Rumors: 17-inch iMac meets its end?

After 9 satisfying years with a 'blueberry' iMac I recently upgraded to a new 17" model. I love it. The rest of my PC loving family gaze at it with envy; a few are even considering switching to an iMac. Now I'll be out of date again because the 17" model will be replaced with a 20". Wasn't the 17" iMac recently rated the top desktop by Consumers Report? It's magnificent and just the right size. If it works don't fix it!

J. Walker Canada

I think it would be somewhat strange if this rumour is true and Apple drops BOTH 17" iMac models.

17" 1.83 Ghz
512MB memory (expandable to 2GB)
160 hard drive
24x Combo drive
Intel GMA 950 graphics

17" 2.0 Ghz
1GB memory (expandable to 3GB)
160 hard drive
8x DL SuperDrive
ATI Radeon X1600 graphics

If you view the specs of the 20" 2.16 Ghz model you will notice that besides a few more Ghz and a larger hard drive the 17" 2.0 Ghz and the 20" 2.16 models are almost the same machine while the 17" 1.83 is a very low scale machine. Apple axing the 17" 2.0 Ghz model because of it being so close in specs to the 20" model doesn't holdup well in my opinion for the fact that for $500 US more you can have the 24" inch model vesus buying the 20" which is practically the same argument someone gave for buying the 20" over the 17". If we are looking at a possible price reduction here it would make all the more sense to keep the 2.0 Ghz and get rid of the 1.83. :)

i don't know if its a new development, but i went there this saturday to check out the imacs (was going for the 24 anyway) and i missed the 17, there was a 20" in its place and the price tag for the 17 was gone. next time i go ill take a picture

How small can your desk be that someone doesn't have room for a 20"? There is only 2" size difference in HxWxD!

My first Mac ever was a 2nd Gen G5 iMac. Best computer I ever bought!
2 Years have gone by so fast...
Just shows how quickly time flies in Apple-Land!!

@JeffDM

I agree, ThinkSecret has gone WAY downhill over the past 2 years or so. However, I'd venture that because of the logical likelihood of this happening, they are probably not basing it on just a rumour they've heard.

Here's why I can't see them keepign the 17" model, except maybe for the education sector.

- There isn't much price difference [at least in Australia] between consumer 17" and 20" Widescreen monitors, which means, when buying the panels wholesale like Apple do, the price difference would be even less.

- We're long overdue for an iMac update, which means it's an almost certainty that there will be new iMacs released at WWDC in 2 weeks. It's also almost certain that they will sport a redesign [though it may not be as radical a design shift from the sunflower -> pizza box models]

- Apple is known for being among the first manufacturers to drop legacy devices, such as the floppy drive. Though 17" monitors aren't legacy devices, the standard monitor size for most manufacturers - even on their most basic models - is now 19".

- a 20", 24" and 30" (here's hoping) iMac lineup is F**ING COOL. And a base model 20" is also F**ING COOL.

Double checking the story, it's through ThinkSecret, which has not had a correct rumor in two years that I remember. Does anyone remember the Final Cut Extreme and the $10k workstation that was supposed to go with it? That was supposed to be released a year ago. It still hasn't happened. Remember that Aperture was axed after 1.0? Oh right, that never happened. They predicted new Cinema Displays for the same day the color Shuffles were announced.

I don't doubt that the 17" model will eventually go away, but if TS gives a month, a day or part of the year, I'm almost sure it will be wrong.

Donald Burr, there was also a 17" iMac with a SuperDrive, faster processor, an ATI GPU, and bigger hard drives (when ordered CTO).

20", 17" either way we all win right! And won't the mothership continue to sell refurbished 17(inchers) to the masses that so crave them.

Peace out!

You could get ultra short cables, and bolt the Mini to the back (or the bottom) of a standard 17-inch CRT. That's how mine is set up; I call it my "ghetto iMac."