new iMac G5 this month

[thegelding]

iMac G5 coming at WWDC...

what will be the specs and any other guesses


1. screen sizes will still be 15, 17, 20
2. speed---1.6, 1.6 and 1.8
3. HD--80, 80, 160
4. graphics--64,64,64 (with 128 optional)
5. combo, super, super
6. edu prices---all i care about as i am an edu guy
1199, 1499, 1999...maybe 1099, 1399, 1899--but not likely


will come in white and grey and two colors...grey and colors by b/o and only on 20 inch model

g

[Zodiac]

hmmmmm....

That would be cool. ;)

[Chinney]

I was thinking that they would be doing a fundamentally new body design for an iMac, but perhaps this is because it's Friday, I am in a silly mood, and I had two pints of beer at lunch. (Actually, the quantity of beer was due to the waitress bringing us a free round after we waited 35 minutes to get any drinks and over an hour for our food. Much grumbling, then much happiness.)

In all seriousness, though, there had been a lot of speculation about a whole new design, including a headless option. Is this speculation still current, or are we now expecting just a processor update? Don’t get me wrong, a G5 iMac would be big news in and of itself, but the iMac is also about design and I can’t imagine whole new innards without a new design statement as well. Further, there are aspects of the current design that could use rethinking.

[DMBand0026]

Slightly off methinks...
I would say

1. 15, 17 (wide), 20 (wide)
2. speed (G5) - 1.4, 1.6, 1.8
3. HD - 80, 80, 160
4. graphics, 64 across the line, no 128 :\
5. Combo, combo (optional super), super
6. Hopefully sub 1200 price.

I know it's not much different...but some differences. Gelding's predictions are a little too pro, not enough consumer. I hope that G's predictions are right, but I'm gonna be a little pessimistic here.

[pscates2.0]

I feel confident that if a new G5-based iMac makes an appearance (WWDC or whenever), it will indeed be wrapped in a new design.

It's been over two years since the iMac has been redesigned, so that alone would probably be enough. And it just doesn't seem to be Apple's style to slap a new chip/system into an existing design (think G5, iMac, PowerBook...heck, even the iBook, when migrating to the G4, got a slight modification in the form of a new keyboard and a slot-loading drive).

If Apple sticks a G5 in the current iMac and calls it a day, I'll eat my hat. Not to mention, I'll be VERY disappointed.

[thegelding]

hey paul, didn't you say the iMac G4 was a near perfect design??

i expect some changes too (i still would love the miniPM mini tower idea thrown around)....but having the screen with the guts thrown on the back seems like such a step backwards....not that you mention that as an option, but i have seen it thrown around at macrumors....ugghhh...i hope not...if it is still an aio design, the current iMac is a marvel...if they move to headless iMacs, then i expect big changes....


g

[InactionMan]

So long as it has a G5 in it and costs less (the low end) than $1500 CAN, I'm sold. I love my Sage iMac but I'm in desperate need of an upgrade.

[pscates2.0]

hey paul, didn't you say the iMac G4 was a near perfect design??

i expect some changes too (i still would love the miniPM mini tower idea thrown around)....but having the screen with the guts thrown on the back seems like such a step backwards....not that you mention that as an option, but i have seen it thrown around at macrumors....ugghhh...i hope not...if it is still an aio design, the current iMac is a marvel...if they move to headless iMacs, then i expect big changes....


g

Yeah, I did. And I still think it is. Straight out of left field and I remember EXACTLY how excited and wound up I got when I first saw a pic of it (the night before the keynote, on those leaked Time Canada article photos!). It's a great design because it's an AIO AND allows for such smallness and mobility.

But things change, for all kinds of reasons. I, personally, can't think of a cooler solution, but I certainly trust Ive and the gang to surprise me once again.

I imagine it'll either be a slightly tweaked, updated take on the current iMac design OR something so damn far off the map that we'll laugh ourselves silly when we first see it (a good kind of laugh, as in "HOW do they do it?!?").

:)

Can't wait!

[Chinney]

This is what I wrote back in .com in September:

The modular iMac idea is one that we discussed a few months ago on these boards, and I still think it is a good idea:

Redesign the base so that it is rounded back and front, with straight sides and flat top and bottom* - thus functioning well as a separate desktop or stacked away somewhere discreet - and engineer the base so that it can be sold with or without “the Arm”.

This would fulfill the need for the headless iMac, while also allowing for an AIO. Make it look cool and price it right and you have a hit. Give it a G5 and I will be lining up at the door for it.


* the shape I am thinking of is a disk, perhaps two inches thick and 10” in diameter, with squared sides

And this is what pscates replied, in a really great post by him:



http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/posticon.gif posted 02-09-2004 12:26 PM http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/profile.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=72) http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/sendpm.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/private.php?s=&action=newmessage&userid=72) http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/find.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/search.php?s=&action=finduser&userid=72) http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/buddy.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/member2.php?s=&action=addlist&userlist=buddy&userid=72) http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/edit.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/editpost.php?s=&action=editpost&postid=552147) http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/quote.gif (http://forums.appleinsider.com/newreply.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=552147) quote:Originally posted by Chinney
Redesign the base so that it is rounded back and front, with straight sides and flat top and bottom* - thus functioning well as a separate desktop or stacked away somewhere discreet...the shape I am thinking of is a disk, perhaps two inches thick and 10” in diameter, with squared sides

Something like this, Chinney? [edit: hah! I just realized I got your request wrong: I made the front and back flat and the sides rounded http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/smilies/1biggrin.gif Oops! Okay, mentally flip that when viewing mockup...]

http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epescates/im.jpg

Just rough and quick, but I was trying to imagine what you were saying.

