Will there ever be a new large iMac (Pro)?

[Freida]

if this is as fast as I hope and devs are saying then maybe fusion the intel iMac and get 24 AS iMac with an extra screen.
Im sure that will drive it easily. Ideally though, I would really prefer the Mac mini as to me this sounds like an awesome machine. Hell, even the Dev kit seems to be better than what iMac is now

The comparision to 2016MBP is hilarious. Goes to show how well this will be optimised overall.

Mac Mini + XDR (or ideally XDR mini) would just be the perfect combo.

 

[OldCorpse]

Some of these twitter leakers are a complete joke, I don't understand how anyone gives them the time of day.

Meanwhile, I have a sense of overwhelming ennui when thinking of the new iPhones - I just can't bring myself to care, even a little bit. I wonder if it's just me, or has the progress in phone tech slowed to the point where there's just no excitement?

 

[fokmik]

2 laptops and a desktop sounds about right. Hopefully the AS Mac mini gets the latter...

I wonder if within these 3 SoCs, clock speeds will change? I.e low-end 14in MBP is clocked at 2.5Ghz, high-end at 3.5Ghz.

dont see why...1 chip for every mac its enough if its fast , efficient with no heat or jet sound.

 

[PlayUltimate]

Some of these twitter leakers are a complete joke, I don't understand how anyone gives them the time of day.

Meanwhile, I have a sense of overwhelming ennui when thinking of the new iPhones - I just can't bring myself to care, even a little bit. I wonder if it's just me, or has the progress in phone tech slowed to the point where there's just no excitement?

Tend to agree. Love my iPhone 7+. I have seen nothing that has prompted me to update. . . and my home is outside of range of 5G so that will not be a big selling point.

 

[Kjs100]

Ideally though, I would really prefer the Mac mini as to me this sounds like an awesome machine.

Mac Mini + XDR (or ideally XDR mini) would just be the perfect combo.

What appeals to you about the Mac mini over an iMac? I imagine that buying a mini + screen from Apple is going to end up costing a lot more than an iMac.

 

[pldelisle]

What appeals to you about the Mac mini over an iMac? I imagine that buying a mini + screen from Apple is going to end up costing a lot more than an iMac.

@Freida seems to want an expansive display. ahah

 

[OldCorpse]

I'm embarrassed to admit, I'm still on the 6S - I know I should update, but I wish there was something that made me go "I just must have that!". I mean I know that new phones are "faster" have "more megapixels" in the camera and whatnot, but in that old analogy, it's just a faster horse buggy - I'm hoping for a *car*, something new, a game-changer, not just a refinement, an elaboration, mere gloss. Of course when a techology matures, you can't have the same pace of invention as you did when things were just starting out, but I guess that's why we're not interested in the newest refrigerator coming out, whereas when they just were starting out, there was a solid 30 years of improvements to get excited by. But it's over for refrigerators. With digital technology you'd think there's a longer ramp where we can still accellerate innovation. I'm hoping the present "meh" feeling is due just to a slight pause and does not mean the phone is going the way of the fridge.

Computers are on the same path - the nerds still get excited by the chips being slightly faster, but the public at large not so much, insofar as that doesn't make most tasks easier on the computer (obviously, that point was long reached when it comes to basic stuff like text entry). There are still things like high resolution video editing, and games of course, but it's becoming more niche. For the masses out there, it's now down to refinements. People don't store as much, films, music is streamed, so storage is becoming deprecated, monitor screens are becoming just about "good enough". There are still things like battery life, cooling, and so on, but where's the killer feature, killer app? Connectivity is here - that's 90% right there, sure we can use more throughput and definitely reliability and ease of use, but, eh, we're almost there.

I have a friend with whom I've been following tech developments for 20 years now. Recently we've agreed that we're no longer as excited by technology. We're not exchanging excited texts during Apple presentations. Worse, we're stripping down our tech - laptop, phone, desktop, iPad, all a generation or two behind and the fewer the better. I just want to get my work done. There are promises of AR and this and that, but really... so far nothing to write home about. Last couple of Apple presentations, it took a week after it was done, for us to even talk about - I expect the time might come where it will come and go and we won't even mention it. Maybe it's because we're getting older and no longer excited youngsters? Or maybe the tech evolution has slowed down? I can't tell. All I know is it's just not as exciting as it once was.

