iMac next likely update?

[Sped]

It's definitely possible that Apple will quietly update the iMac with new Penryn mobile processors in January, but as someone mentioned previously, the speeds aren't faster right now. From a marketing perspective, it wouldn't mean much. I realise there is better performance, clock cycle for clock cycle, with Penryn, but we're talking on the order of 10% best case.

The reason, I believe, most folks don't think an update is imminent is because the new Montevina chipset is due in May which should bring several goodies including faster bus speed and hardware support for HD decoding.

So, is it more likely Apple will update the iMac in January and then again in May or will the company sit tight and release everything in May?

 

[es2mac]

There are more reasons to wait for an update than just spec upgrades. I might've read too much of those uneven iMac screen complaints... but Apple could fix some quirks along with an update. the aluminum iMac's are relatively new, afterall.

So update --(maybe)--> more mature product.

 

[Sped]

I was thinking of another reason iMacs might not get upgraded in January. The iMac is a consumer product and is sold in quantity prior to Christmas. That means Apple has to have considerable inventory to avoid getting caught without product. As a result, it's likely that excess inventory would carry into January making it reasonable to expect Apple to delay upgrades. As I mentioned earlier, Montevina is coming in May. If Apple plans to solve inventory issues in January, then there's not much point in releasing an upgrade in February only to change it again in May. Thoughts?

 

[~Shard~]

For what it's worth, I just bought a new iMac a couple weeks ago. I'm fairly confident we will not see any major updates to the line for quite some time. I'd say buy one and enjoy!

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I think you'll see a minor CPU speed bump come Macworld, besides that I doubt we will see any other major changes much before August/September 2008.

 

[justperry]

I think you'll see a minor CPU speed bump come Macworld, besides that I doubt we will see any other major changes much before August/September 2008.

That would be Montevina I guess since I read on the net it will be out in the second half of next year and not may as I read here.
Why would intel turn out 2 new processors in a few months,that would be dumn.
I myself think iMac will be upgraded in January,that's what I am waiting for.
I would like the Montevina chip but thats just too far away.
So,hopefully its January,got the cash so come on Apple.
Wish I could wait until a compleet overhaul on the iMac since this model isn't my favorit but my pismo died on me and I need a new one.

 

[godspeed]

In Jan I am hopping for an option to upgrade the current Imacs video card. Fair enough the Imac is not for gaming, but the older form high end spec Imac had better gaming capabilities than the current high spec Imac. In terms of marketing a product it's extremely poor form IMO from Apple. I love my Macs for editing videos and graphic design (and the form factor and OS), but I don't want to buy a pc just so I can game (and a mac pro with the top video card is priced way over my head). As far as I'm concerned you should be able play games on a Imac!

 

[Sun Baked]

In Jan I am hopping for an option to upgrade the current Imacs video card. Fair enough the Imac is not for gaming, but the older form high end spec Imac had better gaming capabilities than the current high spec Imac. In terms of marketing a product it's extremely poor form IMO from Apple. I love my Macs for editing videos and graphic design (and the form factor and OS), but I don't want to buy a pc just so I can game (and a mac pro with the top video card is priced way over my head). As far as I'm concerned you should be able play games on a Imac!

Bane of the notebooks using the mobility GPUs ...

A switch to the desktop chipset would cure all ills.

However that is unlikely to happen, with the renewed interest in the AIO Centrino as a desktop platform.

With the split giving ATI and Nvidia a chunk of business either notebook or iMac, either the iMac or MBP will get shafted, more often than not it'll likely be the iMac.

 

[i make movies]

I was thinking of another reason iMacs might not get upgraded in January. The iMac is a consumer product and is sold in quantity prior to Christmas. That means Apple has to have considerable inventory to avoid getting caught without product. As a result, it's likely that excess inventory would carry into January making it reasonable to expect Apple to delay upgrades. As I mentioned earlier, Montevina is coming in May. If Apple plans to solve inventory issues in January, then there's not much point in releasing an upgrade in February only to change it again in May. Thoughts?

