iMac Refresh This Year ('18)?

[Jodeo]

The iMacs were updated in June 2017 - some 600 days after the last update in '15! With the MR average being 371 days and having 359 days since last year's announcement, I'm wondering if there's any fresh speculation on this.

I've been saving money to replace my 2007 iMac, which is maxed out (save a SSD, and I could upgrade to Mavericks I guess) and still running OK. But... it's getting time to move on (and the iMac Pro, even refurbed, is too far out of my range).

I can be patient, but hoping that new iMacs will come along this year but just not seeing any hints.

 

[Thebeat07]

The iMacs were updated in June 2017 - some 600 days after the last update in '15! With the MR average being 371 days and having 359 days since last year's announcement, I'm wondering if there's any fresh speculation on this.

I've been saving money to replace my 2007 iMac, which is maxed out (save a SSD, and I could upgrade to Mavericks I guess) and still running OK. But... it's getting time to move on (and the iMac Pro, even refurbed, is too far out of my range).

I can be patient, but hoping that new iMacs will come along this year but just not seeing any hints.

I agree, i am hoping they get at least a spec bump at next week’s WWDC

 

[Juicy Box]

I'm wondering if there's any fresh speculation on this.

This gets asked often, instead of typing all over again stuff, I will share my thoughts from another recent thread with someone asking a similar question, I will just copy and paste from that thread. I removed some of the quoted stuff and edited my stuff to give some context:

Let me start by saying that I have no idea when Apple will refresh the iMac. I doubt anyone on this forum knows for sure, and if they do, they probably would not tell anyone. My thoughts on the matter are based on my on observations and guesses, not from some secret source I have. So, I could be totally wrong, and Apple might refresh the iMac as early as tomorrow.

I wouldn't be surprised if a new iMac would launch until the end of the year or 2019. I think this is more likely than at the WWDC, Apple has had many iMac refreshes/launches/announcements during October.

I have a few educated guesses why I think this.

Could you please share them all? I'd be really interested in hearing them

One obvious thing would be the lack of rumors. There was only one recently, and the timeline of that one was maybe the end of the year.

Another reason is that the iMac Pro has not been out that long. A new iMac might cannibalize iMac Pro sales.

WWDC is typically software focused, not saying an iMac refresh couldn't happen, I looked it up and last WWDC the iMac was refreshed with the mid-2017 iMacs. But, I also looked it up, and in the past 11 years, only once was the iMac refreshed during the WWDC, and that was last year.

The iMac is overdo for a major redesign. An argument could be made saying that the iMac was already redesigned with the 5K, but I consider the last major one to be Late 2012. Maybe Apple might hold off on a refresh to do a redesign. I guess it could be done at the WWDC, but for reasons I already mentioned about possible cannibalization of the iMac Pro, Apple might hold off a bit for a redesign.

No GPU - I can't remember where I read about it, but I remember seeing that there is not a suitable GPU for a refreshed iMac. That leaves Apple with a choice to reuse the same GPUs as the 2017's, or use the one in the iMac Pro, which again, could cannibalize sales of it.

I plan to buy one on the next refresh and from my understanding it's obvious that there will be a refresh in the next few months but if you have convincing arguments that it's "extremely unlikely" I'd love to hear them because I'd reconsider my buying plan.

I wouldn't base your purchases off of my guesses, as clearly I have know idea when. I would recommend going by this:

-If you need it, get it. It is not once an iMac refresh/redesign happens the 2017 iMacs will be crap.
-If you want it, but can wait, just wait. I am not sure how badly you need a new iMac, but as long as you can get by with what you have, the next iMac might be worth the wait.
-Lastly, be careful what you wish for. The new iMacs might be out at the WWDC, and it could be a situation like the 2014 Mac Minis where they were considered a downgrade from the 2012s. The next iMac could have soldered RAM, no user replaceable parts, and less ports. Who knows, you might end up getting the 2017 iMac anyway.

These are just guesses, I would base your decision on when to get an iMac on other things, such as needs and wants.

This, IMO, is like saying that Apple can't update the iPad or the MacBook because of their Pro counterparts.

I assume you are referring to this comment?:

Another reason is that the iMac Pro has not been out that long. A new iMac might cannibalize iMac Pro sales.

