Will Apple release new iMac in March?

[ascender]

Mac sales decreased the last few quarters, the most recent quarter Apple saw great gains in mac sales. To me that says that updating the computer line had a positive impact

So long as Apple can sell Mac hardware with a (presumably) healthy profit margin per machine, they will keep producing the hardware and developing MacOS.

There's no doubt they see iOS as the future of computing, but I can't see them abandoning the Mac, nor can I see them changing their current release habits which means the desktop line won't see much in the way of revolution.

 

[maflynn]

There's no doubt they see iOS as the future of computing, but I can't see them abandoning the Mac, nor can I see them changing their current release habits which means the desktop line won't see much in the way of revolution.

Agreed, they do see the future with IOS and I think they're not dedicating too much resources to the Mac. While it may be the future, I still think there's a lot you can do in terms of design, performance and improvement. Some of their hardware decisions seem odd at best, i.e., removing the quad core option for Mini, using a 5400 rpm drive in the iMac. Not touching the Mac Pro for 1,197 days

 

[ascender]

Let's face it, the Mac Pro is an embarrassment to Apple now and there's been lots of time dedicated in the tech press to the subject. I still think the most likely explanation is that they had a replacement lined up which had some catastrophic defect discovered in it, fairly late on in the process. When combined with Intel's delay in chips, maybe that explains how they were hit with a double whammy of delays. But their almost complete silence on the subject is utterly bizarre.

I agree, they could bring out a really cool/innovative & "Apple" design for the new Mac Pro, which combined with up to date tech and a degree of upgradability would sell.

It will also be interesting to see what they do with TouchID and the TouchBar now. Will there be an updated Magic keyboard or trackpad with some of this functionality? Or would they put a TouchID sensor somewhere on the machines themselves?

I know we're all fairly tired of the iMac design, but when you see how other companies have tried and failed to copy it or better it, you realise just how well it still stands up today.

 

[CWallace]

the imac is more popular because it was updated until now every year, the mac mini...not so much, even when they updated they removed the quad core cpu,so i think if the mac mini will come with some big changes it will be more popular since the imac upgrade can't be such a big update vs current 2015 gen,so a lot of people who have the 2014 or 2015 will probably not update

I think the iMac is popular because it's the best value in the Apple desktop line - for the same price as others charge for the display, you get a full computer. And you can trick it out pretty solidly.

Apple tried (not updating the Mac line) in a sense and they saw falling mac sales. 2014 and 2015 saw their Mac computer line shrink for the first time in a while, largely because people were wanting newer laptops. Yet all the time, Apple's competitors were rolling out updated models.

The entire PC industry has been contracting for years. It's now finally catching up with Apple.

And that contraction is why the PC makers keep throwing new models against the wall, seeing if anything sticks. And how many of what they do sell is the latest and greatest at full price compared to moving older stock with "outdated" specs at steep discounts?

Mac sales decreased the last few quarters, the most recent quarter Apple saw great gains in mac sales. To me that says that updating the computer line had a positive impact.

Which tends to put to question all the bitching on this site about how the new MacBook Pro isn't "pro" enough because it's not running Kaby Lake CPUs, nVidia 1000-series GPUs and has 32GB of RAM...

The late 2016 MacBook Pro is barely faster than the 2015 model in CPU and memory performance. I would not be surprised if many people bought the 2016 because they assumed Skylake was faster than Haswell, but if they had bothered to wait for benchmarks, they might have instead shopped for cheaper Certified 2015s. Then again, IGPU and SSD performance is significantly better in the 2016 vs. the 2015 so there is real value to the new models there and that could very well justify the up-tick in purchasing numbers post-release.

Some of their hardware decisions seem odd at best, i.e., removing the quad core option for Mini, using a 5400 rpm drive in the iMac. Not touching the Mac Pro for 1,197 days...