Is the chipset in the peryn and montevina the same? what is it 45 nm? If it is, then why not make the motherboard switch now and work all the kinks out before they go big with quad core switch? montevina is quad core, correct? even in the mobile versions?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

For what it's worth, I just bought a new iMac a couple weeks ago. I'm fairly confident we will not see any major updates to the line for quite some time. I'd say buy one and enjoy!

Congrats and cool shard, I also am a new owner and very happy. My best guess is a march lil bump in cpu speeds and nothing else. Also all these people complaining about performance the current imac can do anything and everything except maybe run crysis with everything on. What more can you want? Great machine and the keyboard is really growing on me.

 

[~Shard~]

Congrats and cool shard, I also am a new owner and very happy. My best guess is a march lil bump in cpu speeds and nothing else. Also all these people complaining about performance the current imac can do anything and everything except maybe run crysis with everything on. What more can you want? Great machine and the keyboard is really growing on me.

Thanks, and congrats yourself, fellow new iMac owner! Yeah, the machine is going to be great for all my needs. I'm not a hardcore gamer so I will have no complaints of that nature. Plus, the iMac is made up of laptop components (chipset, RAM, etc.) and how many people expect amazing top-of-the-line gaming performance from a laptop anyway?

Looking forward to using the new keyboard as well.

So yeah, I agree, speed bump in the next few months, no major changes until the summer...

 

[Sped]

Is the chipset in the peryn and montevina the same? what is it 45 nm? If it is, then why not make the motherboard switch now and work all the kinks out before they go big with quad core switch? montevina is quad core, correct? even in the mobile versions?

Montevina is a chipset - not a processor. The Penryn processor is compatible with both the Santa Rosa chipset (current iMac) and Montevina.

Intel's strategy has been quoted as "Tick, Tock". The Tick is a new CPU followed by the Tock - a new chipset. Previously Merom CPU was released followed by the Santa Rosa chipset. Now Penryn, which is compatible with SR, will be released followed by the Montevina chipset and so on.

 

[Sped]

That would be Montevina I guess since I read on the net it will be out in the second half of next year and not may as I read here. Why would intel turn out 2 new processors in a few months,that would be dumn.

It's all conjecture of course, but Digitimes is saying Q2 08. I couldn't find the specific reference to May again.

By the way, it would be dumb to release 2 new processors in a few months. Montevina is not a processor.

 

[mag2001]

I think by next year they may have some speed bumps but nothing major. Maybe options for blue ray or HD later on.

 

[RustyMac]

I bought mine on Thanksgiving. I received it last week and was not sure to open it and keeping it. I have also been crazy busy. I decided to opened it tonight(just a few minutes ago). I was also wondering about MacWorld but after hearing everyone's opinions, it looked like there won't be an update any time soon. I was excited taking my new 24" out of the box. I set it up, plugged it in, turned it on and then I quickly notice the gradient problem. I sat there looking at the screen and could not believe it. Now what! I feel that the iMacs need an update from all the issue it's been having (I will be returning mine) Plus, I also feel now that Leopard is out this might also push for a new update since most of these machine were running Tiger.

 

[jnc]

I own about 700k of GE stock and Jack Welch never ask my opinion.

Not enough zeros

 

[zedsdead]

I bought mine on Thanksgiving. I received it last week and was not sure to open it and keeping it. I have also been crazy busy. I decided to opened it tonight(just a few minutes ago). I was also wondering about MacWorld but after hearing everyone's opinions, it looked like there won't be an update any time soon. I was excited taking my new 24" out of the box. I set it up, plugged it in, turned it on and then I quickly notice the gradient problem. I sat there looking at the screen and could not believe it. Now what! I feel that the iMacs need an update from all the issue it's been having (I will be returning mine) Plus, I also feel now that Leopard is out this might also push for a new update since most of these machine were running Tiger.

