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When do you expect an iMac redesign?

  • 4rd quarter 2019

    Votes: 34 4.1%
  • 1st quarter 2020

    Votes: 23 2.8%
  • 2nd quarter 2020

    Votes: 119 14.5%
  • 3rd quarter 2020

    Votes: 131 15.9%
  • 4rd quarter 2020

    Votes: 172 20.9%
  • 2021 or later

    Votes: 343 41.7%

  • Total voters
    822
  • Poll closed .
Apple could have moved the 8th generation CPU-equipped models to 9th generation, but the 27" BTOs were already on 9th generation. And Intel did not release the 10th Generation until late May.

The 23" I could very well see on 9th Generation because it is supposed to be "cheaper" (and it would still be an upgrade from the current 8th Generation in the iMacs).

As for ARM-powered Macs, I am convinced that will not launch until 2021 and when it does it will be a MacBook Air.

They might launch late 2020 with the next MacOS update. Or thats the delayed switch to mini LED.
 
Apple could have moved the 8th generation CPU-equipped models to 9th generation, but the 27" BTOs were already on 9th generation. And Intel did not release the 10th Generation until late May.

The 23" I could very well see on 9th Generation because it is supposed to be "cheaper" (and it would still be an upgrade from the current 8th Generation in the iMacs).

As for ARM-powered Macs, I am convinced that will not launch until 2021 and when it does it will be a MacBook Air.

but how do we explain the r&d cost on the new design? This could very well be the new Mac design language to define a generation of products. You can’t design a machine based on Intel’s thermal specs and expect it to work with ARM. I also can’t imagine them releasing a new design next year with consumer ARM machines either.
 
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I am a graphic designer by trade and I had some fun playing with what the new design could look like. I took in consideration all the rumors - having an iPad Pro like design language, Pro XDR Bezels and I put in the visual design of the XDR stand. The only question is what do they do with the Iconic chin. My guess is they won’t be getting rid of it completely.

Which won do you guys think Apple with go with? I personally like the reduced chin look.
 

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I am a graphic designer by trade and I had some fun playing with what the new design could look like. I took in consideration all the rumors - having an iPad Pro like design language, Pro XDR Bezels and I put in the visual design of the XDR stand. The only question is what do they do with the Iconic chin. My guess is they won’t be getting rid of it completely.

Which won do you guys think Apple with go with? I personally like the reduced chin look.
The small chin or no chin would be awesome! Do you think it will be able to switch from landscape to portrait like the XDR?
 
What if the new iMac had a design inspired by the iMac G4 "lamp"?
I’ve batted this idea around in my head a bit. My guess is that, even if it were feasible from a cooling perspective (and I have my doubts), the displays have gotten way too big and heavy to pull it off. Keep in mind that the iMac G4’s display was one size: 15 inches.

If you’ve ever taken the display assembly off of a 27” iMac, you’ll know that holding that up along with whatever enclosure is necessary on an arm — along with Apple’s likely desire to make adjustments feel nearly weightless — would be quite the feat. The thing is heavy.

I’d expect that whatever happens to the iMac’s design, it will fundamentally be the same form factor (i.e., a stand holding up an enclosure containing both the display and computer).
 
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If a larger iMac is coming along with a 23", can anyone offer an explanation as to why, with all these leaks talking about a 23", not one of them talked about the 27" increasing. Surely any of these inside leakers would know that the 27" was also increasing and the leaks would be "iMac's with increased screen sizes coming". But they weren't. All they've talked of is the 21.5" increasing.

One explanation could be that the 27" stays the same size, but I can't see any way that Apple would increase the smaller model without increasing the larger model. Monitors are getting bigger and I can't see Apple getting left behind on size.

So I'm still doubtful well see a larger iMac debuted along with the 23".
 
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But why would the iMac plan be any different between March and June? These roadmaps are laid out years in advance.
Apple has absolutely scrapped product updates before in favor of delaying for a larger update.

