“Apple released the current sleek iMac design in 2012 at its yearly October Mac/iPad event,” Abhay Ram writes for iLounge. “Since then, the company updated the internals of the machine but hasn’t made any changes to the build and design of the same. Also to be noted is that, the design of the current iMac is the same as the one released in the year 2009. The only difference would be that, Apple ditched the SuperDrive with the 2012 iMac and made it thin.”
“This October will mark the 7th anniversary of the current thin iMac look and if the design is to be considered, it would be the 10th anniversary of the same. Well, there’s nothing wrong with the current design; if ain’t broke, don’t change it,” Ram writes. “However, it’d be nice if Apple could offer something fresh, to compete with the likes of the Surface Studio.”
Apple iMac
“Apple cut the bezels of the MacBook Pro in 2016 and also gave the same treatment to the MacBook Air with its 2018 model,” Ram writes. “It would be nice to see an iMac with razor thin bezels or at-least a completely dark border to make the content stand out rather than the frame.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: One thing we do agree with – as opposed to Ram’s desire for a touchscreen iMac – is that’s it’s high time for iMac to lose its wide black bezels and Leno-esque chin.
Yes, please, update the darn iMac already, I have cash ready to replace my fading 2010 iMac. Touch is fine as an option, but better have some sort of swivel mechanism to lay flat as vertical monitors with touch screens are next to worthless for day-to-day interactions – go ahead, try to hold your arm horizontal with a finger pointed for more than a couple minutes.
Design is a bit dated, but no objections if it’s “just” a CPU, memory, storage, connectivity update to match what’s changed since last update.
What I dont want is a damn Surface Studio that’s for sure, yes sounds nice on paper but fundamentally clunky and unatural in use.
What I would like but won’t get any time thus year I suspect, is IMac iPad seamless integration whereby I can see my illustration/design, particularly in Photoshop zoomed out on the desktop and panned in close in on details on the iPad where I can apply subtle touch/pen effects to add realism that are otherwise totally clunky, unintuitive or unnatural with a mouse interface. In other words a far more sophisticated and natural Wacom like interface but that you can actually see as you work, tied into the overview on the Mac so a flick of the eyes can get both views. On paper this idea may not click but when you work on subjects and in styles I do you fully under its possibilities. But then I have been crying out for this for many years and sadly Dell seem to have come closest to providing it despite only having half the existing products/technology available to Apple in its existing Mac/iOS platforms.
I believe with ‘AstroPad Studio’ App you can achive what you describe.
Look into it ….
I keep wishing they would do a 30-32″ one. (And eliminating the black bezel would let you get to about 30″ in the same footprint) I never get the desire for a touchscreen on something like that where one is editing photos or video. (At least that I how I think when I look at the smudge-laden screen of my iPads) But getting to a fast eight-core i9 would be nice.
Kill off the iMac!!!
Just sell a bundle with an all new display and a few new models of all new user-repairable desktop Macs. Offer displays in 3 sizes at least.
The lack of height adjustment, the shitty ports placement, and the sealed laptop design is long overdue for replacement.
Offer a new PROPER wired numerical full keyboard with usb-c.
Finally, don’t EVER make a Mac touchscreen.
Then Apple would have people lining up to buy again.
I’ve had several iMacs since 2006 that bit the dust.
Loved and lost, but such is life.
Oddly enough, I have THREE G4 iMacs with the floating screens AWAY from heat sources (well oK, the video card is still in the base but at least it isn’t hampered by the piss-poor ventilation suffered by ALL iNtel-iMacs…) that work just fine.
Fourteen years old…..
So maybe time to bring back the floating display?
To me that was Apple at its design finest!
Now this makes a lot of sense!
It’s hard to believe Apple can’t see the benefits of a consistent “modular” design approach that doesn’t rely on antiquated Thunderbolt 2 ports or some newfangled proprietary Lego stacked block scheme. The all-in-one meme has run its course. It’s time to move on.
I can Envision Jony Ive gushing about how thin his new OLED Cinema Display XR, XS, and XSTi models are ultra thin and are lovingly designed with inspiration from Bugatti and Falconjet. More important to users, they would work seamlessly with any Mac and offer more display sizes, perhaps 24″, 27″, and 32″.
But more importantly, desktop buyers of the future could look forward to Apple putting consistent attention on 3 main product lines that would better serve a wider array of users: Mac mini, Mac, and Mac Pro. no iMacs.
Mac mini is fine as is today with a price cut.
Mac could be an updated cylinder or a proper mid-range modestly upgradeable box with midrange to high end Core chipsets.
Them Apple could impress everyone with the new 2019 Mac Pro, a real workstation in a big fat box with full size powerful components, the latest and best Xeons and unparalled internal expansion options, which would easily blow away the current iMac Pro and avoid the thermal throttling that Apple pretends nobody sees.
Now that would be a great desktop Mac future. Too bad Timmy’s pipeline can’t see the future until the competition shows it to him for 3 years or more.
When Apple comes us with touch screen Macs I’m buying shares in a good display cleaning company. Young kids, however, will love it more than adults.
My first iMac was a G5 and I loved that display. Dome may have complained about the height, but I just adjusted the office chair when grandkids came to play.
I’ll stick with the basic, current design. Getting rid of the chin can be done by making it thicker. I wouldn’t notice that, but I believe that one issue was the power supply that Apple wanted to keep away from the display.
Swappable HD or SSD and Fusion Drive opition
Swappable RAM
Variety of GPU options
Slots on the side front or both
SD slot
Thin/light/small is nice but user-replacable HD, RAM is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT for a desktop
Offer a high-end option with all the bleeding edge SSDs you want, but give us some reasonably-priced storage options too.
Spend more time on the dam Mac Pro. Get it out the door, then worry about the iMac.
A company the size of Apple to be able to do both.