It's probably going to be freaking sweet and I'll have to sell the one I'm getting next week b/c of its coolness 
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the future of the imac
- Thread starter matt3224
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i'm just gonna get this thread started as it will help me and many others who are going to wait for the nehalem imacs of 2009. any news or updates should be added here so that its all together in one place.
i'll start. the next imac i'm 98% sure will be announced at macworld in january 09 and probably released to purchase that same day along with os x 10.6 which will also be announced for release. however will the next gen imac come with nehalem if so how many cores and will it be the 45nm to be released in q4 of this year or the 32nm to be released next year.
The year is 2015. At an average house in average city, sits an iMac. It's something like you never seen before. It's a touchscreen hologram display iMac. You can take it anywhere with you. It comes in 25", 30" and 35" sizes. To turn off the hologram, you need to press the button beneath the metal that projects the hologram. The size of this metal is the size of a pen. This iMac will cost at least $1500 and it uses the most up-to-date technology at that time.
As for Nehalem, your prediction is good enough.
that sounds awsome...but i really think thats a little far off there buddy...one thing we can expect by 2015 is MRAM...what is soo amazing about MRAM, two words, Instant Boot!
why...beccause MRAM will hold data even after you switch the machiine off, meaning from power button to the desktop will take about 2 seconds....now that sounds pretty awsome to me!
Nothing wrong with guessing, which is pretty much all anyone is going to be able to do here.
Your opinion about the curved surface of the MacBook Air being ugly has been noted. Must be what's keeping the MB Airs from selling? So the reason Apple lent the same styling to the iPhone 3g is an attempt by Apple to make it ugly and look thin as well? Ya know the funny thing is Apple's designs have been trending toward a thinner look. Guess I could be way off base there.
Multi-touch mouse stupid? How do you know? Used one? OS X already has the multi-touch capability. It's used in the MacBooks and iPhone. No OS redesign is needed.
Apple manages to stay one or two generations behind on video cards if you have not noticed and also tends to keep them too long. Besides Apple has never offered the ATI 3870 in a shipping Mac, so how is it repeated use of the same card?
HDD size? Sounds like you are agreeing with me here.
Sorry about the Blu-ray typo. I'll try to do better next time I typo. Just for clarification when you typed "redisgined " you meant "redesigned" right?
The whole point here was to blue sky what the next iMac design might be like.
ya sorry, i wasn't mad or anything, and i didn't mean your guess was "wrong"...it just seemed a little off to me....but for the multi touch redesign i meant if the screens themselves were to become multi touch....to give a true in-depth exp. they would need to change up the os a little. Also, you are probably right about the graphics card, but their definatly sure to offer one of the newer ones that become availibe after the ones you stated.
Ok. Your post seemed a little angry.
The only reason I don't see a touch screen on the big iMac's is that I used a Vista equipped HP with what looked like a 20" touch screen and it was PAINFUL after a very short time. To be useful it would have to have been laid down. Maybe Apple will work some kind of folding mechanism into the next iMac if they intend to make it touch capable. I saw a drawing somebody did a few days ago of just such a thing. Also the price might be a little too high for something 24" or larger.
I wish I could tell you why Apple goes with the older graphics cards. Could be the time investment in making everything work well. If that was the case though how in the world did they ever ship the 8800 drivers as the were in 10.5.2?
They walk a fine line sometimes with the iMac's crowding the Mac Pro's at the lower end of the Pro line so I think you will see the cards in the Pro's first then trickle down to the iMac line.
Right now the future of the iMac is tied to innovations in Intel mobile-based technologies and chipset..
Though the iMac can use "hotter" versions of the CPU, and the performance laptops GPU.
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There is always the chance that Apple can sneak in a desktop-basked chipset.
Though it looks like the 3rd chipset likely will be in the direction of supporting the MBA, Mini, and AppleTV.
Which likely puts off the desktop-based systems for awhile.
The laptop sales have likely grown enough that they can support their own R&D without the iMac.
So no telling, but likely not in 2009 or 2010 unless there is a really big surge in sales of desktop systems.
Though the iMac can use "hotter" versions of the CPU, and the performance laptops GPU.
---
There is always the chance that Apple can sneak in a desktop-basked chipset.
Though it looks like the 3rd chipset likely will be in the direction of supporting the MBA, Mini, and AppleTV.
Which likely puts off the desktop-based systems for awhile.
The laptop sales have likely grown enough that they can support their own R&D without the iMac.
So no telling, but likely not in 2009 or 2010 unless there is a really big surge in sales of desktop systems.
I don't think the next update of the iMac will keep the Aluminium casing, a smaller screen size along with the 20" and 24" (maybe a 17"?), a quad-core processor option along with the other Nehalem processors, Mac OS X 10.6 and maybe even a blu-ray drive, a larger range of hard drive and graphics cards options as well as being launched at MacWorld '09? If all this happens, I'll be there in a flash!
