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What will the forthcoming 27in. iMac replacement be like?
- Thread starter Warped9
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Using the previous generation‘s design as a template of things to come the bigger iMac’s bezels should remain the same as the 24’s and the chin should stay the same or about the same thickness. If so then the chin should look even smaller on the bigger machine. Smaller and thus less noticeable and less visually obtrusive to those who are really bothered by it.
For the sake of curiosity I worked up a quick-and-dirty 3D model of a 30in. iMac based on the recently released 24in. Everything remained the same except the display size. And they're shown here in an approximation of Silver and Space Gray. The bezels are not actually white, but very light grey--about ten percent.
I gotta say the chin is even less obtrusive on a 30in. display. I also think the Space Gray does look nice along with white bezels.
Regardless of colour choices I strongly believe this is what the larger new iMac will look like.
And for those (including me) who feel Apple should have kept the logo.
I gotta say the chin is even less obtrusive on a 30in. display. I also think the Space Gray does look nice along with white bezels.
Regardless of colour choices I strongly believe this is what the larger new iMac will look like.
And for those (including me) who feel Apple should have kept the logo.
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I really doubt the bezels of the larger iMac will be white or light grey. The new 24” model is aimed at more casual usage. The larger iMac is a more professional machine. People doing professional video and photo work don’t want white bezels.
You don't want white bezels. You cannot speak for everyone being set against white bezels.
This is the message that comes accross loud and clear: no one who is serious about their computer could possibly accept white bezels.
Everyone was convinced (including me) the new iMac would be sans chin. What we were convinced was true turned out to be nothing but an assumption.
I might have made the logo a bit too big. Still puts the idea across, though.
I like the logo as it’s a simple bit of detail that readily identifies the device rather than relying solely on what is for many, but not all, a familiar form. It further distinguishes it from all other AIOs.
To each their own.
I like the logo as it’s a simple bit of detail that readily identifies the device rather than relying solely on what is for many, but not all, a familiar form. It further distinguishes it from all other AIOs.
To each their own.
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I'm a designer and black bezels are bad as much as white bezels. The ideal to avoid a skewed color perception is a medium grey, halfway between black and white. That's why the background of most graphics and photo app is medium grey, not white, not black. I for one love the white bezels and I'm gonna use the new iMac professionally.
It has absolutely nothing to do with my personal feelings towards white bezels. I truly do not think Apple will place them on the larger iMac for the reasons I've stated in my last post.
People seeking no chin simply want something more futuristic and sleek. Adding white bezels to a machine used by many video and photo professionals isn't going to fly with most of them.
I truly don't think most people doing professional work will embrace the white bezels.
The absolute certainty some here are asserting is certainly interesting.
I agree, and that's why I think Apple will do a black bezels "pro" line. But they won't be "better" for professional work. It's mostly a matter of personal taste.
Not sure why everyone keeps insisting larger iMacs are for pros. The iMac line is a consumer product. Always has been. Even the larger ones have always just been larger consumer products, not marketed as pro machines (except the iMac Pro which was a whole different animal).
Some pros choose to use it and it’s fast enough historically that it was embraced by pros but that doesn’t make it a “pro” machine the way a MacBook Pro or Mac Pro are targeted at pros.
I’d put money on the larger iMacs being exactly that — larger iMacs. Without any significant design changes. New color options maybe (which may trickle down to the smaller one also and be offered alongside the current ones) but no changes in bezels, chin, etc
Some pros choose to use it and it’s fast enough historically that it was embraced by pros but that doesn’t make it a “pro” machine the way a MacBook Pro or Mac Pro are targeted at pros.
I’d put money on the larger iMacs being exactly that — larger iMacs. Without any significant design changes. New color options maybe (which may trickle down to the smaller one also and be offered alongside the current ones) but no changes in bezels, chin, etc
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I’d start getting comfortable with the idea of light grey bezels on the big boy imacs.
The larger iMacs will still be full of consumer grade parts and marketed to consumers.
Professional is how you act, not how you spec your iMac.
The larger iMacs will still be full of consumer grade parts and marketed to consumers.
Professional is how you act, not how you spec your iMac.
They ditched it because there were the new coming out. Other than that, I don't know. I don't think Apple is really nailing this Pro level machines. They're all too costly but I think they'll continue on that (wrong) path.
