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When will the iMac be refreshed?

  • September/October Event

  • November/December Event

  • March/April Event

  • WWDC 2019


Results are only viewable after voting.

alien3dx

macrumors 68020
Feb 12, 2017
2,193
524
Well yea, I could get refurbished, but I'm not trying to buy something that will break in 1-2 years. I'd like to get 5+ years out of it.

It doesn't have to be fully spec'd out but my 2007 MBP can't be updated that much and isn't capable of running what I'd want it to run.
wow.. you use 2007 MBP ?
 

Hater

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2017
898
885
Edinburgh, Scotland
Apple doesn't understand that those who make music.....90% of us can't afford the $5,000 imac Pro or Mac Pro.

The Base imac is what a lot of people can afford and are using.

They seem to think that anyone wanting to make music somehow has $5,000 laying around to start making music with.

They have so much money they don't realize how little the rest of us have.

I wish one year they would cater to music makers and Logic Pro X users.

So many people only use mac because Logic Pro X is exclusive to Macs and if we could use it on PC standard without wine or boot camp......We would, and save a ton of money.

Apple doesn't seem to care or respect people making music anymore.....they will focus on final cut pro and video editors all day every day....but never music people.

It's weird and annoying.

We need a good CPU & good cooling....stop gimping those apple. please.

So buy second hand. Not refurbished. I have been using a 2012 MBP to do FCP stuff for years now, only looking to upgrade recently. Brand new Macs are the worst value ever, 2 years seems to be the sweet spot

Or run a Hackintosh like loads of FCP people do, due to Apple not making hardware decent enough for them. If you want a twin modern Xeon box, Hackintosh is your only option.
 
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DQ11

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2018
199
65
So buy second hand. Not refurbished. I have been using a 2012 MBP to do FCP stuff for years now, only looking to upgrade recently. Brand new Macs are the worst value ever, 2 years seems to be the sweet spot

Or run a Hackintosh like loads of FCP people do, due to Apple not making hardware decent enough for them. If you want a twin modern Xeon box, Hackintosh is your only option.

I'm def not dealing with a hackintosh, but I also don't need top of the line most expensive.
[doublepost=1535949569][/doublepost]
wow.. you use 2007 MBP ?

Well I haven't made music in a couple years...like 2 and I'd reached a point a few years before that where I couldn't do what I wanted with that set up and those crappy specs.

I just didn't have the money to really get anything new until recently. I'm really excited to start making music again but I'm waiting for apple to announce something new for the imacs.
 

fokmik

Suspended
Oct 28, 2016
4,909
4,688
USA

AMD Confirms New 7nm Radeon Graphics Cards Launching in 2018”
I wonder if Apple has already early acces for test for the upcoming imacs
 
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gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,024
2,309

AMD Confirms New 7nm Radeon Graphics Cards Launching in 2018”
I wonder if Apple has already early acces for test for the upcoming imacs

I highly doubt it. We will be stuck with average GPUs for a while longer yet.
 

Zdigital2015

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2015
4,144
5,624
East Coast, United States
Well yea, I could get refurbished, but I'm not trying to buy something that will break in 1-2 years. I'd like to get 5+ years out of it.

It doesn't have to be fully spec'd out but my 2007 MBP can't be updated that much and isn't capable of running what I'd want it to run.
I use a 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro that was Apple Certified Refurbished and I have never had any issues with it. I bought AppleCare with it, of course, but it is still going strong.

I also tend to shop for clearance on a model, like the 2016 MacBook Pro I now use, which I got at B&H at much soul-searching. LOL!

For me, AppleInsider is the place to go looking for deals, as they have a pretty comprehensive deals list and Price Guide section.

If you’re committed to Logic Pro X, you may want to save a bit of cash buying a refurb or older model that is still new and look at the 6th-gen iPad to use with Logic Remote.

Hopefully, Apple will come through with 6- and 8-core iMacs, and you will find what you’re looking for long term.

Also, what audio interface do you currently own?
 
