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17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q

ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.

16 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. tipping over...? by Sodakar · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...I wonder if additional counterweight will be added to the base to sustain the heavier LCD panels...

  2. Doubt it. by Shrike89 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously doubt the validity of this one. It's a single source w/ no history of getting Apple rumors right.

    My guess is Quantas is going to be making displays for Mac towers, and the author thinks all Apple computers are iMacs.

    I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it were so, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Remember, slashdot got hoodwinked by the "iWalk" Apple PDA hoax twice.

  3. Remember the G4 Cube? by cowboy+junkie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A bigger LCD is great, but it will most probably add a lot of $$$ to the price, and the current iMacs aren't cheap as it is for what you get hardware-wise. And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer. Now it's more likely to become like the G4 cube - too expensive for the low-end buyer and too low powered and non-expandable for the high-end power user.

    1. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Lally+Singh · · Score: 5, Insightful
      And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer.
      In case you hadn't noticed, the G4 iMac isn't the entry-level computer, it's the consumer-level computer. There's a distinct difference. For entry level, try the G3 iMac, or the eMac if you're a student.

      Also, the G4 iMac is selling like friggin hotcakes. Another Cube my ass.

      --
      Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
    2. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by John_Booty · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer. Now it's more likely to become like the G4 cube...

      Chill! They're still going to make the 15-inch models, unless I misread the article. So while there will certainly be some higher-priced iMacs, there still will be the (relatively) affordable 15" entry-level iMac.

      --

      OtakuBooty.com: Smart, funny, sexy nerds.
  4. I can guarantee you this by hype7 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    thanks to this post, those iMacs will be "steved" - ie canned.

    Jobs likes surprises, and if his surprise is spoiled this far out he'll take his toys and go home.

    Which means - these things will never see the light of day, or their release date will be substantially changed

    -- james

  5. An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by inkswamp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy.

    My wife's reaction was exactly the opposite. She thought pictures of the new iMac were awful. She thought it looked goofy. We just saw one in person a few days ago and she loved it. Afterward, she kept asking me questions about it. Seeing it really changed her opinion of it.

    Personally, I was impressed with the display. I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display. On top of that, the colors and images are sharp and clear. One of the things that drives me crazy about LCD displays is that they tend to darken or solarize when viewed from an angle. The iMac's display didn't do that.

    Also, FWIW, this "news" about the bigger iMac displays is being treated as an unlikely rumor amongst some of the more in-the-know Mac sites. Just FYI.

    --Rick

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
  6. Re:I hope its silent, like many apple products are by phillymjs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nope, it's not. There's a fan that draws cool air in the bottom of the dome and vents hot air out an array of holes around the base of the display arm.

    The space inside the iMac was just too confined to allow for normal convection to do the job.

  7. Re:"executive mac" by jerkychew · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There was an executive Mac... it was called the G4 cube, and nobody bought it.

  8. Ports by nullard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My only complaint about the base is that all of the inputs are in the rear. ... Why should I have to reach around to plug in my iPod?

    Rotate the base. I tried this at the Apple Store, it works. Just turn the base slightly and you get easy access to the ports. Remember, the arm turns.

    --


    t'nera semordnilap
  9. base? cheap? by mbbac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The base of the iMac doesn't not look like a cheap toy. I've seen them in person too.

    Besides, the base of the iMac is probably one of the most over engineered cases for a computer right now what with its Faraday cage underneath the plastic shell.

    --

    mbbac

  10. Re:Flamebait by bdowne01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Computers don't have to look like anything... my first peecee didn't even have a case.

    On the other hand, I have both my beige box and my iMac on my desk in my office.

    Difference is, unless I want people to think I'm *completely* redneck, I keep the peecee under the desk, and the iMac ON the desk.

    I think that's the difference.

    --
    -brain
  11. Re:Flamebait by Meleschi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You've got to be kidding right? You can't compare the Xserve to a Sun Netra X1... The X1 has a SINGLE 500 Mhz Ultra IIe processor and it is slow as dirt (we have 5 of them) but they serve their purpose for us.

    The Xserve is meant to handle much more cpu intensive tasks than the X1's are. Not to mention the X1's don't support Hardware Raid (forcing you to use crappy Disksuite or pay a premium for a Veritas Volume Manager license). Heck, the X1's only hold two fricken disk drives, the Xserv holds 4!

