Intel’s lineup is about to drastically change the iMac lineup

[Appleaker]

We all know about the move this year with 8th gen processors, resulting in 6 core mainstream iMacs, but recent reports have suggested that Intel’s 9th generation chips will go even further.
Expected is i3s and i5s hyperthreading (4 core/8 thread and 6 core/12 thread respectively), as well as the most impactful change: 8 core/16 thread i7s.
In my opinion, this actually makes more sense than the current lineup. This could also mean 6-core U-series i7s and 8-core H-series i7s.

Not only will this mean next gen iMac Pros will likely begin at 10 core, but it also means that in this short space of time there will be a major performance and value gain.


These advancements force Apple to make further changes in the iMac lineup (and the entire Mac lineup in general) and ones that will bring greater value to every iMac. I hope the changes in mobile also results in the thing Apple desperately needs to do, have another ‘MacBook’ model rather than having such different notebooks under the ‘MacBook Pro’ name.

And while we all have AMD to thank for this, I would still prefer Nvidia graphics on future iMacs.

 

[poematik13]

It's safe to assume the next iMac will be a redesigned model with a new chassis, screen, and "groundbreaking performance" with these particular new gen intel chips that increase core count.

 

[Strelok]

There's definitely some exciting stuff happening in the CPU/GPU market again. Hasn't been this exciting in a long time.

 

[Dave245]

It's safe to assume the next iMac will be a redesigned model with a new chassis, screen, and "groundbreaking performance" with these particular new gen intel chips that increase core count.

I wonder if we will get a redesigned iMac in 2018, it is due to be fair. I'm currently using a 2012 iMac and wanting to upgrade but i'm holding out to see if we get a redesign next year.

 

[Krayzkat]

A 10 core iMac with 1Gb HDD would be awesome

 

[Fishrrman]

poe wrote:
"It's safe to assume the next iMac will be a redesigned model with a new chassis, screen, and "groundbreaking performance" with these particular new gen intel chips that increase core count."

No, it's not "safe" to assume that.

My prediction is that the 2018 iMacs will look pretty much like the current ones do, but with a new logic board inside.

No need to re-do the case. There isn't much that needs "re-doin'", anyway.
It looks great as it is.

Why the need for "change", "change", "change"?
Look where that got Apple with the MacBook Pro keyboards...

 

[poematik13]

I wonder if we will get a redesigned iMac in 2018, it is due to be fair. I'm currently using a 2012 iMac and wanting to upgrade but i'm holding out to see if we get a redesign next year.

Most likely mid-2018. Although if you're looking to upgrade, the current 2017 model is pretty excellent. Has TB3, 10bit screen, fast SSD, 7700K i7 and Radeon pro 580 8GB, etc.

 

[Dave245]

Most likely mid-2018. Although if you're looking to upgrade, the current 2017 model is pretty excellent. Has TB3, 10bit screen, fast SSD, 7700K i7 and Radeon pro 580 8GB, etc.

Yea i'm looking to upgrade from my 2012 which was the redesign with the thinner frame, i figure the 5K screen will be a big upgrade, however i'm willing to wait until 2018 if Apple are going to redesign the iMac's.

 

[TazExprez]

Yea i'm looking to upgrade from my 2012 which was the redesign with the thinner frame, i figure the 5K screen will be a big upgrade, however i'm willing to wait until 2018 if Apple are going to redesign the iMac's.

Do you think we can expect user upgradeable RAM in the next version of the iMac?

 

[Dave245]

Do you think we can expect user upgradeable RAM in the next version of the iMac?

I would say so considering it’s in the current iMac, not sure how they will redesign the iMac tho will be interesting to see.

 

[theluggage]

I would say so considering it’s in the current iMac

...but not in the iMac Pro though.

Why the need for "change", "change", "change"?

...I'm inclined to agree, but Apple has never shown much sentimentality for "classic" designs and seems obsessed with making things thinner.

Also, if they could find a way to trim down the bezels without messing things up it would make the 27" iMac a bit less overpowering on a desk... or keep it the same size but squeeze in a larger screen - e.g. make it 16:10 or even 3:2
(I love the idea of the MS Surface Studio and the screen ratio - sadly the spec and price let it down).