I would say that in the past, the Pro line of Apple products were differentiated from the rest of the product like based off design, specs, and for the Mac desktop line, expandability and user replaceable parts. Having the Pro and non-Pro lines so different enabled Apple to release/refresh them at the same time or close together. For the iMac, I think that the Pro version is not so differentiated from the non-Pro version, that having an update of the cheaper non-Pro so close to the Pro could take away potential sales from the more expensive Pro line.

Apple has always been able to keep separate product lines for different markets while making sure they all sell well.

I agree, at least until recently. Before, there was only a few "Pro" Apple products, and they were very different from their non-pro counter parts. Now, there are more Pro products that are not that different from their non-Pro counterparts.

 

[jerwin]

I've been saving money to replace my 2007 iMac, which is maxed out (save a SSD, and I could upgrade to Mavericks I guess) and still running OK. But... it's getting time to move on (and the iMac Pro, even refurbed, is too far out of my range)

2007? A core 2 extreme paired with an ATI Radeon Pro 2600?

It is time to move on. Even a 2017 imac would be a substantial upgrade.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

2007? A core 2 extreme paired with an ATI Radeon Pro 2600?

It is time to move on. Even a 2017 imac would be a substantial upgrade.

Even a 2012 iMac would be a substantial upgrade.

 

[Fishrrman]

Fearless prediction:

New iMacs WILL NOT be announced at WWDC next week.

New iMacs -might- come later this year, I'd say the odds are 60/40 for/against.

Remember, the 2017 iMac was preceded by the 2015 iMac -- almost 2 years in the making.

Apple doesn't seem to be in any sort of hurry these days, insofar as the "Mac product line" is concerned.

 

[fathergll]

My prediction:

New iMacs shipping next week

• AMD RYZEN Threadripper 1950X 16-Core
• 128GB 2400MHz DDR4
• 4TB SSD
• GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with 11GB video memory
• Starting at $999 with above configuration
• Optional Batman special edition in Jet Black and the Bat logo replaces the Apple logo

 

[Juicy Box]

Well, according to this, there might not be any major hardware announcements at the 2018 WWDC:

Ahead of the keynote, Bloomberg's well-sourced Mark Gurman has outlined what he expects Apple to discuss on stage:

Unfortunately for those hoping to see Apple refresh its product lineups at WWDC, Gurman suggests that "a suite of new gadgets is unlikely," although a surprise hardware announcement or two cannot be entirely ruled out.

What is really strange is that when mentioning Macs that will be ready "later this year", any news about new iMacs seems to be missing:

Gurman claims Apple is working on refreshed MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch models, and a new low-cost MacBook, but he doesn't expect any of those devices to be ready until "later this year."Refreshes to the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro lines with next-generation Intel chips ready "later this year."

Maybe my prediction that Apple will hold off new iMacs until 2019 might be right.

 

[xgman]

Well, according to this, there might not be any major hardware announcements at the 2018 WWDC:

Did anyone seriously think there would be? When it's time to update imacs it will come out of left field and there will be little if any notice and you can be certain it will be somewhat of an afterthought.

 

[Glmnet1]

Something a lot of people seem to forget concerning Macs refresh is how it's always following more or less closely the CPU releases by Intel. The adequate CPUs for new iMacs have been out for a few months now. Unless Apple plans to forget about the iMac like they did with the Mac Mini, killing their last consumer desktop Mac in the process, they will update it soon. Launching a new iMac in 2019 with chips from Q4'17 would be quite surprising and so would skipping that generation entirely.

The only times Apple skipped a generation there were some obvious reasons why, such as long delays bringing it close to the next generation or inadequate parts for their products. With Coffee Lake I don't see a reason why they can't do it and considering that Intel raised the core count on most chips, it would look terribly bad in terms of marketing not to upgrade.

 

[Juicy Box]

Did anyone seriously think there would be?

Um yeah, if you look at this thread, and many other threads, there are many people thinking that there would be iMacs announced, and there still could be. I just don't think there will be any announced at the WWDC, and probably not until 2019.
[doublepost=1527798417][/doublepost]

Something a lot of people seem to forget concerning Macs refresh is how it's always following more or less closely the CPU releases by Intel. The adequate CPUs for new iMacs have been out for a few months now. Unless Apple plans to forget about the iMac like they did with the Mac Mini, killing their last consumer desktop Mac in the process, they will update it soon. Launching a new iMac in 2019 with chips from Q4'17 would be quite surprising and so would skipping that generation entirely.

