“Apple’s pending iMac update will spell the end of the day for the 17-inch iMac, the most affordable computer in the line. The refreshed iMac, currently on track to arrive by the end of June according to sources, will feature just 20- and 24-inch models,” Think Secret reports.
“The decision to axe the smallest iMac comes as display prices continue to track downwards, making the cost difference for Apple between a 17-inch display and a 20-inch display almost negligible,” Think Secret reports.
“Eliminating the low-end iMac will also improve logistics for Apple, which will need to track and stock considerably fewer parts,” Think Secret reports.
Full article, including the rumor that Apple’s 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display may soon grow an inch, here.
Oh, so this is not about raster image processing. Moving on.
That’s too bad. I don’t think a 20 inch display will fit inside the computer armoire.
OK, and we shall expect the price of a 20″ iMac to match or be lower than the existing 17″ right? Can you do that Apple?
Wow Think secret is just republishing AppleInsider information. What else is new?
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/03/20/apples_next_generation_imacs_to_add_a_touch_of_grace.html
Won’t happen.. Unless they make the 17″ just for Education..
From the Article: “Apple is also expected to make the long-anticipated switch from its 23-inch Cinema Display HD to a 24-inch model featuring the same panel as the iMac.”
This will almost positively NOT true. The LCD panel in the 24″ iMac is fairly nice from what I’ve seen, but it is not at the same quality level of the LCD panels used in the Cinema displays. By the same token, the 20″ iMac panel and lighting technology is NOT the same as in the 20″ Cinema display. if it were, it would make the iMac line one HELL of a deal! It’s already a great deal, but not as incredible as it would be then! Same size does not equal the same part.
So, don’t think you’re getting a Cinema display in your iMac, because you aren’t.
New 30″ iMac on the horizon?
So, when we retire my wife’s G4 iMac we’ll be forced to get a screen bigger than the largest one available – 17″ – when we bought that sturdy beast several years ago. Won’t “fix” her vision problem, make it much easier to get past. (she needs either big, or close, or both – the close was how I got her to switch)
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page Pod Cast
Yeah … she’s the G.L. who’s writings are the basis for the pod cast in my .sig
Chris:
If they’re launching new iMacs, it’s ENTIRELY possible that these new ones will share the same panels as future Cinema Displays. It makes a lot of sense from a supplyand warehousing standpoint, plus would follow Apple’s initiative to move further along into HD.
Chris, I don’t what your sources are (please supply), but from my observations at the Apple Store, the 24″ imac is as least as good and I actually thought better than 23″ cinema display.
You are all wrong!
The new screen coming from Apple inc. is going to be a wall mountable 60″ HD cinema display with an internal Apple TV.
Because they will use the new LED system they announced as part of their GREEN policy, they will be the most energy effiecient cinema displays on the market, not only using a fraction of CRT tv’s energy but all the components will be recyclable and contain no hazardous chemicals. Apple will be able to offer a life time return and upgrade recycling facility for free.
MARK my words, you heard it from the CRABAPPLE!:-)
@Cpt. Obvious, yes, I understand that it’s possible, but it’s very unlikely that the increased supply inefficiency would outweigh the cost of putting such high-quality parts into an iMac without raising the price of the iMac. It’s possible that at some point in the future, LCD technology and pricing will reach a level where a very high-quality display is close in price to a lower-end consumer-level display, but this is not close to being the case now.
Now, if you are correct, and they DO end up using the same panels, one of two things will be true: either the iMac will cost more (or will not drop in price as much as it can), or the Cinema displays will drop in quality. The iMac displays are a consumer-quality monitor, and the Cinema displays are a professional-quality monitor (though certainly not the best). I’ve been working on Cinema displays (and with Eizo’s) since they came out, and have had to deal with all the issues they have had over time (and believe me, there have been issues!).
I hope some day a consumer display and a pro display are one and the same, but that time has not yet arrived.
ooh! I just LOOOOVE this!!:-) he said as he stirred the readers.
Apple has a size fetish.
First they kill off the 12″ PowerBook, now the 17″ iMac. What’s next, the smallest MacBook will be 20″?
It’s not the size, it’s what you do with it. Bigger is not always better.
(Hint: the 12″ PB was the most portable laptop size.)
@b: My source is Apple itself. Call them and ask them.
You may, at a glance think the 24″ iMac display is as good or better than a Cinema, but once you try to calibrate it to professional standards and do left-side to right-side color tests, you will learn the difference. The iMac displays are certainly very good, but they are not the same level monitor. Just like a Cinema is no high-end Eizo.
I’ve been working with these for a very long time, and from my experience, Apple does not keep this a secret. I don’t have the business card with me of tech contact at Apple, unfortunately, but anyone at Apple could tell you (I don’t know that the Apple Store salespeople can, no guarantees there!)
@ Chris
I agree with your take on the 24″ iMac display. My personal setup is an iMac 24″ with an ACD HD 23″ as a second, and the Cinema Display is a much better panel with deeper blacks and a brighter, more neutral white point. It also makes no sense to use the iMac panel because they both operate at the same native resolution, so there would be no real-estate benefit either.