Here's the thing: I used to have a Quadra 610, which was like a Domino's pizza box-sized thing. So figuring in all the advances made in the past 8-10 years (not to mention looking at the current domed iMac base), Apple could indeed get something small (but not "laptop small", requiring miniaturization, higher costs, etc.) to cram the "guts" into.

Bear in mind that the above doodle HAS NOT been run through the Ive filter™, so don't get too hung up on the specifics (shape, curves, design, etc.). I was just trying to imagine Chinney's description. It ain't pretty...just a quick mechanical.

Whatever they do, however, one thing in my drawing is true (and borrowed from the G5): at least one each of FireWire and USB ports ON FRONT, easily accessible for digital cameras, camcorders, iPods, thumb drives, etc. There will be more on the back for more permanently connected devices like external hard drives, printers, scanners, etc.

Just like the G5. Not much of a "digital hub" if you constantly have to struggle to reach around to find the very ports needed to connect your digital devices. That's why the G5 rocks and the LCD iMac is a pain.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/smilies/1smile.gif

I imagine a "hole" (but a bit more elegant) that a separately sold "iDisplay" can be dropped into or connected with. The display HAS to be designed for tilt and swivel operation. That cat is now out of the bag, so any future iMac lacking this is going to suck. People LOVE being able to spin that thing around to show co-workers, friends, family, customers, etc. stuff on the screen. It's the coolest part of the current iMacs, so we CANNOT lose that!

What if the entire "disk" were on a swivel platform underneath? I don't know...then you run into "cable snag" issues. The display can just sit on top and spin around, and also, somehow, tilt back and forth. The height thing, I don't know. I'm willing to lose it. But tilt and swivel is a must.

Something like this, to be used with a matching Apple-designed display (in 15", 17" and 20" widescreen choices) OR for those who a) already have a display, b) don't like Apple's stuff or c) prefer CRTs will have that option now. You can "have a cool Apple iMac", but pair it with YOUR choice of display (or get one of Apple's). Some sort of bundle incentive would be in place, to push people to opt for the cool, matching Apple solution, of course.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/smilies/1wink.gif

Now, his reply originally had a picture that he drew for me (and that I really appreciated), but the link to that is now gone.

[curiousuburb]

I'm willing to wager a postcard the 15 won't make the cut.
Only widescreen display options (17 and up) from now on.
A headless would be more useful than a 15 for many folks anyway.

[pscates2.0]

And this is what pscates replied...
Now, his reply originally had a picture that he drew for me (and that I really appreciated), but the link to that is now gone.

Is this the one? Sounds like it...found it in my "goofing off" folder :p

http://homepage.mac.com/pscates/mockups/imac_squash.jpg

[Chinney]

I don't think that this is the picture that you orginally posted, because the original picure was, as I suggested, straight on two sides and curved on the other two. Also, your picture had the sides turned around, so the straight sides were in front (as you explained in your post). It looks instead like the picture you have posted here today may have been based on a bit more playing around with your original picture, since it is similar, but with a few features switched around, and is a bit more refined. The new one is actually closer to my original suggestion.

Thanks for this one too. :)

[thegelding]

nice to see what is in pscates goofing off folder....


would be slightly scared to see murbot's goofing off folder
(can internet pages stick together?)


g

[murbot]

Paul, did you stick Phoebe Cates's email address on there by mistake? Goof off... :p

I just checked my goofing off folder. Nothing I can link here without scaring the kids. Sorry.

:D

[dglow]

Good afternoon, everyone. :)

After reading this thread, some of the old .com thread, and thinking about Apple's (imminent?) display updates, the following mutant thought poked its way into my consciousness:

What if the new displays and new iMac form factor are one in the same? What would this mean? Perhaps the iMac base pictured above, paired with a screen usable in several orientations: CPU-mounted, via arm, or tabletop, via umbilical cord?

My apologies if someone else has already suggested this, especially since it's a fairly simple leap from what others have posted before.

In my mind's eye I see a separate, svelte screen component that manifests the 'frame' of the display. In order to be usable, this piece must plug into any number of different mounts: 1) the new iMac, 2) a standalone articulated mount and USB/Firewire hub (Mac and PC compatible), 3) a low-profile, no-frills tabletop mount (for 'picture frame' mode), 4) etc., etc.

If nothing else, this would make for very quick and efficient screen-size upgrades! Just swap the LCD assembly but keep your existing base/arm/hub/powers supply.

So my question to all of you: would this make any sense?
Apple elegant or overly complex?

[Chinney]

Good afternoon, everyone. :)

[...]

What if the new displays and new iMac form factor are one in the same? What would this mean? Perhaps the iMac base pictured above, paired with a screen usable in several orientations: CPU-mounted, via arm, or tabletop, via umbilical cord?

[...]

So my question to all of you: would this make any sense? ...



Yes. Elegant, flexible, and sensible from a production-cost perspective. This is very much along the idea I would advocate. Of course, they have to make it look cool too, but I think that Ive would be up to that challenge.