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Huddy

macrumors member
Oct 9, 2009
58
27

AMD Confirms New 7nm Radeon Graphics Cards Launching in 2018”
I wonder if Apple has already early acces for test for the upcoming imacs

Rumours AMD were releasing new compute cards this year for enterprise were already in the wind, these aren't Navi based which will be the next Radeon RX range that would be suitable for the iMac, that's still 2019.

I think at this point you can predict with some certainty the top end 2018 iMac card will be a 580X.

Wccftech click baiting again.
 

gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,024
2,309
Maybe not iMac but to Mac Pro I could see them as an option.
iMac could get Vega...

These are coming out next year not this year and expected to be low to mid level cards, not suitable for a Mac Pro. I don't think the high end 7nm cards are supposed to be out until 2020, which is after the Mac Pro. Will be interesting to see what Apple stick in there.
 

Zdigital2015

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2015
4,144
5,624
East Coast, United States
Rumours AMD were releasing new compute cards this year for enterprise were already in the wind, these aren't Navi based which will be the next Radeon RX range that would be suitable for the iMac, that's still 2019.

I think at this point you can predict with some certainty the top end 2018 iMac card will be a 580X.

Wccftech click baiting again.
Perhaps not entirely clickbait - https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-7nm-gpu-vega-gaming,37228.html - although I believe that you are right and the Radeon Pro 580X will be the top end for the 2018 iMac, because there has not been a whisper about naming and suspected launch dates at this point.
 

Darajavahus

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2015
194
313
Perhaps not entirely clickbait - https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-7nm-gpu-vega-gaming,37228.html - although I believe that you are right and the Radeon Pro 580X will be the top end for the 2018 iMac, because there has not been a whisper about naming and suspected launch dates at this point.

There has not been a whisper about naming of Vega, AMD kept quiet for Apple to introduce it while introducing iMac Pro

so it's not crazy to hope for introduction of 7nm Vega or Navi with indroduction of new iMacs,
few years old Polaris would be such a joke,

still can't believe the 500X GPUs in MacBook Pro instead of some custom Vega Mobile like what intel got,

Radeon RX Vega M GH may be more Polaris than Vega but it's 3.7 TFLOPs compared to Pro 560 sad 1.9 TFLOPS

that means that there are laptops in similar form factor to macbooks with GPU better than base 27" iMac.
 

Lammers

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2013
449
345
How many times does this need to be said. Apple DO NOT consider the Pro and 5K to be the same product line. What one does will not impact the other. The customers that are being targeted are completely different.
Apple will, if they want, completely change the 5K and not give two monkeys about the Pro as its a different product line. Just because the external chassis happens to look the same confuses a lot of people into considering the Pro to be simply an upgraded 5K. ITS NOT MEANT THAT WAY. To be honest, i can see Apple changing the design of the 5K so that this type of chat stops. (i.e. the Pro iPad, Pro MacBook are never compared the same way to the standard iPad and MacBooks, perhaps because they look different from the outside?)
It doesn’t matter how many times you say it, it doesn’t automatically make it fact. I completely agree with the previous poster - I think the fact that Apple launched the iMac Pro with the existing iMac chassis makes it significantly less likely that Apple will launch a redesigned iMac this year.
 
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Zdigital2015

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2015
4,144
5,624
East Coast, United States
There has not been a whisper about naming of Vega, AMD kept quiet for Apple to introduce it while introducing iMac Pro

so it's not crazy to hope for introduction of 7nm Vega or Navi with indroduction of new iMacs,
few years old Polaris would be such a joke,

still can't believe the 500X GPUs in MacBook Pro instead of some custom Vega Mobile like what intel got,

Radeon RX Vega M GH may be more Polaris than Vega but it's 3.7 TFLOPs compared to Pro 560 sad 1.9 TFLOPS

that means that there are laptops in similar form factor to macbooks with GPU better than base 27" iMac.
In the case of the 15” MacBook Pro, that was a case of do you want 4-cores and a Vega or six cores and not as good a GPU? Thin chassis aside, the six core generates quite a bit of heat and a Vega GPU w/a six core is a recipe for thermal throttling even in a thicker chassis, at least until 7nm specs are showing a mobile Vega with a decent TDP. My hope is that we’ll see those, but I doubt before Q2/2019.
 

DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,294
3,913
South Dakota, USA
I just bought a 21.5" 4K, i5 3.4 Ghz, 1TB Fusion Drive at Best Buy for $200 off. I was still running a base 2011 21.5", 2.5 i5, and after 7 years it was just starting to feel slow and lacking storage space. Also since it won't be supported for updates after 10.13 I figured it was time for the update. The 4K retina is spoiling me and although some are not fans of the Fusion drive for the tasks I do it seems nice and quick compared to my old HDD only iMac.
 

vojislavsh

macrumors member
Aug 5, 2018
51
16
Podgorica, Montenegro
I just bought a 21.5" 4K, i5 3.4 Ghz, 1TB Fusion Drive at Best Buy for $200 off. I was still running a base 2011 21.5", 2.5 i5, and after 7 years it was just starting to feel slow and lacking storage space. Also since it won't be supported for updates after 10.13 I figured it was time for the update. The 4K retina is spoiling me and although some are not fans of the Fusion drive for the tasks I do it seems nice and quick compared to my old HDD only iMac.
Congrats on your new Mac.I also bought 2017 iMac 5k on discount, and it is with fusion drive. For me it is very speedy, but I've come from 5400 rpm HDD. I don't use my Mac except for watching movies, web browsing, and work in Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. Maybe the performance issues come with heavy workflows. So I'm in big doubt for external SSD as boot disk, because I don't think I'll see any performance bump in my normal daily usage.
And I'm curious how do you add that flair in which shows the model you use?
 

DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,294
3,913
South Dakota, USA
Congrats on your new Mac.I also bought 2017 iMac 5k on discount, and it is with fusion drive. For me it is very speedy, but I've come from 5400 rpm HDD. I don't use my Mac except for watching movies, web browsing, and work in Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. Maybe the performance issues come with heavy workflows. So I'm in big doubt for external SSD as boot disk, because I don't think I'll see any performance bump in my normal daily usage.
And I'm curious how do you add that flair in which shows the model you use?

Are you talking about the signature in my profile? That can be changed in your profile on here. As far as seeing much performance increase by moving the boot disk to an external SSD it's always been my understanding that the Fusion Drive boots the basic system from the SSD. After that depending on your workflow it can either be speedy or slower depending on how things are getting swapped back and forth. For how I use a computer I'll never have much of an issue living with a Fusion Drive.
 
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cwanja

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2010
742
436
Texas
It really could go either way, Apple did a press release for the 2018 MacBook Pro's and they had enough to talk about at an event, True Tone display, T2 chip, better speakers, improved keyboard.
Personally, I think they wanted ("needed") to get that update our prior to the students going back to school and backlash post WWDC. If they were waiting for the recent Intel update to update the MacBook and MacBook Airs, that would have held out for an October event.
 

DQ11

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2018
199
65
I use a 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro that was Apple Certified Refurbished and I have never had any issues with it. I bought AppleCare with it, of course, but it is still going strong.

I also tend to shop for clearance on a model, like the 2016 MacBook Pro I now use, which I got at B&H at much soul-searching. LOL!

For me, AppleInsider is the place to go looking for deals, as they have a pretty comprehensive deals list and Price Guide section.

If you’re committed to Logic Pro X, you may want to save a bit of cash buying a refurb or older model that is still new and look at the 6th-gen iPad to use with Logic Remote.

Hopefully, Apple will come through with 6- and 8-core iMacs, and you will find what you’re looking for long term.

Also, what audio interface do you currently own?

I'll be buying a new Audio interface. I had a cheap behringer uva 222 or something like that.

