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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 .

Azrael9

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2020
2,287
1,835
I am a recovering PC Gamer. I just recently bought an Xbox One X and I am DONE with the PC gaming rat race. I own a 2015 MacBook Air but I am ready to upgrade to a full desktop setup to go along with the iPhone 11 and Apple can’t update these iMacs quick enough... BTW would upgrading to a 2020 iMac give a decent performance boost over what I’m seeing on this Air?

Macbook Air vs the pending 2020 iMac? The Air will be crushed by it.

Azrael.
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Why are you done with PC Gaming? I prefer keyboard and mouse for most games, and I prefer 120+ FPS and this is where consoles fail. If it isn't for Persona 5 and the Metal Gear Solid series, I would not have a console.

I think specs for Macs/PCs and consoles and ATVs and Pads and phones are always moving in flux.

We're at another inflection point for Consoles with the pending PS5.

Why bother with £1200 2080 Ti when you can get a PS5 for £499?

Running 4k at 60FPS on a PS5 with ray tracing is no defeat.

Makes perfect sense...on a nice big tv.

120 fps. I'm sure Ampere will be about there when it launches later this year / early next year. But it will cost far more.

Why bother when the visual fidelity and the innovation IO / SSD throughput of the PS5 offers a tantalisingly different design question. For far less.

Azrael.
 

Azrael9

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2020
2,287
1,835
Back on topic please. The iMac was never intended to be a gaming rig. So you who advocate a 5700XT are going to use it for gaming and let the iMac compete with PC gaming rigs? In that case I think that you will be disappointed. Apple has not made an effort in the gaming market with the Mac for as long time as I can remember.

On Intels press release that said that computer with Comet lake should be available to buy in the beginning of May, so it was released the 30:th of April but perhaps not available in quantities?

The delivery date has been unchanged for two days in a row. Let's see if it continues to be the same the next coming days. If so we may have deliveries in the first week of June.

It was never intended to be a 'Pro' workstation either. It was supposed to be a beginners Mac easy to connect to the internet in 'two' steps. But here we are with iMac Pros. And yes, rumours(!) of an eGamer iMac?!?!?

And if you're paying that much for any machine, I think playing some games is perfectly reasonable expection of the hardware. Anything £1700 upwards should be able to cut it. Ergo the call for a 5700XT. Gaming is a matter of choice. Mac or PC are plat form choices. If someone wants to use a Mac for gaming in native Mac OS or bootcamp. Their choice. The 2019 iMac is now. 'Old.' So the only question is whether we get side grade GPUs, an expensive custom upgrade gpu that isn't whole fat or an actual 5700XT that can cut the mustard. Apple's mainstream desktop track record with gpus is shockingly mediocre.

The only way we'll be 'disappointed' is if Apple lames on the gpu. Not expecting anything Nvidia in there (politics...) and so we look to AMD's Radeon cards which are getting 'on a bit' in age. They're hardly brand new now. They've been out for a while. So can we have some decent RDNA 1 cards in there, Apple. If Apple's AiO competes with HP's greatly specced AiO then mighty fine. It will be up against it to go toe to toe with any PC tower in the £1k-£2k bracket. If it gets half way to 3/4s of the way there, then 'fine.' 5700XT is the best AMD have got for Apple's mainstream desktops (a mid-range card at best) until later this year. ie. We don't hold our breath for the latter.

Apple has never made an effort with games. Until now with Apple Arcade. And the power of iOS will come to 'Mac' when Mac goes 'ARM.' So like with iOS, 'Mac' will 'fall into gaming' via osmosis of market dynamics. ie. sheer weights of numbers bring developers of all persuasion. Games included.

Beginning of May. Maybe on some other vendor's schedules, but it seems Apple has made it's mind up for a more substantive iMac updates (looking at the Mac Pro / XDR in teh rear view mirror...) will be landing at WWDC. Something exciting to talk about, I guess.

Azrael.
 
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DrRadon

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2008
1,210
902
ok, so, considering todays' leak... it's quite official.

iMac @ WWDC !!! not before!!

Still do not understand how apple can lost more than one month of iMac sells due to long term of expetidion rather thanintroduce ne iMa now.... but that's ok... at this tage we will wait...

