It blows my mind that apple refuses to come out with a redesign for the iMac. The disgusting thick bezels and archaic internals with the single fan, non all flash architecture, 5400 HD options, awful pixilating front facing camera etc etc. The iMac is my favorite computer but I refuse to buy it until it is redesigned with much thinner or no bezels and some more compelling features ie face id, much better front facing camera, HDR, T2 or T3 chip etc. When will a redesign happen?
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Why won't Apple redesign the iMac!?
- Thread starter hellokittymeow
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Probably next year. There are rumors that Apple is toying with 6K displays (alongside new Mac Pro) and something like that would be great for a redesigned iMac. So we'll see.
In my view, it’s business priorities, pure and simple. They haven’t redesigned the iMac yet because they don’t believe there is (yet) a compelling business case for doing it. Or in other words, they don’t believe that the current design is hurting sales.
I think most average consumers would argue that the current iMac still looks great and would still lust after one. Few consumers in the market for a Mac or for an all-in-one would decide not to buy the iMac on the basis that it looks outdated.
I think most average consumers would argue that the current iMac still looks great and would still lust after one. Few consumers in the market for a Mac or for an all-in-one would decide not to buy the iMac on the basis that it looks outdated.
Predict the future, write down:
When Apple appears in the arsenal of any T3 chip, another new I/O like TB4 and the other goodies, then they will release a new redesigned iMac and it will be the NEWEST and POWERFUL BREAKTHROUGH device. And it will be supplied with a lot of ... TB3 ports and, of course, the "newest" T2
When Apple appears in the arsenal of any T3 chip, another new I/O like TB4 and the other goodies, then they will release a new redesigned iMac and it will be the NEWEST and POWERFUL BREAKTHROUGH device. And it will be supplied with a lot of ... TB3 ports and, of course, the "newest" T2
They will redesign it soon, but they wanted to milk one last round of easy profits from the old design and make everyone buy twice when the new version drops...
Apple probably wants the new Mac Pro and its display to get all the spotlight when they get introduced later this year, so keeping the iMac ugly and outdated helps that purpose.
Yea, Apple can’t multitask, and I agree it’s ridiculous those bezels in 2019 especially for a company like Apple.
All-in-One PCs look better than Macs nowadays.
Yea, Apple can’t multitask, and I agree it’s ridiculous those bezels in 2019 especially for a company like Apple.
All-in-One PCs look better than Macs nowadays.
They probably want to redesign around the thermals of their Apple designed desktop chips. The new Mac Pro display might be spoiled by an iMac redesign this year too.
This is a very picky bunch. I for one, just worry about what is inside the computer and not what it looks like. Thin, thick, large screen, small screen, to bezel or not to bezel...really who really cares about this stuff. Not me. Apple has most of us trained for expectations on their products that will be updated, restyled and made lighter every couple of years. Love my 2017 that I just bought a couple of months ago. Don't really think I would have been made happier (life based on a happiness model) if I would have waited. Just my opinion.
the 2017 i7 runs too hot, so a redesign imac, imply that Apple redesign it inside out
They will eventually re-do the inside. With Apple pushing iCloud and streaming for everything, the need to offer high-capacity cheap hard drives for customers to store all their stuff locally will go away and Apple can go SSD-only with the 2020 refresh and integrate the T2 and add more cooling volume and larger, slower and quieter fans.
I believe Apple wants to go to FaceID on the Mac, which would allow for better webcams, but they probably don't want it to be a "laptop only" feature for long, much less only. So I would not be surprised if the rumored ~32" 6K display would have FaceID. So that would mean all the laptops, the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro would have FaceID in 2019. That leaves the iMac and iMac Pro. The iMac Pro could move to the same 32" display when it is refreshed with the new Granite Falls Xeons and then the iMac would follow with it's 2020 refresh (either also adopting the 32" 6K display or adding FaceID and a new chassis design to the 27" 5K display).
I believe Apple wants to go to FaceID on the Mac, which would allow for better webcams, but they probably don't want it to be a "laptop only" feature for long, much less only. So I would not be surprised if the rumored ~32" 6K display would have FaceID. So that would mean all the laptops, the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro would have FaceID in 2019. That leaves the iMac and iMac Pro. The iMac Pro could move to the same 32" display when it is refreshed with the new Granite Falls Xeons and then the iMac would follow with it's 2020 refresh (either also adopting the 32" 6K display or adding FaceID and a new chassis design to the 27" 5K display).
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This is clearly not true. Apple has already demonstrated with the iMac Pro that it is willing and able to redesign internals to improve cooling without redesigning externals.
apple values the benefits that come from products that have excellent mechanical engineering design and electrical engineering design.
at its peak, apple has shown greatness in focusing on pushing the envelope in both mechanical and electrical design.
this does result in aesthetic design realities (compromises).
jony ives's role and utility to apple was to overcome this.
here is the but:
its also true that any company thinks that its latest design is near perfection, the more inertia they face to do anything but tweak the design that they worked hard to create.
if apple continues to drink its own cool-aid, its finished as a company that puts "Designed by Apple in California" on every product.
the date of the decision to build a spaceship campus could be in fact the date of the ultimate greatness of apple, and marking a decline since that decision.
i dont want foldable screen iPhones that have a crease in the screens.
apple won't do that kind of stuff for sure.
but i do want greatness in design.
and i want it to come at a reliable pace from that spaceship campus.
at its peak, apple has shown greatness in focusing on pushing the envelope in both mechanical and electrical design.
this does result in aesthetic design realities (compromises).
jony ives's role and utility to apple was to overcome this.
here is the but:
its also true that any company thinks that its latest design is near perfection, the more inertia they face to do anything but tweak the design that they worked hard to create.
if apple continues to drink its own cool-aid, its finished as a company that puts "Designed by Apple in California" on every product.
the date of the decision to build a spaceship campus could be in fact the date of the ultimate greatness of apple, and marking a decline since that decision.
i dont want foldable screen iPhones that have a crease in the screens.
apple won't do that kind of stuff for sure.
but i do want greatness in design.
and i want it to come at a reliable pace from that spaceship campus.