 

[Dave245]

...but not in the iMac Pro though.

The iMac Pro is aimed at a completely different market. Even if it turns out that the Ram isn’t user upgradable in the 2018 it’s not really a big deal as you can upgrade the ram at the time of buying from Apple, that’s what I tend to do anyway.

 

[Glmnet1]

The iMac Pro is aimed at a completely different market. Even if it turns out that the Ram isn’t user upgradable in the 2018 it’s not really a big deal as you can upgrade the ram at the time of buying from Apple, that’s what I tend to do anyway.

If the price of the BTO RAM wasn't ridiculously expensive it wouldn't be a big deal. But at the price they sell the RAM, not being user upgradeable basically equals to boosting the price of a few hundred dollars if you intended to put more than 8gb.

Their SSDs are top of the line and paying extra for a bigger one still seems like a good deal to me. But it's a lot harder to justify paying that much for standard RAM...

 

[Glideslope]

It's safe to assume the next iMac will be a redesigned model with a new chassis, screen, and "groundbreaking performance" with these particular new gen intel chips that increase core count.

Never, ever, assume with Apple.

 

[Dave245]

If the price of the BTO RAM wasn't ridiculously expensive it wouldn't be a big deal. But at the price they sell the RAM, not being user upgradeable basically equals to boosting the price of a few hundred dollars if you intended to put more than 8gb.

Their SSDs are top of the line and paying extra for a bigger one still seems like a good deal to me. But it's a lot harder to justify paying that much for standard RAM...

Fair point, we don’t know what Apple will do with the 2018 iMac yet anyway, fingers crossed for a redesign.

 

[theluggage]

The iMac Pro is aimed at a completely different market.

...no, its aimed at the same people that are currently buying top-end iMac 5ks with easily upgradeable RAM, or were buying nMPs (with easily upgradeable RAM) and are now desperately speccing up PC workstations because their nMPs are coming to the end of their leases with no upgrade path in sight.

Meanwhile, easily upgradeable RAM has long since disappeared from the MacBook Pro, the Mac Mini and the 21.5" iMac - and the only thing promised about the mythical new "modular" Mac Pro is that it won't have a built-in display.

 

[Dave245]

...no, its aimed at the same people that are currently buying top-end iMac 5ks with easily upgradeable RAM, or were buying nMPs (with easily upgradeable RAM) and are now desperately speccing up PC workstations because their nMPs are coming to the end of their leases with no upgrade path in sight.

Meanwhile, easily upgradeable RAM has long since disappeared from the MacBook Pro, the Mac Mini and the 21.5" iMac - and the only thing promised about the mythical new "modular" Mac Pro is that it won't have a built-in display.

iMac Pro is aimed at a very high end market that need that kind of power NOT those that are buying the current iMac’s. Apple said it themselves that some people prefer the all in one form but there is a small market of people who need much more power. The iMac Pro isn’t aimed at the average person sitting at home or even the average editor, we are talking high end who need to edit multiple streams of 4K and 8K footage for example.

 

[theluggage]

iMac Pro is aimed at a very high end market that need that kind of power NOT those that are buying the current iMac’s.

So what are they buying, then? The only thing Apple has to offer is the nMP which also has upgradeable RAM.

Unless Apple think that people are going to chuck out their PC Workstations and switch to Mac all-in-ones (after Apple's track record of abandoning first the classic MP and then the nMP cylinder). Good luck with that.

 

[Huddy]

...but not in the iMac Pro though.



...I'm inclined to agree, but Apple has never shown much sentimentality for "classic" designs and seems obsessed with making things thinner.

Also, if they could find a way to trim down the bezels without messing things up it would make the 27" iMac a bit less overpowering on a desk... or keep it the same size but squeeze in a larger screen - e.g. make it 16:10 or even 3:2
(I love the idea of the MS Surface Studio and the screen ratio - sadly the spec and price let it down).