Someone leaks Apple Glasses and for that you leak the iMac?! Are you drunk, stupid or sarcastic?
 
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Azrael9

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2020
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for now the air is way way faster than any 2020 iMac ;)

'Only Apple.'

Azrael.
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I thought if the iMacs were going to be announced this week it would be Wednesday? Because of the Intel Chips?

Hmm. That was one scenario. I doubt it though.

Azrael.
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5700 XT is not a high-end GPU, so I think it can fit well in the new iMac. Yes, it's true that it consumes more watts than a 580X, but it's not a big difference. If it is, Apple can solve that just using the non XT model.

RDNA is more efficient that the previous gen. So a 5700XT should fit an iMac if the Vega 64 is in an iMac Pro.

And you're right. The 5700XT is not a high end gpu. Low end card that was price bumped into the mid-range. The expectation of them was to replace Polaris at Polaris price points. That didn't happen.

580X. See Vega 64 in iMac Pro. They can fit it in there.

Just put iMac Pro cooling in there and they'll probably down clock the gpu somewhat.

Azrael.
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ok, so, considering todays' leak... it's quite official.

iMac @ WWDC !!! not before!!

Still do not understand how apple can lost more than one month of iMac sells due to long term of expetidion rather thanintroduce ne iMa now.... but that's ok... at this tage we will wait...

It's looking that way now. There's absolutely nothing on iMac rumours. And if something is imminent, the rumours tend to drop around that schedule.

Azrael.
 
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Manfredi

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2020
63
63
Milano, Lombardia
Someone leaks Apple Glasses and for that you leak the iMac?! Are you drunk, stupid or sarcastic?
none of the previous three, just saying that, if today's leak was about Apple glasses, for sure no leak about iMac.
and no Leak can be considered as a leak (LOL) .

Jon Prosser just look on clickbit and followers... he knows ver well how to issue leaks... if he decide to talk today about glasses is because no leaks about new iMac this week... so i assume that probably we will see them at WWDC...

have i miss something in the "fantastic world of people wo gain money by followers and spot..?"
p.s: thank you for "supid"... is a pleasure to (try to) discuss with you...
 

CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,528
11,543
Seattle, WA
I think the "eGamer iMac" rumor can be officially buried with the announcement that Valve dropped VR support for macOS (based on Valve's own numbers, macOS users were a fraction of the fraction of PC users who play VR games) and
Apple's focus is on AR because that benefits mobile.

Looking at the Wikipedia specs, the 5700XT is like 235-250W TDP which is too hot for an iMac so if we do get a 5700, it will likely be the 5700M mobile version (and likely under-clocked a bit).

I am the casualist of casual gamers (Diablo 3 and Overwatch) and two years ago I just decided to get a low-end Alienware for under $1500 with a hex-core i7 and a 1070GTX as it will likely be better than anything in an iMac for years to come (and I can drive my ASUS 27" display at 165Hz with G-SYNC, while the 5K display is locked at 60Hz).
 
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Azrael9

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2020
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I think the "eGamer iMac" rumor can be officially buried with the announcement that Valve dropped VR support for macOS (based on Valve's own numbers, macOS users were a fraction of the fraction of PC users who play VR games) and
Apple's focus is on AR because that benefits mobile.

Looking at the Wikipedia specs, the 5700XT is like 235-250W TDP which is too hot for an iMac so if we do get a 5700, it will likely be the 5700M mobile version (and likely under-clocked a bit).

I am the casualist of casual gamers (Diablo 3 and Overwatch) and two years ago I just decided to get a low-end Alienware for under $1500 with a hex-core i7 and a 1070GTX as it will likely be better than anything in an iMac for years to come (and I can drive my ASUS 27" display at 165Hz with G-SYNC, while the 5K display is locked at 60Hz).

I don't think we can officially anything with Apple. They march to the beat of their own drum.

They're no doing Valve. They're doing Apple Arcade.

eGamer iMac? They'll do it if they wish it to add to the Apple Arcade ecosphere. It would be a sign that they are taking a holostic view of that rental scheme, I mean subs model...I mean gaming service. An eGames iMac would be a sign they're serious, in traditional 'pc gamer' terms. ie. It's games. And they're in with a 'heavier' weight model other than pads or phones.