I don't think it is Apple feeling the current iMac design is "perfection personified" and I fully expect they know it is constrained in a number of areas:
1) Apple would have taken design input from Intel's roadmaps. But instead of getting cooler as per those roadmaps, Intel's CPUs have been getting (a lot) hotter because they cannot shrink their process and have to push the existing process harder (and therefore hotter) for their performance gains.
2) AMD has also not been very thermally-efficient with their GPUs. The TDPs from the top-end Vega GPUs is downright frightening.
3) A significant number of people store their data locally on their iMacs. So they need at least 1TB of storage and probably 2TB. Even if Apple halved their SSD prices, it would still be a $550 upgrade to go from the 2TB Fusion drive to a 2TB SSD.
I think that within 12-18 months Apple can re-design the iMac with 10nm Intel CPUs, 7nm AMD CPUs and SSD-only storage. This will allow them to add the T2 (or it's successor), FaceID, and better cooling (just going to a larger single fan able to move more volume of air over a cooler CPU and GPU means they could keep the exhaust venting like now and keep directly user-upgradeable RAM).
1) Apple would have taken design input from Intel's roadmaps. But instead of getting cooler as per those roadmaps, Intel's CPUs have been getting (a lot) hotter because they cannot shrink their process and have to push the existing process harder (and therefore hotter) for their performance gains.
2) AMD has also not been very thermally-efficient with their GPUs. The TDPs from the top-end Vega GPUs is downright frightening.
3) A significant number of people store their data locally on their iMacs. So they need at least 1TB of storage and probably 2TB. Even if Apple halved their SSD prices, it would still be a $550 upgrade to go from the 2TB Fusion drive to a 2TB SSD.
I think that within 12-18 months Apple can re-design the iMac with 10nm Intel CPUs, 7nm AMD CPUs and SSD-only storage. This will allow them to add the T2 (or it's successor), FaceID, and better cooling (just going to a larger single fan able to move more volume of air over a cooler CPU and GPU means they could keep the exhaust venting like now and keep directly user-upgradeable RAM).
Apple will re-design the IMac when it's ready to re-design the iMac and not a moment sooner. If the current product doesn't meet your needs, don't buy it. It's useless to complain on the forums, like someone knows the internal reasons why apple choosing when to re-design what products. We really have no say in the matter.
I see you’re one of those people who seem to care more about what a computer looks like, rather than what it can do.
Sadly, a lot of apple customers are like that.
Not really, Apple is the one putting form above function, for example I'd actually prefer MacBooks to be slightly thicker but have better keyboards, better cooling, and an SD slot for example. But Apple compromises features because they prioritize thinness/looks.
It's about balance, I care about good design when it makes sense, and I care about function when it makes sense too. iMac 2019 fails at both, horrible bezels and 5400 spinning hard drives from the 90s.
Edit: and I almost forget, it's 2019, where is the HDR display?
They are always loking for designers, send ‘em a resume with your credentials and start redesigning galore!
Well they are out, but 4K-only.
I wonder how long the iMac and iMac Pro will remain 5K, frankly. Nobody is really supporting the resolution so Apple would need to make very custom displays to get the features (120Hz, HDR, etc.) which will raise the price even more.
I would expect Apple's new display to be HDR so maybe we will see a ~32" iMac 6K replacing the 27" iMac 5K and a 27" iMac 4K replacing the ~22" model ( I don't see any 4K HDR displays smaller than 27" ).
There is no shortage of evidence throughout Apple’s history that tells us that what Apple can do and what they choose to do are completely different things.
They can redesign the iMac whenever they want. It’s not a constraint of components from Intel or AMD or storage. They haven’t redesigned the iMac yet because they haven’t wanted to yet. It really is that simple.
On Face ID, personally I think it is very unlikely that Face ID will come to iMac before it comes to MacBook Pro.
I think it comes down solely to ARM. It doesn't make sense to redesign it and try to accommodate an Intel chip, so they are going to keep using the same chassis that can accommodate a spinning drive (which isn't compatible with the T2 chips) and all the other components they've used for years.
When they go ARM next year, they will release new designs.
When they go ARM next year, they will release new designs.
This doesn’t make much sense to me.
You can’t argue that Apple will stop offering 27” 5K because “nobody is really supporting the resolution” but then argue that they replace it with 32” 6K instead which up to now at least doesn’t even exist!
And Apple is not going to do 27” at 4K because it messes with macOS scaling. It’s 5K for a reason. And replacing the 22” unit with a 27” unit means no longer having a product to sell people who want a smaller unit, and it also means a higher price which also hurts sales to groups like schools who buy the 22” unit in volume today.
And I don’t see any real evidence or argument for why a new iMac would be HDR. I think that’s wishful thinking.
I wonder that new iMacs can get a new look from a new 6K display, but not the fact that they will be equal to it's ~31.6 diagonal and proportions.
In this picture, one of the rumors about what the 6K monitor will actually be like. Same height, but just wider. The man who did this, argues that the ratio of the specified resolution and proportions just exactly fall into the diagonal, which is rumored.
This is logical if the monitor will be positioned as a device for Mac Pro - for professionals. Because the wide display is very good at work, for example, with videoediting. Timeline in FCPX will look more comfortable, etc. But it is unlikely that in more standard solutions, the iMacs, Apple will change the proportions of the display.
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