I don't see where the Mac Mini fits into Apple's product lineup anymore. If you want an "entry-level" Mac, you buy a MacBook Air or MacBook. Yes, folks like them for home media centers, but that is because they run Plex on them, not iTunes and Apple wants you to use iTunes (via the AppleTV).

As for the Mac Pro, Apple hobbled it by giving it two GPUs and then abandoning keeping Open GL current and not replacing it with something else that could leverage the power of the two of them (Vulkan). Even if it had the latest Xeons and Radeon Pro GPUs it would still be as hobbled by the underlying design philosophy and the expense of two GPUs that you often really only use one of.

 

[NickPhamUK]

It's happening!!! Apple Online Store will be updated on Tuesday, March 21, from 3:00 till 8:00 am.

Although the Macrumors front page reports that Apple is likely to release the new spec-bumped iPads (which I'm also looking forward to), I think it's more than that. I'm expecting the arrival of spec-bumped iMac and MacBook 12" as well! Maybe an iPhone SE or iPhone 7 Red, who knows.

Fingers crossed!

 

[fokmik]

12" macbook and 12.9" and 9.7" updates...the imac redesigned along side with 10.5" ipad will be shown at event in april

 

[Stacc]

It's happening!!! Apple Online Store will be updated on Tuesday, March 21, from 3:00 till 8:00 am.

Although the Macrumors front page reports that Apple is likely to release the new spec-bumped iPads (which I'm also looking forward to), I think it's more than that. I'm expecting the arrival of spec-bumped iMac and MacBook 12" as well! Maybe an iPhone SE or iPhone 7 Red, who knows.

Fingers crossed!

I would bet the iPads and iPhone SE get their own event. The iMac and/or MacBook will get a silent spec bump tomorrow.

 

[Icaras]

It's happening!!! Apple Online Store will be updated on Tuesday, March 21, from 3:00 till 8:00 am.

Although the Macrumors front page reports that Apple is likely to release the new spec-bumped iPads (which I'm also looking forward to), I think it's more than that. I'm expecting the arrival of spec-bumped iMac and MacBook 12" as well! Maybe an iPhone SE or iPhone 7 Red, who knows.

Fingers crossed!

Hoping for both redesigned iMac and iPad tomorrow...

 

[fokmik]

Hoping for both redesigned iMac and iPad tomorrow...

silent updates i dont think ever introduced redesigned products....i am wrong?

 

[Icaras]

silent updates i dont think ever introduced redesigned products....i am wrong?

No, they've done silent redesigns before. The 2010 mac mini and the 2009 iMac were redesigns that had no keynotes, so its totally possible!

But they've never done an iOS redesign without a keynote however, so I'm actually skeptical about the 10.5" slim bezel iPad being released tomorrow. It would be a first for Apple, but maybe because of the iPad's shrunken revenue and long customer upgrade cycles, they'll change that tradition starting tomorrow. We'll see.

 

[danielwsmithee]

I think tomorrow is just going to be a price drop on existing iPads to clear out stock. The new iPads and iMacs will happen at an event in a few weeks.

The more I read about it the more I expect Apple to move the iMac 27" and Mac Pro to AMD processors. For the iMac that gets you 8-cores at 2/3 the power. The Mac Pro gets 14 more PCIe lanes with 32 cores. A Mac Pro with 32 cores, 4 user upgradeable M.2 NVME, and TB3 sounds like something worth waiting for to me.

 

[Dave245]

Not expecting updates for the iMac tomorrow, I think it will be the 12" MacBook and maybe the 128GB option for the SE.

 

[Icaras]

The new iPads and iMacs will happen at an event in a few weeks.

Not expecting updates for the iMac tomorrow, I think it will be the 12" MacBook and maybe the 128GB option for the SE.

Could be. The iMac may get a proper introduction at WWDC if it misses tomorrow. June still would technically count as "early 2017".

 

[Brookzy]

I think tomorrow is just going to be a price drop on existing iPads to clear out stock.