The Vega 64 is in an iMac Pro. So I'd expect a down clocked version of 5700XT in the iMac as BTO with better cooling. Possible 5500-5600 variants in the lower 27-32 inch models.

Maybe we'll get an iMac eGamer with promotion 120hz..? As for a 1070GTX. There's every chance Apple can have a 5700XT as BTO. And 8 core as standard on a £1700 iMac. 6 core happened in 2019. I'd expect one of the 27 inch models to offer an 8 core as standard.

Low end, Alienware? eh? Well, you seem to be enjoying it. I played WoW on my iMac just fine with 60-100fps. Went from Open GL to Metal.

No reason a well kitted iMac can't be just as fun. I'd expect the next gen iMac to draw level and pass that spec though.

Whether apple does. Is up to them. Not me, though.

Azrael.
 
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DrRadon

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2008
1,210
902
none of the previous three, just saying that, if today's leak was about Apple glasses, for sure no leak about iMac.
and no Leak can be considered as a leak (LOL) .

Jon Prosser just look on clickbit and followers... he knows ver well how to issue leaks... if he decide to talk today about glasses is because no leaks about new iMac this week... so i assume that probably we will see them at WWDC...

have i miss something in the "fantastic world of people wo gain money by followers and spot..?"
p.s: thank you for "supid"... is a pleasure to (try to) discuss with you...

Or maybe iPhone and Apple Glass are just much more Newsworthy while iMac is probably the most "boring" product apple offers besides the MacMini. Well, okay, yesterdays new AppleWatch Wristband probably was more boring and even less leak worthy.

Prosser already leaked that the new iMac is "ready to ship" and i just posted hours ago that supplies are dwindeling.

I also pointed out how Apple would need to announce ARM ahead of time for the coders and how it would be silly to release a new iMac on Intel literally after announcing Intel is Dead. (you see, if you announce ARM and the intel iMac at WWDC, it will not start being sold till after WWDC, and yes, the feeling that i need to point that out sais a lot)

You did not discuss anything. You are just screaming and bumbling. iMac will very likely happen before WWDC.

I am guessing within the next 15 days. No new design. Just new specs.
 
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Bryan839

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2010
104
173
UK
My new iMac has arrived ? really impressed so far!
 

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Grohowiak

macrumors 6502a
Nov 14, 2012
768
793
I have a feeling the “new” iMac will just be a CPU bump and a final move to SSD.
Mac delays are most likely caused by people buying computers due to quarantine and supply chains that were choked.
I hope I am wrong.
 

DrRadon

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2008
1,210
902
I don't think we can officially anything with Apple. They march to the beat of their own drum.

They're no doing Valve. They're doing Apple Arcade.

Yep.

Valve seems dead to Apple. They killed a ton of games by dropping 32bit support and if ARM kills the rest (including Bootcamp?) who knows what gaming will be beyond iOS ports in the next few years.

I know people will scream "No!!!" about that, but just think about what the PowerPC switch to Intel did. Next years changes will be big, and you don't know how broad they will affect what's already there, all you know is that apple sometimes dos not give a **** when it comes to burning down some stuff that actually might have been super usefull (think ports and MagSave on them MacBooks).
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I have a feeling the “new” iMac will just be a CPU bump and a final move to SSD.

I somehow doubt they will let go of fusion drive. Because they just don't care.
 

CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,528
11,543
Seattle, WA
eGamer iMac? They'll do it if they wish it to add to the Apple Arcade ecosphere. It would be a sign that they are taking a holostic view of that rental scheme, I mean subs model...I mean gaming service. An eGames iMac would be a sign they're serious, in traditional 'pc gamer' terms. ie. It's games. And they're in with a 'heavier' weight model other than pads or phones.

Apple Arcade is meant to be a holistic platform across iOS, tvOS and macOS, though tvOS seems to be getting short-thrift so far (that will hopefully change should the AppleTV 4K get an A12 or A13 SOC).