While this is true, there are other things to be considered besides Intel's release schedule.

The only times Apple skipped a generation there were some obvious reasons why

This whole post are some reasons:

This gets asked often, instead of typing all over again stuff, I will share my thoughts from another recent thread with someone asking a similar question, I will just copy and paste from that thread. I removed some of the quoted stuff and edited my stuff to give some context:

Let me start by saying that I have no idea when Apple will refresh the iMac. I doubt anyone on this forum knows for sure, and if they do, they probably would not tell anyone. My thoughts on the matter are based on my on observations and guesses, not from some secret source I have. So, I could be totally wrong, and Apple might refresh the iMac as early as tomorrow.

I wouldn't be surprised if a new iMac would launch until the end of the year or 2019. I think this is more likely than at the WWDC, Apple has had many iMac refreshes/launches/announcements during October.

I have a few educated guesses why I think this.


One obvious thing would be the lack of rumors. There was only one recently, and the timeline of that one was maybe the end of the year.

Another reason is that the iMac Pro has not been out that long. A new iMac might cannibalize iMac Pro sales.

WWDC is typically software focused, not saying an iMac refresh couldn't happen, I looked it up and last WWDC the iMac was refreshed with the mid-2017 iMacs. But, I also looked it up, and in the past 11 years, only once was the iMac refreshed during the WWDC, and that was last year.

The iMac is overdo for a major redesign. An argument could be made saying that the iMac was already redesigned with the 5K, but I consider the last major one to be Late 2012. Maybe Apple might hold off on a refresh to do a redesign. I guess it could be done at the WWDC, but for reasons I already mentioned about possible cannibalization of the iMac Pro, Apple might hold off a bit for a redesign.

No GPU - I can't remember where I read about it, but I remember seeing that there is not a suitable GPU for a refreshed iMac. That leaves Apple with a choice to reuse the same GPUs as the 2017's, or use the one in the iMac Pro, which again, could cannibalize sales of it.





I wouldn't base your purchases off of my guesses, as clearly I have know idea when. I would recommend going by this:

-If you need it, get it. It is not once an iMac refresh/redesign happens the 2017 iMacs will be crap.
-If you want it, but can wait, just wait. I am not sure how badly you need a new iMac, but as long as you can get by with what you have, the next iMac might be worth the wait.
-Lastly, be careful what you wish for. The new iMacs might be out at the WWDC, and it could be a situation like the 2014 Mac Minis where they were considered a downgrade from the 2012s. The next iMac could have soldered RAM, no user replaceable parts, and less ports. Who knows, you might end up getting the 2017 iMac anyway.

These are just guesses, I would base your decision on when to get an iMac on other things, such as needs and wants.

I assume you are referring to this comment?:

I would say that in the past, the Pro line of Apple products were differentiated from the rest of the product like based off design, specs, and for the Mac desktop line, expandability and user replaceable parts. Having the Pro and non-Pro lines so different enabled Apple to release/refresh them at the same time or close together. For the iMac, I think that the Pro version is not so differentiated from the non-Pro version, that having an update of the cheaper non-Pro so close to the Pro could take away potential sales from the more expensive Pro line.


I agree, at least until recently. Before, there was only a few "Pro" Apple products, and they were very different from their non-pro counter parts. Now, there are more Pro products that are not that different from their non-Pro counterparts.

But, if you don't want to read all that, just the part about not having a suitable GPU might be enough reason for Apple to wait on a new iMac. I am not sure how often Apple has refreshed the iMac with a new CPU, but an old GPU.

I guess Apple could use the one from the iMac Pro for the top tier iMac, while bumping up the other tiers, but again, this might cannibalize sales from the iMac Pro.

 

[Glmnet1]

Um yeah, if you look at this thread, and many other threads, there are many people thinking that there would be iMacs announced, and there still could be. I just don't think there will be any announced at the WWDC, and probably not until 2019.
[doublepost=1527798417][/doublepost] While this is true, there are other things to be considered besides Intel's release schedule.



This whole post are some reasons:


But, if you don't want to read all that, just the part about not having a suitable GPU might be enough reason for Apple to wait on a new iMac. I am not sure how often Apple has refreshed the iMac with a new CPU, but an old GPU.