The 24in. iMac alone doesn’t cover the market segment the existing 27in. does and I can’t see Apple leaving that unaddressed. So the forthcoming big iMac will be the existing 27’s replacement, thus completing the parallel lineup of the outgoing 21.5 and 27. And it’s not impossible it could also address the hole left by the discontinued old iMac Pro only without the absurd price given the performance of a believed M2 chip and greater RAM availabilities.
Technology is one of few things in life that actually gets cheaper as it gets more advanced and better. The most immediate example being SSDs in mainstream market laptops. A couple of years ago SSDs were mostly for higher end machines, but falling prices for storage in general made SSD mainstream and HDD going the way of the dodo. A fully configured 24in. iMac offers notably superior performance while costing notably less than a previous fully configured 21.5. Thus the forthcoming big iMac could well fill the hole left by the departed iMac Pro at significantly less money and still be part of the mainstream lineup replacing the existing 27.
Whether Apple calls this new machine Pro or not is an open question. The MacBook and iPad Pro represent a significant jump in price over their mainstream brethren. Apple could apply that pricing structure to the iMac, but that could put the machine out of reach of those customers who previously could afford a 27in. And as I said above I don’t see Apple doing that. So this hangup over whether the new machine will be called a Pro is worry over nothing. It’s going to be a capable machine and better than what it replaces no matter what it’s called.
The real concern here for the vocal minority is colour—thats it. So many are wringing their hands that Apple will not address their insecurity over maybe not having a “serious” colour and the possibility of damned white bezels. Given Silver has been a default colour for iMac for over a decade even for “serious” fully configured 27s and is still available on the new iMac then worry over an acceptable hue for the big iMac replacement is wasted energy. Silver or Space Grey will be the default colour. And given the lineup will compliment that of the 24in. it’s more likely it will be available in other colours as well. Unless Apple does something drastically unexpected, and the 24 was unexpected only in the sense it didn’t fulfill rumoured expectations, then we already have a fair idea whats likely to come. The new machine will be a bigger brother to the 24 and available in similar colours.
That leaves the bezels. The new iMac and rumoured forthcoming MacBook Air indicate a new direction in design and aesthetics for Apple. In tandem with more colour Apple looks to be wanting to brighten the look of its machines. This could have been planned for awhile given the iPad Air and iPhone already had multiple colours available, but it’s not a bad idea given a world weary from forced isolation for over a year.
Anything could happen, but the evidence for white bezels is stronger than the lamenting for black ones.
Life involves adapting to changing circumstances given it so rarely gives you exactly what you want. So you reevaluate, adjust your presumptions and move on while saving your energies for something more important.
Technology is one of few things in life that actually gets cheaper as it gets more advanced and better. The most immediate example being SSDs in mainstream market laptops. A couple of years ago SSDs were mostly for higher end machines, but falling prices for storage in general made SSD mainstream and HDD going the way of the dodo. A fully configured 24in. iMac offers notably superior performance while costing notably less than a previous fully configured 21.5. Thus the forthcoming big iMac could well fill the hole left by the departed iMac Pro at significantly less money and still be part of the mainstream lineup replacing the existing 27.
Whether Apple calls this new machine Pro or not is an open question. The MacBook and iPad Pro represent a significant jump in price over their mainstream brethren. Apple could apply that pricing structure to the iMac, but that could put the machine out of reach of those customers who previously could afford a 27in. And as I said above I don’t see Apple doing that. So this hangup over whether the new machine will be called a Pro is worry over nothing. It’s going to be a capable machine and better than what it replaces no matter what it’s called.
The real concern here for the vocal minority is colour—thats it. So many are wringing their hands that Apple will not address their insecurity over maybe not having a “serious” colour and the possibility of damned white bezels. Given Silver has been a default colour for iMac for over a decade even for “serious” fully configured 27s and is still available on the new iMac then worry over an acceptable hue for the big iMac replacement is wasted energy. Silver or Space Grey will be the default colour. And given the lineup will compliment that of the 24in. it’s more likely it will be available in other colours as well. Unless Apple does something drastically unexpected, and the 24 was unexpected only in the sense it didn’t fulfill rumoured expectations, then we already have a fair idea whats likely to come. The new machine will be a bigger brother to the 24 and available in similar colours.