Having an "eGames" Mac that requires a powerful PC-centric GPU and VR headset is in opposition to that since you won't have either with an iPhone/iPad or a television.


The Vega 64 is in an iMac Pro. So I'd expect a down clocked version of 5700XT in the iMac as BTO with better cooling. Possible 5500-5600 variants in the lower 27-32 inch models.

Yes, I can see a 5700XT in the iMac Pro since it has the thermal headroom (and have said as much in this thread), but I believe the iMac will be limited to mobile-versions of the AMD 5000 series (though better than what the MBP 16" is using).



Maybe we'll get an iMac eGamer with promotion 120hz?

Acer does make a 144Hz 27" 4K display that supports DCI-P3 and uses AMD FreeSync (Nitro XV273K) with a 163ppi so that could work. It retails for around $900 so they should be able to get it for what they're paying for their 5K panels which means it could work for a "gMac" which will probably be $4000, anyway.
 

Voyageur

macrumors 6502
Mar 22, 2019
262
243
Moscow, Russia
I have a feeling the “new” iMac will just be a CPU bump and a final move to SSD.
Mac delays are most likely caused by people buying computers due to quarantine and supply chains that were choked.
I hope I am wrong.
And I hope that you are not wrong: I got an insight that now is not a good moment to buy a new iMac. It is better now to wait out this 10-th intel and wait for the next big update. The processors there will be not so hot, and RDNA 2 will be ready 100%. And, possibly, the redesign + mini-LED + TB4.

To make it clearer, imagine that this is a purchase of Late 2013 on the eve of the announcement of 5K in 2014. In addition to retina, it also then received a large update with much more powerful hardware and TB2 instead of TB1
 

CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,528
11,543
Seattle, WA
It is better now to wait out this 10-th intel and wait for the next big update. The processors there will be not so hot, and RDNA 2 will be ready 100%. And, possibly, the redesign + mini-LED + TB4.

The 11th Generation Intel CPU will still be 14nm (Rocket Lake) and TDPs have been trending upwards with each new 14nm "optimization" because the only way Intel can boost clocks and performance to justify the existence of each new generation is by pumping more power into it which generates more heat.
 

Voyageur

macrumors 6502
Mar 22, 2019
262
243
Moscow, Russia
The 11th Generation Intel CPU will still be 14nm (Rocket Lake) and TDPs have been trending upwards with each new 14nm "optimization" because the only way Intel can boost clocks and performance to justify the existence of each new generation is by pumping more power into it which generates more heat.
Yes, but they will be on the new architecture. And according to the GPU, you can see that they will receive the core, which should debut in Tiger Lake.
 

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dn325ci

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2009
124
116
I have a feeling the “new” iMac will just be a CPU bump and a final move to SSD.
Mac delays are most likely caused by people buying computers due to quarantine and supply chains that were choked.
I hope I am wrong.
The coronavirus has had a supply chain impact to be sure, but watching the various clues play out over the past months my humble instinct here is that there is probably some level of redesign afoot. Whether it's actually chassis/screen level of redesign, or just an internal redesign for cooling/T2/full SSD/other, who knows.

If this is correct, we likely won't see it until WWDC, so here's to 34 more days of speculating! Cheers!
 
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deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
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Yes, but they will be on the new architecture. And according to the GPU, you can see that they will receive the core, which should debut in Tiger Lake.

That "new" architecture isn't going to save them from consuming more power at 14nm. Even more so if it is a 'backported' 10nm design ( which presumed was going to some 'savings' in power consumption with the process improvement.). If Rocket Lake is a backported Willow Cove ( mobile Tiger Lake) implementation then it will probably run big (consume more space) and at least as hot as the Comet Lake ( Skylake refinement on 14nm).


P.S. May be some small scale savings if Intel strips the iGPU off the 14nm die and slides the iGPU and perhaps some of the I/O ( memory controller and/or PCI-e v4 ) into the chip package on a 10nm die. And 'glue' those two together to get a desktop package. But a workload that fully loads up just the x86 cores will probably be in the same boat as Comet Lake in terms of power consumption.
 
