Well this is interesting:
new rumor points to a new lower-cost 23"(!) iMac in the second half of 2020. Hmmm...
I would also hope/assume, halfway into 2020, any new Mac release - whether a simple update or a redesigned or brand new model - would come with 256GB SSD. The fact that the $799 Mac mini and $999 MacBook Air have this is a good sign. I can't imagine a $1,000+ desktop sticking with the spinners at this point. It's a little silly and tough to justify.
Maybe 2020 is the year Apple extracts their head from their luxury/upscale ass a little bit, and introduces some better bang-for-the-buck products for those who appreciate that sort of thing. So far they’ve delivered on the notebook and iPhone front, so maybe they’ve got something nice planned for their iconic AIO.
Not sure where a 23” iMac would fall on the “cheaper” scale...cheaper than the current 27” I guess? But the article isn’t written that way. Is it too much to hope for that they put out a 23” iMac for $999? Although they used to sell a 20” iMac and it got bumped up by 1.5”. 21.5 + 1.5 = 23, so it wouldn’t be unheard of, that amount of increase (especially after so many years).
If true, does that mean the 27” may go to 30”? Do the math...the smaller iMac goes up by 1.5”, while the larger increases by 3” (24, 27 and 30”)? It’s happened already, after all.
EDIT: According to MacTracker, the 21.5" and 27" iMacs replaced the 20" and 24" versions in October 2009, so we've had those sizes for over a decade now. The bodies have been tweaked, slimmed a few times, but the iMacs have had the same two display sizes for over 10 years, so that's a good long time and makes the notion of a slight size increase seem halfway reasonable/believable.
23" iMac with 256GB SSD for $1,099 (with a Retina display) would definitely hit the "bang-for-the-buck" mark (you currently have to jump up to $1,299 for a Retina-based iMac, so maybe that's what they mean by "lower-priced" 23" iMac...not quite $999, but less expensive than the current $1,299? Even if $1,199, that's more screen and a better hard drive (along with the processor updates, etc.) than you currently get for $1,299. That would be a very MacBook Air type of thing to do to the iMac line...
Great. I finally get my head around the idea of owning a 13" affordable portable and then the idea of a really nice iMac with ~10" of display for roughly the same price appears...thanks, Apple.
I wish you could just release all your stuff at once so I could make an informed, all-cards-on-the-table decision! I'll convince myself a $1,799 13" MacBook Pro is the way to go and, two months later, Apple rolls out a sub-$1,399 iMac that trounces the hell out of it in every way.
EDIT #2: What do you think a 2020 redesigned iMac would consist of, port-wise? Being a desktop (where space/weight/size isn't a real concern) would they opt to keep some of the "legacy" ports as they do with the Mac mini (USB 3, Ethernet, etc.) onboard, or do you think they'd go the notebook route and just put in nothing but 2-4 Thunderbolt 3 ports? That makes no sense to me on a machine with room enough to include the others (and if the $799 mini has those, why not a $1,000+ iMac). With Ive out the door, maybe the drive for over-the-top minimalism left with him, so a new iMac might keep some useful ports around and not trigger a dongle orgy.
Anyway, interesting stuff. The idea of size increases on the iMac never really occurred to me, but that would require a bit of a design/chassis redesign and update as well. And after so many years (they went to the current rounded/slimmer back in late 2012), maybe they've come up with something a bit new/different on that front as well. The current design is so distilled down to just the basics, anything too crazy/different would just seem weird. But there are still things they could do in the framing/bezels, the stand, port placement, mobility (tilt/swilvel/rotation) to stir up some interest/sales. They've got that new $1,000 display stand to take inspiration from on that front. And they've never had a more enjoyable, useful iMac design than that chrome-armed iMac G4. Maybe they've come up with some sort of re-take on that whole thing with a cool adjustable display on the iMac once again?
2020 has been a fun time to be into this stuff, again...actual cool stuff not 100% centered around $700+ Phones and "services" is happening again. It's about damn time...
this is the Apple I've missed.