Probably the most blatant indicator of this is the iPod touch model identifiers:
  • iPod touch 1st generation (2007): iPod1,1
  • iPod touch 2nd generation (2008): iPod2,1
  • iPod touch 3rd generation (2009): iPod3,1
  • iPod touch 4th generation (2010): iPod4,1
  • iPod touch 5th generation (2012): iPod5,1
  • iPod touch 6th generation (2015): iPod7,1
  • iPod touch 7th generation (2019): iPod9,1
So, where are iPod6,1 and iPod8,1? Something used up those names. But what? We certainly never saw them.

Not saying that’s the case here, but if we see the iMac’s model identifier jump past iMac20,n…there’s our hint.
 
If a larger iMac is coming along with a 23", can anyone offer an explanation as to why, with all these leaks talking about a 23", not one of them talked about the 27" increasing?

iMacs have always used common panel sizes, the next size above 27" is 31.5" and there's no case for tooling up a custom size for a product selling at the iMac's volume and price range. If a 31.5" iMac happens it will likely share the 6K panel used in the XDR, but it will most likely be expensive, hence the rumors suggest a 32" iMac Pro. There are cheaper 4K panels in this size class, but I think a lot of customers would see that as a downgrade from the current 5K.
 
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I am a graphic designer by trade and I had some fun playing with what the new design could look like. I took in consideration all the rumors - having an iPad Pro like design language, Pro XDR Bezels and I put in the visual design of the XDR stand. The only question is what do they do with the Iconic chin. My guess is they won’t be getting rid of it completely.

Which won do you guys think Apple with go with? I personally like the reduced chin look.
Nice....the middle one.
 
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I reckon 21.5 stays with a $100 price drop making it the 'cheapest iMac' starting at $999.

Yeah it could stick around as the new "eMac" with a 1080p display and a hard drive, but I don't know.


23 would have to be ARM... I just can't picture Apple spending money on R&D for a full redesign (unless it's bezel shrinkage) based on a thermal spec that going to be outdated within a year. They're gonna ride out the rest of the intel years with the current design and introduce a new design for ARM.

What if they go with 35W Comet Lake-S chips? That would be "cool" enough to work in a case designed for a future ARM CPU. And Intel offers them in 6/8/10 core i5/i7/i9 versions. And just use the iGP (so no dGPU).


They might launch late 2020 with the next MacOS update. Or thats the delayed switch to mini LED.

I just don't think Apple is ready to launch a consumer ARM Mac this year because of lack of software to run on it this early in the cycle.

I am sure Apple will offer an ARM-powered "Software Development Kit" like the did during the PowerPC to Intel move and I could see it being a MacBook Air and/or Mac Mini form factor, but that will be something you can probably only buy with a Developer ID and the understanding that it's "shelf life" will be very limited to probably a single macOS generation.
 
iMacs have always used common panel sizes, the next size above 27" is 31.5" and there's no case for tooling up a custom size for a product selling at the iMac's volume and price range. If a 31.5" iMac happens it will likely share the 6K panel used in the XDR, but it will most likely be expensive, hence the rumors suggest a 32" iMac Pro. There are cheaper 4K panels in this size class, but I think a lot of customers would see that as a downgrade from the current 5K.

That makes sense. So we could see a 27" redesign debut with the 23", which might explain why all the leaks were talk of the lower model increasing in size. I can definitely see the iMac Pro going to 32" but not the iMac. Some people would want a 32" iMac but I think the vast majority wouldn't, especially at the price point it would reach.
 
Apple has absolutely scrapped product updates before in favor of delaying for a larger update.

Probably the most blatant indicator of this is the iPod touch model identifiers:
  • iPod touch 1st generation (2007): iPod1,1
  • iPod touch 2nd generation (2008): iPod2,1
  • iPod touch 3rd generation (2009): iPod3,1
  • iPod touch 4th generation (2010): iPod4,1
  • iPod touch 5th generation (2012): iPod5,1
  • iPod touch 6th generation (2015): iPod7,1
  • iPod touch 7th generation (2019): iPod9,1
So, where are iPod6,1 and iPod8,1? Something used up those names. But what? We certainly never saw them.