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deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,493
4,053
The 11th Generation Intel CPU will still be 14nm (Rocket Lake) and TDPs have been trending upwards with each new 14nm "optimization" because the only way Intel can boost clocks and performance to justify the existence of each new generation is by pumping more power into it which generates more heat.

If Rocket Lake comes with Willow Cove core design ( same as in Tiger Lake) then there should be some IPC improvements due to bigger caches , probably finally real fixes for Meltdown/Spectre , and some other microarchitecture tweaks. However, those cores are bigger ( no free lunch on cranking up cache size , AVX-512 , etc. ). The AMD Ryzen competition heat will be on so there probably won't be a reprieve from throwing more power to crank clocks higher . It may get more than just middling incremental progress in performance so may be generally useful.

For iMacs ... not so sure. ( at least at very the top end SKUs. ) unless Apple does something about the Thermals in the mainstream 27" iMac.

Worse case , the cores in Rocket Lake are just the same old 14nm cores have now coupled to some 10nm uncore ( iGPU , memory controller , PCI-e controller )... so looks lie a Willow cove package on the inside but the x86 cores are still detached from progress.
 

askunk

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2011
547
430
London
I take the 5700 XT doesn't heat up more than a Vega 64. The Xeons W inside the iMP are well beyond the 100W TDP (105 to 140W). Therefore, if they use the iMP cooling system for the new iMac and keep a similar (if not identical) case, they are still in the range to build such a machine.

They could keep the RDNA2 for the iMP at the end of the year.

I still hope to see them in the iMac... but who knows what's gonna happen :)
 

Freida

Suspended
Oct 22, 2010
4,077
5,874
I don't know what your insight is or says but there is nothing to be excited about in terms of Intel so there really is no reason to skip the upcoming update.
The only reason would be redesign in fall or early 2021 if Apple shows us the finger now but thats probably it.
Sure, RDNA 2 will be awesome but since when Apple gave us the latest tech? Never so RDNA 2 update is probably a year away.
So, to sum up - I think your source is either wrong or is messing with you. Intel sux and will suck for a while. AMD could be an option but if Apple is really going ARM then I assume it would be not worth it for them to do the implementation for just this generation.


And I hope that you are not wrong: I got an insight that now is not a good moment to buy a new iMac. It is better now to wait out this 10-th intel and wait for the next big update. The processors there will be not so hot, and RDNA 2 will be ready 100%. And, possibly, the redesign + mini-LED + TB4.

To make it clearer, imagine that this is a purchase of Late 2013 on the eve of the announcement of 5K in 2014. In addition to retina, it also then received a large update with much more powerful hardware and TB2 instead of TB1
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,493
4,053
I don't know what your insight is or says but there is nothing to be excited about in terms of Intel so there really is no reason to skip the upcoming update.
The only reason would be redesign in fall or early 2021 if Apple shows us the finger now but thats probably it.
Sure, RDNA 2 will be awesome but since when Apple gave us the latest tech? Never so RDNA 2 update is probably a year away.
So, to sum up - I think your source is either wrong or is messing with you. Intel sux and will suck for a while. AMD could be an option but if Apple is really going ARM then I assume it would be not worth it for them to do the implementation for just this generation.

The CPU in a desktop iMac doesn't have to be limited to Intel to get an x86 solution. If it is suppose to be a lower TDP CPU then AMD would be the more likely candidate in that "early" 2021 timeline.

Apple does lots of arm flapping about their ARM being "desktop" but it really isn't in terms of robustness outside of drag racing benchmarks. No robust real I/O ( multiple ports and multiple PCI-e connectivity ).

The AMD ecosystem is missing experienced Thunderbolt support. There isn't a proven USB4/TB3 solution to jump to outside of Intel. Apple is pretty deeply hooked on QuickSync implementation support too. But the rest wouldn't be much of a problem.

But the notion of "Intel doesn't have anything that looks good so Apple has no other choice but to go to in house ARM" is loopy in the desktop space. For the thinnest of thin laptops ( e.g., their one port wonder Macbook type product) , sure they are more than competitive. But outside the limited port mobile space there isn't much there. Nor is that high volume in that space either to motive/jusity Apple spends tons of money there.
 
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