module (it is also why the iMac still has a rather weak webcam).
5. T2 is probably coming, but I am guessing there is a reason Apple has yet to add it to the iMac when it is on everything else (including the iMac Pro).