In case you missed it, Apple made some big headlines this morning, announcing a “completely rethought” Mac Pro is in the works.
The company has also confirmed that a new iMac is in the works for “this year”. According to Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi via TechCrunch:
“The original iMac, you never would’ve thought as remotely touching pro uses. And now you look at today’s 5K iMac, top configs, it’s incredibly powerful, and a huge fraction of what would’ve traditionally — whether it’s audio editing, video editing, graphics, arts and so forth — that would’ve previously absolutely required the Mac Pros of old, are being well-addressed by iMac. But there’s still even further we can take iMac as a high performance, pro system, and we think that form factor can address even more of the pro market.”
Mac mini still an ‘important product’
As for the Mac mini, which hasn’t seen an update since late 2014, Schiller had this to say:
“On that I’ll say the Mac mini is an important product in our lineup and we weren’t bringing it up because it’s more of a mix of consumer with some pro use. … The Mac mini remains a product in our lineup, but nothing more to say about it today.”
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Further Reading: iMac vs. Mac Pro Shootout: See How Beneficial More Memory Can Be
Apple is quite late with these new form factors. As a long time imac and mbpro user, I agree that soldered in RAM, no touch screens on laptops and no expansion plan for either machine is not going to be the choice when I refresh my machines. Windows is looking better than ever. i was anticipating the new mbpros but they only ended up keeping me on my current three year old laptop and imac for at least this year. I am seriously going to ponder switching.
The quote on the Mini seems that they are clueless as to what direction to take with it. Guess it will be yet another year before they decide something on it.
The iMac comment, as already seen, will draw a mixed reaction. Some pros like a high performance iMac, some want a high performance box.
The iMac needs a “modular approach” as well. RAM, GPU, storage should be made easily swappable and can be done in the current form factor “if the Apple engineers are as ingenious as they think they are”!
I need an iMac that is built to last, not one that will end up in a landfill. A machine with soldered-in memory & storage is not helpful. A machine that is made thin, at the expense of serviceability, is not helpful.
Quote: But there’s still even further we can take iMac as a high performance, pro system, and we think that form factor can address even more of the pro market.”
That remark is a near-perfect illustration of what’s wrong with Apple’s desktops. Quite a few of us in the “pro market” don’t like the iMac’s “form factor” and get ticked off at the company’s efforts to cram it down our throats.