What I do wish is that Apple would make a display that looks like a Cinema that uses the actual display from an iMac. That way, Mini buyers could buy a matching Apple display without paying for the higher-priced Cinema. But, that would probably cannibalize Cinema sales (plus confuse a lot of people and add the aforementioned supply issues). I’d gladly buy a couple of these for home for areas where I don’t care about color, instead of having to either buy all Cinemas to match, or one Cinema and the rest from other companies, like I have to do now. But… ah well, there’s a lot of things I’d like to have that I’m not going to get.
oh crap
“The new screen coming from Apple inc. is going to be a wall mountable 60″ HD cinema display with an internal Apple TV.”
– Crabapple
Dude its time to change your bong water.
The 17″ iMac will live on for the educational market. It also appears TS missed the obvious – a 30″ iMac.
For $2,199 Apple will deliver the flagship iMac at 30″. The key to the 24″ and 30″ versions, is both will be VESA mount-able.
That’s right. Apple will give those thinking “Why can’t this just go in my living-room” the ability to do so. Many will. Of course, the iMac line will come with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
“OK, and we shall expect the price of a 20″ iMac to match or be lower than the existing 17″ right? Can you do that Apple?”
Hey Jeff, they did that when they introduced the 24″ iMac after I bought the 20″. I’m sure the price will be lower.
The 1984 Macintosh had a 9″ display.
Just to throw a little wrench into the mix…
Another thing that needs to be realized when comparing a consumer-level monitor and a professional-grade monitor is that how “good” images on the screen look at a glance isn’t a good indication of suitability as a professional monitor.
In the professional world, both for print output as well as for video, the color gamuts you have to work with are far far far smaller than a computer monitor can actually handle. This is also true for brightness, for both print and video. In other words, a computer monitor can display a much wider range of color and brightness than an SD-TV or any print medium can handle.
One of the main differences in quality between a pro and a consumer monitor is the performance and calibration potential at these “dumbed-down” levels.
If you put a pro Cinema/Eizo that has been calibrated next to an iMac that is blasting color and light at it’s full potential, the Cinema or Eizo is going to look very bad. You’re going to think “Wow, the iMac has a much better display”! But guess what… you can’t print those colors or display them on a TV, or even in all practicality on the Web for that matter… and you can’t get the fine-tuned performance from a consumer-quality display.
Sorry for rambling… color and media is a subject near and dear to my heart, and since it’s been my life for a very long time, I just can’t help but chime in on these interesting subjects!
MDN Magic Word: “red”. There is some sort of algorhythm going on choosing these words, isn’t there?!
Perhaps the possible demise of the 17″ iMac will pave the way for the oft-requested desktop Macintosh that falls in the pricepoint right in between the Mac mini and Mac Pro.
I just want a new iMac and I want it now!
AaaaHa! Ha! Haaaa!…
One bong water change coming up:-) Rectangly
@ Chris, how refreshing to read from an individual who knows his fish & chips?
I have had that experience on many an occasion. I buzz along to a printer with the file, printer brings up the file on his/her monitor,
monitor is set to printers eye which in many cases is not the same as the clients, client ends up asking for hue & saturation changes only to end up with Bullshit.
That is where the Pantone system comes into its own.
@Crabapple:
Yes, the eternal struggle between designer and color tech! Aye, how it gives both sides fits! Thank goodness the technology is becoming cheap enough that it appears I may live to see the day when both can see the same thing and have reasonable expectations about the final output. The technology is affordable, now it’s just about education.
The 17″ iMac is the only model that does not fall over and leave shards of broken glass everywhere during an earthquake.
Chris’s sermon has been, well, lengthy… but ultimately you’re complaining about existing “issues”. This is about FUTURE products.
It’s all complete conjecture at this point. We’ll know for sure soon enough.
I would like to see the iMacs and Cinema Displays share a form factor – so you could plug a cinema display into an iMac as a second monitor and not know which is which!
@ Chris, should we write a book?
Title: Client, Designer, Print & Film
Sub title: Colour technology on modern media.
You write one chapter, I write the next with a few anecdotes sprinkled here & there.
I think the 17″ iMac should be used for education. It is a nice size for youngsters. My son loves using daddy’s 24″ iMac, but he would be just as happy on a 17″. They should drop the price to $799.
@ Chris.
How about…An Eye is not quite an Eye?
As for Cpt. Obvious….too bad THE Famous Grouse is asking for it!!:-)
17-, 20-, 23-, and/or 24-inch. Whatever. Make them all 24-bit active matrix LCDs. Oh, and bump up processor and bus speeds, too, while you’re at it. Lower the price and throw in two dozen kolaches and we have a deal.
Oh! for a spare spanner to throw into the works:-) Aiii caramba!
