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

[Kjs100]

Well not for too long since Intel has End of Life the lot of em (8th Gen CPUs).

Interesting thanks. Looks like it's another 4 months.

"...Intel will still be taking orders for 8th Generation processors till the 18th of December with the last batch of 8th Gen CPUs shipping on 4th June, 2021...".

So theoretically a 21.5 could ship until 4 June 2021?

 

[Freida]

Thats my thinking too. Now that nano coating came to iMacs it gives the impression that some other things could come down too. so having prosumer display around $2k and XDR around $5k would bring more sales + would help Apple to offset the R&D. Seeing that they are willing to bring the nano coating why not other things too. We all would love to have mini XDR 31.5" screen and AS mac mini to go with it. Win for customers and win for Apple.
AS will shake things up a lot at Apple. Lets hope they will approach it the SJ way and not the Timmy's way.
Not everyone wants AiO solution and not everyone can afford Mac Pro. So introduce either mini mac pro with mini XDR or make mac mini the stop gap and mini XDR also. That way everyone can choose unlike now where you have zillion laptops , one AiO that actually is ok. and then super expensive Mac Pro that no one can afford unless for business etc.

New line:
3 laptops: small, medium, large (with AS all will be powerful)
2 AiO: small, large (24 & 31.5)
1 desktop and 1 High end desktop (mac mini & mac pro)
1 con/pro-sumer display and 1 high end display (mini XDR and XDR - +-$2k and +-$5k)

Nice and simple and with enough choices for everyone whilst keeping the core of Apple

Hard to justify buying into this spec bump. Don't really need the power. TrueTone would be nice, but that's about it.

Think I'll wait for the redesigned iMac with Apple Silicon. However, since the first models will likely be 24", I'll probably look for a Mac Mini and an Apple display instead. Hopefully there's a mid-tier variant of the XDR in the pipeline. And hopefully the Mini will be beefy enough to run the display properly.

 

[Kjs100]

Probably. But the displays I'm eventually targeting are Dell U2720Q USB-C. I can directly plug them into the Thunderbolt port. I don't think I need Thunderbolt for anything else.

Yes that's a very nice monitor I looked at it the other day while browsing. I was thinking if they released the ARM Mac mini before the 24" ARM imac I might buy the mini rather than wait another 4/5 months. I see you can get refurbished monitors. Not sure if a refurb has any substantive downside.

 

[Kjs100]

The one thing that really worries me about buying an ARM iMac from Apple is likely not being able to upgrade ram myself so having to pay Apple's obscene ram prices. 200 for 8g of ram? Shameless. So if you even want 16gb you'll probably immediately wipe out any price saving, assuming the 24" is more affordable. Apple will really have a stranglehold on people if ram can't be user upgraded.

 

[Icaras]

Congratulations to the person who began this thread! 7500+ posts later.

Indeed! But this is far from the end of this thread. Still waiting for the actual redesign. So maybe we’ll get to 10,000 posts by then.

 

[krell100]

Another reasonably lacklustre refresh from Apple as expected. Same thermal issues, same tired old design.

It's been obvious since WWDC that Apple would never redesign an Intel iMac, and this update is really just a placeholder until the truly updated AS iMac comes along.

If you absolutely must have a new iMac and are putting down serious money on one of these then I feel for you, its like winning $10 on the lottery.

 

[Icaras]

The one thing that really worries me about buying an ARM iMac from Apple is likely not being able to upgrade ram myself so having to pay Apple's obscene ram prices. 200 for 8g of ram? Shameless. So if you even want 16gb you'll probably immediately wipe out any price saving, assuming the 24" is more affordable. Apple will really have a stranglehold on people if ram can't be user upgraded.

At the same time you’re also risking limited software support down the road. I want to say Apple stopped OS X support for PPC only after five years in.

Edit: just checked. PPC support lasted from 1999 -2005

 

[Fred Zed]

So I was right with my prediction yay. My pleasure.

 

[Kjs100]

At the same time you’re also risking software support down the road. I want to say Apple stopped OS X support for PPC only after five years in.

Edit: just checked. PPC support lasted from 1999 -2005

Yes I wasn't too comfortable at the thought of the last Intel iMac. I'm planning on keeping my next purchase for a long time. It's just frustrating because I'd have upped the ram to 32gb on a 27 intel but 32gb of Apple's ram is not something I'd pay for on an ARM imac so I just hope Kuo is right about the 50-100% increase in processor speed and that that can make up for having a machine with less ram.