That said, I'm hoping the AS Apple HW will inject a burst of excitement and push everything into overdrive again, and the excitement will return! That's why I'm waiting with great hope for the AS iMacs (not so much the Intel ones). I guess we'll see. YMMV.

 

[Freida]

Its very simple:

Mac mini you can update every year or so when they update it. YOu lose minimal money and you have a beautiful screen that stays.
iMac on the other hand is AiO so if something breaks you are screwed. I was never fan of AiO thats why I used to have Mac Pros until I started a job in movies that required me to move countries a lot so I sold that all and got a notebook which I'm not really a fan of.
Now that I'm kinda settled I am ready to have a proper computer but there is nothing from Apple that suits me. Mac Pro is priced out, iMac is fusion crap and notebook is what I dont' want. Mac Mini is bad now but with AS could be the best seller.
All I want from Apple to do is to release dumbed down version of XDR (XDR mini) so I can have Mac Mini + XDR mini for reasonable price (around half or so of current XDR) and call it a day. XDR design is up to date whilst iMac is awful.
Ideally I would get Mac Pro + XDR but that would be overkill and waste of money as my work provides me with a computer for work so this would simply be for my photography hobby + occasional freelancing work.
Simply it wouldn't justify the cost as I don't do freelancing that often (too busy at my main job).

So yeah, Apple could please a lot of people if they release cheaper version of XDR.

It would also allow those people to get Apple brand screen for their Mac Pros or Mac Minis.

XDR is too exclusive for most people to justify but its bloody gorgeous! (Although I haven't seen it yet as its THAT exclusive that most Apple stores don't have it on display - apparently I would have to travel to Toronto to see one)

What appeals to you about the Mac mini over an iMac? I imagine that buying a mini + screen from Apple is going to end up costing a lot more than an iMac.

 

[Freida]

Don't be! 6S is awesome phone - in fact, beginning of this year I was still rocking my iPhone 6 (which is now my backup/holiday phone). I switched to iPhone SE 2020 and I couldn't be happier. Sure, there is not much difference apart from speed but the pictures it makes compared to my 6 are just stunning.

You feel the right thing and I'm in the same boat. It comes with age and maturity as after 30 I feel that we tend to stop chasing the latest and greatest and we re-prioritise our live and we get to conclusion what is and isn't important.
At the end of the day, we just want to get stuff done and we want the right tool. It doesn't matter if iPhone 12 is 10x faster than iPhone 7 or whatever if the task you do is the same. iPhones reached that level and there is literally zero incentive to get a new one regardless what someone tells you. Be happy that you have reached this stage as that is a good sign.

Funnily enough, Apple is chasing the iPhones speed where it makes zero difference to us and yet the Macs that benefit from speed are neglected. iMac is prime example where they have neglected the speed.
Its a jet engine starting with insane temperature to get the job done and its still slow.
It drives me crazy that until now, Apple simply didn't care enough!
I really hope AS will change that as its time for Apple to chase the speed etc. on the products that it really matters!

iPads and iPhones can play current games at the highest settings and be super fluid and yet, the same can't be said about their Mac line. In fact, I would dare to say that the Mac Pro can show intensive current games at ultra settings on the XDR screen.

Same goes for other things.

Anyway, I have high expectations from AS because I feel that it will allow me to try different products from Apple that were not sufficient enough (ie. the Mac Mini). We shall see but the future looks great

I'm embarrassed to admit, I'm still on the 6S - I know I should update, but I wish there was something that made me go "I just must have that!". I mean I know that new phones are "faster" have "more megapixels" in the camera and whatnot, but in that old analogy, it's just a faster horse buggy - I'm hoping for a *car*, something new, a game-changer, not just a refinement, an elaboration, mere gloss. Of course when a techology matures, you can't have the same pace of invention as you did when things were just starting out, but I guess that's why we're not interested in the newest refrigerator coming out, whereas when they just were starting out, there was a solid 30 years of improvements to get excited by. But it's over for refrigerators. With digital technology you'd think there's a longer ramp where we can still accellerate innovation. I'm hoping the present "meh" feeling is due just to a slight pause and does not mean the phone is going the way of the fridge.