What do you all think?
What do you all think?
I don't think the next update of the iMac will keep the Aluminium casing, a smaller screen size along with the 20" and 24" (maybe a 17"?), a quad-core processor option along with the other Nehalem processors, Mac OS X 10.6 and maybe even a blu-ray drive, a larger range of hard drive and graphics cards options as well as being launched at MacWorld '09? If all this happens, I'll be there in a flash!
What do you all think?
Aluminum is one of the world's most abundant resources. Unless the next iMac is going to be made of glass or air, aluminum is the best way for Apple to keep with the "green" nonsense (and as long as Al "let's use scenes from The Day After Tomorrow and pretend it's real footage in our fakumentary" Gore is on the board, you can bet they will).
As for the 17" screen...didn't they just do away with that?
My prediction is a slightly faster version of the same box, out in January, then something even a little newer when 10.6 comes out in the summer.
I don't think the next update of the iMac will keep the Aluminium casing, a smaller screen size along with the 20" and 24" (maybe a 17"?), a quad-core processor option along with the other Nehalem processors, Mac OS X 10.6 and maybe even a blu-ray drive, a larger range of hard drive and graphics cards options as well as being launched at MacWorld '09? If all this happens, I'll be there in a flash!
What do you all think?
they definatley won't come out at macworld 09...the consumer version of the Nehalems that would be in the iMac's isn't out till Q2 of 2009, plus Snow Leopard isn't out till after WWDC...so you can expect the next update sometime after WWDC next year(around august)
and ya i agree with ignatius, the aluminum is probably staying for next year
I'm still on a MacBook, and sadly a DellI just bought a spanking new iMac when the aluminum version first came out. However, if Apple puts a quad-core Nehalem processor in an iMac AND at least a mid level (say a 3870) video card, I'd upgrade in a flash.
Looove my iMac.
Rich
but I'm looking forward to buying an iMac sometime soon... If the iMac has a Nehalem quad-core and the HD 3870, I'd buy it. Imagine that with Snow Leopard.... Is the HD 3870 more powerful then the 8800 GS (or GT)?
I'm still on a MacBook, and sadly a Dell
Check out the the comparison and testing below:
Not so good http://barefeats.com/harper17.html
Better showing for 3870 using Core:
http://barefeats.com/harper16.html
Define outdated
I am surprised that people are claiming that modern computers will be outdated in 3 years. My dad's iMac G5 is over three years old and doesn't feel outdated and has an external iSight. My iMac G5 with internal iSight is 6 months newer and not much of a move forward, but it has no problem handling what I throw at it.
For the great majority of users out there, I feel that a properly configured computer from ~2005 on has more than enough power to do what people ask of it. This great majority of users like to browse the web, email, store some photos, listen to music and watch movies. The most complicated games that most users dare to attack would be solitaire or spider for the adventurous.
Of course, this doesn't apply to the majority of users here. We all want the latest and greatest. Even here, many users life won't be greatly impacted. I REALLY like my G5 and will get a kick ass MBP with Snow leopard to replace my CD MacBook(which is slower than the G5). I bet my wife won't even be interested in the MBP, as she loves the screen real estate of the iMac. I just can't let her see the LCD I plan to get to go with it...
Computers have come a long way, but the day to day change is not noticeable for the mainstream apps like it was 20 years ago.
I really hope that Snow Leopard and future programming use the plethora of cores to make my iMac look bad during day to day use. I need an excuse to upgrade. Of course, a 30" iMac in a few years wouldn't hurt...
I am surprised that people are claiming that modern computers will be outdated in 3 years. My dad's iMac G5 is over three years old and doesn't feel outdated and has an external iSight. My iMac G5 with internal iSight is 6 months newer and not much of a move forward, but it has no problem handling what I throw at it.
For the great majority of users out there, I feel that a properly configured computer from ~2005 on has more than enough power to do what people ask of it. This great majority of users like to browse the web, email, store some photos, listen to music and watch movies. The most complicated games that most users dare to attack would be solitaire or spider for the adventurous.
Of course, this doesn't apply to the majority of users here. We all want the latest and greatest. Even here, many users life won't be greatly impacted. I REALLY like my G5 and will get a kick ass MBP with Snow leopard to replace my CD MacBook(which is slower than the G5). I bet my wife won't even be interested in the MBP, as she loves the screen real estate of the iMac. I just can't let her see the LCD I plan to get to go with it...
Computers have come a long way, but the day to day change is not noticeable for the mainstream apps like it was 20 years ago.
I really hope that Snow Leopard and future programming use the plethora of cores to make my iMac look bad during day to day use. I need an excuse to upgrade. Of course, a 30" iMac in a few years wouldn't hurt...