 

[Icaras]

Yes I wasn't too comfortable at the thought of the last Intel iMac. I'm planning on keeping my next purchase for a long time. It's just frustrating because I'd have upped the ram to 32gb on a 27 intel but 32gb of Apple's ram is not something I'd pay for on an ARM imac so I just hope Kuo is right about the 50-100% increase in processor speed and that that can make up for having a machine with less ram.

Apple’s prices on memory are quite excessive, but who knows? Maybe RAM upgrades on Apple Silicon Macs will be more forgivable than on their Intel counterparts. Let’s hope!

 

[Whiteman007]

So I was right with my prediction yay. My pleasure.

Any reason you guessed today? Or just random hope?

 

[The_Lord_of_Apple]

So I was right with my prediction yay. My pleasure.

Hello Jon Prosser

 

[Soulflower]

apart from keeping the same design, it’s not a bad update:

True Tone display
Nano Texture glass option
T2 chip
Bluetooth 5.0
studio quality speakers and mics
SSDS across the entire line
1080p webcam

more than just a processor update, but not a redesign. My 2012 iMac is slowing and showing its age, not sure if I should update to this new one or wait and hope for a redesign next year

I also have the late 2012 iMac and trying to decide if I should update or keep hanging on.

 

[krell100]

Hang on if you can, only buy now if you absolutely have too.

 

[jetjaguar]

I’m second guessing my order. Dunno if I should just hold out.

 

[AlexGraphicD]

As a lot of us correctly guessed, there would be no chance that Apple introduces a redesigned Intel based iMac before the AS release. Apple you are not getting my money if you don't put out the redesigned and more advanced AS iMacs.

 

[Martinpa]

I created a thread, but I guess it is getting lost in the slew of posts:

I have a 27" late 2013 iMac (3.5GHz quad-core i7, 8GB RAM + 2x8GB user-installed, 1TB fusion Drive and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M) that just came out of "repair". It basically died in March but because of COVID, I waited for the stores to reopen to get it checked out. They got it working, but the issue is the motherboard and they can't say how long it'll hold on (and it's 800$ to replace it, which at this point isn't worth it for a 7yo computer).

I'm a video editor and I do photography, and until problems with the HDD and then the motherboard, never had much issues (even with 8K raw files, I just did proxies. The only thing that caused hiccups was when I tried to stich really big panoramas in Photoshop and it would run out of RAM and HDD space). Because I had a NVIDIA GPU, to take advatange of CUDA, I was stuck at High Sierra, and the whole thing was a mess.

So now, with today's refresh, I'm tempted to upgrade. I've been working on the office's Windows PC (now in my room) and that thing isn't all that. For some reason there's input lag when working in Photoshop, and the fan runs 100% of the time. My room is always at least 3-5 degrees hotter than the rest of the place.

With the Apple Silicon/redesign coming, I'm hesitant though. I'm thinking of getting a "modestly" spec'd iMac (Standard glass, 3.8GHz 8-core i7, 8GB RAM (and buy a 2x16GB upgrade seperately, for 40GB total) Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1TB SSD storage). With the student discount, it'd be CAD 3 675$ with the AirPod Pro. Then I'd also have the option of selling it when the redesign comes out.

Any thoughts? I have my cursor ready to click on Checkout, but I'm hesitant...

 

[Soulflower]

I use my computer for very light home usage but I do need 1T possibly for photos and files. Not a gamer.

For this usage, would I notice enough difference between these two to pay the extra $300 ?

 

[Mr. Warbles]

I’m second guessing my order. Dunno if I should just hold out.

you need therapy.

 

[EugW]

I created a thread, but I guess it is getting lost in the slew of posts:

I have a 27" late 2013 iMac (3.5GHz quad-core i7, 8GB RAM + 2x8GB user-installed, 1TB fusion Drive and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M) that just came out of "repair". It basically died in March but because of COVID, I waited for the stores to reopen to get it checked out. They got it working, but the issue is the motherboard and they can't say how long it'll hold on (and it's 800$ to replace it, which at this point isn't worth it for a 7yo computer).

I'm a video editor and I do photography, and until problems with the HDD and then the motherboard, never had much issues (even with 8K raw files, I just did proxies. The only thing that caused hiccups was when I tried to stich really big panoramas in Photoshop and it would run out of RAM and HDD space). Because I had a NVIDIA GPU, to take advatange of CUDA, I was stuck at High Sierra, and the whole thing was a mess.

So now, with today's refresh, I'm tempted to upgrade. I've been working on the office's Windows PC (now in my room) and that thing isn't all that. For some reason there's input lag when working in Photoshop, and the fan runs 100% of the time. My room is always at least 3-5 degrees hotter than the rest of the place.