Computers are on the same path - the nerds still get excited by the chips being slightly faster, but the public at large not so much, insofar as that doesn't make most tasks easier on the computer (obviously, that point was long reached when it comes to basic stuff like text entry). There are still things like high resolution video editing, and games of course, but it's becoming more niche. For the masses out there, it's now down to refinements. People don't store as much, films, music is streamed, so storage is becoming deprecated, monitor screens are becoming just about "good enough". There are still things like battery life, cooling, and so on, but where's the killer feature, killer app? Connectivity is here - that's 90% right there, sure we can use more throughput and definitely reliability and ease of use, but, eh, we're almost there.

I have a friend with whom I've been following tech developments for 20 years now. Recently we've agreed that we're no longer as excited by technology. We're not exchanging excited texts during Apple presentations. Worse, we're stripping down our tech - laptop, phone, desktop, iPad, all a generation or two behind and the fewer the better. I just want to get my work done. There are promises of AR and this and that, but really... so far nothing to write home about. Last couple of Apple presentations, it took a week after it was done, for us to even talk about - I expect the time might come where it will come and go and we won't even mention it. Maybe it's because we're getting older and no longer excited youngsters? Or maybe the tech evolution has slowed down? I can't tell. All I know is it's just not as exciting as it once was.

That said, I'm hoping the AS Apple HW will inject a burst of excitement and push everything into overdrive again, and the excitement will return! That's why I'm waiting with great hope for the AS iMacs (not so much the Intel ones). I guess we'll see. YMMV.

 

[DrRadon]

AMD Sienna Cichlid (Navi21, Big Navi) GPU memory rumors: HBM vs GDDR6 - VideoCardz.com

There is conflicting information on next-generation Navi flagship GPU. Rumor 1: Sienna Cichild features HBM memory? The AMD Sienna Cichlid could allegedly feature a memory bus width up to 2048-bit, indicating a possible use of HBM memory. AMD Sienna Cichlid is also known as Big Navi or Navi 21...

videocardz.com

16GB of memory on the GPU?

Yes please.

Azrael.

Good luck with that, you won't even get 16GB on MacPro unless you go for the 720€ upsell. (3000€ if you want the 16gb to be HBM2)

Ignore this. I just saw that apparently the MacPro starts with the same GPU as the 27 inch iMac. W00t.

 

[DrRadon]

They couldn't get the parts from Intel/AMD/LG/whomever to make enough "old" iMacs to meet demand, otherwise they'd have done even better.

If they can't get the parts they need to make the current models, doesn't bode well for getting them parts for a new one, does it?

You are doubling down. We can cut them some slack here.
In case the old machines should have already been replaced it would mean Apple would have timed the orders for old parts to be don month ago as well. So there is less blame to put on whoever was not able to deliver as these chips simply would have not been queued up by anyone. Not in Apples orders, not in the production lines of suppliers.

I think the real bottleneck must have been in the next gen. I am thinking Intel because of things.

 

[tuc]

The crucial clause here is "from Apple". If you want to limit yourself to Apple-made displays, then of course that's your prerogative. I'm a proud cheapskate, though, so I consider monitors from any brand.

I personally bought a (used) NEC EA244UHD, which is a 4K XDR mini of sorts. No one would confuse its plain black styling for Apple, though.

I imagine that buying a mini + screen from Apple is going to end up costing a lot more than an iMac.

All I want from Apple to do is to release dumbed down version of XDR (XDR mini) so I can have Mac Mini + XDR mini for reasonable price

 

[pldelisle]

What appeals to you about the Mac mini over an iMac? I imagine that buying a mini + screen from Apple is going to end up costing a lot more than an iMac.

Especially if you really don't need the performance of such displays.

