The Next-Gen iMac With Brushed Aluminum In August?

Alfaresy writes "As previously reported by Degadget back on June 19th, the iMac update due this summer and is expected to be available in 20- and 24-inch versions, while the 17-inch version set to be discontinued. Apple's next iMac revision is currently tracking for release in August, and will have a brushed aluminum enclosure with measure just 2-inch thick, according to ThinkSecret's sources. Furthermore, ThinkSecret's sources say, "The elegant new enclosure will somewhat resemble the current white iMac but is said to feature a shorter space below the actual display, where most of the internals are housed." The upcoming iMacs are expected to be based on Intel's Santa Rosa platform with speeds to reach the highest point at 2.4GHz."

No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[pandrijeczko]

It's like a moronic dwarf - it's not big and it's not clever.

Re:No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[Timesprout]

This is hilarious. A tech site banging on about Apples latest and greatest and the biggest feature appears to be a different casing. Ground breaking stuff indeed. Can we also please have articles when dell start making PC's in new colours, it will really help me keep up with the latest trends in PC fashion.

Sounds Decent

[GizmoToy]

I'm no fan of the current iMacs, but this sounds pretty interesting. The move away from the white case and the shrinking of the enclosure should be good for sales. They're putting a decent chipset in it this time at least.

And the mini?

[SengirV]

I guess Apple doesn't want to hurt the sales of AppleTV, so they discontinue the ultimate switcher computer?

Re:A new laptop?

[Joe The Dragon]

I hear the mini may be cut as well.
Is apple working on a mini-tower with desktop parts?

A mini with a real video card will be better but likely it will be a lower end laptop / low to mid-end card.
The mini needs desktop parts and a lower price. $799.00 for a system with 512mb of ram and on board video? with no mouse or keyboard? it a big rip off.

Re:No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[Moby Cock]

This article is silly, I concede. But the enclosures being built by Apple are particularly good. No other OEMs bother to make desktops into ergonomic or stylish designs. This work by Apple is 'ground-breaking' in a sense. Although rumour and conjecture about up-coming designs is really not worth debating.

Re:And the mini?

[crow]

I hope the rumors of it being discontinued are false. All it needs is a switch to Core 2 and a video upgrade. I want to buy one now, but I'm not going to buy a 32-bit CPU.

Time for something new.

[MaWeiTao]

will have a brushed aluminum enclosure with measure just 2-inch thick

The current iMac already has an enclosure 2 inches thick. And most of the internals aren't housed near the bottom of the current iMac, they're spread out all over the unit behind the display. So it's not like the new iMac is going to be this huge leap of packaging over the current model.

Regarding the brushed-metal look, although I'm sure it will look nice I think it's starting to get a bit old. I can't say I like Apple going back and forth between two design styles they've been using for quite some time now. For me personally both styles are getting a bit tired. I realize they want to maintain a brand identity but I'd prefer they choose one of the styles and evolve that look as opposed to going back and forth between the two. I'll reserve judgement until I see the design but I will be disappointed if the new iMac ends up looking exactly like an Apple display or the Mac Pro.

Re:Selling point

[morari]

I want upgradeability and speed.

I don't think upgrading was ever a big priority for iPeople...

Re:No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[marklar1]

You are a TOOL.

Most things in life don't NEED to be many things that they are beyond their original function. Thank god they are. Or we'd all be wearing dungarees cut to the functional specification and issued from the central distribution post...

Re:No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[pohl]

Well, to be fair: one of the many functions that the device performs is that of simply being an object taking up space in one's home. In that role, aesthetics matters -- particularly among the demographic that pulls their head out of their computer every once in a while. (Because, after all, that's where the real girls are.) Lining one's nest with shiny baubles comes from deep evolutionary history, and the invention of the computer doesn't obviate it. In fact, it may have made it more essential.

17 inch discontinued?

[theurge14]

Why? The 17 was the only way I could afford one at the time I bought mine last November. If they discontinue the 17 and stick to the 20 and 24, what is going to happen to the "gateway" Mac for switchers like me? Considering the way the Mac Minis have grown in price since their introduction and now rumors of them being discontinued, I have to wonder if the iPod/iPhone "halo" is even going to matter. C'mon, say it ain't so Apple, don't screw up the momentum you have.

Re:No Viral Apple Marketing On Slashdot, PLEASE!!!

[yabos]

And your house is just a place to sleep, who cares what it looks like right? Might as well be painted orange because it doesn't matter right? Who cares what your car looks like it might as well be a big box on wheels because it's just a tool to get you from A to B.

Hear, hear. Build a regular damned computer

[riker1384]

I've used Apples all my life and I like Mac OS, but I'm fed up with the hardware. I'm not rich enough to spend hundreds of dollars on "style", on a Mac Mini with more expensive, less capable parts. I'm also not rich enough to just throw a monitor in the trash every time I get a new computer, buying Imacs. I just want a regular, maybe small tower with desktop parts, easily swapped RAM and maybe other parts. It should be at the same price as the Mini, but better, or equivalent to a Mini but cheaper.

Because they're not in that market

[itsdapead]

So, this is sold as a desktop computer that takes up less space. Why?

Current market for "desktop tower" systems:

1. Cheap entry-level home PCs
2. Commodity business PCs
3. Gamers
4. Serious Workstations

In markets (1) and (2) they're up against negligible margin $300 boxes from Dell; (2) and (3) are Windows strangleholds not well served by OSX software; the Mac Pro and 17" MacBook have (4) covered.

Apple's forte is laptops and small-form-factor PCs which can demand a "premium" price & they're sticking to it. Its hard to make a midi-tower sexy.

Avoid solipsism here - just because lots of /.ers - including myself - would have liked a cheaper single-processor "tower" Mac doesn't mean there's a viable market. Plus, many of those people might relent and (like me) buy a Pro. (My main gripe with the pro is whether it was really necessary to use the most expensive memory technology in the known universe).

Re:Can't they make a 12"/13" Macbook Pro instead?

[Joe The Dragon]

For $1500 you should get some better then a intle gma chip that uses system ram.

Re:Time for something new.

[Phroggy]

make it look clean and futuristic

Have you noticed that when the future actually arrives, what used to be futuristic looks always suddenly just look retarded?

Re:Selling point

[guruevi]

That's you, I like any other yuppie out there that has a social life live in a fairly modest apartment, I have people over once in a while and don't have much place. I do have a PowerBook right now and some other stuff laying around, but a Dell box is too clunky and ugly to be standing around. Heck, I think the subwoofer of my home theater system (nice Yamaha) is too large to be placing (currently under the couch).

I do have a 'normal' Linux-based computer that is standing in my storage space which has umpteen drives in it for backup and media storage just because, that thing is ugly and loud so it's nicely isolated. But I think about buying an iMac just because I can VESA-mount the whole unit to the wall, only one cable is necessary, I don't know any other computer that can do that and if you have about 3-5 feet between the wall and the couch you would be appreciating that.

Apple doesn't make computers for tinkerers like some of us (I used to be a tinkerer), they make machines that have all possible necessities (Bluetooth, WiFi, ...) without being too ugly (no dongles or antenna's sticking out), are fairly affordable and easy to use. But for that you have to give up some flexibility, although the iMac's have a LOT of user-replaceable parts. I don't know about the video card, but I know the RAM is easily expandable as is the power unit, hard drive and wireless unit, there is even a manual with pictures on the Apple support site.