Refreshed 20" iMac still with TN panel?

[LinMac]

The 24" iMac screens are absolutely stunning and I have been trying to decide exactly what to do to upgrade my current setup.

I use a Mac Mini with a combo drive right now alongside a cheaper monitor with a TN panel as my primary machine. I just purchased a new Macbook Pro to work with it and needless to say the Mac Mini just isn't cutting it compared to the new Macbook Pro.

A 20" iMac would be ideal to go with the new 24" Cinema display attached to the Macbook Pro, but how likely is it that the 20" will use a decent panel?

 

[dannyboxer]

In the next iMac refresh (November probely) there will be led screens. I dunno if this will increase the quality of the screen though.

 

[lastochka]

Personally I'd say very unlikely.

My guess is that the new 24'' iMacs will receive a LED backlight to resemble the new Cinema display. This will come with a price increase, further establishing the difference between premium and consumer models. The 20'' models will probably retain the crappy TN panels.

A replacement of ATI graphics with integrated Nvidia solution a la the new MacBooks is also in order. Considering that GPGPU computing is on Apples agenda it would make sense to introduce modern shader hardware as early as possible to enable market penetration despite the upcoming Snow Leopard which takes advantage of this technology still being a way off.

Only time will tell...

 

[AC773]

I don't see Apple ever returning to IPS panels in the 20" iMac; most consumers don't notice the difference and all it represents to Apple is a loss in profits - especially now that the 20" has replaced the 17" as the low-end model.