With the Apple Silicon/redesign coming, I'm hesitant though. I'm thinking of getting a "modestly" spec'd iMac (Standard glass, 3.8GHz 8-core i7, 8GB RAM (and buy a 2x16GB upgrade seperately, for 40GB total) Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1TB SSD storage). With the student discount, it'd be CAD 3 675$ with the AirPod Pro. Then I'd also have the option of selling it when the redesign comes out.

Any thoughts. I have my cursor ready to click on Checkout, but I'm hesitant...

For the other people in the thread with 2012 or later Macs, I would just say wait. However, for you, it's more difficult since your machine doesn't seem so reliable, so it may make sense for you to buy now.

In fact, it may make sense just because some of your software might not be well supported on Apple Arm chips for a while, depending upon who makes it.

I use my computer for very light home usage but I do need 1T possibly for photos and files. Not a gamer.

For this usage, would I notice enough difference between these two to pay the extra $300 ?

Definitely get the cheaper one. It depends on your software and what you do with it, but by the sounds of it you likely won't notice any difference in performance. In fact you'd be better off getting the cheaper one and then putting the saved money towards extra memory. Another 16 GB RAM (for a total of 24 GB) will only cost you about $75 for good quality name brand stuff. The cheaper one may also run slightly cooler too.

You can also pick up an external 1 TB SSD for backup, and consider getting a large capacity iCloud account for cloud backup if you use Photos, or else different cloud backup solutions.

 

[pldelisle]

For the other people in the thread with 2012 or later Macs, I would just say wait. However, for you, it's more difficult since your machine doesn't seem so reliable, so it may make sense for you to buy now.

In fact, it may make sense just because some of your software might not be well supported on Apple Arm chips for a while, depending upon who makes it.



Definitely get the cheaper one. It depends on your software and what you do with it, but by the sounds of it you likely won't notice any difference in performance. In fact you'd be better off getting the cheaper one and then putting the saved money towards extra memory. Another 16 GB RAM (for a total of 24 GB) will only cost you about $75 for good quality name brand stuff. The cheaper one may also run slightly cooler too.

You can also pick up an external 1 TB SSD for backup, and consider getting a large capacity iCloud account for cloud backup if you use Photos, or else different cloud backup solutions.

A simple mechanical HDD is sufficient for Time Machine but yes I agree with all the rest 👍🏻

 

[Kjs100]

I’m second guessing my order. Dunno if I should just hold out.

There is nothing wrong with reevaluating decisions. Hold out for which product..?

 

[Soulflower]

For the other people in the thread with 2012 or later Macs, I would just say wait. However, for you, it's more difficult since your machine doesn't seem so reliable, so it may make sense for you to buy now.

In fact, it may make sense just because some of your software might not be well supported on Apple Arm chips for a while, depending upon who makes it.



Definitely get the cheaper one. It depends on your software and what you do with it, but by the sounds of it you likely won't notice any difference in performance. In fact you'd be better off getting the cheaper one and then putting the saved money towards extra memory. Another 16 GB RAM (for a total of 24 GB) will only cost you about $75 for good quality name brand stuff. The cheaper one may also run slightly cooler too.

You can also pick up an external 1 TB SSD for backup, and consider getting a large capacity iCloud account for cloud backup if you use Photos, or else different cloud backup solutions.

Thank you. What do you think about downgrading to the even cheaper baseline model? (with an external HD for extra storage)?

 

[The_Lord_of_Apple]

I'm a video editor and I do photography,

Same here but more photography than video editing. How on earth did you survive using an older computer with 8K Raw footage?

The AS processors won't be hitting it right out of the gate immediately matching a 10 Core CPU and 5700XT GPU. Designing GPU is no easy feat and NVIDIA & AMD have been doing it for a long time.

I have no idea when Phase One, Adobe, Blackmagic, Maxon will be updating their software to run on AS natively. So for me it is going to be an Intel iMac for the interim.

Even though there is a lack of enough thunderbolt ports for me, I am going to aim for the top most spec iMac. The machine needs to fly especially when I am dealing with ProRes 422 HQ files.

 

[EugW]

Thank you. What do you think about downgrading to the even cheaper baseline model? (with an external HD for extra storage)?

What software are you using?

A simple mechanical HDD is sufficient for Time Machine but yes I agree with all the rest 👍🏻

Agreed, but I'm now spoiled by the Samsung T5 1 TB external SSD I have.