    No matter how you look at it, the Xserve trounces the Sun Netra X1/T1.

    While the Cobalt is a little closer processor wise (1.26 Ghz PIII, hardware Raid on higher end models) it still only supports 2 Disk drives and a single processor.

    All that I see missing from the Xserve is a redundant power supply, but I guess that was hard to fit into a 1U package...

    It's amazing to think, each one of these 1U servers has more CPU than a Sun 280R with dual 900 MHz processors. Why do you think Sun doesn't make a 1U box with this much power? It would take away from selling their 4U boxes. Oh that and the size of a U3 processor is about half the size of the Xserve already.. :) j/k

    --
    Meep Meep!
  12. "Cheap" plastic by Shuh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've read quite a few posts here riding the iMac because of "cheap plastic"... as if there were no other kind of plastic. Check the plastic on 90% of the P.C.'s out there and compare to the iMac... then you will be able to know and see just what cheap plastic is all about...

  13. iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owners. by BitGeek · · Score: 5, Insightful



    Its amazing how the marketplace reacts to apples products- the iMac looks dorky in pictures, but when you see on in person, you see how finely crafted it is. I ordered one sight unseen (the specs fit my needs more than anything else) and was extremely surprised at how well built it is.

    The other amazing thing is just how innovative putting the display on that arm really is. I know people are going "what's the big deal??": and others have commented that larger displays would tip it over.

    Well, the base is really good sized and heavy- the arm, as is, could handle a display significantly larger and heavier (I've tested this by pulling on the arm to try and tip the mac- it takes al ot of weight to do so.)

    But what's really amazing about this machine is that you move the display. Regularly. When its on the arm like this, you can adjust it to precisely how you're sitting at that point in time.

    If you're in front of a computer a lot, you move around in your chair-- unconciously, I'm sure-- to remain comfortable, keep your legs from falling asleep, etc. With the iMAc, you can trivially move the display to fit where you're sitting at that moment in time, or move it over to show your girlfriend something going on on the screen ( find myself doing this alot)...

    Just a half inch adjustment makes an improvement on the ergonomics. And people always move around.

    Now, after using an iMac for a couple months, I can't stand to be in front of a display that doesn't move (like my other computers)-- and canstantly have to stop myself from adjusting them. I was at WWDC and used one of the huge HD Cinema displays there, and kept moving it! All 30 pounds of it, or whatever- it really huge and moving it was liek dragging a metal table across a linoleum floor- its not meant to be moved... but I'm spoilt.

    As to larger displays- the weird thing is that this 15 inch display seems too big for me. I keep finding myself surprised at its size. I can't imagine a bigger display on this machin-- not because the arm couldn't handle it but because it would be too much display.

    It wasn't this way with CRTs where I demanded employers provide me a 21 inch trinitron, as an ergonomic requirement. but this 15 inch LCD is better in terms of image quality and usability than a 21 in trinitron running Mac OS (which is equal to a 30 inch trinitron runnign Windwos or Linux-- windowing systems that waste/misuse a lot of real estate.)

    Constantly slashdot articles that talk aobut Apple products, such as this one, dismiss them out of ignorance. you cannot see the utility and innovation of the iMac from looking at it in a picture. You have to use it ot realize that you really do want to move the display regularly.

    People get used to using Windows / Linux (different operating systems, essentially the same look and feel) and then dismiss the MAc because they don't fit what they're used to. This is exactly like a white person being insensitive around blacks or a straight person being homophobic- its fear and hatred of whats different. Except instead of people we're talking about technology so its less dangerous, but just as illogical. But then- these prejudices do get translated, into real world effects as people are denied jobs or mistreated by the ignorant.

    As a class of people who have been mistreated by Windows non-thinkers, its time to stop doing the exact same thing to Apple products-- which, are treated even worse, because they have the jealousy effect by being both not-microsoft and truely innovative.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
  14. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was very surprised that they only had the 15 monitors when they first came out, these are VERY welcome improvements

    You should not have been. :) The iMacs are the entry level system, the more powerful users are supposed to find it a little lacking and buy the G4 towers.

    Personally I think the 15 innch on the iMac is fine. It is equivalent to a 17" tube at 1024x768, this is a fine configuration for most people out there.