iMac Redesign for 2018?

[stillcrazyman]

I'm really surprised there hasn't been any rumors floating about a redesigned iMac this year. So, I'm not expecting a new machine to be announced.

I'm still rocking my Late 2012 iMac 27". I replaced the internal spin HD with a OWC SSD. That was the best upgrade.
I don't know if the current 2017s, or even a possible spec bumped iMac would be all that wonderful to entice me to replace my current machine. I edit thousands of photos a year on it and hasn't let me down.
Although I know it won't last forever, I have a budget for a new one in the next year or so. All depending on the specs/value.

 

[ThatSandWyrm]

Exactly - that's why I don't think we'll see a drastic external redesign.....
I would like the new iMAC to have more TB3 ports though - maybe 4 like the iMAC Pro.....
I just want one to release already!!

If I remember correctly, having more than two TB3 ports requires a XEON chipset.

 

[sublunar]

I don't see why people are still discussing a redesign when we've already seen how the iMac Pro has turned out. The redesign is here - and you can choose it in Space Grey or Silver - just buy an iMac Pro.

On the assumption that Coffee Lake CPUs get their big introduction the top iMac 27" SKU is expected to get the i5-8600K for 6 cores at 3.7GHz (and a 95w TDP) in the 27" model while the GPU won't be massively improved at all despite an X relabel.

With the iMac Pro on the scene this year there might be an argument for adopting the iMac Pro cooling system, forgoing the i7 CPU in return for spending the spare 30w on the VEGA 56 GPU instead and avoiding obvious performance comparisons with the aforementioned iMac Pro.

Apple could even choose to lower the bar to the iMac Pro experience by offering a lower SKU containing the Coffee Lake i7 options but with the VEGA 56 GPU.
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If I remember correctly, having more than two TB3 ports requires a XEON chipset.

I think it just needs Apple to buy an additional 2 channel Thunderbolt controller but the more pertinent point would be having enough spare PCIe lanes on the CPU itself plus the PCH - 4 full speed ports would be tight but the 15" MacBook Pro gets away with it. Keeping just 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the vanilla iMac is a good way of differentiating between the Pro and vanilla models.

 

[EugW]

I don't see why people are still discussing a redesign when we've already seen how the iMac Pro has turned out. The redesign is here - and you can choose it in Space Grey or Silver - just buy an iMac Pro.

On the assumption that Coffee Lake CPUs get their big introduction the top iMac 27" SKU is expected to get the i5-8600K for 6 cores at 3.7GHz (and a 95w TDP) in the 27" model while the GPU won't be massively improved at all despite an X relabel.

With the iMac Pro on the scene this year there might be an argument for adopting the iMac Pro cooling system, forgoing the i7 CPU in return for spending the spare 30w on the VEGA 56 GPU instead and avoiding obvious performance comparisons with the aforementioned iMac Pro.

Apple could even choose to lower the bar to the iMac Pro experience by offering a lower SKU containing the Coffee Lake i7 options but with the VEGA 56 GPU.

The top of the line iMac non-Pro will likely get i7-8700K, which is also 95 W TDP.

However, it will be loud under load.

 

[sublunar]

The top of the line iMac non-Pro will likely get i7-8700K, which is also 95 W TDP.

However, it will be loud under load.

But it will also start to get close to the base iMac Pro in terms of benchmarks with 6 cores, 12 threads. There could be a case for Apple drawing professionals to a higher average selling price product by moving the i7 option into a higher priced iMac Pro SKU.

They can do this with the extra core count of the Coffee Lake i5 CPUs making up some of the difference - it would also means a cooler-running experience and perhaps the ability to add Vega 56 as an option to a lower iMac.

 

[EugW]

But it will also start to get close to the base iMac Pro in terms of benchmarks with 6 cores, 12 threads. There could be a case for Apple drawing professionals to a higher average selling price product by moving the i7 option into a higher priced iMac Pro SKU.

They can do this with the extra core count of the Coffee Lake i5 CPUs making up some of the difference - it would also means a cooler-running experience and perhaps the ability to add Vega 56 as an option to a lower iMac.

Nah. Apple would be foolish to do that. Apple stands to make way more money on the iMac 8700K than the niche iMac Pro.

 

[ThatSandWyrm]

All true. And yet I nevertheless still believe that iMac Pro owners will be mad if Apple launches a redesigned iMac.

The stupid & vain ones maybe. I’d only be grouchy if it had a better CPU and/or GPU than my iMac Pro.

