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Rumor: New iMacs on tap for April or May

by Steven Sande Mar 30th 2011 at 3:30PM

A couple of tweets from CNET's Brian Tong are fueling speculation that a new batch of iMacs are on their way to the US, with an expected debut in late April or early May.

In a tweet a little over a week ago, Tong noted "New iMacs en route by ocean to U.S. available end of April or 1st week of May. No major cosmetic changes." That tweet was followed by another today that reiterated the time frame for new iMac models.

Over at MacNews, Dennis Sellers made some predictions that are quite reasonable to believe. He expects the new iMacs to feature dual- or quad-core Sandy Bridge processors. At the low end of the price spectrum would be 21" models running dual-core Intel Core i5 CPUs at 2.3 and 2.7 GHz, while the high end would feature 27" iMacs with quad-core Intel Core i7 CPUs at 2.0 and 2.3 GHz. Sellers speculates that the new iMacs would come equipped with Thunderbolt I/O, an easy guess since the fast new I/O standard has already made a debut on the latest MacBook Pro models.

I disagree with Sellers on his estimate of hard disk capacities. He's anticipating 500 GB to 1 TB models. Apple already sells configure-to-order (CTO) models with 2 TB capacities, along with 256 GB SSD boot drives, so I'd expect to see the company start at 1 TB and possibly outfit CTO models with 3 TB of storage. Most drive manufacturers are now selling 3 TB SATA units at reasonable prices, so there's no reason for Apple to at least make them an option for buyers. With storage that spacious, it might make more sense for Apple to squeeze two high-capacity drives into a new iMac for onboard data mirroring.

These new iMacs are probably already a done deal if they're indeed on the ships heading for the US. That doesn't mean that TUAW readers can't join in on the speculation. What would you like to see in a new iMac? Leave your comments below.



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A couple of tweets from CNET's Brian Tong are fueling speculation that a new batch of iMacs are on their way to the US, with an...
 

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Rolijen

I don't mind the glossy screen. The dream iMac for me is not far from what my 2010 27" iMac already is. My only complaint is not having an easy to reach USB port. It's ridiculous to have to reach around back to plug in a flash dive. They could easily put 1 or 2 USB ports on the side, just above the optical disc slot. Why they don't do that is beyond me.

May 02 2011 at 9:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
paedion

30" screen for iMac?

April 04 2011 at 1:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
SamuraiArtGuy

This one is pretty easy, just look at what went into the updated Macbook Pros, and go to the desktop equivalent. Sandy Bridge, Radeon Graphics, Thunderbolt.

But those of you jonesing for Blu-ray... don't hold your breath. Steve J has repeatedly bad-mouthed Blu-ray and feels pretty committed to pure digital steamed video. Same with the non-glossy screens, the glossy screens look SO shiny in the apple store and Best Buy... And that seems to be the trend on the PC side as well. As a graphic designer, not so happy about that, but that's what it is. I an actually wondering if the BTO option in the Macbook Pro is going to eventually go away.

But I am not expecting anything really special with Apple's desktop hardware this year, the attention and focus is going to be Mac OS Lion.

April 03 2011 at 12:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dozierredraider

I would like to see a 24" model, like many said, 21" is a little too small.

Obviously, thunderbolt adapter will give HDMI but it would be nice to have 1 HDMI.

One design aspect I would love is for it to look identical to the LED Cinema Display. Yes it would be a little deeper but at least when you have the two together, it looks great!

Multi-Touch display would be awesome for designers. Ive seen the patents apple has made for the idea on an iMac an am kinda waiting for that to come before I switch from my MacBook Pro.

And last of all, lower prices...Not a ton, but just enough that its affordable

March 31 2011 at 10:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Merc

And I just bought a new 27" version thinking updates wouldn't come till summer. *sigh*

March 31 2011 at 8:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MacinScott

Ambient backlit keyboard with black keys on aluminum.

Internal RAID.

SSD Boot Drive.

Blu-ray - Needed for storage not movies.

Thunderbolt mainly but wouldn't mind eSATA too.

March 31 2011 at 7:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
taoprophet420

I would like to see a keyboard with gesture features, like the patent Apple has for putting cameras around the keyboard. If that doesn't happen now I would like to see the Magic Trackpad be an option by itself instead of the mouse. I'm not sure if i will be tempted by any new iMac if it does not have a cosmetic makeover. I would like to see what an iMac would look like without an optical drive and only SSD storage.

For me to be swayed by an iMac without a complete cosmetic refresh it would have to have 2 Thunderbolt ports, be capable of being used as a display in all models, new camera and quad core chips in all screen sizes.

March 30 2011 at 11:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sky

"At the low end of the price spectrum would be 21" models running dual-core Intel Core i5 CPUs at 2.3 and 2.7 GHz, while the high end would feature 27" iMacs with quad-core Intel Core i7 CPUs at 2.0 and 2.3 GHz. "

I have a 27" iMac from last year, which is a 2.93ghz quad-core i7. Why would the high end iMacs be dropped down to 2.0 and 2.3Ghz? Is this a typo?

March 30 2011 at 8:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to sky's comment
Rodan

"I have a 27" iMac from last year, which is a 2.93ghz quad-core i7. Why would the high end iMacs be dropped down to 2.0 and 2.3Ghz? Is this a typo?"

Because performance is no longer identical to clock speed. The new Sandy Bridge chips, while having slower rated clock speeds, have significantly increased performance over Nehalam as a result of the technological wizardry of Intel. What is particularly notable is how Intel is able to squeeze this performance out of the silicon w/o increasing electron demand, i.e. they are very energy efficient. But I suppose ARM wins in the energy efficiency race, much lower power designs.

March 30 2011 at 11:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sky

Interested to see how the benchmarks stack up...

March 31 2011 at 7:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dood

So how come the lower end ones have lower clock speed than the previous generation although a better chip?

March 30 2011 at 8:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tomd

Support for more than one external 27" display.

March 30 2011 at 7:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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