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iMac Redesign for 2018?
- Thread starter Solo2392
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The current unibody design is, I believe, 7 years old.
But even previous designs look the same from the front. My 2010 (like the 2009) looks identical from the front, even though it's different from the side.
And the biggest problem with all of them IMO is the fact they are too tall for some users for good ergnomics, because of that chin.
IMO there is absolutely nothing wrong with the design of the iMac. Do you really want to make it even smaller and more thermally challenged? I'd rather wish that Apple updated the fan system in the regular iMac - so we could use more powerful GPUs.
Well, I never said I want to make it smaller. Removing the chin doesn't necessarily make it smaller. It depends on their design choices. It's Apple that has made those decisions, but perhaps they can be revisited.
The current design was done when CPUs/GPUs/RAM didn't push the thermal envelope the way that current top-end desktop chips do.
Apple works extremely hard to select low TDP components but clearly in the case of the latest iMac it's not enough, as evidenced by the single over-worked fan kicking into over-drive to keep the innards cool when you do modest things like fire up Parallels Win 10, let alone the CPU workout of encoding video.
The #1 problem they need to solve is having an iMac that has desktop class graphics and CPU along with a stunning display but doesn't sound like a jet engine at takeoff.
They can probably solve this a number of ways, the biggest that comes to mind is with liquid cooling, as it is now very bulletproof and reliable. Theoretically an iMac that used a liquid cooling system for the warmest components could be in the same, or maybe even slimmer, sized chassis and be nearly quiet.
If the design NEEDS liquid cooling, then the design should probably be rethought.
Now, if they could put in a 16:10 display - or even a 3:2 like the Surface Studio instead of the current 16:9 - that would be a fine way to use up the "chin" without making the thing smaller.
...but on the other hand, the lower power processors have got faster. The upcoming 8th gen, 6 core, 65W i5 sounds like it might have more than enough grunt to make the hot, sweaty i7 overkill for an all-in-one.
If Apple could contrive to avoid making the cost of the upcoming headless Mac Pro too stratospheric (maybe with an i7 entry level) is there actually a need for an i7 iMac?
it has a new face-id camera and sensors on the screen.
Edit. The pic was removed...
Edit. The pic was removed...
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The current slim unibody design launched with the October 2012 model so we're at five years this month.
Which would be due a redesign I believe. Would be interesting to see what that would be tho.
There's nothing wrong with liquid cooling if that's a conscious design decision. Apple would never consider it if it was not totally bullet proof and offered an extremely long lifespan with zero maintenance.
I agree with other comments that they might be able to retire offers like i7 if lower power chips "get there" with performance.
The two big areas I can think of where people really want the fastest possible performance CPU are video processing and gaming.
They would have to switch to Nvidia. AMD has nothing that can compete in terms of pricing/perfomance and low power consumption.
I remain fairly sure that any redesign in 2018 would've been applied to the iMac Pro if it was going to happen at all. It'd be insane to release a premium machine like that in a chassis that Apple knows will be obsolete inside 12 months. It'd be a slap in the face to that market, and it'd be terrible from a logistics perspective as they'd have to continue building/packaging/shipping the old chassis exclusively for the iMac Pro until its next update, which would be an exquisitely bad arrangement that totally misses the synergistic value of making them part of the same product line in the first place.
I don't understand why anyone wants a redesign. The current design is a design masterpiece and should be displayed in museum like the G4 Cube in the future.
The current design is as thin as it can get without compromising the performance, which I would totally hate.
The current design is as thin as it can get without compromising the performance, which I would totally hate.
While I agree that the iMac has a great design Apple are working on sometime for the future of the iMac that is certain. What that is I don’t know, it doesn’t mean that it will be thinner but it could have reduced bezels, Touch Bar on the keyboard along with Touch ID or Face ID (after all the iMac Pro has support for the secure enclave that is used by Touch ID).
Well the performance IS already compromised as throttling kicks in under high load
"Previous iMacs would thermal throttle under extended 100 percent CPU load, and this year's machine is no exception. After about a 15 seconds of full load, the Kaby Lake iMac reached 99 celsius and slowed down from 4.4GHz to 4.3 and after a few more seconds was down to 4.2GHz. For the next 10 minutes of our test, it stayed at about 97 celsius and 4.2GHz, which is the rated clock speed. This is an improvement over the older model, which had to slow down to 3.8GHz to prevent from overheating. It's still disappointing, knowing that Apple has the capability to put in two fans to keep this machine running cooler, like they are doing in the upcoming iMac Pro. "
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17...5k-imac-impresses-with-desktop-class-graphics
People are already complaining about how hot/noisy the latest i7 iMac is: the iMac Pro is going to live and die on whether it can keep cool without sounding like a jet engine.
My call is that if a new iMac comes out in 2018, the specifications will top out at a 6-core 65W i5 CPU in a new slimmer form-factor, leaving customers who need more power to buy the iMac Pro or new Mac Pro (and, of course, the new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming).
...which would have been a pain except it looks as if the 8th gen 6-core 65W i5 is going to kick butt and could actually be the sweet spot for an all-in-one.
Why would you think the iMac Pro is any indication a new 2018 iMac?
I wouldn't be surprised if the iMac Pro is 2017's 1 GHz SuperDrive TiBook: The last hurrah of an aging design just before the release of a new form factor.
I have a naive question. If the internal fan is inadequate does anyone offer an external fan? ...something like a nice, quiet squirrel-cage in an external box that connects with a hose to the air intake areas of the iMac.
Tom
TOO TALL--I agree. They should reduce bezels and the chin and lower the body on the stand about an inch.
If you place these up on a monitor shelf on a modern production desk, you are always craning your neck upward to see the monitor. Not good.