Not saying that’s the case here, but if we see the iMac’s model identifier jump past iMac20,n…there’s our hint.
Too much conspiracy theory here for me. Lots of development projects don’t work out. Missing names don’t indicate that a company, let alone one with Apple’s technology vector planning, resources, and influence over the supply chain, had such a flimsy redesign of an 8 or 11 year old product that they cancelled it 3 months before release. Thin ice, brother.
 
I’ve batted this idea around in my head a bit. My guess is that, even if it were feasible from a cooling perspective (and I have my doubts), the displays have gotten way too big and heavy to pull it off. Keep in mind that the iMac G4’s display was one size: 15 inches.

If you’ve ever taken the display assembly off of a 27” iMac, you’ll know that holding that up along with whatever enclosure is necessary on an arm — along with Apple’s likely desire to make adjustments feel nearly weightless — would be quite the feat. The thing is heavy.

I’d expect that whatever happens to the iMac’s design, it will fundamentally be the same form factor (i.e., a stand holding up an enclosure containing both the display and computer).

It actually came in 15,17, and 20” sizes.
But frankly the scale feels best at 15. To your point, I recall some complaints that the arm struggled to keep the 20” in place.
i don’t think Apple will revisit this design. The engineering in that arm was a nightmare.

1592004960586.png
 
Has there been such a rumor?

All I have seen reported is MCK saying the iMac Pro will be moving to a 27" MiniLED panel.

Right no rumor explicitly says so, but it seems most likely to me. I took that MCK report as an indication that any expensive display upgrade would most likely go to the iMac Pro first, if at all. I saw a lot of people here hoping for a 32" iMac, but if my understanding of Apple's priorities is correct, very few of them would be willing to pay for it.
 
I’ve batted this idea around in my head a bit. My guess is that, even if it were feasible from a cooling perspective (and I have my doubts), the displays have gotten way too big and heavy to pull it off. Keep in mind that the iMac G4’s display was one size: 15 inches.

If you’ve ever taken the display assembly off of a 27” iMac, you’ll know that holding that up along with whatever enclosure is necessary on an arm — along with Apple’s likely desire to make adjustments feel nearly weightless — would be quite the feat. The thing is heavy.

I’d expect that whatever happens to the iMac’s design, it will fundamentally be the same form factor (i.e., a stand holding up an enclosure containing both the display and computer).
As has been said, it came in up to 20”. You talk about the current 27” being heavy, but that is because all the components are behind the screen. They were in the base of the G4. The weight now would be more like the screens of 4 MacBook Pros. Not the whole computers, just the lids.

I could see it being done a different way. People like the design of the XDR monitor. Imagine the computing enclosure being built onto the back of the vertical leg. The extra depth of the enclosure would be hardly noticeable, and the heat of the screen would be separated from the heat of the other components. The only downside is no option for VESA mounting.
 
Clock speed is way too low on 35w CPUs. Real impact on performance at this point. Not gonna be this for sure.

Compared to the "blast furnace" 125W K-series, I agree, and I expect those will be in the 27-inch as a BTO upgrade for the "power users" and then 65W units for the base configurations.

But the 23-inch model is said to be "cheaper" and if it is supposed to showcase the future ARM design aesthetic, then the 35w models might be acceptable since those models are used for "general purpose computing" that don't need maximum performance - and the 35W models still have decent clocks in the Turbo modes. And if it is the only model with a new design, then Apple could push it (and it's ARM-powered successors) as the "iMac Air" that some have been suggesting - a model designed to be thin and quiet (if not light, since it's a desktop) and the 27-inch iMac and iMac Pro would be for the "heavy lifting" tasks.

Either that or we start with a "thick" case to handle the fans needed to address the Intel and AMD TDPs and then when they switch to ARM they reduce the thickness to accommodate the better efficiency.
 
The lack of a new 27+ inch being listed in Eurasia is far more likely the result of some typical, dreary bureaucratic nonsense on the registration side, than evidence that Apple has nixed it or is planning some weird combination of keeping the existing iMac and adding a redesigned 23 inch.

Occam's razor says it's just some paperwork snafu. I wouldn't read too much into it.
 
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