 

[CWallace]

The main advantage of an Apple-branded display would hopefully be more uniformity across units. Apple does more calibration of each iMac 5K panel then LG does of UltraFine 5K panels so that is why two iMac 5K's side-by-side will look similar, while two UltraFine 5K's monitors side by side can look significantly different.

 

[Freida]

For that money I would rather get the 27" LG ultrafine even though its visually ugly.

I like stuff from apple because the design is great. So yeah, because I'm visual person (its basically my job) I need to get something that is not functional design but also visual design. Both are equally important as history taught us.

So yeah, where is my XDR mini

The crucial clause here is "from Apple". If you want to limit yourself to Apple-made displays, then of course that's your prerogative. I'm a proud cheapskate, though, so I consider monitors any brand.

I personally bought a (used) NEC EA244UHD, which is a 4K XDR mini of sorts. No one would confuse its plain black styling for Apple, though.

 

[Freida]

I don't, thats why I hope for XDR mini. Less features and half the price. You know, prosumer display.

Especially if you really don't need the performance of such displays.

 

[pldelisle]

I don't, thats why I hope for XDR mini. Less features and half the price. You know, prosumer display.

Totally agree.

Personally as a dev I would love to code on a 3x Pro Display XDR Portrait mode setup. But spending 20 000 CAD for this is totally not justified. I won't contract another mortgage for buying apple hardware.

 

[tuc]

For that money I would rather get the 27" LG ultrafine even though its visually ugly.

For what it's worth, I bought the (used) NEC EA244UHD for under $210 shipped. It's a higher quality display than I need.

For my family's other mac mini I bought a (used) ViewSonic VX2475SMHL, which was even cheaper, but I wouldn't call it a 4K "XDR mini". Its panel is only 8 bits deep, not 10 bits, and its plastics have a cheap look to them. It looks fine to me, though.

[edit: I intentionally stayed away from 27" and larger displays, because I wanted "retina-lite" scaled at 2x. I think the fonts and widgets would feel too big on a 4K 27" screen. Of course one could scale at ~1.5x or ~1.25x instead.]

 

[Freida]

Good for you. I have issues with buying used stuff so I never do. I just fear that I will waste more money than I save so I stick to new stuff under warranty. With Apple I usually get Apple care and just before it runs out I sell it so that way I have a machine for 3 years (almost) and the buyer has peace of mind that the machine is still under warranty if anything happens. Win win for everyone.

I just don't buy used stuff because it can be abused.

For what it's worth, I bought the (used) NEC EA244UHD for under $210 shipped. It's a higher quality display than I need.

For my family's other mac mini I bought a (used) ViewSonic VX2475SMHL, which was even cheaper, but I wouldn't call it a 4K "XDR mini". Its panel is only 8 bits deep, not 10 bits, and its plastics have a cheap look to them. It looks fine to me, though.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Quote Dr Radon <<I just saw that apparently the MacPro starts with the same GPU as the 27 inch iMac. W00t.>>

Doh!.. That's because the base Mac Pro GPU is there for people who don't need more than a minimum graphics performance - musicians/data analysts etc etc.
Who don't want to pay for unnecessary graphics power.
So Apple fitted the least specced card capable of working with the inbuilt 6 TB3 display ports:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210319

Which makes it 'quite capable' in its 2019 iMac 27" i5 3.7 version.....
"Connect displays using your Radeon Pro 580X MPX Module
You can connect as many as six displays in these configurations:

• Two Pro Display XDRs with resolutions of 6016 x 3384 at 60 Hz connected to the Thunderbolt 3 ports on your Mac Pro. Connect one display to a Thunderbolt 3 port on the top* of your Mac Pro and the other display to a Thunderbolt 3 port on the rear of your Mac Pro.
• Two 5K displays with resolutions of 5120 x 2880 at 60 Hz connected via Thunderbolt 3 and two 4K displays with resolutions of 3840 x 2160 at 60 Hz connected via HDMI. Connect one 5K display to a Thunderbolt 3 port on the top* of your Mac Pro and the second 5K display to a Thunderbolt 3 port on the rear of your Mac Pro.
• Six 4K displays with resolutions of 3840 x 2160 at 60 Hz connected via HDMI and Thunderbolt 3."

