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Maybe wait for the launch of the new imac in 2017?

juanesco

juanesco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 4, 2016
19
5
After a month informing me, reading forums, reviews and watching videos on YouTube, I have come to the conclusion that I will wait for the launch of the new IMac.


My intention for a month was to buy the IMac 5K. I was almost decided, the top model, but after reflecting this last week I thought: is it worth to pay € 2,700 ($ 3,000) for a model launched in 2014 and slightly renewed in 2015 ?.


Main reasons, new Kaby Lake processors, DDR4 RAM, new GPUs, and especially new design.


With Apple's tendency to reduce the thickness of its products, I imagine that they will change the design of the new IMac. Surely it will have a very fine screen, and the rest of the hardware will be transferred to the base, as if it were a Mac Mini.


The only fear I have is that they eliminate the USB ports and the card reader replacing them with the USB-C. But hey, this is going to be the standard in a short time.


And now to wait ...... ..
 
I'm also in the market for a new iMac and have been holding off like many until the non announcement recently. I'm tempted to get the current model, not least because so many think RAM will not be upgradeable in the new iMac. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple go that route with the new one. I can't see anything ground breaking with a new iMac (if we even get one) just a minor upgrade in specs.
 
juanesco said:
The only fear I have is that they eliminate the USB ports and the card reader replacing them with the USB-C. But hey, this is going to be the standard in a short time.
Click to expand...
To be sure, the USB-A slots will be going to USB-C, that's easy enough to foresee, but the SD card slot is harder to see if they'll drop it.

Unlike the MBP which is mobile, its easy enough to plop a SD card reader on your desk and forget about it. Its there when you need
 
You can wait? Then wait. But be ready to wait at least 4-5 months ;-)

Thought about upgrading your current system?
 
chipbutty said:
I'm also in the market for a new iMac and have been holding off like many until the non announcement recently. I'm tempted to get the current model, not least because so many think RAM will not be upgradeable in the new iMac. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple go that route with the new one. I can't see anything ground breaking with a new iMac (if we even get one) just a minor upgrade in specs.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why people think it wont be ram upgradeable next time round. Nothing at all has changed in the way Apple operates to suggest this.
Ram is not upgradeable in the macbook, MBP current or last. The iMac has been updated throughout all the launches of the macs I mention and still user upgradeable on the RAM. So why the change now - makes no logical sense.

What are your reasons please?
 
richinaus said:
I don't understand why people think it wont be ram upgradeable next time round. Nothing at all has changed in the way Apple operates to suggest this.
Ram is not upgradeable in the macbook, MBP current or last. The iMac has been updated throughout all the launches of the macs I mention and still user upgradeable on the RAM. So why the change now - makes no logical sense.

What are your reasons please?
Click to expand...
This is the last Mac with user upgradable anything. They have steadily been moving away from it. If they close off the upgrade path, it does two things. 1. They have more flexibility in the design. They don't have to leave room for a door in the back or the hardware to pop in and out RAM. Every cubic centimeter of space matters to them because they are on a quest for two dimensionality. 2. Money. They will make more if they charge a premium for their RAM. Apple likes closed systems.

Now, please don't shoot the messenger. I think this attitude of theirs is stupid. The justification for getting rid of the SD card slot (on the Macbook Pro) was that the SD card sticks out. That's bogus, because if you need to use an SD card, you need an entire reader now and that really is cumbersome. Someone there is not paying attention to how people really work.
 
Sirmausalot said:
This is the last Mac with user upgradable anything. They have steadily been moving away from it. If they close off the upgrade path, it does two things. 1. They have more flexibility in the design. They don't have to leave room for a door in the back or the hardware to pop in and out RAM. Every cubic centimeter of space matters to them because they are on a quest for two dimensionality. 2. Money. They will make more if they charge a premium for their RAM. Apple likes closed systems.
Click to expand...

As for #1, they can only make it so thin due to needing to cool the CPU and GPU.

As for #2, if that was their goal they would have soldered the RAM in years ago.

As such, I see no reason to believe the 2016 27" model won't still offer upgrade-able RAM.
 
CWallace said:
As for #1, they can only make it so thin due to needing to cool the CPU and GPU.

As for #2, if that was their goal they would have soldered the RAM in years ago.

As such, I see no reason to believe the 2016 27" model won't still offer upgrade-able RAM.
Click to expand...


this is what I thought. If they were going to do it they would have already done it.
 
Apple (unfortunately) changed to soldered RAM in the Mac Mini last time it was refreshed. It looks the same from the outside, but they changed it anyway. The only machines with user upgradeable RAM are the iMac and Mac Pro. The Mac Pro looks like it has had its day, effectively leaving the iMac as the only still updated machine that has this. To me, this indicates that the next redesign of the iMac also brings soldered RAM.