Don't worry at all...even if there is a bump, the speed changes will be minor (if you have the 2.8, the speeds of the Penryn's don't exceed that anyway)...the only real difference I can see happening is the graphics card, and if you don't game a lot, it doesn't really matter....not to mention, if Apple just gets the firmware right, the ATI card can behave much better like it does under Vista...still expecting the update to occur in the Summer when Intel releases the Montevina chipset (rumored to be Quad-Core mobile I think).

 

[BKKbill]

Not enough zeros

I've found zeros are easy until you put numbers in front of them. Aah but such is life. Oh I don't expect any big changes for the iMac.

 

[chaosbunny]

In Jan I am hopping for an option to upgrade the current Imacs video card. Fair enough the Imac is not for gaming, but the older form high end spec Imac had better gaming capabilities than the current high spec Imac. In terms of marketing a product it's extremely poor form IMO from Apple. I love my Macs for editing videos and graphic design (and the form factor and OS), but I don't want to buy a pc just so I can game (and a mac pro with the top video card is priced way over my head). As far as I'm concerned you should be able play games on a Imac!

Strange, I play bioshock, medal of honor airborne and world of warcraft just fine on my 24" iMac 2,8 ghz. I didn't know I am not able to do so, I'll erase these programs as soon as possible.

 

[fastlanephil]

Here's My Therory!

The iMac 2.8 may be updated with the newer chips but still at 2.8 GHz.

What I think will change is the option for a more powerful graphics card like the previous generation.

Holding this back until Macworld will spur sales of the near EOL Mac Pros which are a real cash cow right now for Apple considering Apple's cost per unit vs what they are still selling for.

 

[qpid]

You obviously haven't followed Apple very long. There have been several examples of Apple announcing something new at a Macworld, etc. and then stating that it would be available in 2-3 months. The most recent example I can think of (besides the iPhone which you quoted) is the Apple TV. It was announced in the fall of 06, detailed at Macworld 07, and then shipped in March.

Those were not product changes but were instead NEW products. Apple doesn't want to announce changes ahead of time because then people wouldn't buy the current stuff.

 

[MacHiavelli]

Hello everyone, very nice forum you have here.

I'm Mac person- have a G5 iMac on my desk at work and an older G4 iMac at home.

My family is planning to purchase a new Intel iMac sometime after Christmas.

Is there likely to be an update in the next few months? I gather from reading around the forum that some of you have a good sense of the next processor upgrade and so on. Will the next one likely have a 512 Meg video card?

Thanks in advance-

Brent

Hey Brent

This page is worth a read.... soon, perhaps:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ch_penryn_mobile_chips_ahead_of_macworld.html

 

[Sped]

Those were not product changes but were instead NEW products. Apple doesn't want to announce changes ahead of time because then people wouldn't buy the current stuff.

Not quite. In the past, Apple has announced products that wouldn't be shipping for some time - Power Mac G5, Quad Power Mac, and MacBook Pro. When I bought my G4 iMac, it was announced at Macworld SF '02 but I didn't receive it until March.

 

[GradientMac]

I hate that technology moves so damn fast, you buy a Mac and your computer is obsolete in a month, technically.

I want an iMac VERY much but I don't want to buy one, be happy with it for a day and then find out there's a better, nicer iMac with faster processors and a LOWER price the next day and feel like I was just thrown out of a computer.

 

[BKKbill]

I hate that technology moves so damn fast, you buy a Mac and your computer is obsolete in a month, technically.

I want an iMac VERY much but I don't want to buy one, be happy with it for a day and then find out there's a better, nicer iMac with faster processors and a LOWER price the next day and feel like I was just thrown out of a computer.

I can tell by your reply you have never purchased a new car. Talk about loosing a few thousand just driving out of the lot and that takes less than a minute.