That leaves the bezels. The new iMac and rumoured forthcoming MacBook Air indicate a new direction in design and aesthetics for Apple. In tandem with more colour Apple looks to be wanting to brighten the look of its machines. This could have been planned for awhile given the iPad Air and iPhone already had multiple colours available, but it’s not a bad idea given a world weary from forced isolation for over a year.
Anything could happen, but the evidence for white bezels is stronger than the lamenting for black ones.
Life involves adapting to changing circumstances given it so rarely gives you exactly what you want. So you reevaluate, adjust your presumptions and move on while saving your energies for something more important.
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I was tempted to say something similar. I think Apple ditched the pro iMac because they knew the new $1500 model would blow it out of the water, performance-wise. Maybe it'll come back when there's a second generation M processor which deserves the Pro name. ??
I kinda wish Apple would drop the "pro" moniker from its hardware, except for the actual Mac Pro. MacBook Pro should just be MacBook; with MacBook Air as the lightweight "consumer" machine. All the new M Macs are seriously powerful these days; enough for nearly every computer user.
The ever improving capability of all these devices makes the distinction between models mostly a marketing strategy.
In retail you try to identify which device suits individual customer needs. The regular iPad meets the needs and expectations of the majority of tablet buyers given the way most will use it. The previous 10.5 iPad Air was a tough sell because the 10.2 iPad made it largely pointless. The current 10.9 Air is more distinctive as really an entry to the Pro line for those who’d like a Pro, but can’t bring themselves to make that price jump. But if Apple makes the mainstream iPad a 10.5 with improved hardware then the Air could be made redundant again.
The iPad Pro, particularly the 12.9, is really for a narrow market segment—those who want/need the best hardware you can get in a tablet or just want the latest/greatest toy.
But the current Air is probably a better performing device than the original Pro.
The distinction can still be real, but Apple is losing interest in the workstation market. Most of the tasks that used to need a proper workstation or a mobile workstation can now be done on a high-end consumer device. You can go orders of magnitude above the M1 Macs (e.g. 8x 28-core Xeon with up to 24 TB RAM), but fewer and fewer people need what the true high end offers.
Laptops were once the mobile device until tablets and smart phones offered a better solution for what most people do with a computer. Many people, but certainly not all, buy or at least first consider a laptop out of habit to replace their old device. But changing life circumstances often illustrate a tablet will suit their needs better, unless they are simply more comfortable with a laptop configuration.
Many laptops today, and for several years now, are used like desktops in that they rarely if ever leave the desk where it’s used the most. And like an AIO it’s a tidier and more aesthetically pleasing solution than having a box gathering dust under the desk and cables snaking all over. It’s still tidier even if you want to connect it to a bigger monitor.
Except for mostly gaming desktops appear to cater largely to that demographic who simply cannot bring themselves to seriously consider an alternative. They’re stuck in their ways. Of course there are still those for whom just swapping out an older desktop is the most expedient solution.
Many laptops today, and for several years now, are used like desktops in that they rarely if ever leave the desk where it’s used the most. And like an AIO it’s a tidier and more aesthetically pleasing solution than having a box gathering dust under the desk and cables snaking all over. It’s still tidier even if you want to connect it to a bigger monitor.
Except for mostly gaming desktops appear to cater largely to that demographic who simply cannot bring themselves to seriously consider an alternative. They’re stuck in their ways. Of course there are still those for whom just swapping out an older desktop is the most expedient solution.
warped wrote:
"This is the message that comes accross loud and clear: no one who is serious about their computer could possibly accept white bezels."
So... you're saying that all those who WILL buy the new iMacs (and there will be MANY of them) can never be or become "serious" computer users...?
"This is the message that comes accross loud and clear: no one who is serious about their computer could possibly accept white bezels."
So... you're saying that all those who WILL buy the new iMacs (and there will be MANY of them) can never be or become "serious" computer users...?
Arent the bezels supposed to be light grey according to Apple own claims ? the bezels are not white why ppl keep saying they are white ?
Everything that's not as pitch black as their soul is white to them. I guess they'll be clinging to their jet black iPhone 7 forever.