A 16:10 screen I could get behind, I'm personally not a fan of 16:9 but I understand why we're stuck with it in the iMac range. It would be great if Apples Laptops and Desktops used the same aspect ratio, the extra vertical space for productivity whilst not huge is still very useful.

 

[Dave245]

So what are they buying, then? The only thing Apple has to offer is the nMP which also has upgradeable RAM.

Unless Apple think that people are going to chuck out their PC Workstations and switch to Mac all-in-ones (after Apple's track record of abandoning first the classic MP and then the nMP cylinder). Good luck with that.

It’s a very small market that need the power of the iMac Pro but most of them are using older Mac hardware, Apple even admitted it themselves that they made a misstep and that’s why they are working on the new Mac Pro (which won’t be ready yet) and the iMac Pro, a Pro machine for those that want the all in one form factor.

As for switching to PC’s most editors will agree that Final Cut X is much better than that’s why they stick with Mac, time will tell what happens but it’s not just the hardware it’s the OS as well.

This is what Apple had to say about it a few months back

"Second on the list is iMacs — used by pros, again by the people who use professional software day in, day out, not just casually.

Third on the list is Mac Pro. Now, Mac Pro is actually a small percentage of our CPUs — just a single digit percent. However, we don’t look at it that way.

The way we look at it is that there is an ecosystem here that is related. So there might be a single digit percentage of pros who use a Mac Pro; there’s that 15 percent base that use Pro software frequently, and 30 percent who use it casually, and that these are related. These are not distinct little silos. There’s a connection between all of this."

The full transcript can be read here https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/06/t...-john-ternus-on-the-state-of-apples-pro-macs/

 

[Themaxim]

Despite of the iMac Pro, it may happen for a upcoming change in design as well which i hope too.

BUT , I personally think (and don`t hope !) they cut off the power of the upcoming iMac in general like they did with the mac mini. I am still not shure why apple was going for this but everyone remembers that the current mac mini is less powerfull then the version before.

The ordinary iMac will miss some points across from the iMac Pro in the next gen i am assume and i dont think its all about the power. The differences between the Pro and casual users will become bigger and they will search for markets to put the costs down and force some of us to buy the top line iMac Pro......

Even for gamers maybe......

(sorry for my bad english)

 

[Fancuku]

You telling me that Apple's future ARM processors won't beat the 9th gen 6 and 8 core Intel?

 

[poematik13]

...but not in the iMac Pro though.

The iMac Pro has not yet been released, and the specs have yet to be finalized. In addition, it's target demographic do not upgrade their parts like prosumers/hobbyists do- they're studios and large companies that lease many units en masse and then sell them off after 3-5 years.

 

[Mac32]

Apple should keep the current iMac form factor, but improve the cooling for the upcoming 6 and 8 core Intel CPUs w/hyperthreading. It would make sense to have some trickle down effect from the iMac Pro, with improved speakers and cooling (not necesarily identical to iMac Pro, but an upgrade nonetheless). Making the iMac even thinner/smaller with the upcoming hotter CPUs, would be just plain dumb.

Apple needs to offer GPU alternatives from Nvidia, which have more speed and draw less power than AMD's offerings - including the upcoming lacklustre wattage-hungry Vega GPUs. Come on, Apple - this makes much more sense from a consumer's point of view.

If Apple made a considerable design change to the iMac next year, I'm afriad Tim Cook would take the opportunity for yet another price hike. The prices of both the iMac and MacBook Pro lines are already at the breaking point, especially here in Europa. Unfortunately Apple's greed under Tim Cook has few bounderies, even though the company is hardly paying taxes in our countries.

 

[Dave245]

I just found this from earlier in the year

“Regarding iMac, the poster said that the 2017 iMac update will not feature major external industrial design changes. However, the pipeline for 2018 currently suggests a major update. The 2018 iMac revision apparently uses more glass and a dark black finish. It would also re-introduce the glowing Apple logo as a micro-LED panel.”

Source - https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/03/foxconn-insider-iphone-8-details-glasses-ar-siri/

Altho I don’t believe the bit about the Apple logo as a micro LED panel glowing. I also wonder if the dark black finish part is the person getting confused with the iMac Pro?