@Cpt. Obvious…
Yes, you are correct, and like I said, I hope for a future where a consumer-grade monitor is the same as a pro-grade monitor. We don’t know exactly what is in the pipeline, to be sure, but I am entrenched enough in the industry to be able to make an educated guess, to add to the “complete conjecture” my belief that that time is not quite yet here. Also, BMW has been unable to produce a product as high of a quality as their $80,000 vehicles at the $20,000 price point, but I am hoping for that as well. The quality of the low end keeps going up (usually), but the quality of the high end continues to go up as well.
Sorry about the long diatribe, just trying to provide some insight for those who may care. For those who don’t, they (you) are free to not read.
@Crabapple: Either title sounds great! There is probably a good market for it!
1. Apple may keep the 17 inch iMac for education sales only. No speed revisions etc.
2. Sales of the 17 inch may be quite lame warranting the elimination of the product.
3. Component prices may be low enough to offer a 20 inch for nearly the same price of a 17 inch, especially if consumer quality screens are used.
MW cut
Chris
lessons are always appreciated
and as Plant would say
“it’s time to ramble on”
No Squirt
I guess this also means there isn’t going to be a Rip Torn commemorative iMac 17″?
MDN, enough bait and switch…..
just noticed MW……plant!
making room for the mini to grow?
Check this site out for the future in Display’s
In the meantime Lets write about an Eye is not an Eye.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/specials/washington_2000/649862.stm
Seyal!
“. . . a Rip Torn commemorative iMac 17″?”
Better than a Rip Taylor version.
“Better than a Rip Taylor version.”
Preloaded with Gong Show reruns and a confetti screensaver?
I’m there!
They axed the 23″ LCD like 2 years ago… jsut prooves that hardly anyone knows hardly anything.
@TT:
Huh?
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=5C4F3312&nclm=AppleDisplays
And they will support billions and billions of colors. Don’t ask about dithering.
Cap’n not sure what you are asking. No Sqirt and I were making light of the R.I.P. in the headline…..
Apple should keep a 17-inch low-end model. It’s an ideal size and screen resolution for a lot of users. However, if the new iMac design gets rid of the “plastic” area below the screen, then I suppose a 20-inch iMac would physically be about the same size as the current 17-inch iMac, so that would be OK.
I wish Apple would just discontinue the iMac all together and come out with a tower in its place with matching displays.
Oh, you meant ‘tt’
Sorry.
Hey Famous Grouse, Thats a sweet idea there. That the new iMacs would come in the same form factor as the Cinema Displays. Instead of just white plastic, optional black, and Aluminum.
I don’t beleive eliminating the 17 inch is a good move. It can fit anywhere. I love the realestate of the bigger screens, but I had to go for a 17 inch because of price and desktop space. I find the 17 inch to be more of a personal size.
But If Apple does drop the price of the 20 inch to the same as the 17 or lower, I will go for one.
In Addition, Apple would have to drop the price of the Mac Mini which is already overpriced.
If they’re launching new iMacs, it’s ENTIRELY possible that these new ones will share the same panels as future Cinema Displays.
Do you work for General Motors?
Yes it’s a great idea from a supply and warehousing point of view, but what happens when they’re sharing self space on the retail floor? How does Apple explain that two identical-looking products are very different, that one is an iMac and one is a monitor?
I get the idea of product-family appearance; you just want to avoid everything looking TOO much alike.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Not everyone chose the 17″ because of price. Some chose because of limited space. It is unfortunate everything has to be SUPERSIZED. Why?! There are many reasons a smaller computer is necessary. I wish Apple would not assume everyone has unlimited desktop space.
I have a 30″ monitor at work, but at home, on my kitchen counter a 17″ iMac is perfect. Keep the price low and leave us a 17″ please.
This would be just plain stupid decision on Apple’s part, which is why I don’t believe this rumour.
I started out with a PPC 20″, sold it and got the latest version Intel 17″. Why did I drop to a 17″? I wanted a lighter machine and anyway I use it in extended desktop mode, with a 19″ (4:3 aspect ratio) external giving me two for less than the price of one 20″, plus a choice of screen formats as well.
And, the 17″ weighs a lot less than the larger computer and thus more portable, provided one keeps the box it came in. Truth be told, with a wireless keyboard it makes a much better portable than any laptop unless one has to travel by air.
Who needs the 20″ or worse yet the 24″? Get a big external monitor and you get two monitors for the price of one. As for reducing the number of SKUs, just to piss off your customers, that makes a lot of sense.
Well Cpt. Obvious, It doesn’t have to look identical to the cinema desplays.
The Edges would have to be wider, the top would have to be taller to fit the iSight Camera. And it would need a longer bottom to accomidate the speakers.The iMac will be chunkier in every way and everyone will differentiate that.
So it will not entirely look like the cinema display, I just thought that it should take more cues from the cinemas to fit into the Line up. This way it would have a more powerful and professional look, ( Like the MacPro and the Cinema display).
In desktops, the iMac is the Lame duck in the apple lineup, heck even the Mac Mini has more of a Pro look because of the Aluminum casing and sharp edges.