I genuinely hope I am wrong.
 
juanesco said:
With Apple's tendency to reduce the thickness of its products, I imagine that they will change the design of the new IMac. Surely it will have a very fine screen, and the rest of the hardware will be transferred to the base, as if it were a Mac Mini.
Click to expand...

I don't think they will move the internals to the base.

juanesco said:
The only fear I have is that they eliminate the USB ports and the card reader replacing them with the USB-C. But hey, this is going to be the standard in a short time.
Click to expand...

Apple will rip the band aid off like they did with the iphone 7 and MacBook Pro. I personally have no problem with this. I say, let it come.
 
I wonder if Apple will have a big upgrade to the new iMac? it will have been around 5 years (in 2017) that the last design change happened (2012 i believe) i think that may be the reason why Apple didn't announce them at the last Mac keynote.
 
Apple simply believes the ‘inside’ is more important than the surface ;-)

E.g. Kaby Lake (and other stuff) wasn’t ready in October.
 
Firebrand said:
Rumor goes a ‘redesign’ is coming though. Be let’s keep hope alive!
Click to expand...
Is it a rumor, i.e., sources are suggesting something is happening, or is it wishful thinking from us mac fans posting on sites like MR?

I think right now, there's been zero information coming from apple, no leaks, no hints, nothing and so while many of us hope for something that's all it is, a hope
 
Rumor, heresay... fear on the MacRumors Forums that, likely in the wake of the new MacBook Pro, an internal ‘redesign’ is coming to the iMac: non-user-replaceable RAM.

However, you're absolutely right: it’s very quiet, zero facts! That’s why I suggest to remain optimistic ;-)
 
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The top-end iMac is still a really great machine.

Buy now if you can afford it, then sell and update later. They really hold their price.
 
Certainly, there was so much expectation with the introduction of the new MacBook Pro and many people have been disillusioned. A couple of friends who have been waiting months for this release and last week have bought the 15' model of the previous version of 2015, mainly due to the issue of eliminating the ports and a certain skepticism towards the touchbar. In the store they were told that there was a long waiting list for buying precisely these old Macbooks and not the new ones with or without touchbar.
The truth, this precedent makes me want to buy the current IMac and forget about the possible update that Apple could present in 2017
 
juanesco said:
Certainly, there was so much expectation with the introduction of the new MacBook Pro and many people have been disillusioned. A couple of friends who have been waiting months for this release and last week have bought the 15' model of the previous version of 2015, mainly due to the issue of eliminating the ports and a certain skepticism towards the touchbar. In the store they were told that there was a long waiting list for buying precisely these old Macbooks and not the new ones with or without touchbar.
The truth, this precedent makes me want to buy the current IMac and forget about the possible update that Apple could present in 2017
Click to expand...

And yet, the new MBP is selling like hot cakes, outselling every laptop, and smashing online order records.

The real truth is Mac rumors and Internet forum posters are good at blowing a whole lot of hot air for nothing. By the next two revisions, the price will have gone back down to what we're all used to and no one will have remembered this so called blood bath to begin with.
 
I'm waiting for two reasons:
  • 2TB SSD - a dream I've had for years
  • A reasonable 2x graphics boost. The MacBook Pro has about twice the graphics power of the predecessor so I expect the same from this new iMac. Since so much of macOS depends on the GPU, this should help with system fluidity.
 
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Traverse said:
I'm waiting for two reasons:
  • 2TB SSD - a dream I've had for years
  • A reasonable 2x graphics boost. The MacBook Pro has about twice the graphics power of the predecessor so I expect the same from this new iMac. Since so much of macOS depends on the GPU, this should help with system fluidity.
Click to expand...

Yea, two options I am definitely wishing for too. :D
 
There NO reason not to sell a separate 'iMac style' 27" 5K Retina Display as they already have one in the iMac.

That might be an indication of dropping the iMac altogether. Or maybe just killing the Mac Pro and Mac Mini.
 
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I just had the chance to play with the demo unit 15" mbp, i have to say the internal speakers are awesome and i think apple really need to update the built in speakers with the new macs. So,since apple redesign every updated built in speakers and usb-c macs,is safe to say a redesign is next!
 
OS X Dude said:
People said similarly optimistic things about the 2016 MacBook Pro revision just before it launched. Look what happened there!
Click to expand...

You have not been able to replace the RAM on any model of the 2012 or 2015 Retina MacBook Pro so no surprise they didn't change for the 2016 update.
 
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