 

[gusping]

if this is as fast as I hope and devs are saying then maybe fusion the intel iMac and get 24 AS iMac with an extra screen.
Im sure that will drive it easily. Ideally though, I would really prefer the Mac mini as to me this sounds like an awesome machine. Hell, even the Dev kit seems to be better than what iMac is now

The comparision to 2016MBP is hilarious. Goes to show how well this will be optimised overall.

Mac Mini + XDR (or ideally XDR mini) would just be the perfect combo.

YESSS! RISE UP AS Mac mini GANGGGGG! Freida <3

Praying it receives the same AS SoCs as the high-end iMacs. Please please please.

 

[iPadified]

Don't be! 6S is awesome phone - in fact, beginning of this year I was still rocking my iPhone 6 (which is now my backup/holiday phone). I switched to iPhone SE 2020 and I couldn't be happier. Sure, there is not much difference apart from speed but the pictures it makes compared to my 6 are just stunning.

You feel the right thing and I'm in the same boat. It comes with age and maturity as after 30 I feel that we tend to stop chasing the latest and greatest and we re-prioritise our live and we get to conclusion what is and isn't important.
At the end of the day, we just want to get stuff done and we want the right tool. It doesn't matter if iPhone 12 is 10x faster than iPhone 7 or whatever if the task you do is the same. iPhones reached that level and there is literally zero incentive to get a new one regardless what someone tells you. Be happy that you have reached this stage as that is a good sign.

Funnily enough, Apple is chasing the iPhones speed where it makes zero difference to us and yet the Macs that benefit from speed are neglected. iMac is prime example where they have neglected the speed.
Its a jet engine starting with insane temperature to get the job done and its still slow.
It drives me crazy that until now, Apple simply didn't care enough!
I really hope AS will change that as its time for Apple to chase the speed etc. on the products that it really matters!

iPads and iPhones can play current games at the highest settings and be super fluid and yet, the same can't be said about their Mac line. In fact, I would dare to say that the Mac Pro can show intensive current games at ultra settings on the XDR screen.

Same goes for other things.

Anyway, I have high expectations from AS because I feel that it will allow me to try different products from Apple that were not sufficient enough (ie. the Mac Mini). We shall see but the future looks great

As it stands now, the faster the iPhone are the faster the Mac will be.

Many or even most people want sleek and small computers for several reasons and Intel/AMD/NVIDIA is not providing the silicon for that. Apple error is to not provide a case suitable for this silicon, namely a tower or a 2 inch thick laptops. No wonder Apple got tired of it all and switch to AS for performance in sleek computers..

I also hope we will see other form factors. What a great stationary/luggable computer it would be to use the old 17.3 inch case with modern innards and small bezels. 18+ inch 4k screen and depth enough to put some decent cooling in. With 50W cooled AS in it, it would have amazing performance. A portable iMac actually. Alas, few people want that, but who knows?.

 

[iPadified]

YESSS! RISE UP AS Mac mini GANGGGGG! Freida <3

Praying it receives the same AS SoCs as the high-end iMacs. Please please please.

A "Mac mini" in the form of a smaller MP2013 cylinder (or the legendary cube but with active cooling) and an Apple XDR light version looking like a giant iPad would be great. Will a sleek thunderbolt cable be enough to power such a display? Do not want too many cables.

 

[Azrael9]

AMD Sienna Cichlid (Navi 21 "Big Navi") to feature up to 80 Compute Units? - VideoCardz.com

AMD “Sienna Cichlid” GPU features 80 Compute Units? It has been discovered by @_rogame and @komachi_ensaka that upcoming Navi 21 GPU could feature up to 80 Compute Units, a doubling of what the Navi 10 has to offer. The data has been found and decoded by the leakers, to whom we promised not to...

videocardz.com

Azrael.

 

[DrRadon]

I think i will eventually just crumble and fall for the 2019 one if we have nothing by mid august. It will be painful till it arrives, but than i will be actually working rather than worrying...