 

[Lammers]

I agree but they will probably end-up with different iMac colors for the 20th anniversary, so they match iPad & iPhone. It would be a good time for redesign but hey, it's not like they want the best product, they only want to milk the cow. They still have a decent product and they're probably the only AIO with a 100% P3 accurate display. They will probably add the T2 arm chip.

The celebration of the 20th anniversary has happened already (plus it would be out of character for Apple to launch products celebrating an anniversary), they won’t have different colour iMacs (as the market is too small to bother with, plus a massive gold or rose gold etc iMac would be distasteful and Apple cares about taste), and they don’t care about having iMac colors that match iPhone and iPad colours.

T2 is a good point though - that will surely come to all Macs, question is whether it comes to iMac in this next cycle.

 

[Lammers]

The top of the line iMac non-Pro will likely get i7-8700K, which is also 95 W TDP.

However, it will be loud under load.

Surely the iMac Pro is evidence that Apple has already solved the thermal challenges in the iMac chassis?

I don’t see why a new iMac couldn’t have the cooling system from the iMac Pro.

 

[ThatSandWyrm]

I don't know about you but behind my screens there's a wall, not a bunch of crazy clowns trying to get my attention I don't need any bezels to focus.

IMO, bezels are useless and Apple is not about keeping iconic designs forever but about minimalism and trying to get rid of anything they deem not necessary for the sake of simplicity. Bezels are similar to the ports that were removed on the MBP and touchID and audio jack on the iPhone. They are clutter on the devices' design and technology now allows Apple to remove them.
[doublepost=1526555485][/doublepost]Another competing AIO was refreshed and it looks amazing IMO. Although I’m sure a few here will complain about the curved screen.

Wireless charging on the base is a nice feature.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12757/hp-2018-envy-34-inch-curved-all-in-one-gets-cozier

No pricing or detailed specs yet.

Never worked in an open office? Most iMacs I see used at companies are not in front of a wall, but facing outward from the wall-less part of an L-shaped desk. At best, they’re back-to-back with another iMac. The walls are used for book storage.

Without the bezels, you’d be more distracted by people walking by, etc. They also provide visual color isolation for when you’re doing something color-critical for your work.

 

[Nik73]

I was hoping for new iPad pros at WWDC, but my 2011 iMac crapped out the other day so I’m hoping for a refresh. I would LOVE a redesign, but can’t see it with the complete lack of rumours.
FWIW my iMac is the best computer I’ve ever had and after 7 years was still amazingly fast. I appreciate they often seem underspecced, but after 12 years of using Macs I’ve stopped worrying about them. Performance is always off the charts for me when new and the extra cost is justified as their useable life is way longer than a Windows PC. My 2008 MBP is still very useable, which makes it cracking value in my book.

 

[sublunar]

Nah. Apple would be foolish to do that. Apple stands to make way more money on the iMac 8700K than the niche iMac Pro.

The point I was making was to reduce the price of the iMac Pro by making an SKU with, say, i7, 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD, and Vega 56 GPU. Remove the i7 option from the standard iMac, see how many people migrate to a 6 core, 12 thread Pro model priced accordingly for well under $4k.

Just a thought on the direction the regular iMac could take but if you lose the i7 from the normal model you could get higher performing GPU such as Vega 56 which would help drive a 5k screen as well as help with GPU centric tasks more than the hyper threading would.

I'm expecting a headless Mac Pro to major on the CPU cores in comparison.

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Surely the iMac Pro is evidence that Apple has already solved the thermal challenges in the iMac chassis?

I don’t see why a new iMac couldn’t have the cooling system from the iMac Pro.

Be careful what you wish for. It would make for a quieter experience at the lower end of the market, but you lose the RAM access door.
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The celebration of the 20th anniversary has happened already (plus it would be out of character for Apple to launch products celebrating an anniversary), they won’t have different colour iMacs (as the market is too small to bother with, plus a massive gold or rose gold etc iMac would be distasteful and Apple cares about taste), and they don’t care about having iMac colors that match iPhone and iPad colours.

T2 is a good point though - that will surely come to all Macs, question is whether it comes to iMac in this next cycle.

A different colour anodised version might be interesting (Product RED anyone?) or Gold for the far east markets might play out there.

The big thing would be FaceID in a Mac. If not this year it has to be coming soon. It's also a reason for assuming that Apple could rethink the Mac Mini as a keyboard computer with TouchID on it - but that's fairly far fetched, especially with Apple's recent record with keyboards

 

[EugW]

The point I was making was to reduce the price of the iMac Pro by making an SKU with, say, i7, 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD, and Vega 56 GPU. Remove the i7 option from the standard iMac, see how many people migrate to a 6 core, 12 thread Pro model priced accordingly for well under $4k.