I guess Apple could use the one from the iMac Pro for the top tier iMac, while bumping up the other tiers, but again, this might cannibalize sales from the iMac Pro.

Thanks for sharing this again, you sent it the first time to me and then I saw it on at least 2 threads now

While I agree with some of those arguments, I don't think any of them are good enough to stall an iMac refresh until 2019. Especially not the iMac Pro one. Maybe until fall but that's it. It's their only decent consumer desktop and it will soon start to look quite bad with "only" 4 cores and old CPUs.

As for the GPU, I could see them releasing the iMac with the iMac Pro cooling system. They could then use the rebadged 500X GPUs and throttle them a bit less thanks to the better cooling system, claim better performances on those "new" chips and call it a day.

It also wouldn't be the first time where they release a new product with not released yet GPUs, like they did last year I believe. A Vega 32 would be a nice surprise.

 

[Juicy Box]

Thanks for sharing this again, you sent it the first time to me and then I saw it on at least 2 threads now

Sorry about that, these type of questions get asked often, I probably see them about once a week. So sometimes I link old threads, or use the quotes from old threads to answer the questions.

They could then use the rebadged 500X GPUs and throttle them a bit less thanks to the better cooling system, claim better performances on those "new" chips and call it a day.

You could be totally right about this. I think I mentioned in this thread about possible a redesign, and that the iMac is over do.

Actually, I will make a counter point against my first post that goes with yours, the current i7 iMacs have a cooling issue. This could lead to a sooner-than-later redesign that addresses the overheating issues, much like you mentioned in the post I quoted. I still doubt it will be at the WWDC though.

 

[Glmnet1]

Sorry about that, these type of questions get asked often, I probably see them about once a week. So sometimes I link old threads, or use the quotes from old threads to answer the questions.


You could be totally right about this. I think I mentioned in this thread about possible a redesign, and that the iMac is over do.

Actually, I will make a counter point against my first post that goes with yours, the current i7 iMacs have a cooling issue. This could lead to a sooner-than-later redesign that addresses the overheating issues, much like you mentioned in the post I quoted. I still doubt it will be at the WWDC though.

No problem!

Yeah, I'm slowly losing hope to see it at WWDC. Even more if they plan a redesign (which I'd be glad to wait a few more months for). We'll see!

 

[Marty80]

Until we see any rumours surface i say no, its been pretty quiet lately.

 

[macduke]

This gets asked often, instead of typing all over again stuff, I will share my thoughts from another recent thread with someone asking a similar question, I will just copy and paste from that thread. I removed some of the quoted stuff and edited my stuff to give some context:

Let me start by saying that I have no idea when Apple will refresh the iMac. I doubt anyone on this forum knows for sure, and if they do, they probably would not tell anyone. My thoughts on the matter are based on my on observations and guesses, not from some secret source I have. So, I could be totally wrong, and Apple might refresh the iMac as early as tomorrow.

I wouldn't be surprised if a new iMac would launch until the end of the year or 2019. I think this is more likely than at the WWDC, Apple has had many iMac refreshes/launches/announcements during October.

I have a few educated guesses why I think this.


One obvious thing would be the lack of rumors. There was only one recently, and the timeline of that one was maybe the end of the year.

Another reason is that the iMac Pro has not been out that long. A new iMac might cannibalize iMac Pro sales.

WWDC is typically software focused, not saying an iMac refresh couldn't happen, I looked it up and last WWDC the iMac was refreshed with the mid-2017 iMacs. But, I also looked it up, and in the past 11 years, only once was the iMac refreshed during the WWDC, and that was last year.

The iMac is overdo for a major redesign. An argument could be made saying that the iMac was already redesigned with the 5K, but I consider the last major one to be Late 2012. Maybe Apple might hold off on a refresh to do a redesign. I guess it could be done at the WWDC, but for reasons I already mentioned about possible cannibalization of the iMac Pro, Apple might hold off a bit for a redesign.

No GPU - I can't remember where I read about it, but I remember seeing that there is not a suitable GPU for a refreshed iMac. That leaves Apple with a choice to reuse the same GPUs as the 2017's, or use the one in the iMac Pro, which again, could cannibalize sales of it.