I was also considering getting the 21.5" imac + 16gb ram + 512 ssd + i7-7700(non-k)65w. $2,900

Could I then connect a larger 27 or 32" monitor to it and get a larger monitor that way?

It would solve the heat/fan issue with the cooler chip and be more in my budget range,plus still allow me to get the i7.
 

sebulban

macrumors member
Aug 6, 2018
31
22
Finland
These are coming out next year not this year and expected to be low to mid level cards, not suitable for a Mac Pro. I don't think the high end 7nm cards are supposed to be out until 2020, which is after the Mac Pro. Will be interesting to see what Apple stick in there.
Yeah Next year...that's why i'm betting on future Mac Pro.

I had an impression that these (7nm) were supposed to be extremely powerful GPU's? According to the links posted they are supposed to be first GPU's with over 20 TFLOPS...
 

gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,024
2,309
Yeah Next year...that's why i'm betting on future Mac Pro.

I had an impression that these (7nm) were supposed to be extremely powerful GPU's? According to the links posted they are supposed to be first GPU's with over 20 TFLOPS...

From what I've seen and read of PC forums, the AMD 7nm GPUs will be low to mid entry now, i.e. The best card will be a replacement of the 580 in the iMac non-pro. We will have to wait a while longer for the top end cards, which will certainly be a huge leap over current high end cards such as Vega 56 and 64.
 

Zdigital2015

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2015
4,144
5,624
East Coast, United States
I'll be buying a new Audio interface. I had a cheap behringer uva 222 or something like that.

I was also considering getting the 21.5" imac + 16gb ram + 512 ssd + i7-7700(non-k)65w. $2,900

Could I then connect a larger 27 or 32" monitor to it and get a larger monitor that way?

It would solve the heat/fan issue with the cooler chip and be more in my budget range,plus still allow me to get the i7.
Not sure what your budget is for a new audio interface is, but Focusrite second Generation USB interfaces are quite nice as are their Claret USB line, which are quite expensive for USB. Universal Audio now has a native Thunderbolt 3 interface called the Arrow that includes a single DSP to accelerate processing of UAD Plug-Ins.

Yes, the 21.5” as configured would be a good choice with the 65w 7700. Obviously, 32GB of DRAM would be better and future proof, but the price delta is so high. It actually cost more than just buying the DRAM outright from Amazon and putting it in yourself, but who wants to crack open the iMac the just bought. :/

You can hook up one 5K monitor and up to two Ultra HD or DCI 4K monitors to the 21.5” iMac later should you need the extra screen real estate - https://www.apple.com/imac/specs/

There is a YouTube video where someone actually bought a 27” iMac with the i5, cracked it open and put in 7700K they bought on their own along with a 2TB SSD -

It’s quite enlightening to watch the benchmarks. The same could be done with a Core i7-7700, I believe.

Hopefully, there is an iMac update on its way soon and you will be able to update to a 6- or 8-Core iMac for the same price.
 
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Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,289
13,396
RE the posting:
"Apple doesn't understand that those who make music.....90% of us can't afford the $5,000 imac Pro or Mac Pro."

One doesn't need a Mac Pro or iMac Pro.

I use a 2006 white Intel iMac (yes, it's 12 years old!) to record live audio in my own personal music production.

It's old, and not as fast as it could be, and I boot and run it from a USB2 external platter-based hard drive.
But... it WORKS.

I record just a single stereo track at a time, and I don't use more than one or two plugins.

Granted, my requirements are at the "low-end", very basic.
But again ... for multitracked songs built up "one track at a time", it works well enough, even at 12 years old.

A base-model iMac should serve quite well for modern digital audio production, so long as one limits the amount of plugins...
 

DQ11

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2018
199
65
Not sure what your budget is for a new audio interface is, but Focusrite second Generation USB interfaces are quite nice as are their Claret USB line, which are quite expensive for USB. Universal Audio now has a native Thunderbolt 3 interface called the Arrow that includes a single DSP to accelerate processing of UAD Plug-Ins.