Just a thought on the direction the regular iMac could take but if you lose the i7 from the normal model you could get higher performing GPU such as Vega 56 which would help drive a 5k screen as well as help with GPU centric tasks more than the hyper threading would.

I'm expecting a headless Mac Pro to major on the CPU cores in comparison.

My prediction is none of the non-Pro iMacs will get Vega this time around, so that’s a pretty big differentiator already, i7 or not.

BTW, if they got rid of 8700K due to TDP concerns, they’d probably have to get rid of 8600K as well.
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Surely the iMac Pro is evidence that Apple has already solved the thermal challenges in the iMac chassis?

I don’t see why a new iMac couldn’t have the cooling system from the iMac Pro.

It’s a completely different machine internally. I suspect Apple won’t bother changing the i7 internals. And if they did, we could lose memory upgradability.

 

[294307]

I'm really surprised there hasn't been any rumors floating about a redesigned iMac this year. So, I'm not expecting a new machine to be announced.

Apple may have simply managed to keep the redesign secret so far. Have you considered that? Not everything needs to be leaked for people to think Apple are up to something interesting.

 

[stillcrazyman]

Apple may have simply managed to keep the redesign secret so far. Have you considered that? Not everything needs to be leaked for people to think Apple are up to something interesting.

Right you are.

 

[mreg376]

Apple may have simply managed to keep the redesign secret so far. Have you considered that? Not everything needs to be leaked for people to think Apple are up to something interesting.

You might be right, but that would be a first.

 

[xgman]

N

Without the bezels, you’d be more distracted by people walking by, etc.

I hope this is a joke.

By the way, I don't recall when the imac slimmed down the edges a few years back, that there were any rumors in advance of that redesign.

 

[Freida]

Apple may have simply managed to keep the redesign secret so far. Have you considered that? Not everything needs to be leaked for people to think Apple are up to something interesting.

Although a redesign would be very nice I highly doubt it will happen this year! My reasoning? Simple, they have released iMac Pro recently and the machines internals were probably the biggest redesign to handle to power but the outside is the same except the colour. Seeing as Apple likes to make the 'PRO' stuff get the sparkle first then I doubt they would redesign the iMac to make it way cooler than the iMac Pro is now. Somehow, because of the iMac Pro, I feel its too early although way overdue (those bezels need to be reduced). I kinda hope that I'm wrong as I am waiting for a refresh to finally get a desktop after being stuck with the laptop so I hope they will tweak the design. Ideally, iMac Pro internals (dual fans) + reduced bezels. That would be very nice.

 

[fathergll]

Although a redesign would be very nice I highly doubt it will happen this year! My reasoning? Simple, they have released iMac Pro recently and the machines internals were probably the biggest redesign to handle to power but the outside is the same except the colour. Seeing as Apple likes to make the 'PRO' stuff get the sparkle first then I doubt they would redesign the iMac to make it way cooler than the iMac Pro is now. Somehow, because of the iMac Pro, I feel its too early although way overdue (those bezels need to be reduced). I kinda hope that I'm wrong as I am waiting for a refresh to finally get a desktop after being stuck with the laptop so I hope they will tweak the design. Ideally, iMac Pro internals (dual fans) + reduced bezels. That would be very nice.

To me it entirely depends on where they actually plan on taking the regular iMac in the future. The one consent across all Apple lineups is that they are making their computers smaller, less ports and less accessibility. Thats been the trend for years now. The only thing I might worry about is Apple making a drastic change and having the iMac really slim... more like a giant Macbook Pro on a stand which would then really separate the iMac Pro and iMac lineups. Apple has gimped computers before. Compare the 2012 Mac Mini to the 2014 Mac Mini. The 2012 has a quad core i7 option with user accessible ram and the 2014 went to a dual core i7 with sodered ram that wasn't even a design change. Look at various ports removed from laptops despite the huge outcry from users. Apple survived tons of bad press with Final Cut X and removing the headphone jack of their iPhone which is essentially where all of their money is coming from.

There a good chance none of this takes place this year and we are treated to 6 core i7s in the same body as before but you really never know. They could do a reveal this June showcasing a new slim iMac that will be shipping in the fall and it wouldn't alienate the current iMac Pro owners since the shiny new iMac isn't a workhorse. If Apple releases a newly designed iMac with 16 core AMD threadrippers then yes you would have some mighty upset iMac Pro owners.