I wouldn't base your purchases off of my guesses, as clearly I have know idea when. I would recommend going by this:

-If you need it, get it. It is not once an iMac refresh/redesign happens the 2017 iMacs will be crap.
-If you want it, but can wait, just wait. I am not sure how badly you need a new iMac, but as long as you can get by with what you have, the next iMac might be worth the wait.
-Lastly, be careful what you wish for. The new iMacs might be out at the WWDC, and it could be a situation like the 2014 Mac Minis where they were considered a downgrade from the 2012s. The next iMac could have soldered RAM, no user replaceable parts, and less ports. Who knows, you might end up getting the 2017 iMac anyway.

These are just guesses, I would base your decision on when to get an iMac on other things, such as needs and wants.

I assume you are referring to this comment?:

I would say that in the past, the Pro line of Apple products were differentiated from the rest of the product like based off design, specs, and for the Mac desktop line, expandability and user replaceable parts. Having the Pro and non-Pro lines so different enabled Apple to release/refresh them at the same time or close together. For the iMac, I think that the Pro version is not so differentiated from the non-Pro version, that having an update of the cheaper non-Pro so close to the Pro could take away potential sales from the more expensive Pro line.


I agree, at least until recently. Before, there was only a few "Pro" Apple products, and they were very different from their non-pro counter parts. Now, there are more Pro products that are not that different from their non-Pro counterparts.

This post basically says everything. Especially the thing with the iMac Pro being recently upgraded, which I've also been thinking about. I'm really in the market for a new Mac at home. I don't think I need an iMac Pro, but I'd like something with beefier graphics so I can bootcamp Windows to play occasional Steam games. Might wait for the Mac Pro redesign because while I don't need that much power, I could upgrade it over time since it's supposed to be "modular."

 

[xgman]

I don't think anyone really thought anything would update or be announced today.

 

[EugW]

For those of you still waiting, the wait continues...

I guess my June 2017 iMac purchase was smarter than I thought.

 

[Juicy Box]

I don't think anyone really thought anything would update or be announced today.

I have to disagree based off of many posts on this thread and others of people stating their thoughts saying that there would be new iMacs announced at this year's WWDC. Although, maybe it was more of their hopes than what they really expected.

 

[Glmnet1]

So these are my options now:
- Keep on working on my 2011 MBP with a failed GPU (which breaks external monitor support btw) for 3-4 months and hope for something good
- Buy a Windows machine and dual-boot Ubuntu
- Throw a lot of money at Apple for older hardware

As much as I love Apple, this is quite annoying.

 

[mreg376]

So these are my options now:
- Keep on working on my 2011 MBP with a failed GPU (which breaks external monitor support btw) for 3-4 months and hope for something good
- Buy a Windows machine and dual-boot Ubuntu
- Throw a lot of money at Apple for older hardware

As much as I love Apple, this is quite annoying.

I recently did the third option, although I'm not to ready to characterize computers released last year as "older hardware," even though one year is older then, let's say, one month. I'd prefer to think of the current iMacs' hardware as "mature," or more "tried and true," as opposed to the problems people are starting to see develop with the "new hardware" iMac Pros. Plus, everything's relative, and for me I was upgrading from a 2007 machine so my 2017 is SWEET...

 

[imac2017mm]

For those of you still waiting, the wait continues...

I guess my June 2017 iMac purchase was smarter than I thought.

My first ever iMac. Bought August 2017 so the timing was great. I don't think they will update it as yet. For Computer a year really isn't old. Do people expect an update every year like they do with phones?

I only see an update if it's a significant upgrade. Some people want the latest tech... but it's not necessary at times.

 

[potatis]

Says New on every iMac, maybe forgot to remove it from last year? https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac

 

[Glmnet1]

My first ever iMac. Bought August 2017 so the timing was great. I don't think they will update it as yet. For Computer a year really isn't old. Do people expect an update every year like they do with phones?

I only see an update if it's a significant upgrade. Some people want the latest tech... but it's not necessary at times.

When Apple restricts support on it's Macs to 6-7 years (mid 2012 is required for Mojave btw...) one year is quite a lot IMO. Also, I see no reason not to include the latest chips when Intel releases them except to do more profits on the older chips.

Why would it be more important to have the latest tech in a $999 phone used for Emojis than it is for a $3k computer used for work?

 

[NetCatman]

Says New on every iMac, maybe forgot to remove it from last year? https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac

I'm thinking so. The specs look identical to when I looked a few weeks ago.