Yes, the 21.5” as configured would be a good choice with the 65w 7700. Obviously, 32GB of DRAM would be better and future proof, but the price delta is so high. It actually cost more than just buying the DRAM outright from Amazon and putting it in yourself, but who wants to crack open the iMac the just bought. :/

You can hook up one 5K monitor and up to two Ultra HD or DCI 4K monitors to the 21.5” iMac later should you need the extra screen real estate - https://www.apple.com/imac/specs/

There is a YouTube video where someone actually bought a 27” iMac with the i5, cracked it open and put in 7700K they bought on their own along with a 2TB SSD -

It’s quite enlightening to watch the benchmarks. The same could be done with a Core i7-7700, I believe.

Hopefully, there is an iMac update on its way soon and you will be able to update to a 6- or 8-Core iMac for the same price.

Thanks for all the info. Actually I could care less about 4k or 5k screen. I just need a 1440x900 HD monitor....all I'm using it for is music. Plus I won't have to worry about retina burn in either.

I'd probably get a 4k screen though.

Got another month to figure it out before I commit though so hopefully we get at least a cpu bump
 
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craigrusse11

macrumors regular
May 24, 2017
113
410
No, it doesn’t warrant an event at all, unless that event includes the new and updated 13”MacBook (Air) and the new and updated Mac mini (Pro), then it will be a, “And we’re also updating the iMac today with brand new Intel 8th and 9th Generation CPUs, updated Radeon Pro GPUs, HDR displays and they are now available in Space Grey...so go check them out after this event. But before we go, we have just have one more thing we want to tell you about, or rather show you.” At that point they launch into a sizzle reel for the 2019 Mac Pro that is very similar for the one that they did for the iMac Pro at WWDC 2017, then conclude the event without any specs or even really good pictures, just a lot of quick takes. That’s my guess, however, there are a lot of previous keynotes to use for reference and you don’t reinvent the wheel for a keynote. Just my 2c.
[doublepost=1535914714][/doublepost]

There are few cues visual cues to differentiate the 9.7 iPad from the 10.5” and the 12.9” iPad right now, but after the 12th, I suspect the differentiation will be very apparent.

That being said, engineering a new chassis for the iPad Pros or the iPhone is #1 on Apple’s to-do list and reworking the iMac’s chassis is not even in their Top 5. Whether people like it or not, it is still a very nice looking all-in-one.

Just as you speculated, I wonder if Apple will change the iMac’s chassis at some point and leave the iMac Pro’s as-is, because why mess with it if it works? The iMac Pro will change very little in the next few years on the inside. It should see a 22-core option when Intel announces the Xeon W version of the Core i9 X-Series that is on its way in October. It should also see a revised Vega 20 (Instinct) at some point in 2019. But beyond that, 802.11ax and BT 5.0 (C4XX chipset revision) maybe support for 256GB if higher density DIMMs are released, a Titan Ridge controller that allows it to support an 8K display with one Thunderbolt 3 cable (maybe). Beyond that, not really all that much. I don’t suspect the Xeon W will ever hit more than 22 cores, as the 28 core Xeon (BGA3457) that Intel is releasing is not likely to be suitable for that chassis regardless, and is more likely to go in the top end of the Mac Pro.

Still, I suspect people will continue to conflate the two systems no matter what Apple does, so perhaps a re-design of the iMac 5K is in order at some point in the near future. One would think this year as it is the 20th anniversary of the iMac, but this iteration of Apple is not a very sentimental one.

Yea, agree.. my ideal consumer iMac would be a 24" 5K display with thin bezels. I think that would be the sweet spot for a large size but still compact. I don't see that happening at all sadly.
 
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Icaras

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2008
6,344
3,394
Yea, agree.. my ideal consumer iMac would be a 24" 5K display with thin bezels. I think that would be the sweet spot for a large size but still compact. I don't see that happening at all sadly.

That sounds blissful and also my ideal iMac as well. I’d love to see Apple replace the 21.5” with the 24” in 4K. I’d buy that machine in a heartbeat!
 
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