There isn't stock to clear out - supply has been poor with 12.9" iPads being at 2-3 week shipping times for a while now, and the Cook way is just to keep the old ones knocking around at a lower price anyway.

 

[Dave245]

Ok so how about the following for tomorrow

12" MacBook with spec bumps and a higher end 16GB option added
128GB iPhone SE
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in a new red colour option (I'm sill skeptical about this)

They won't update the MacBook Pros yet because they have not long been updated. iPads could be updated but wouldn't it make sense to announce them all together at an event.

 

[xgman]

I'm actually skeptical about the 10.5" slim bezel iPad being released tomorrow.

Already rumored not to be happening till a bit later.

 

[fokmik]

at what time (UK time plz)the store will be closed ?

 

[Icaras]

Already rumored not to be happening till a bit later.

Oh ok. Makes sense to have a big public splash on that one.

 

[fokmik]

Ok so how about the following for tomorrow

12" MacBook with spec bumps and a higher end 16GB option added
128GB iPhone SE
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in a new red colour option (I'm sill skeptical about this)

They won't update the MacBook Pros yet because they have not long been updated. iPads could be updated but wouldn't it make sense to announce them all together at an event.

are the new cpu for MBP 13" and 15" ready at least? i think not, so no update until fall i think

 

[CWallace]

But they've never done an iOS redesign without a keynote however, so I'm actually skeptical about the 10.5" slim bezel iPad being released tomorrow. It would be a first for Apple, but maybe because of the iPad's shrunken revenue and long customer upgrade cycles, they'll change that tradition starting tomorrow. We'll see.

I too would be shocked if they silently released the 10.5" iPad. The iPad 10.5 and 12.9 Pro upgrade will be a separate event in April. Possibly with the rumored new AppleTV and a new iPad Mini Pro.

If they do a silent release tomorrow, new MacBook, new iMac, iPhone 7 in Red and iPad Air (9.7") are the most likely options IMO.

 

[Brookzy]

at what time (UK time plz)the store will be closed ?

It is scheduled for 7AM-12:30PM UK time.

 

[JMacHack]

Which tends to put to question all the bitching on this site about how the new MacBook Pro isn't "pro" enough because it's not running Kaby Lake CPUs, nVidia 1000-series GPUs and has 32GB of RAM...

The late 2016 MacBook Pro is barely faster than the 2015 model in CPU and memory performance. I would not be surprised if many people bought the 2016 because they assumed Skylake was faster than Haswell, but if they had bothered to wait for benchmarks, they might have instead shopped for cheaper Certified 2015s. Then again, IGPU and SSD performance is significantly better in the 2016 vs. the 2015 so there is real value to the new models there and that could very well justify the up-tick in purchasing numbers post-release.

I think there's more bitching about the new MBP having soldered parts, bad release QC, one kind of port, and bad battery life than outright performance.

A lot of the criticism is valid, though overblown in my opinion.

 

[Icaras]

I too would be shocked if they silently released the 10.5" iPad. The iPad 10.5 and 12.9 Pro upgrade will be a separate event in April. Possibly with the rumored new AppleTV and a new iPad Mini Pro.

If they do a silent release tomorrow, new MacBook, new iMac, iPhone 7 in Red and iPad Air (9.7") are the most likely options IMO.

You're right. I should of gave that one more thought. I agree the April event would be the most likeliest case for showcasing the 10.5" iPad. Would love to see the new Apple TV revealed too (crossing fingers for 4K).

 

[Dave245]

It is scheduled for 7AM-12:30PM UK time.

Seems to be a long time for just maintenance, how long does it take to upload new product pages if that's what is happening.

 

[Brookzy]

Seems to be a long time for just maintenance, how long does it take to upload new product pages if that's what is happening.

Normally on keynote days the store will go down a few hours prior and come back a few moments after, so five-ish hours is the expected downtime for new products to be added.