 

[craigrusse11]

Just because there is no rumors doesn't mean it can't happen. Last year nobody new any hardware design specifics of the iMac Pro right up till it was revealed... its also quite possible for them to present a "mock up" on stage or even just a render on a presentation and say coming Q3, thereby having it go no where near a factory to be photographed.

 

[mreg376]

Just because there is no rumors doesn't mean it can't happen. Last year nobody new any hardware design specifics of the iMac Pro right up till it was revealed... its also quite possible for them to present a "mock up" on stage or even just a render on a presentation and say coming Q3, thereby having it go no where near a factory to be photographed.

But there were rumors of a new powerful Mac Pro or something like it coming.

 

[sputnikBA]

We didn't know it would be positioned as an "iMac Pro", but there were indeed rumours of a more powerful iMac long before the iMP was revealed.

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I, for one, aren't waiting for an updated iMac just for another spec bump -- I'm specifically waiting for an updated design (and have been for a long time). No updated design = no sale. I'm not settling now after this long wait. I'm currently using a thin-bezel 27" 4k display with a Windows 10 PC and will not go back to something I find ugly. The current iMac doesn't look appealing at all now. Even Dell has a better looking all-in-one. I'm anxiously awaiting returning to macOS for my home office, but will not purchase the current design with a only spec bump.

Yes, I can see that. What really annoys me is the reinstalling. Recently I re-installed Windows 7 Professional on a friend's laptop after I replaced her HD with an SSD. She didn't want to restore from a backup because she was complaining that Windows had become (of course) slow and glitchy. So first you install the original OEM system. But to update to the present you have to go through literally about eight reboots because Windows is unable to update itself from the past to the present in one shot. It sees a bunch of updates initially, reboots. It sees new updates, reboots. It sees new updates again, reboots, and so on and so on. And then of course I have to do a driver hunt for all the installed hardware. Hadn't done a Windows reinstall for years and it was the same nightmare that takes hours of attention. With a Mac you put in the original operating system, and you update to the current operating system. Done. Is Windows 10 the same way as Windows 7?

I'm not sure about Windows 7, but with Windows 10 you can download an Update Assistant from Microsoft that is a cumulative update. It'll install every update with only one reboot. I recently did a new install of Windows 10 using the original USB installer from two years ago, and then used the Update Assistant for the most recent update. After waiting for the update to download -- it was several GB -- it installed very quickly and was fully up to date with only one reboot.

 

[mreg376]

I fully respect the fact that you find the iMac ugly. But you're definitely in a tiny minority, for most people who are ready to see it change still don't find it "ugly."

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I fully respect the fact that you find the iMac ugly. But you're definitely in a tiny minority, for most people who are ready to see it change still don't find it "ugly."

The iMac design was great when it was first released. There wasn't anything else like it. I've owned the aluminum 24", 21.5", and 27" over the years. But it is no longer attractive when compared to other displays. (I also had a purple iMac way way back, haha.)

Of course there are those who will purchase an iMac regardless of looks because they have an immediate need for one, but I'd argue that it isn't possible to look at an iMac and not feel that it is a dated design. (It's been what, almost 10 years since the current iMac design was released, with some minimal changes since?) Apple knows that, and the design will be updated eventually.

I am in a minority of purchasers because I am platform agnostic. I can do my work on any platform, but I've been a Mac user since the 90s and would like to have access to both platforms on the same hardware. The only thing that would bring me back to iMac would be a new design. I have a 4k monitor now but I'd really like to have a 5k iMac. Fingers crossed Apple launches a redesign sooner rather than later.
[doublepost=1527135992][/doublepost]And I want to add -- I say all of this as someone who used to be a huge Apple fan. I was a Mac guy for a long time. I've been to Macworld just to see Steve Jobs deliver the keynote in person. I've had everything Apple makes -- laptops, desktops, monitors, phones. I used to be a very passionate Apple fan and watched every keynote, salivating over the latest specs that I just had to have. So it actually feels very frustrating to me that Apple hasn't released anything new and exciting on the desktop Mac front for many years.

I want to be excited by a desktop Mac again not because of specs, but because the hardware looks freaking amazing. Apple used to be the only company that could make a new desktop that I'd immediately want to spend money on. I've had it all -- MacBooks, iBooks, G3/G4/G5/Pro towers, Mac Minis, iMacs.

I don't think I'm being unfair when I state that the current design of the iMac isn't just uninspiring -- it's a step down from anything offered by the competition. Apple can and will do better. It's just frustrating waiting for it.